Suspension recommendations?

[bab-91]

Going to be pulling bitz of the bottom of the car for powder coating.

So the old mantra of 'in for a penny, in for a pound' has come into effect.

The rear of the car is rather bouncy so thought I'd do some pedoing.

At the moment I'm thinking:

Bilsten rear shocks
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-E30-198 ... 1e79aaba71

Powerflex kit
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERFLEX-SUS ... 35a6dbd925

Should I be considering anything else?

[Kos]

I'd stick with OEM bushes Robert

[bab-91]

Powerflex too hard?

[Grrrmachine]

Poly bushes don't work in the same way as rubber, and that can be good or bad depending on what you want from the car.

For example, with trailing arm bushes you want the rubber to distort; the bush is jammed tightly into position, and for the arm to swing up and down the rubber needs to flex and twist; as it twists one way, it stores up energy which is released as the arm swings down again.

In contrast, poly bushes spin - they don't flex. This means they're constantly rubbing and grinding within their sleeves, which creates friction and therefore a harsher operation. You won't feel it immediately, but once the fitting lube dries out the poly bush offers a rougher ride without even performing the suspension function of the original rubber.

Do that to every joint at the rear end, and you're removing a significant amount of dampening to the system without making any gains in terms of stiffness or tightness (i.e racing performance). You've just turned the back into a painful old boneshaker.

[bab-91]

hmm, some oem rubber ones it is! I just wanted to take some of the bounce out of the back.

Some new shocks and rubber should do the job.

[Brianmoooore]

TBH, just new standard dampers would probably take "all the bounce out of the back".
Dampers do not last 100,000 miles+!
Leave the plastic rubbish to the Vau****l, F**d, and French/Jap cr*p owners. It will give all the problems listed above, and almost certainly wear out before OE rubber.

[bab-91]

It is very bouncy

So you don't rate the bilstens?

[capri_rob]

Bilstein or H&R dampers are the way to go with OEM bushes.

[Brianmoooore]

I rate Bilsteins very highly, but personally I far prefer B4s to the B6/8.
The point I'm trying to make is that it's working dampers that you need, rather than necessarily uprated dampers.

[bab-91]

Ah yea, Well if I was to go to the bother of replacing my bouncy castle dampers I might as well get uprated dampers.

[Chris_B86]

I've got H&R Cup kit, took it for it's first drive, really impressed. Firmed the wallowy ride up, but not so harsh it breaks your spine

[capri_rob]

I've got B4's on mine and I can recommend them - good damping, great handling and not too hard to ruin the ride comfort.

[bab-91]

Would you stick with oem springs or did you opt for something else?

[capri_rob]

Would you stick with oem springs or did you opt for something else?

I believe H&R do dampers and springs- if you fit Bilstein dampers the perfect spring for them is Eibachs.

The OEM M Tech stuff is too expensive for what it is.

[guss]

Oem all the way

[guss]

Motor sport kit fitted, 2 months later feels very nice just gets better

[bab-91]

Would you stick with oem springs or did you opt for something else?

I believe H&R do dampers and springs- if you fit Bilstein dampers the perfect spring for them is Eibachs.

The OEM M Tech stuff is too expensive for what it is.

[Finto_316]

ive bought every bush for the car using lemforder ,meyle,febi bilstein and bmw bushes which would of been suplied by one of those, when i received my rear droplinks the bmw print was grinded out and they were from lemforder. try and just buy these brands from motor fsctors or online saves you alot of money