 | Cost: $600 or more Time: 4-6hours |
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| Touring Lowering Information: Spurred on by Roger Neef’s arrangement of the group purchase of Sachs Sports Suspensions from Bekkers, a few of us Touring owners went looking for complete information on how to get our Wagons closer to the ground. As it happened, we were unable to get in on the Sachs purchase. Since those kits are built around Eibach springs, and Ebiach makes NO springs for the Touring wagon, we were out of luck. Other options were found, one rather mild, one a bit more wild. On the mild side, BMW makes a Sport suspension for the E34 Touring, in the spring table, they refer to it as the "Low Slung Sport Suspension." These are conservative sport springs with a .5 - .75 inch drop, matched to our cars and tuned by BMW. These springs will give a drop similar to the drop seen on the factory M-Technic suspension, or on the Dinan stage I suspension kits. I have not worked out yet whether there are BMW factory shocks that go along with these springs. There are many aftermarket shocks available in different firmness that should match your desired manner of driving. Paul at Maximillian Imports can get any and all of these springs for us, and his current prices are $279 for a set of 4 springs.
Part numbers below are from the E34 Spring table. In the notes that follow, numbers used are the last 3 digits of a spring part number. Things to consider when dealing with BMW spring part numbers –
BMW Sport Springs, Part numbers from ETK Spring Table: (All with description Low Slung Sport Suspension, AC, CD Changer, Dual Sunroof, power seats, cargo cover & nets, roof rack, +50KG rear load) Here I list the "Low Slung Sports Suspension" spring part numbers for our Tourings. The part number listed is the part number returned from the spring table, the numbers in parentheses are the part number range available. Based on the notes above, you could increment or decrement the part number given to find a slightly lighter or heavier spring for your taste. 525iT - front - 31 33 1 138 810 (808-812) 530iT - front - 31 33 1 138 812 (808-812) On the wilder side, H&R makes lowering spring kits for the Touring wagon in it’s self-leveled (1992-1993) and un-self-levelled (1994-1995) forms. The H&R kits will drop the front of the Touring between 1.5 and 1.7 inches, the rear drop will be between .5 and .7 inches. This will be a nice, low, tight ride. There are no matched shocks available for these kits, but they are generally sold with Bilstein Sport shocks. BMP should be able to work a kit out if those are the components you desire, they list many of what they call the HRB kits, though you will have to call them with the H&R part numbers listed below. TMS quoted prices of $239 for the Touring springs WITH self level and $269 for the Touring WITHOUT self-level (the self-level kits are in stock and not currently a special order item). As with BMP, you will have to have these part numbers in front of you when you call, as they are NOT in the TMs computers. H&R DOES NOT LIST THESE SPRINGS ON THE PARTS LIST AT THEIR WEB SITE, call them if you want to verify the part numbers. H&R Spring Sets at TMS: Part number #29888-1 IN STOCK $239.95 Part number #29889-1 In Germany – never ordered for US ~$270 Self Level Elimination: As it turns out, BavAuto has instructions on their website for how to implement the Self Level Elim kits that they sell. Instructions are found in a PDF file at http://www.bavauto.com/inst/E32e34ElimKits.pdf. The instructions look pretty straightforward regarding the removal of the system. Look at your Bentley Manual for other information not included in the Self Level Elim Instructions including (but not limited to) de-pressurizing the system, spring/shock removal and refilling/bleeding the system. Paul at Maximillian Imports quoted me $125 for a self level elimination kit that includes upper shock mounts, spring dampener pads, buffer stops, lock nuts, dust sleeves and upper mount paper seals. This would be desirable to avoid destroying the rear upper shock mounts when the new standard shocks are installed. Other questions answered in the process: Who makes the BavAuto springs? I got no well-defined answer from BavAuto product support, though they are made in Germany, NOT H&R, NOT Eibach. Eibach does NOT make springs for the Touring, period. Credits: Thanks to Roger for getting the juices flowing on this. While we could not take part in the Sachs purchase, I don’t know if I would have started calling around without his work. Curt Anderson gets the credit for the first set of calls to H&R, between the two of us, we finally got the whole poop on what H&R springs are offered for the Touring in it’s various forms. A HUGE thanks to Paul at Maxmillian Imports, possibly the only man in the country who knows what the BMW Sports Suspensions are all about. I called a number of dealers with the part numbers and descriptions of the Sports Suspension springs and got the same answer, "I can order them, but I don’t know what they are." Paul knew what they were right off the bat, and can source them at a great price. Any other Q’s you have regarding your undersides, he is the man to answer your questions and get the parts. | |
Touring lowering on BMW e34
