Which dampers and springs for a 320i se

[eldarvanyar]

Hi guys,

what's your thoughts on the best damper and springs for my 320iSE? It has done 103,000 miles on the originals and I think its about time that it was sorted.

I don't really want to lower it, a friend of mine who is a BMW Tech and has had a lot of experience with E30s has advised against it 'because they are not designed to be lowered' and that it causes problems, and I am thinking more of keeping it as original as possible.

What makes should I go for i.e. Sachs/Boge, Bilstein from euro car parts or GSF etc? What springs - Eibach, Gmax etc ?

Is it worth putting a strut bar on it, anti roll bars etc to help sort the handling out?

Can anyone recommend anywhere in Essex, I am near Jct 29 of the M25.

Look forward to hearing what you think

[handpaper]

If it's done 100k+ on the original dampers, I'd say yes, they need changing. There's no real reason to change the springs unless you want to change the way the car behaves.
AFAIK, GSF do Sachs as their standard replacement shock, these will be fine for normal use. You can get better quality oil and gas dampers if you want to spend a little more.
There are good reasons not to lower an e30, probably the best is that the sump plug is the lowest point on the car and you really DO NOT want to smack it against a speed bump or similar. You will find, however, that it will be difficult to find uprated (stiffer) springs that don't lower the car.
Your car already has an anti-roll bar (at least my 320iSE does ) which is more than adequate for road use. It may be worth replacing the bushes and almost certainly the links between the control arms and anti-roll bar (£ 8 each at GSF), which seem designed to fail regularly.
Strut brace? If you're looking to do lots of track days or your job description is 'Getaway Driver', then maybe a front one. With standard springs and dampers, though, all you'll be doing is making the car a bit heavier. Forget rear braces completely - because of the way the e30's rear suspension works all they do is reduce boot space.
In your position, I'd just replace the dampers and every single suspension bush, front and rear. Just this will leave the car pretty much standard, but you'll certainly feel the difference.

[eldarvanyar]

Thanks for that, I will do as you suggest, and make sure all the bushes are changed as well. If I put new springs on as direct replacement and not lowered what ones would you go for, and I would rather pay a bit more for better dampers/shocks. What would you reccommend, Bilstein etc?

[dazleeds]

ya wnt go wrong with bilsteins fella

and yes i would say sort a rear anti roll bar and strut braces if ya wanna stiffen things up without lowering these should help quite a bit

not sure bout the bmw tech advising against lowering??
maybe excessive lowering yes
but lowering using quality products fitted correctly wont cause any probs imo

also check all bushes
youll be amazed how different a car feels when they are all good and strong

[eldarvanyar]

Thanks daz, which bilsteins would you recommend as they do various ones and kits such as streeline etc?
Thanks
Lee