[Liquidpaper]

FWIW I haven't had any issues with my H&R springs with either daily use or track use. I guess I'm either lucky, or blissfully ignorant.

[Pparana]

Originally Posted by Liquidpaper

FWIW I haven't had any issues with my H&R springs with either daily use or track use. I guess I'm either lucky, or blissfully ignorant.

Ignorance always works!, I ordered the new ground control plates as my kmak ones need new bearings and have a little slop with the dinan spings.


I mentioned the HR springs to Trevor email correspondence below:


Me:

"Just a heads up, but if your clients are running the hr springs, they are riding on the bump stops, and if you remove the bump stop, there is only about 10-15 mm of shock travel, in other words the spring is not strong enough and will transmit all the force to the strut, and plate. That would probably lead to some of the failure you have seen. "

Trevor:


"Thanks for your e-mail and information! We had installed a set of F8X camber plates on a customers car here, and I had the same thoughts about the H&R spring on that car. The springs seemed to be very soft. "

[alexc93]

Honestly I think H&R need to chime in at this point.

There has been A LOT of people needing strut replacement after H&R springs which in previous models has never been the case... I know people who have been running H&R on E92's for 80k miles with no issues.

H&R don't even provide or recommend replacing bump stops (like the dinan shorter ones), which is unacceptable of them considering how big of a brand H&R is.

I was completely set on going H&R until I read these reviews..I'm not sure if H&R are active on the forum but if not maybe a vendor can chime in on their behalf.

H&R - chime in please?

[pimp4cheddar]

Originally Posted by alexc93

Honestly I think H&R need to chime in at this point.

There has been A LOT of people needing strut replacement after H&R springs which in previous models has never been the case... I know people who have been running H&R on E92's for 80k miles with no issues.

H&R don't even provide or recommend replacing bump stops (like the dinan shorter ones), which is unacceptable of them considering how big of a brand H&R is.

I was completely set on going H&R until I read these reviews..I'm not sure if H&R are active on the forum but if not maybe a vendor can chime in on their behalf.

H&R - chime in please?

Bump because I've heard mixed stories as well...some additional info would be great.

[inktomi]

Otherwise, if H&R can't let us know directly, does anyone have objective proof of the claims that our cars ride on or close to stops with their springs? What should we be looking for to help us decide if we want to continue using these springs?

I love how my car looks with my H&R springs on it, but I do notice that when I hit a medium sized or larger pot hole (LA... /sigh) it seems like I ran into a wall rather than having any cushion available.

That's not objective, and I don't know what is actually hitting, but I did recently have my car into a BMW Collision Center for an accident where they inspected all the suspension and related stuff - and they didn't mention or want to replace anything.

[Tpeterson]

Originally Posted by inktomi

Otherwise, if H&R can't let us know directly, does anyone have objective proof of the claims that our cars ride on or close to stops with their springs? What should we be looking for to help us decide if we want to continue using these springs?

I love how my car looks with my H&R springs on it, but I do notice that when I hit a medium sized or larger pot hole (LA... /sigh) it seems like I ran into a wall rather than having any cushion available.

That's not objective, and I don't know what is actually hitting, but I did recently have my car into a BMW Collision Center for an accident where they inspected all the suspension and related stuff - and they didn't mention or want to replace anything.

I don't have any proof,but if the H&R springs lower the ride height by 1.2 in. on the Adaptive suspension and 1.4 in. on Standard and Sport and you use the OE bump stops you're going to have that much less suspension travel before you hit the bump stops. Which is why Dinan sells and uses shorter ones.
Someone said once on this forum that Dinan uses bump stops from the E-36 M3 which are available from BMW.I can't vouch for the accuracy of that statement,but if it is true you could use those with your H&R springs to get back some suspension travel. Or you could cut the bump stops you have by 1.2 or 1.4 in. But it appears that the H&R springs are maybe too soft for even that to work.

[inktomi]

Do you happen to know what part is actually the bump stop?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part...MW-M235i&mg=31

Forgive me, I understand the how and why of what we're talking about, but I'm just trying to find on the parts what we're talking about...

[Tpeterson]

Originally Posted by inktomi

Do you happen to know what part is actually the bump stop?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part...MW-M235i&mg=31

Forgive me, I understand the how and why of what we're talking about, but I'm just trying to find on the parts what we're talking about...

Looks like #5 in guide support/spring pad attachments. Picture of front and rear stops in accessories and retro-fittings picture.
Or here

http://www.dinancars.com/product/d19...ries&mid=1183/

[HeyMac08]

Originally Posted by Liquidpaper

Got my springs installed today along with an alignment (2.25 F&R camber, 3/32 toe rear, 0 front).

Overall, I like the springs. Looks great, and the ride is noticeably more stiff. Less secondary motions. I like them.

One weird thing is my suspension people said that the springs are a great fit, but are a little short for the front struts, so you need to be careful that they don't pop out if you use a floor jack to get the car up to change a tire. Other than that, went smoothly.

I'll post a more thorough review after doing some track time this weekend.

How much did it cost you to get installed
+ alignment?

[Richy_Boy]

I'll be fitting H&R Sport with Koni Yellows next weekend - with [shorter] e36 M3 bump stops (if it's not raining!)

I'll try and get some measurements when it's done and again once it's settled.

Rich

[StarMan]

Reading this thread really has me in second thoughts. I have the springs and was going to install this weekend, but after reading, i probably will just keep the stock height....... .. the cars height is fine for me, it's just the blasted wheel gap i hate

[Liquidpaper]

Originally Posted by starvmarv

Reading this thread really has me in second thoughts. I have the springs and was going to install this weekend, but after reading, i probably will just keep the stock height....... .. the cars height is fine for me, it's just the blasted wheel gap i hate

I'm going to level with you. If you care more about how the car drives than how it looks, do not put the H&R springs on. If you value looks over functionality (no judgment, it's cool if you do), go for it.

I had the H&R for about a year, and then one day I switched tires (I have it in a thread somewhere) and my car started to rub, even with rolled fenders. I said "fuck it" and just went back to stock springs. Best decision I ever made. The car rides SO MUCH better (it can actually absorb a bump) and doesn't scrape going over a pop-tart.

I feel like whatever handling "benefit" the H&R springs have is vastly outweighed by the damage to the shocks/struts, and the bottom of your car, and loss of general driveability. Personally, I had fitted H&R sway bars about six months ago (highly recommend -- great upgrade), and really no longer needed the "stiffness" (read: suspension crashing) provided by the springs. Now, I can go over bumps (LA has horrible roads) without fear of damage, and my car stays flat as a pancake on corners.

I have heard from many people that you really shouldn't just swap springs. I never understood this before, but I do now. Either do a shock/spring combo, or do coilovers. Just springs is a half-measure that doesn't really provide you with any benefit other than the car looking cool.

Also, the "1 inch" advertised drop is inaccurate. I think after all was said and done, my front dropped closer to 1.5 or 2 inches. It was crazy.

I think some day when my suspension goes out I will probably move to some EDC coils or something. But in the meantime, I am pretty happy with the stock suspension + sway bars + camber plates. Drives great.

[StarMan]

Originally Posted by Liquidpaper

I'm going to level with you. If you care more about how the car drives than how it looks, do not put the H&R springs on. If you value looks over functionality (no judgment, it's cool if you do), go for it.

Yea i'm still within the return period (i'll just have to pay shipment back). Plus my new front lip is coming in as well, didn't think about the drop with that installed.

[Richy_Boy]

Originally Posted by starvmarv

Yea i'm still within the return period (i'll just have to pay shipment back). Plus my new front lip is coming in as well, didn't think about the drop with that installed.

H&R springs + front lip will be a very expensive mistake, unless you live in a world of glass smooth roads.

I think it's fair to say, any spring that drops 1"+ is well out of the designed working range of travel for an OEM shock. The solution is a short-throw aftermarket shock absorber, which should both improve the handling and longevity.

I went with Koni Yellow shocks, so I can adjust the damping to my preference - on my e46 it allowed me to go from a *touch* softer than OEM to pretty rock hard and everything in between.

Richard

[Richy_Boy]

Is this new... my H&R Sport springs came with H&R bump stops?





Against BMW e36 M3 bump stops (H&R are shorter still)


Richard

[tenfour]

^^wow. Interesting. First I've seen.

Anyone else recently ordered H&R springs that can confirm?

[StarMan]

Originally Posted by Richy_Boy

Is this new... my H&R Sport springs came with H&R bump stops?

Where did you order yours from? I just returned my h&r springs too

[Richy_Boy]

Originally Posted by starvmarv

Where did you order yours from? I just returned my h&r springs too

I bought them from a German company through eBay. (I'm in the UK)

Item.. 221808430144

It's worth pointing out, I bought these at the end of January.

[x233]

Looks like H&R might be reading this thread after all )

[ocN55]

Originally Posted by Richy_Boy

I'll be fitting H&R Sport with Koni Yellows next weekend - with [shorter] e36 M3 bump stops (if it's not raining!)

I'll try and get some measurements when it's done and again once it's settled.

Rich

What did you end up doing with EDC?

[Richy_Boy]

Originally Posted by ocN55

What did you end up doing with EDC?

In the UK edc is an option.. I bought my car off a friend (who was moving to the US) and he didn't select edc when he spec'ed it from new.

The car came with passive M Sport suspension.. there's an upgrade kit to take it to M Performance spec, but so little people have given reviews that I decided to stick with a combo I know and can be adjusted to suit.

Picture comparing OEM M235i front bump stops to e36 M3 units:


The H&R units were a touch smaller still than the M3 ones.

I hope that helps...

Rich

[thielepr]

New member here. After reading all this thread it makes me wondering if people takes spring rates in account when swapping springs. The M235i have soft springs from factory, at least for my taste.

Apart from the M235i, I have an S2000 with GC\Koni coilovers with 550 front springs and 450 rears. But the factory rates of the s2000 was on the 200's. The M235i feels softer than my S2000 with the stock suspension. Of course the magic trick of the bimmer are the adjustable shocks.

Does anyone know the stock spring rate for the M235i? Also, what are the rates for the H&R