E30 Zone

Hi

A friend of mine has a 325 which is lowered 60mm all round on springs and shocks. The rear shocks are reaching the end of there usable life and need to be replaced soon. Can he replace them with standard rear shocks or does he need to go with something like B8s that are designed for lowered cars. The car only does a couple of hundred miles a year so ride quality is not overly important.

Thanks in advance

if its currently on standard shocks theres no reason why he cant put it back on them, so i would say yes, maybe b4's would be a slight upgrade, someone will be along with a better answer soon im sure

B4s should be fine if he isn't doing any hard driving. They're reasonably priced too.

Cheers guys. I am not sure what is in it at present. Are b4s the same length as standard m-tech shocks.

Sorry forgot to mention that it would original have have m-tech suspension before being lowered.

He is the sort of person who wants to drop into a motor factors and get a pair of shocks to match his car and then probably drop out to me to fit them. I have had an E30 for years but have always had standard m-tec suspension.

I couldn't say for sure but I'm pretty sure they are. Boge Turbo were the OEM shocks but either those or the B4 seem to come well recommended.

Throw the springs away at the same time.

If it's lowered 60mm, you'll be wanting shorter shocks I believe. I think the recommended max drop with standard shocks is 30mm.

Thanks lads.

jmc330i: That's that I would have thought. But wondered if it was more a necessity or a recommendation.

He is looking for a cheap a cheerful replacement so, I am not sure it that is possible when he might have to get shorter shocks.

jmc330i wrote:If it's lowered 60mm, you'll be wanting shorter shocks I believe. I think the recommended max drop with standard shocks is 30mm.

That is what I have always been told.

The max drop of 30mm isn't because of the shocks, but because of the suspension geometry being buggered up on the back end, leading to excessive tyre wear. Of course, shorter shocks will help your handling if you have dropped the arse that much.

Grrrmachine wrote:The max drop of 30mm isn't because of the shocks, but because of the suspension geometry being buggered up

Yes that's true, but I was talking about the shorter springs (for a 60mm drop) with standard shocks could cause issues when the suspension is at full travel.

So what is the general consensus. Standard shocks will do but you probably wont have the best geometry

id assume the car may also hit the bump stops if your pressing on

The geometry will be buggered by the 60mm drop, not the shocks. You could use standard shocks I guess, the ride quality will be shite anyway.