Suspension Lift for Rough Roads ?

[muttley]

I use the '76 Caterpillar D7G bulldozer to excavate catfish-rearing ponds down in the swamps, and my newly bought '90 BMW 535i with manual 5-speed to travel the mostly washboard roads in these parts. I photographed the two vehicles together because I was tickled to note from the spec sheets that the turbo-charged Cat 3306 tractor engine puts out 200 Hp, which is 8 horses less than the 208 HP rating of the E34's stock M30 Bix Six power plant. Hats off to German engineering. Cost me about 5 grand USD for this beauty, and she runs like new, knock on wood.

I sure wish stick-shift E34 535i's were as easy to find in Southern California where I spend part of the year as they are in sub-Saharan Africa where I work. Soon as I learned from this forum that the most trouble-free E34 would be the 535i / M30 / manual 5-speed setup, I had a choice of three cars to look over within an hour's drive of home. They are shipped over grey market from Europe where stick-shifts are the rule rather than the exception. But for my doubts about such an import passing Southern California's tough smog regulations, I'd have been tempted to check a few used car lots in Belgium on the way back to ship my choice E34 535i 5-Speed to So Cal so as to save myself the trouble that four-leaf clover search stateside. Anyone ever heard of someone going the grey market import route for this vintage vehicle ?

Also, can enyone recommend a source of slightly taller than stock springs to give the pictured E34 a hair more ground clearance for the rougher roads it will ply here in the third world ? Looking though the archives I've seen discussions in lowering the suspension of an E34, but nothing so far on increasing ride height for rough road driving. If taller springs do exist for E34s would there be any other suspension components that would need to be modified or replaced as part of the subtle body lift ?

Ps I tried several times to link the picture via Image Shack but...

[shogun]

The socalled bad road package or what they called in Germany Eastern Europe package. Originally it included a smaller fuell tank (higher clearance from bottom) and some spacers. That makes about 20 mm. Also some people with very wide rear tires use it to lift the rear instead of rolling the fender edges and the install on the front lowering springs.

Part numbers and prices in Germany:

Nr. 4, Stützlager LA Osteuropa, Nr. 33 52 1 091 692, EUR 19,37 inkl./Stück
Nr. 5, Adapter, Nr. 33 52 1 091 694, EUR 23,08 inkl./Stück


Note; part numbers are for the E32!

[genphreak]

...can enyone recommend a source of slightly taller than stock springs to give the pictured E34 a hair more ground clearance for the rougher roads it will ply here in the third world ? Looking though the archives I've seen discussions in lowering the suspension of an E34, but nothing so far on increasing ride height for rough road driving. If taller springs do exist for E34s would there be any other suspension components that would need to be modified or replaced as part of the subtle body lift ?

Hi muttley, In Australia we had taller springs for rougher roads. The online ETK lists them as special items. I'm not sure if there was much in it tho. I just put m-tech springs in, so you can have my old Aussie e34 springs if you pay me for a decent box and shipping. I also have a set of Bilstein Automatics for the front. You would need to get Bilstein HD rear shocks if you want to suit tall springs.

If you have Bilstein shocks (or any other shock with a removable spring seat ie not Sashs/Boge or most others), you can raise the rear (only) by using exact-sized seat-raising steel rings or tower mount spacers. You can make spacers for the front towers too, but opne needs a lathe and application to do it right.

I am going to make a set (seat rasiing rings) for mine to take the weight of my tow bar and give me 20mm or so extra height at the rear. I can do 2 sets if you like- you can safely go up to 2" higher than stock. But you have to tell me mich higher over stock you want them. With the springs, you can use e32 ones but these are for really for a much heavier car with a different weight distribution... so it might give you too much height or any number of other strange results...

Remember thogh, the rear should look a bit lower than the front for optimum handling... Nick

[muttley]

Hi muttley, In Australia we had taller springs for rougher roads. The online ETK lists them as special items. I'm not sure if there was much in it tho. I just put m-tech springs in, so you can have my old Aussie e34 springs if you pay me for a decent box and shipping. I also have a set of Bilstein Automatics for the front. You would need to get Bilstein HD rear shocks if you want to suit tall springs.

If you have Bilstein shocks (or any other shock with a removable spring seat ie not Sashs/Boge or most others), you can raise the rear (only) by using exact-sized seat-raising steel rings or tower mount spacers. You can make spacers for the front towers too, but opne needs a lathe and application to do it right.

I am going to make a set (seat rasiing rings) for mine to take the weight of my tow bar and give me 20mm or so extra height at the rear. I can do 2 sets if you like- you can safely go up to 2" higher than stock. But you have to tell me mich higher over stock you want them. With the springs, you can use e32 ones but these are for really for a much heavier car with a different weight distribution... so it might give you too much height or any number of other strange results...

Remember thogh, the rear should look a bit lower than the front for optimum handling... Nick

Thanks for the info Nick. If those Aussie tall springs are still around when I get to a part of the globe where the postal system works, I'll jump at a chance to buy them from you. Also I sure do appreciate the link to ETK.

Regarding the ride height, I would have thought intuitively that the vehicle would handle better with the front end slightly lower than the rear end, so I'm glad I found out that is not so before doing any mods.