Lowering the X5 E70, H&R Springs installation *** Lots of pic's ***

[King]

Originally Posted by higx

Question about the rear links. The H&R pictures shows that they come with rear links. Why did you order another set? Just for more adjustability?

Unless they recently changed their kit contents, they only came with the springs. Maybe they finally realized that links are required as well. I had a tough time convincing them when I bought my kit and they kept telling me the self leveling will automatically lower the back. Initially they sent me the wrong springs which I had installed. Then they wouldn't believe me so I had to send pics. Finally after talking to the sales mgr they sent out the correct springs! It was a nightmare that took three months to resolve! I paid $500 to install the first incorrect set, $500 to remove them and then $500 again to install the correct set due to their mistake. They had shipped the wrong springs in the right box!!

[dbox]

Originally Posted by higx

Question about the rear links. The H&R pictures shows that they come with rear links. Why did you order another set? Just for more adjustability?

been searching for this picture... where can I find it?

[poleposition]

Looks killer

[dsm2925]

amazing.. that drop is perfect

[LightWerkz]

Looks so much better!

[Stevev]

Wow...that looks amazing...well done job

[AlpineX548i]

yea man you really did it

[Denalio]

What will this mod do to your alignment? camber and toe settings, tire wear etc.?

[King]

Originally Posted by Denalio

What will this mod do to your alignment? camber and toe settings, tire wear etc.?

After installing new springs, you MUST get a four wheel alignment done. This adresses the camber and especially the toe settings. My service rep had to manually set these settings to the factory recommended settings, and although it is not physically possible to achieve those numbers with lower height, the numbers were very very close. In fact he printed off the settings after the alignment and the difference in numbers was negligible. You can not 'feel' any difference if the camber or toe is off; the only way to check is by looking at the numbers after an alignment. This gets a little more complicated if you have the active steering and dynamic handling pkg, and of course more expensive than a regular alignment.

If these settings are correct, you should get 'normal' tire wear. Unfortunalely tire wear gets worse as the tire size gets larger. So 21" will probably see more wear on the inside than a 20" would, especially since they can't be rotated! I just pulled off my 20's and replaced them with 21's but didn't see any wear on the tires at all. In fact they still look new afer driving for most of the summer...

[KmanOz]

Not hijacking the thread but this picture is for anyone contemplating H&R 50435 (2"F, 1.2"R) without self levelling. May as well be a one-stop thread for lowering

Did this today and am very happy with the result, ride etc. With the 214's I thought it would be a LOT rougher ride but surprisingly not to bad. Turning corners is sweet

Cheers

KmanOz