I was going to revive an old post concerning a front ride height issue with the M5 last year but the old post pics are no longer available. Recap - after replacing my 20+ yr old Dinan springs and Billy sports with IE spring and new Billy sports, the front end of the car went back to OEM ride height. I'm getting the original 16" baskets soon and it will look horrible with this gap!
It's been almost a year and the ride height is till pretty high to my liking. I'm thinking about removing the front struts this weekend to see if the freakishly thick BOGE strut mounts have "crushed" enough. I found some old pictures showing to me 99% of my issue is the new strut bearing mounts. As you may know BOGE only makes one type now for our cars w/ a larger diameter "hole" so the old dust caps won't fit. As you can see from the pictures, the ride height is definitely going to change drastically for my particular set up. I have E90 hats in the pictures which helped a little. I don't want to waste money on new springs because the issue is the much thicker strut bearings that seem to resist "crushing" to the desired height. Coilovers are out of the question for my daily driver too. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
This is how high the front end was after 300 miles. A little exaggerated due to the grass at Bimmerfest 2013.
This is new bearing inside E90 hat.
Old bearing inside E90 hat. That is an almost 2" difference!
Are the red springs a newer version of the original blue Ireland Springs? I got rid of my blue springs due to stiffness and ride height. I had replaced everything as you have. I went to the M-Tech Short Red and it dropped at least 1" with Much better ride.
The "new" mounts that you're using are long discontinued e24 mounts. Since then, the newer version mounts are listed as both e24 and e28 fitment, but the earlier version that you have might be different enough to be causing your ride height problem.
Sorry I can't help much... I was asking some of the same questions a while ago about differences in strut mounts specifically. There appears to be nothing really like the original ones anymore.
I think I used Meyle e24/28/30 front mounts and found them to be about 1/2" taller but did used them in combo with E90 hats which should have given that 1/2" back. But in combination with new Billies with more gas pressure and new spring pads mine went up about 1/2" where I was hoping to get a slight drop.
Since I still have my stock M6 springs and nothing to loose I chose to cut 1/2 coil off both top and bottom of the spring, most of that dead winding I guess. This brought it back where I'm happy. It's slightly flatter stance again and firm but not harsh ride. Most of the firmer was probably the Billies doing their job. If I ever do remove the SLS I will just get the M-Tech springs all around for my car.
tn535i wrote:Sorry I can't help much... I was asking some of the same questions a while ago about differences in strut mounts specifically. There appears to be nothing really like the original ones anymore.
I think I used Meyle e24/28/30 front mounts and found them to be about 1/2" taller but did used them in combo with E90 hats which should have given that 1/2" back. But in combination with new Billies with more gas pressure and new spring pads mine went up about 1/2" where I was hoping to get a slight drop.
Since I still have my stock M6 springs and nothing to loose I chose to cut 1/2 coil off both top and bottom of the spring, most of that dead winding I guess. This brought it back where I'm happy. It's slightly flatter stance again and firm but not harsh ride. Most of the firmer was probably the Billies doing their job. If I ever do remove the SLS I will just get the M-Tech springs all around for my car.
I can't tell you how many people have suggested cutting a coil off the fronts but was avoiding the mere mention in any forum~ The IE springs I have are the newer red springs -produced by Eibach, according to their website (and no longer advertised as Dinan copies). I have to confess, when I first got my M5 (I'm the original owner) there were no options of lowering the car at all. No aftermarket companies made anything for the car back then. (still don't. I don't know of any specific lowering springs made just for the M5 except the factory M Techs) A very good friend and old school hot rod mechanic buddy of mine convinced me to cut a coil off the fronts and he adjusted the sensor for the SLS and dropped the M5 a full 1.5" front and 1" rear. If I remember correctly we did change out the front shocks to Konis. I ran the car this way for at least 5 - 6 years before I did the Dinan Stage 2 set up. I didn't feel any adverse effects - no bouncy, bad ride or accidents. Of course this is something I didn't condone to anyone even though my results were positive.
Here is an old picture from the European Car article on my car in Oct 1999 - w/ cut front spring and and relocated SLS sensor.
On the cover of European Car Mag 1999 by 1REALM5, on Flickr I'm going to see if there are other aftermarket springs that can give me the needed 1" drop up front before I do anything with a cutting wheel.
Why not give Spax a try? They give a pretty healthy drop. I think over time your new suspension will settle. That's pretty much what happened with your strut mounts. There's quite a bit of pressure on them.
Also, the larger the wheels and lower aspect ratio of the tires, the more magnified the wheel gap. I don't think the E90 hats make a difference, personally.
wkohler wrote:Why not give Spax a try? They give a pretty healthy drop. I think over time your new suspension will settle. That's pretty much what happened with your strut mounts. There's quite a bit of pressure on them.
Also, the larger the wheels and lower aspect ratio of the tires, the more magnified the wheel gap. I don't think the E90 hats make a difference, personally.
Thanks, I have Spax on my list. I'm just waiting for my 16x7.5 (OEM M5) to come back from the power coating shop. Someone had a set of never used Suspension Techniques from the early 90's (green) that advertised 1.50 drop up front but decided to keep them. I hope you are right about the E90 hats because that car may look slammed again with lower springs. I threw away the old rusty hats. Is Moosehead still our source for Spax?
The IE springs I have are the newer red springs -produced by Eibach, according to their website (and no longer advertised as Dinan copies). I have to confess, when I first got my M5 (I'm the original owner) there were no options of lowering the car at all. No aftermarket companies made anything for the car back then. (still don't. I don't know of any specific lowering springs made just for the M5 except the factory M Techs) A very good friend and old school hot rod mechanic buddy of mine convinced me to cut a coil off the fronts and he adjusted the sensor for the SLS and dropped the M5 a full 1.5" front and 1" rear. If I remember correctly we did change out the front shocks to Konis. I ran the car this way for at least 5 - 6 years before I did the Dinan Stage 2 set up. I didn't feel any adverse effects - no bouncy, bad ride or accidents. Of course this is something I didn't condone to anyone even though my results were positive. 
I'm going to see if there are other aftermarket springs that can give me the needed 1" drop up front before I do anything with a cutting wheel.
Is Moosehead still our source for Spax?