Quote Originally Posted by Speeder 553
I am having Koni Sport shocks with Eibach Pro-Kit springs installed (next week) and the spec call for a 1.2" front and 1.0" rear drop for (5 Series 88-95 E34 per Shox.com). The Eibach tech said that 1/2" clearance between the tires and the wheel wells is ideal?

My main concern is getting it dropped too LOW for my heavy V8 and my much larger than OE wheel/tire set up (18" Schnitzer Type III Wheels (E39) w BFG G-Force Sports 245/40ZR-18’s front & back) and my front end bottoming out (bang) and my wheels RUBBING!!!!!!

I’m getting a fresh set of Upper Spring Pads (9mm) from the Dlr. and my question is; should I install the new spring pads on top of the old pads (9mm) to give me an additional ¼” height to insure that I get enough tire/wheel well clearance? I think it would drop the car about 1" in front and 3/4" in the rear and that would be a good thing considering the extra weight of my V8 and my larger than OE tire/wheel set up... right???

With this set up I would only cut the bump stops an 1” (assuming they are the standard E34 3.5) for a net length of 2.5”... correct vs. 1.5" with just one set of 9mm Upper Spring Pads?

My mech is putting in new rear shock mounts and I had new Lendforder Thrust Arms w 750il bushings installed about 12k ago so those should still be fine. Anything I’m missing I could have done while it’s being R&R’d??

I would really appreciate your feedback.

I wanted to write a short follow up. The Koni/Eibach set up it perfect for my 540i. The ride is super smooth yet feels tight and has a ton of control cornering. NO tire rubbing or bottoming out whatsoever and I got the expected drop that Eibach quoted (1.2" F and 1.0" R) which gave me approx 1/2" clearance between my tires and wheel wells... perfect fit!

Notes; only one set of new 9mm Upper Springs Pads were installed (not stacked as there was no room to fit them in and they were not needed anyway). The Bump Stops were cut down to 1.5" finished length. The new rear shock mounts were not installed as I found out that I had rear struts NOT rear shocks and the existing strut mounts were in good shape.