Spring Rates.

[Morbid]

Wondering what you guys with aggresive fitment are running for spring rates. Especially you e36ers. I'm planning on getting coilovers soon and am looking for a good rate that will prevent me from rubbing and be as comfortable as possible at the same time. I drive my car often and don't want it to be back brakingly stiff.

I have H&r springs + bilsteins right now (car came with them). And my rears rub whenever I turn even slightly fast, lol. I'm running 17x9.5+17 in rear with 215/40's

[JSanders]

I'm thinking around 600f/700-750r? idk I'm no pro, just going by what I've read.

[Morbid]

Thanks for the info^ .. I was thinking I would probably need rates somewhere around there

Also looking for peoples opinions on how certain rates ride. Let me know how you guys like them and if you could daily a car that stiff. Mine isn't a daily, but I do drive it a good amount.

[bjh102]

600f/700r on my e36. daily driven. its bumpy but i also have all urethane bushings so that adds to it. not bad for a daily car. need to turn my rebound down tho.

go with that, i also know riffman12 (mike) is running 525 front and 550 rear or something close to that and it rides pretty good. i know he rubs in the rear sometimes but nothing too bad.

[Morbid]

So you think 600/700 is bearable for a daily? What kind of coilovers are you running?

The only experience I really have with spring rates is 447f / 335r stance coilovers on my old 89 240sx which wasn't bad. I'm not sure what the rates on my h&r springs that are on my e36 now are, but they're obviously way to soft for the wheels I'm trying to. I just don't want to end up getting a setup that I am not comfortable with driving often.

[Morbid]

Noone else with an e36 wants to chime in? I know there is like 10 more of you on here.. :)

[M.Burroughs]

I think your question has been answered. Brad is right pretty much.
Most of the e36s 'round here got their info from me, or from someone who got their info from me. :) 600/700 is good.

[MrJereMoose]

How much stiffer in the rear would be good for a vert?

[Morbid]

Yes my question has been answered, but I was also wondering what everyone's opinions are on how they ride and if they would have any complaints dailying a car on 600/700.

Do you guys think I would be okay with 500/600 or 550/650 or is 6/7 pretty much the minimum if I'm poking in the back.

I appreciate everyones input so far :)

[Ollie]

I run 550/700 and its pretty much perfect. Totally daily driveable, as it is my daily.

I'd go with a 700 out back with 17x9.5 et 17 imo.

[MrJereMoose]

How much stiffer in the rear would be good for a vert?

I've been looking around for an answer, and haven't come up with much in terms of stanced verts... All I've seen just says that verts need heavier springs in the rear. My guess for a good combo would be 600/800? What does everyone think? Anyone have a link to a stanced vert build thread somewhere?

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the thread jack...

[325irollin]

I think I'll post a question here too rather than start a new thread.

I was looking at the GC site and rather than buying the whole coilover setup I was just going to get the springs with adjustable sleeves and probably the camber plates. I already have new shocks and struts. Is this a good idea? Also, would I be able to slam my car with this setup? I'm a dumbass. Thank you

[DiScoTeknix]

Make sure your shocks are valved for high spring rates. Standard Koni yellows max out at 600lbs.

I'm on GC track/school coilovers with 450/550 springs. This is way too soft for me. I'm considering some AD shocks with something along the lines of 650/800 or 900/1050 springs.

[Morbid]

What rates you think I should go with. 560f/670r, 560f/780r, or 670f/780r ... 135mm springs. Not looking for a super harsh ride, but I'm okay with some stiffness.

[Bimmerteck]

Your shocks will have more to do with the ride than the minor differences your talking about in spring rates. If you spend half as much time on setting up your coilovers as you have trying to find the "perfect rate" you should be fine. As to how they ride that is really subjective some of us have run #1050 springs and thought they were fine others think #600 feels too harsh.

[Eric M]

I have DDMs with the stock rates which is something like 550f/350r. Maybe just these are soft or its NJ roads:shifty but the front is still soft if you wanna run an aggressive stance. Come spring I think I will order new stiffer springs for them.

[bavdrftr318]

I'm also interested in this... my coilovers are Bilstein PSS so I DONT have adjustable dampening. Right now I'm at 400fr 425r and I'm wondering how high rates I can go without being under dampened? I don't wanna bouncy car.... :rolleyes

[l!zerd]

im running 11kg in the front and 8kg in the back.
dunno what that is in lbs. lol

[FreshLikeSushi]

your problem is you dont quite understand suspension theory
your ride isnt determined by your spring, its determined by your shock/strut. Your spring only indicates how much force is needed to change the position of the body of the car vertically. The damper settings (I.E. Valving) determines how fast it compresses, and rebounds both determining your ride.

unless you revalve your shocks, buy good shocks, or whatever its going to be bumpy as fuck

even if you buy coilovers, you can only go 2k + or - from the one on there to stay in the supposed damper curve. most of the suspension i use you can send in for spring change and valve matching

[balleur]

im runnin 600/850 and i still rub like crazy and it not too harsh for me, to be honest it feels exactly the same as the 350/450 i had before but then again im on shitty koni shocks.. thinkin bout goin to 850/1050 and pairing that up with better shocks..

all this talk about spring rates and no shocks? whats a good shock/strut to buy? what specs do we need to look for as far as that goes?

[Morbid]

Also how hard is it to piece together your own coilover setup? Is it cheaper then already made setups? Whats involved? I still haven't touched my e36's suspension, but that's just because I'm contemplating keeping my e36 or e24. I'm aware I would need to go custom with the e24 as I don't know of any off the shelf coils for that.

Anyways any info is appreciated on mine and others' questions. I'm a noob with suspension and any info helps.

[Rickysbmw320i]

check bimmerforums.com, They have more e36's on there then white on rice

[NegativeCamber]

im runnin 600/850 and i still rub like crazy and it not too harsh for me, to be honest it feels exactly the same as the 350/450 i had before but then again im on shitty koni shocks.. thinkin bout goin to 850/1050 and pairing that up with better shocks..

all this talk about spring rates and no shocks? whats a good shock/strut to buy? what specs do we need to look for as far as that goes?

i might have missed this but, you arent on raceland struts anymore then? what i would do is pick up some blown konis dirt cheap and have them relaved and shortened to your own spec. its alittle over 200 for the service, so you come out to about the same price as off the shelf konis, but custom tailored. i just sold some ground control rear adjustable shocks for 50 bucks that needed revalving.