SPAX ADJUSTABLES ON A 325I SPORT

Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:35 pm

hiya people, ive just bought a spax suspension kit, does anyone have a (m-tech 2) 325i sport with spax adjustables on?? ive had a similar kit on before and it rubbed the shit out of my rear wheel arches and nearly ripped my front wings off so the kit had to go, the part number was TAP033 on the spax website, however this kit i had on before was for a 325se sport and NOT the 325i sport, it dropped my motor about 80mm instead of the 40mm which it states on the website, since i have bought my new spax setup and its the same part number TAP033 as the kit i had on before, however is a totally diffirent suspension kit, this kit is for a 325i where as the other kit was for a 325se sport, does anyone know if these two cars have a diffirent stock suspension??? i personally have never heard of a 325se sport but im hopeing there is someone on here who has one to tell me different. the kit i have bought is TAP033 and lowers 60mm, in my case (325i sport) 40mm because im already lower than a standard 325i, however i have 215/40/17's will this kit fit without any arch mods and will it fit my car at all?

Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:42 pm

not sure mate but i think you gonna have major probs with arches etc??
im sure someone will advise you better as lots of people here use similar setups Daz

Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:46 pm

cheers daz, i hope so mate

Fri Jun 24, 2005 7:10 pm

no prob mate
believe me it wnt take long and the advice should come flooding in theres a lot of sports on here

failing that have a look thru members and ask the sport owners good luck Daz

Fri Jun 24, 2005 7:27 pm

fucking cars ehy.... they are worth it though, well e30's are anyway, cheers mate

Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:33 pm

well im using spax top ajustables on mine, along with 215/40/17's and i have no problem with rubbing or anything like that and it is fairly low aswell, and iv done no mods to the arches,
so if the kit is stiff enough you should get away with it mate

Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:13 pm

pm recived and email/pics sent

Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:14 pm

I'm also running spax psx kit (lowered 60mm) on my 325i with 205x40x17's and I haven't had any arch clearance issues. The only niggle I have with the spax kit is that the rear used to bottom out on the bump stops until I adjusted the stiffness of the rear shocks up a few notches to combat it which in turn makes the ride a bit harsh for the road. It would also be an idea to replace any worn bushes while you are fitting your kit to get the full benefit.

Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:34 pm

Have you got the larger diameter front dampers to go with your sport ?

I've got Spax adustables on my Touring with no rubbing issues,i think it's if you lower them to much you have problems ?

Sat Jun 25, 2005 1:42 am

thanks for your feedback guy's but i could really do with people who have 325i sports, i dont know if the suspension is different from tourers or 325i (standard) but i need to know if this kit is gonna drop my beema too low, its the yellow top adjustables 60mm lowering springs and part number is TAP033, like i said in the above post ive had a similar kit and same part number but the kit was for a 325se sport and it was only a 40mm drop and ragged my car to bits, i need to know if there is such a car as a 325se sport and if they are different from 325i sports? as i have had the 325se sport spax kit on and it was nooo good at all, wanna know if this kit i have now will be worth putting on or not, cheers

Sat Jun 25, 2005 1:12 pm

please m-tech owners i need your help, spax is suppose to be going on tuesday but i really am in 2 minds to put them on because ive been told by a few people that they will drop it too low, i need to know if any m-tech owners are running there sport on the same setupp as this SPAX top adjustables 60mm lowering springs but you get a 40mm drop on the sport, part number TAP033 on th SPAX website, www.spax.co.uk thanks guys and gals

Sat Jun 25, 2005 1:30 pm

cant really help mate ,but seems as if your gonna have to just try it and see. why not just fit the rears first and see how you get on ??if they dont work, not to much time wasted and probs not worth trying the fronts which will take half a day

Sat Jun 25, 2005 1:42 pm

do you think i could try and do the rears myself? notreally to hot on with suspension as you can tell by all my question's, need to be sure it will be ok to go really beacuse i dont have the money to through around at the moment being unemployed!! cant really afford to pay 100 to have it stuck on then be paying another 150 for arch mods etc... cheers anyway buddy

Sat Jun 25, 2005 1:53 pm

http://www.bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/d ... Section=05 try click on this link should be a diy guide ,how to do it hope it helps

Sat Jun 25, 2005 5:07 pm

link wouldnt work matey

Sat Jun 25, 2005 5:18 pm

http://www.bimmerdiy.com/e30 here is the web site addy then look down to suspension [/url]

Sat Jun 25, 2005 5:30 pm

where bouts r u mate may b a zoner local to u could pop over and give u hand or at least explain/show how easy it is

Sat Jun 25, 2005 8:22 pm

im in stoke buddy, i know the rears are pretty straight forward, dont even wanna attempt the front end myself, been told things can get tricky if you dont know what your doing, really need some info about the kit ive bought, the spax website doent really give you enough detail on what models etc... just says 325 TAP033 and 325se sport TAP033, ive now had both of these kits although they are the same part number they are a totally different kit altogether, the kit ive had fitted was TAP033 se sport and that was a 40mm drop but actually dropped my car 80mm instead of the 40mm it said on the website, i now have the spax kit TAP033 for a 325 (standard) 60mm drop but ive been told mine will only drop 40mm with it being the 325i sport, obviously i dont wanna just bang the kit onand end up with an even silly drop. The kit i had before like i said was for a 325se sport, is there such a car and is this the reason i ended up with a silly 80mm drop, was it because it was the wrong kit for my car? thanks again

Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:08 pm

somebody pleeeeease !!! think it might just be a case of banging the kit on and making it fit !! looks like ill be rolling them arches !

Guest · Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:34 pm

TW166Y,
From my understanding of it the TAP033 fits both the standard 325i, the Sport and the Mtec SE, so long as any of them have 51mm front struts.

They are listed as two different drops (60mm (325i) and 40mm (Sport or SE)) because the two models have differing ride heights to start off with. The 325i runs 20mm higher than the Sport or Mtec SE so it will drop 20mm more...effectively though any 325 will end up with the same ride height when the TAP033 is stuck on.

If someone has fitted TAP033 to their 325 and had no proplems with rubbing then any other 325 should be the same as long as they are running standard wheel/tyre combos.

I have no idea how you got a 80mm drop on your set up before unless you were running non standard suspension before (i.e. a lot higher so it dropped more when installed), the kit was installed wrong, or there was something seriously wrong with your car!

This was my understanding of it, people please feel free to comment though.

Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:44 pm

cheers tracky a man i can truley trust,

right how do you mean if the kit was installed wrong?? will it sit lower if installed incorrectly? just wanna get facts right mate before i go spending again thats all, colin i dont know nothing about these suspension kit or how they are fitted could you give any advise? cheers matey

Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:49 pm

to sum all of this all up colin will i end up with a 60mm drop or a 40mm drop? i think im on the right tracks now, mine being 20mm lower than standard im still gonna end up with 60mm drop arnt i ?? if yes i think im gonna have major problems because mines sitting on 215/40/17's and i think im gonna need a set of tyres every day if this is the case, bugger shit and bollocks im gutted!!!

Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:34 am

60mm OR 40mm ?????

Guest · Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:39 pm

Hi mate, sorry missed this until now.

If you have a standard Sport or a standard SE with MTec sport suspension then the car will drop 40mm from when you stick the TAP033 on.

I can't think of a way a Sport would drop 80mm...unless your suspension was non standard to start with...i.e you were running with tall springs so the car was running higher than standard.

According to Bentley manual the standard front ride height of a Sport/Mtec SE is 550mm +-10mm. This is measured from the centre bottom of the wheel arch to the ground. The car has to be loaded when measured (68kg on front, passenger and middle of rear seats, 21kg in the boot and a full tank of full). With the TAP033 it will drop to 510mm on the front.