E9 spring replacement

deQuincey said:

my experience: using CN´s + Bilsteins B6

before:

after carl nelson springs

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Wow!

Carl Nelson springs can be installed while driving on a bridge against traffic and the car immediately grows a side mirror, Marchal fog lights, and Alpina rims!

Carl should be canonized alive.

Arde said:

Wow!

Carl Nelson springs can be installed while driving on a bridge against traffic and the car immediately grows a side mirror, Marchal fog lights, and Alpina rims!

Carl should be canonized alive.

Click to expand...

Yeah, where did you say that bridge was? ;-)

Yes. I have CN springs and neg camber plates. The car handles way better at speed, hiway on and off ramps are much better handled, less lean, car is flatter in the curves. The car is rock solid at 90+ mph and no longer catches wind like a boat with the bow out of the water like before. The Bilsteins make the ride firmer, the springs didn't contribute much if any to that aspect. And it looks badass when lower and properly stanced.

Arde said:

Did the car's handling change in any noticeable way?

Click to expand...

my 2 cents

First, de Q, nice ride! now on to the CN springs, I have now installed 3 complete sets, 2 for myself and one for a friend. There are folks here with much more e9 experience than I so I only add my comments as another opinion. On the 2 cars I've pretty much rebuilt I have made lots of changes that I then had to turn around and redo, bringing them closer to stock, I'm talking everything from door cards to exhaust systems; The CN springs/Bilsteins/camber plate combination is a bullet-proof install and improves the car in every way it is meant to. Even if you leave the stock sway bars in you will still have a superior ride, these pieces should not be considered an upgrade but a standard maintenance procedure. If you use 16 inch wheels you will have to roll the fenders and your ride will be noticeably stiffer due to the decreased sidewall and the wider contact patch from what I can ascertain. There may be a more scientific explanation but it's all I have. I also have 225/14 inch wheels/tires on an identically set up car and the ride feels "brand new", much smoother with a little more roll. The 16 vs 14 inch decision is one of personal preference however my suggestion would be to have both sets of wheels, the BF Goodrich T/A Radial 14 inch (raised letters inside) are very reasonably priced though aesthetically I prefer the 16 inch wheels. I have a set of 15 inch wheels I would like to try sometime as well, but for those of you who have the 14 inch wheels I would listen to the man in La Jolla, put in his combination and enjoy the brand new feeling of your coupe.

Other items that make a world of difference;
As long as you're in there-
Tie rod ends and ball joints
Idler arm
EVERY single bushing, including the sway bar bushings
Strut bearings
Rear spring perches
All rear bushings
New Diff mount

I'm aware that the parts for the above (not including the CN setup) is 6-800 bucks but you'll be happy and probably will never have to do them again under normal circumstances.

On the topic of 16"s: I started rubbing after lowering it. Im running 205/16's on the front, and my front wheels need to come in 5mm or so. I'm exploring options with machine shops to take out some of the wheel to bring them in a hair. A thought for those who are looking for bigger tires and a lowered stance.

Rolling the fenders won't be enough. Rather than pulling them, I'd rather machine my knock off wheels.

Stevehose said:

Yes. I have CN springs and neg camber plates. The car handles way better at speed, hiway on and off ramps are much better handled, less lean, car is flatter in the curves. The car is rock solid at 90+ mph and no longer catches wind like a boat with the bow out of the water like before. The Bilsteins make the ride firmer, the springs didn't contribute much if any to that aspect. And it looks badass when lower and properly stanced.

Click to expand...

yes, to all of these, Steve, but,...there is always a but...
now my car´s rear axle feels less stable in really Sharp bends at high speeds
i mean, she tends to drift more than before
there is a reson for that, once you make the front axle more rigid, you dont let the body transmit the energy in the same way
it is not noticeable for "legal" speeds driving but if you go to circuit ...be aware :-I

MyFemurHurts said:

On the topic of 16"s: I started rubbing after lowering it. Im running 205/16's on the front, and my front wheels need to come in 5mm or so. I'm exploring options with machine shops to take out some of the wheel to bring them in a hair. A thought for those who are looking for bigger tires and a lowered stance.

Rolling the fenders won't be enough. Rather than pulling them, I'd rather machine my knock off wheels.

Click to expand...

I'm running type 61 wheels and rolling the fenders was enough. They are 7.5" wide front and rear, so wider than the typical staggered Alpina 16" fronts... but I believe the offset is more favorable. The tires -almost- touch the strut, and almost touch the fender, but they avoid both.

-Scott

HB Chris said:

Link opens for me

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still cant open the link, is there any where else on the web

thx

deQuincey said:

my experience: using CN´s + Bilsteins B6

before:

after carl nelson springs


before

after CN springs


i like the stance very much

more actual pics




another one to compare, see now the before setting:

similar photo of before

see thread:

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14519&highlight=springs

Click to expand...

thx the ride looks stunning

Hi Guys,

Does anybody know what the factory ride hide for rear and front suspension was?

What should be the factory clearance between the top of the tire and the wheel arch with the standard 195/70 VR 14 rims and tires?

hi
what is the tire size front and rear of the red coupe]
thx

Stevehose said:

Yes. I have CN springs and neg camber plates. The car handles way better at speed, hiway on and off ramps are much better handled, less lean, car is flatter in the curves. The car is rock solid at 90+ mph and no longer catches wind like a boat with the bow out of the water like before. The Bilsteins make the ride firmer, the springs didn't contribute much if any to that aspect. And it looks badass when lower and properly stanced.

Click to expand...

deQuincey said:

yes, to all of these, Steve, but,...there is always a but...
now my car´s rear axle feels less stable in really Sharp bends at high speeds
i mean, she tends to drift more than before
there is a reson for that, once you make the front axle more rigid, you dont let the body transmit the energy in the same way
it is not noticeable for "legal" speeds driving but if you go to circuit ...be aware :-I

Click to expand...

Simple solution is to use your throttle to transfer a little more weight to the back to improve rear traction. Slow in, fast out...

205/55/ZR16 Front
225/50/ZR16 Rear

vorarat said:

hi
what is the tire size front and rear of the red coupe]
thx

Click to expand...

thx steve

why does the rear tire need lower profile than the front? would that make the rear end higher?

vorarat

Stevehose said:

205/55/ZR16 Front
225/50/ZR16 Rear

Click to expand...

Google "tire calculator"

The wider the tire, the taller it gets. To keep the same height, you get a lower aspect ratio tire

To put it simply - the aspect ratio is a percentage of the tyres width. I have 9.5. 40 AR on the rear and 8 .40AR on the front. 9.5 X 40% is 3.8" and 8 x 45% is 3.6" so nearly the same.

teahead said:

Google "tire calculator"

The wider the tire, the taller it gets. To keep the same height, you get a lower aspect ratio tire

Click to expand...

Rek said:

To put it simply - the aspect ratio is a percentage of the tyres width. I have 9.5. 40 AR on the rear and 8 .40AR on the front. 9.5 X 40% is 3.8" and 8 x 45% is 3.6" so nearly the same.

Click to expand...

Correction - 45AR on the front.

The rear rims are wider than the fronts ("staggered") thus the different ratios front and back to keep the circumferences close.

vorarat said:

thx steve

why does the rear tire need lower profile than the front? would that make the rear end higher?

vorarat

Click to expand...

teahead said:

Google "tire calculator"

The wider the tire, the taller it gets. To keep the same height, you get a lower aspect ratio tire

Click to expand...

I never understood the rationale behind this... It creates a moving target that makes things much harder than they should be.

Seems to me that since the second number describes the "height" of the tire, it should be either a fixed number like the width and wheel diameters are or, if it is a ratio, it should be a ratio of something that relates to the "height" like the wheel diameter. Not the tire width...

Bmachine said:

I never understood the rationale behind this... It creates a moving target that makes things much harder than they should be.

Seems to me that since the second number describes the "height" of the tire, it should be either a fixed number like the width and wheel diameters are or, if it is a ratio, it should be a ratio of something that relates to the "height" like the wheel diameter. Not the tire width...

Click to expand...

just think how much easier it would be if this were true. you wouldn't have to worry about throwing the speedo / odo off by changing tire sizes.