Questions finalizing suspension refresh

[bigjae46]

I had the street plates on my E90. FYI…the GC plates have a roller bearing that isn’t sealed. I had to service it regularly.

IMO, Vorshlag is the only option when going to a camber plate. With a well setup suspension NVH is an non-issue.

[01SG]

They’re in the bump stops when parked, or the bump stops are trimmed down enough to not really be effective.

It certainly felt that way before the camber plates. I have never trimmed the stops so that is irrelevant. I cannot complain so far. It rides softly. Even major potholes are not overly harsh. I was truly surprised how much better the ride was. But I will keep this in mind if I am not satisfied after more miles

As for the reliability and servicing of the plates, I cannot yet comment. But they are at least silent as of now.

[01SG]

Update: I've come around to the fact that the lowered Bilstein's understeer like mad. This car does not turn in eagerly and naturally like my e36. The camber plates absolutely solved any ride quality problems, but it did not fix the handling.

I will be putting my stock springs back on. What concerns me is that the rear wheel gap will be rather enormous, and I will lose some negative camber. I am only at 1.2 degrees as it is now. I lowered it in the first place because the back end rides about 10mm high, ostensibly from the RACP reinforcement.

Would it be a horrible idea to put the stock springs back on front and leave the rear lowered? I assume so, but figure I may as well ask. Camber arms and putting up with the gap are probably what has to happen.

[K-Dawg]

Update: I've come around to the fact that the lowered Bilstein's understeer like mad. This car does not turn in eagerly and naturally like my e36. The camber plates absolutely solved any ride quality problems, but it did not fix the handling.

I will be putting my stock springs back on. What concerns me is that the rear wheel gap will be rather enormous, and I will lose some negative camber. I am only at 1.2 degrees as it is now. I lowered it in the first place because the back end rides about 10mm high, ostensibly from the RACP reinforcement.

Would it be a horrible idea to put the stock springs back on front and leave the rear lowered? I assume so, but figure I may as well ask. Camber arms and putting up with the gap are probably what has to happen.

I don't know anything about the Vogtland springs. What are the rates and how much do they lower the car F/R? The sites I checked say 1" (25mm) lowering, which is a lot on B6 dampers, especially at presumably stock-like spring rates. I'm not surprised that the car understeers.

Stock front springs and rear lowering springs shouldn't be worse than the lowering springs all around, from a performance/comfort standpoint. If the rear lowering springs are softer than the stock rear springs, I would be inclined to go stock all around. Eibach might be another option.

RACP reinforcement plates would lower the car (insignificantly), not raise it. Maybe you have thicker spring pads?

[Bry5on]

I bought my car with vogtlands installed. It’s very clear to me that they are incredibly soft and low, designed only for folks that want a car dumped on the ground with no thought for cornering performance. They were so low that they rode with the bump stops compressed at normal ride height (konis with stock bump stops, bilsteins would be worse). One of my rear bump stops had disintegrated as a result, and the shock compressed to metal on metal, destroying (and effectively removing) the compression valve. Get rid of those springs asap, stock will be an absolutely massive handling upgrade for you.

[Kdubski]

Check out RTAB limiters. Cheap and easy way to help for more rear end stability.

What's the life expectancy of RTABs w/ limiters? Installed OEM rubbers + limiters 36k miles ago I think I feel them getting loose.

[01SG]

There are conflicting reports on the lowering. I bought them because they were supposed to lower the rear the most at 1". It turns out another website lists the lowering as 30mm/20mm, which is what my personal measurements show. As for spring rate, there is no information for this car, but on the e36 they were a bit stiffer than stock like other aftermarket options. However, they are listed as "Club Spec" springs on the e36 site, so I am not sure if those numbers have any relevance to the e46 at all.

Still wondering why the car sits high though. I used the 5mm spring pads.

Anyway, I guess I will experiment a bit. I'll put the stock springs on front and see how it is. My rear bump stops and mounts have held up after a few thousand miles and an autocross, but yeah, I will most likely end up ditching the springs all together.