lowered x5 caution

[macca]

hi all i had an interesting experience yesterday with my X5 E53, ive lowered it with ibach coils about 1.5 inches.

anyway i had to go through a steep driveway with a twist and ended up with two diagonal wheels off the ground no dramas the car handled it ok however one of the rear springs left its mounting lower point and from then on every bump i hit there was this weird noise,

when i got home i jacked it up and easily saw the problem, however i have to say what a pathetic design, there is absolutely no physical clamping of the lower spring to perch, no bucket for the spring to sit in,only a rubber insulator with a circular tab that locates to the lower perch ( hope that makes sense), theres no mechanical attachment at all, so the spring with no weight on it moved sideways, causing the body to rub on the spring on bumps.

easy to fix, but it may be i need slightly shorter shocks so as to keep the lower control arm from swinging down so much and allowing the spring to unload.

what with camber issues and now this I'm starting to regret modifying this vehicle at all.

ewen

[Ubatoid]

I wonder how your argument would stand up if you presented it to the BMW design team responsible for the Suspension?

[mikem]

Try and find some helper springs for it ??

[Horizon]

You should have bought a 5 series ) ) )

[macca]

sorry horizon, not getting it, are 5 series not the same suspension, or is this a known problem that ive just found??

[Ubatoid]

Sounds like you've created a problem rather than found one.

[Raj]

When lowering using the original shocks you do need to keep in mind the potential movement in certain circumstances. If normal road use its only intention then you'll never really have this issue. But getting into a situation where you end up with both diagonal wheels off the ground is t normal use tbh in which case you will need to get matching shocks with shortened travel.

My KW V3s even at full extension of the shock the spring is firmly in place.

[Horizon]

[quote="macca"]
sorry horizon, not getting it, are 5 series not the same suspension, or is this a known problem that ive just found??
[/quote]

Sorry mate, just a joke. I meant if you wanted a car that was lower to the ground you should have got a five series and saved you the trouble of trying to get a 4x4 to be the same height as a saloon car.

I admit it was a lame joke ::)

[macca]

nah your welcome horizon, yeah i agree on the surface it seems silly having an X5 then lowering it, however in my case i bought it as a commuter car to get to and from work, 100km round trip, and with good economy being a diesel.

(i have a Jeep Cherokee with lifted suspension and big wheels that is my weekend warrior)

when i bought the X5 i wanted the sport model for the look and also the sport seats however had no idea how hard the suspension was.

so i had it lowered in part as a by product of getting , not softer but more compliant springs ( Ibach) and new struts/shocks.

and actually the ride is now for me perfect, with no loss for me in handling.

only negative is that now it has to much camber that i need to address.

[Raj]

I agree with lowering it as that's what I've done and love the ride and look. But needs to be done properly though.

[macca]

just dropped the X off at the mechanics to get the bushes fitted, and a service if they have the time, these guys build and maintain cars for club racing and also look after cars raced in our (aus) Porsche cup.

so im reasonably confident they are going to get it right, only thing is they dont come cheap, hence the reason i tried the first guy.

UPDATE: bored at work so took a walk down to the mechanics, service is done bushes are in, mechanic just has to bolt the rhs side back up, then its off to the wheel alignment machine, i will be interesting to see the end result.

the inner material of the bush is able to rotate within the outer sleeve, for adjustment, once adjusted and locked down the inner material still moves in relation to the outer sleeve as a function of the suspension moving, so will be interesting to see how it wears

that sound difficult to understand, so imagine that the bush is mounted solid to the cars frame and the outer part - sleeve is mounted to the control arm, as the suspension goes up and down the outer sleeve actually moves in relation to the poly material that the bush is made of, sounds weird ???

hopefully this is not a short-term cure, i do hi km per year i don't want to be replacing them any time soon

[Raj]

Should be all good. The bolt is offset to allow the adjustment just as with OE style. They'll be fine. Although I do get creaking from them now.

[macca]

picked it up , but have to take it back today, as they only had time to do a rough alignment, no real noticeable difference with the firmer bushes, which is good, maybe feels a little more controlled in the rear end!! once the wheel alignment is done i can get new tyres , so i guess i wont really
notice any difference till then

[macca]

ok ive had the alignment done and its now perfect, heaps of adjustment and the guys could get it just right, doesnt have that excessive camber look from the rear,

handles and rides perfectly, so what was a mission has for me turned out well.

even though i have seriously worn rear tyres ( inner edges) the tyre roar has reduced dramatically.

so now for new tyres