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

Lowering the X5 E70 required a bit of research and a lot of trial and error. Several members have since lowered their X5's including myself so I thought I would post some pics and info for others looking to lower their E70...

1. Install front H&R springs
2. Install custom adjustable rear links to lower rear. The rear height can NOT be adjusted/reprogrammed by the dealer. Most dealers are either not able or not willing to do this. Although my service rep tried to 'trick' the vehicle to thinking the new height is the default height, it only caused errors. It is much easier to simply replace the rear links with custom made links. What this does is allow you to adjust the height of the self leveling sensor, which in turn adjusts the rear height of the vehicle.
3.After adjusting both front and rear ride height, you will need to get an alignment done.

The following are pics BEFORE installing the H&R springs. Notice the large gaps in the wheel wells! I measured the height of the wheel arches from the ground up. The proper way to measure is from the lower edge of the wheel up, however this measurement can differ for others with different size wheels.

The height from the ground to the stock front arch was 32.25" and the rear was 32" with my 20" style 214 wheels...

The following pics were taken after installing the 2" drop H&R springs. The H&R spring is on the left and the stock spring is on the right. Notice the front height has dropped dramatically by 2.75" even though H&R claim it's a 2.0" drop! The rear has not been altered at this point...

Well 2.75" is too much of a drop for me personally. Although the vehicle handles amazingly, it is a bit of a rough ride over bumps! The H&R 2.0" drop springs were removed and replaced with H&R 1.25" drop springs...

Notice the height is now at 30.50" from the ground so the vehicle has dropped 1.75" from it's stock height eventhough H&R claims it is a 1.2" drop! The rear has still not been altered at this point...

Okay now we get to the rear links. Notice where they are located in the rear of the vehicle. The black plastic ones are stock and the machined metal ones were custom made and adjustable!

Wow. Great write up, great pics, great job. :thumbup: What was your total cost and this was a self mod?

:thumbup:

Looks killer

amazing.. that drop is perfect

Looks so much better!

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

Looks good :thumbup:

:cool:

Actually this was not an expensive mod at all. The springs were about $300 and labor to install was $400. The rear links were about $80 and the labor to install was about $150. So all in all about $1K. Definately worth it! Looks so much better and handling is great! :thumbup:

Definitely on my mod list, all in due time. Thanks for the info! :thumbup:

Anybody know if the bank in Paradise, PA is still operating?? Could be a quick bank job.

looks great. Any change in ride quality? Probably makes ingress/egress easier.

Looks great King! Glad the links worked for you..

Where did you get the rear links made? What was the exact size of these links for the 1" rear drop?

Contact Silver5 for the rear links. They are adjustable and you can shorten or lengthen them for the exact drop you want! :thumbup:

I also have a set of H&R springs (2" drop) for the front if anyone is interested...

Shoot me a pm or check out loweringlinks.net for more info.

yea man you really did it

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...:thumbup:

those (2"drop) H&R Springs that you have will they fit on 01 X5 4.4I Sport???. My X5 is low for some reason but i think my guy that fixs my car he adju the rear suspension and i was think a 1.5" Drop but 2" drop maybe good too. what do you think?

Best Pictures i have right now

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...in1/photo8.jpg
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/d...1/photo4-1.jpg

Drop looks great! It'll go even lower once the springs settle. Love the aggressive stance.

I am about to order the 2010 X5 35d, they changed the option on the sports package to where the adaptive drive is a seperate option, making it too expensive for me. My question is, will the H&R lowering kit work fine without the adaptive drive? I will have the self leveling suspension in the rear (because of 3rd row seat option).

Hopefully, the lowering kit will acieve a lower stance and improve handling without having to order the adaptive drive, what do you think?

Also, I know this has probably been asked, but I cannot seem to find the answer, if I use the lowering springs and links, will this have any negative effect on the rest of the suspension system? I am worried about hitting a pothole and messing stuff up. On my clk 500 I intalled shocks and struts to balance the lowering springs, is this not nessessary on the e70???

I'd like to know the answers to those questions as well.

Yes getting in and out is a little easier, not a big difference as it's only an inch difference in height. I had a loaner 3 series for a couple days, and it was very difficult to get in and out, especially since I am 6' 3 and have back problems!

As far as the ride quality, the cornering, handling etc. has noticeably improved. I have the dynamic handling pkg. and active steering as well, so there is no body roll and it feels very responsive. The ride is firmer of course with the lower springs but not so bad that it bottoms out or anything! It will bottom out over bumps if you drop it 2.0". I have since installed 21" wheels which makes the ride even firmer yet, but again not anything too drastic. It's still comfortable.

If you live in a city where there are a lot of pot holes and the roads are very bad, then I would either drop the car OR install 21" wheels. If the roads are descent, then go with both. :thumbup:

Wow, that makes want to do this to my car! It's suprising that such a small drop makes the stance that menacing.

I'm about to order these springs, already ordered the links. I have an early (08 build) 09 4.8 sport with 214s but no third row seat.
Do I have self leveling suspension or not? After all the searching on this site I am still unclear!
Would the window sticker state if self leveling rear suspension is present?

I have yet to see an X5 E70 WITHOUT self leveling! I'm pretty sure all the US models have it. So you only need the front two springs and rear links.

Where did you get your rear links from? droplinks.com or something similar?

Looks great!

grrrr... i can't tell any difference at all :stickpoke

Hmm, I was just wondering which ones to order online since H&R show a set for self leveling and without self leveling. I guess it doesn't matter since they're both fronts only, wonder why they differentiated them?

You get the links from Silver 5 at loweringlinks.net

For cars without self leveling, there are four springs. For cars WITH self leveling, there are only two springs!

how long does it take for the rears to level off once installed? I ordered some and waiting for them to come in

Right away.

Interesting that it's more of a drop. Maybe the weight of your V8 brought it down a 1/2 inch more. We shall see. I'm putting these on the 35d :D

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!!

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

sorry.. I had the springs sent do the shop im having do the install. I'm on vacation right now but I called the shop and had them inspect the box. The mechanic said there looks to be small plastic rods in the box.. his guess was they they are to trick the ride hight sensors. I'm having the install done next Thursday. I'll report back how it goes. Much thanks to the original poster of this thread for doing the initial trial and error work.

the small plastic rods are the lowering links for the rear air. i went with adjustable lowering links

How's the camber? how much degree did it change?

mines bad....

H and R lowering kit
 

[QUOTE=higx;702972]sorry.. I had the springs sent do the shop im having do the install. I'm on vacation right now but I called the shop and had them inspect the box. The mechanic said there looks to be small plastic rods in the box.. his guess was they they are to trick the ride hight sensors. I'm having the install done next Thursday. I'll report back how it goes. Much thanks to the original poster of this thread for doing the initial trial and error work.[/QUOT

Opened the box, lowering link is included.

Can you comment on the "ride", and any "glitches" on the computer when the rear links were installed?
Thanks,

Perfect drop! not even going to lie... that looks perfect! i puts the ridiculously huge wheel well the X5 has into proportion with the wheels, but yet maintains a normal looking, not ricey, space between the fender and the wheel. Its just perfect.

can anyone tell me the correct part # for the e70. Is it H&R 50435?

Looks realy realy good!!! I am going to do the same to my E70.
Did you check out the Hartge, AC Schnitzer before you decided to go with the H&R?

Thanks for the pictures!

lol --- so my x5 has rear coils -- duh, i should have looked before ordering. these are going back and the right ones ordered.

Looks alot better.

I just opened the H&R box thats been in the garage for over a month! It has the plastic looking rear links described. I have 2 sets now since I bought the ones from Silver 5!

Who wants some brand new rear lowering links?

You have a PM!

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 :D

Cheers

KmanOz

Beautiful X5. Is that a special order white? Looks metallic or a optical illusion. :dunno:

Believe it or not its a metallic Silver. In that shot there is evening sunlight on it and its a tad yellowish. Some days it looks white, some days silver and some days like undercoat.

And yes it was a special order :) Thanks for you comment. In fact everyone that washes it, works on it always comments about the color.

Cheers

Can you explain the lowering process for the rear .
How are the links adjusted to get the one inch drop ?

Also what if you wanted a lower level how is that achieved ?

Thank you

The links are threaded with adjustable nuts to obtain the ride height to your liking.

Here is a pic of a set I'm selling.

I got mine lowered at the local BMW shop in here in Norway. They did the drop on the back with software.. I think they just put in a 1,2" to wigh number on the adjustment, and it lowerd that much..

My Hamann lowering kit came with a recommendation of a drop on the back. I just stick with it

headlight Aim too high after lowering
 

I just did the same install using H&R springs (front) and lowering links (back). Everything went well with the installation however for some reason the headlights aim too high now, specially the driver side.

Did this happen to you as well? Were you able to solve this issue?

It is completely normal, just visit the dealer and have them re aim the headlights.

I want to take the plunge and do the drop for my 4.8i as well. I'm just concerned about the ride. Anyone know if Bilstein or any company makes shocks for the truck?

Any updates on those with the drop links? Any long term problems/issues?

Edwin

About 5k miles on my Dad's X5 after the drop, no issues so far.
Stance is perfect, ride is a little stiffer, but bearable. Headlights will need to be re-aligned afterwards, they're too high.

FYI, I still have those links for sale!

Hiren,

Details on the links? price? thanks

Edwin

Hey I just ordered the H&R 2" drop kit. And am ordering the custom rear links. Has anyone had any problems with lowering there X5. Does it mess up any warranty?

Thanks

Don't order the links as the H&R kits come with rear links now. About the warranty, I think its obvious.

Just ordered a set and confirmed with TR that the links were in fact included. Great price as well :D

H&R Sport Spring Set

Hiren,

How much firmer is the rear now that you have it lowered? How bad was your camber once you installed? I still haven't installed the ones I bought from you (maybe this weekend) but the x5 is bumpy enough already imo

Edwin

The ride is a little firmer overall compared to stock. I can't differentiate stiffness front to rear. Camber was within spec after an alignment.

Anyone know how to re-aim the headlights?

Thanks. I was told that has to be done at the dealership

Edwin

Have any of you installed the springs yourself? It looks fairly easy. Since I have a pair of spring compressors, I'm tempted to do it.

Have done a few spring swaps on my race cars. It's always been easier than I expected, despite dealing with 40-year-old parts & rust.

^ I'll be doing mine myself after I break 50k miles (at 48k). Looking under the hood, it appears that the strut tower nuts are under the cowling for the wipers. Will have to remove that in order to get to those nuts. From there, it should be just like any other spring swap.

I'm thinking of going for the Eibachs for a supposedly better ride. I know I'll have to buy the links separately.

Springs
 

If anyone is interested I have a brand new pair of H&R springs fs which include the rear links.

I can't find it now. But, a while ago when I began researching Eibach vs. H&R springs I found a site that gave good evaluations of each. I chose to consider the H&Rs. Although I have yet to put $$ where mouth is.

I spoke to an Eibach rep at the PRI show & he said their springs were closer to stock ride quality than H&R. But, that is reverse of the article. I think I would be more likely to believe a 3rd party.

^I think I read something similar to what you're referring to. Something about H&R more for street comfort vs. Eibach more for track stiffness. That all belies what the real life experiences has shown (of which there are very few). I can only remember one or two instances of people stating the Eibachs were more comfy than the H&R; one of which had actually had both on his car.

I know it'll cost more, but I'll give the Eibachs the first go.

How is the handling… any difference?

I mounting mine 25mm tomorrow also:-) Mounted my new 22" wheels yesterday also, so im looking forward to this:-)

Another question. In my As Schnitzer kit theres no lowering pins. The guy that sold it to me said that the best thing to do is to lower the rear with programming. He recomends BMW GT1 tester or AutoLogic tester. Is this standard BMW equipment?

Still have fs a brand new set of H&R lowering springs in anyone is interested. PM me if so.

Either way will work, the GT1 just reprograms the computer for the rear air suspension. The rear links fool the rear air computer into thinking the vehicle is too high in the rear and it will adjust it for you.

OK!
Im of to the carshop today:-)

Perfect!!

http://tapatalk.com/mu/3e10bd3f-39f7-bceb.jpg

What size wheels u got and what's your drop set up?

Does anyone know where's the best price for a h&r 50435-2 with rear lowering links?

Is it possible to lower the rear of the car more than 1" and still align it properly?

I got mine from Turner Motorsport for around $260+s&h

Tire Rack sells the H&R kit for $231 plus shipping. Try Randy @ X 354!

:(

just ordered mine from tire rack today. excited! hope the install goes as smoothly as I will be doing it myself.

I installed mine last Thursday and leveled the car out using the adjustable links from lowerinlinks.net; ultimately the drop all the way around was 1 1/2 ". Had I used the H&R links, the front would probably dropped 1 3/4" as discussed earlier in this peice. My alignment shop has the current State of the Art equipment and is certain that getting to the correct alignment specs will not be a problem.

I' have been very tempted in lowering the X5..but can't decide...

does any know why H&R offers 2 models (50435-3 and 50435-4). it says the rears are 0.2 lowered compared to the other model#.
1- Why will you lower the rear less or more compared to the front ?
2- Are the rear links adjustable in both model#s hence you can adjust the height ?

thanks guys

There are two model number as one is a supposedly 1.5" drop and one is a 2.0" drop. The links are slightly adjustable so you can pretty well match them up to the drop in the front or you can keep the ass end a bit lower. Not sure why it isn't an even drop all the way around but every car I have ever worked on in the past has this same set up, higher front than rear. Probably due to the weight of the motor?

maintain the rake angle???

H&R drop distances are based upon a 3.0 liter 6 rather than the heavier 4.8. In reading this chain and others you will find that the 1.2 kit actually lowers the front of a 4.8 car about 1.75" (the same results as I got). The H&R rear links only drop the rear 1"; I used Loweringlinks to drop the rear 1 1/2" so that the car sits totally level. The 1 1/2" rear drop is about as far as you can go without destroying the car's ride quality.

I'm going to skip lowering ... so if anyone wants my new 'still in the box" H&R kit PM me...

isn't the front higher than the rear stock ? 1.2 and 1.0 should make it even , don't it ?

If you read the 1st post in this chain, you'll find that (factory stock), the rear of the car is 1/4" lower than the front!

Sorry for the quality. Photographed with Blackberry 9900...

http://s018.radikal.ru/i512/1209/3e/3d67b3084733.jpg

http://i017.radikal.ru/1209/09/23e348676abf.jpg

http://s011.radikal.ru/i315/1209/0b/383b24756554.jpg

http://s017.radikal.ru/i442/1209/e2/2dae91ccecd8.jpg

I used Hamann lowering kit...

Wow looks slammed lol! How much of a drop is that?

Lowering Springs on the way..
 

Pulled the trigger on the H&R 1.2" drop kit today.
Will post photos when they are installed...

I've got the same...you'll love it.

Adjusting Headlights via Coding...
 

Has anyone adjusted the headlights via coding after lowering their X5?
I have done a bunch of coding, just havent found any info on this yet.

Thanks,
John

I don't think it's something that can be coded via something like NCSExpert. I think you'd have to use the service tools in DIS. I used DIS to lower the rear air suspension on mine, but didn't see much in the way of headlight aiming.

Edit: all that said, I don't feel like my headlights are too low.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

Any coding for the rear suspension?
 

If I use the links from my H&R kit, does any coding need to be done to the rear suspension, or is it only the headlight coding that is nedded?

My INDIE is trying to charge me for coding the rear suspension...

Thanks...

If you use the rear links that came with the springs, you don't need to code the car.

If you don't WANT to use the links, an option is for you to set the height BY coding the car.

Your headlights do not require coding. There are set screws on the headlight itself, but I do not know where exactly..

Headlight Coding?
 

Can anyone confirm the coding/or manual adjustment for the headlights after lowering. If I can do the work myself, I hate to pay even my Indie for it...

Thanks in advance

Very Nice drop !

Haven't dropped it yet... Awesome 911, is that yours?

Yes might be selling her soon ! Did lots of shows and magazines . Thanks lowering my X tomorrow and putting on some 22's HRE black satin .

whats the verdict on the headlight adjustment?

Coding was needed. Not adjustable otherwise, I believe.

Just got it lowered and its dirty from the Alberta winter :o

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ik/lowered.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...erik/dirty.jpg


It is alot bouncier than I expected after having several vehicles in the past that were lowered the X5 with H&R is by far the biggest deterioation in ride quality on the hiway it is ok but on poor roads its horrible :(

Is that the 1.2" lowering kit? Or the 2"?

1.2" the pictures were right after they were installed so they might settle a bit more. I haven't measured the drop amount yet.

Looks really good! Shame the ride can't be a little better

Looks great but it looks more like a 2" kit than the 1.2' kit. Sits really low in the front for a 1.2" kit and I would hate to see it after it settles some more.

When I lowered by Cayenne GTS via tricking the system it was like driving on rails on smooth surfaces/corners but hit a bump and it was over. Teeth would rattle ;)

Looks great though but you can't daily drive something that lowered all the time.

The reason it looks like the 2 inch kit is because the 1.2" drop rating is for the 3.0i motor which is much lighter. This makes the actual drop from the 1.2" springs more like 1.75" with heavier turbo and v8 motors.

I would like to measure it but I am not in the same city as the truck right now and I wanted to wait until it settled out. I was told the 35d isn't near as heavy as the V8 but I haven't looked into it much myself. I haven't mentioned my opinion of the ride quality to my wife and I am going to see if she notices it. Although it will be a couple weeks between times she has driven it so it might not notice the huge difference like I did driving it a few hours apart. I am quite disappointed and may yet end up with KWs, I do wonder about the eibachs now I couldn't find a definitive answer on which had better ride quality eibachs vs H&R :dunno:

I read that as well. But I have seen a few 4.8 drops on 1.2" kits and they don't look that low. Even Kings original post which showed before settling was not as low and his was the 4.8

Yea you do have a point it did look lower to me as well

Looking back at kings it does appear I am more inline with his 2" springs? I will have to check the box and part numbers on the springs to figure it out....maybe they sent me 2" springs :dunno: that would help explain the poor ride quality I am experincening as well. I do love the look but the ride is disappointing :(

Yes, that was a 2" spring drop for sure. Mine are 1.2" (4.8i) and are nowhere near that low.

My business partner used Hartge 1.5' springs and links on his e70 4.8 and combined with 22" wheels and non-runflat tires the ride was horrific, especially if you were seated in the back....

He ran it out in normal (non-sprt) mode and that helped a little, but the bounce and slam made it hard to deal with as a daily driver...I was going to drop mine and left well enough alone after a few hour long rides in his....but always wished mine looked as good.

My eibachs in other cars never seemed that harsh until i changed over sway bars, then i couldn't keep the wheels round but the cars looked good and were beasts in the corners. in those days the local tires store sold a lifetime alignment and i had an indy that would swap springs out each fall and spring and i'd just drive from one shop to the other twice a year.....at least during the winter when the roads up north were bad it was a little softer on my innards.

I looked up the part number they are the 1.2" I will have to see if I can see the numbers on the springs to make sure they match the box and measure it when I get the truck back.

Sylvan - Even if the springs do state they are the correct 1.2" there is something not right about that height. You have a 3.5 and that should have given you an extra .30-.50" higher height over what you have been seeing on Kings or anyone else 1.2" dropped SAV's. At that height its only good for very smooth roads and some great corners :)

In my Cayenne with Air Suspension - once I hit a certain threshold on the height it was like riding on a skateboard when hitting bumps on the road. I was able to adjust it incrementally until I dialed it in corrected. Amazing what a .25" of extra travel on the struts or bags can provide as far as comfort.

I hope you get it figured out because looking good isn't the only thing that you need when it comes to driving it around. ;)

I actually drove the road I was on with the X5 prior to getting on the highway. I drove the same road in my 2010 Z71 "All Terrain" package pretty much as serious of an off road pack GMC offers from the factory it comes with Rancho shocks and it was super bouncy as well it may have been the worst road in the city. I might need some driving time before I complain too much.

Like I said in another thread...pictures make every thread better :rofl:

My Sierra "All Terrain"

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/n...k76/photob.jpg

you without a doubt in my mind have the 2" drop springs... I just finished installing my 1.2" h&r springs and I am nowhere near as low as you and my springs are second hand so they are already broken in...

the ride with the 1.2" is very good even on 22" rims. i have no complaints at all.

Skunkd...do post pics for your truck to see the difference.....:thumbup::thumbup:

These are the 1.2" H&R with custom rear links in the rear, just finished installing them myself yesterday and got an alignment today.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...27622976_n.jpg


this was the wheel gap before:

http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws...381321cd_7.jpg

hows the ride man?...it does look great...every inch matters to a drop i think..still makes difference......and maybe one day..you gotta come out to one of the meets...and wheels do look better with XM wheels...

Ride is great. Really not much different than stock height.

wow...alot of people are saying ride is horrible...now we dnt know what to do now...lol....use HnR ...or Airlift....

the 2" drop springs would definitely have a terrible ride thats a fact. But even on 22's the 1.2" drop springs the ride is fine I actually like it better :thumbup:

couldn't justify coil overs for 3k or airride for 5k... not worth it.

my total with springs, and alignment was 350 bucks.

yeah that is true...and you did the labor for your car?.....

Yea, same as any other car. Nothing crazy involved up front. The rear links are a piece of cake you don't even have to take the back wheels off the car.

you have to jack the car?......and did you do the coding to lower the back?>

no coding needed, just replaced the rear links with the shorter rear links from the drop kit on the rear air ride sensors under the car. Jacking up one side at a time gives you some more room when changing the link but i probably could have done it without raising it.

oh nice..i thought you had to code to drop the back...but thats not bad at all..the labor is basically the front end .........how much drop from the back?>

The adjustable links can change the rear height by tightening the links and making them shorter or taller

I'll have to take the measurements on the drop to see, but I would imagine its about ~1.5 inches lower the rear.

now this is really good .....we have to see your ride soon ....what part of NYC are yu.

I'm out on Long Island. Huntington to be exact.

got it...some of US Nj ;bound and NYC bk area...

next one is exhaust right...Xpipe ...

yea Tuesday i'll be taking care of that and seeing which tone I like better between x and h pipe.

I think x pipe with 2 cherry bomb glass packs might sound pretty awesome.

gonna start with just the x pipe no mufflers, then I'll decide what tone I like better (the H or the X) and add glass pack mufflers to the one I like to calm down the higher rev rasp.

cant wait to hear it....

My woes continue, I tried to turn up my links and one of the ball and socket joints came apart :rolleyes: I thought it was wrecked but it popped together again and seemed alright. Long story short my wife was on a road trip today and got a leveling system malfunction warning. Luckily she made it to her destination and I walked my brother in law through what I thought the issue was...sure enough the ball and socket popped apart again. So I think it's time to order the aftermarket links because the H&R ones are garbage they were also very corroded for being on the truck for about 6 months.

Short story long I turned them up two more turns, I must be 4-6 turns above recommend now...I might be back to stock height in the rear. Any way it rides better now still not good no where near stock but it might be barable now, I need some more time in it myself but my wife said before the malfunction it felt the best it has since we lowered it.

Nice
 

Awesome..... Looks sick.....

Sylvan - man you haven't had much luck with those links. Hope you get it all worked out. If they are near factory height almost makes you wonder if you should keep them.

I was thinking about KWs, I am parting out my G35 so I have some disposable cash but it seems my rears are as much the issue. If they are too low in the back it rides like a Ford F-350. However I did drive it today and it is much better, I need to measure things to see if I am at stock height in the rear now. I also wonder if 1/2 my issues is simply our roads are garbage lots of car guys are talking about rim damage lately with all of the pot holes we get in the spring :(

The closest major city to me (Edmonton population 817,000)had almost 800 pot hole damage claims in 2011 and they only paid out 26% of the claims and that cost them $110,000. Where I live it's worse because we don't have actual pot hole crews in my town of 12,000 people.

Ok...without reading through all 16 pages, will a drop kit from Eibach work with self-leveling or affect any other components like EDC?

EDC? X5's don't have EDC

Mine does :D

After a bit more research, it appears that H&R Springs have a kit that's made for self leveling rears. It just comes with 2 front springs and 2 lowering links to change the rear self leveling sensors.

I also got mixed results from other forums regarding lowering springs and EDC. Some say it will wear out your OEM shocks faster, some say it won't. I guess ill find out....as soon as I can find a shop that won't charge me a grand to install it.

For those without adaptive drive who have done this-- any comments on handling? Looks like most have you done this just for looks. I'm interested in doing this because I'm sick of the body roll...

This helped a lot with body roll even in comfort standard setting. In sport mode it's like riding on rails through turns but to be honest I don't use sport mode much because the standard setting works well with the lowering.

They must be smoking crack to charge you $1000 for install. Take it to your local body shop that you trust they can probably for less than $150. Remember it's only two front springs and lowering links which takes only perhaps 15-20 minutes. Two front spring should only be about 2 hours worth of install time. My shop charge me less than $100 to install . I just watched the process . Even if you don't use the body shop 2 hours should be the max you should pay to have that installed . EDC should not be affected with Springs only and lowering links. Then a car alignment should only run you about $100.


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I installed everything by myself. In 3 hours in my driveway. There is no way in hell I'd pay over 250 for this install anywhere...

Yeah, okay buddy.

How hard was the install? Do you need a 2 post lift and some kind of special spring compression tool?

Looks great, what size wheels u got and what's your drop set up?

:iagree: drop is perfect..

Yes he did a great job, found an earlier post from him in this thread, the wheels are 22 inch, hey I'm in Sacramento also...lol!:thumbup:

that's cool man.. what color truck you got..?

Excellent thread!



FWIW, I ran H&R's on my M3's with EDC and never noticed any premature wear.

Pulled the trigger on the H&R's!! thanks to this thread for all the helpful information, sorry about picture quality the tapatalk app makes them upload like crap..


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Nice! Is that self leveling rears or springs? What size drop did you get?

yeah self leveling rears, is supposed to be 2" but looks a lot lower, no complains tho

Some forum members post that their rears got "bouncy". Are you experiencing any of that?

cant really say, haven't driven her enough to tell so far no complains, she feels tighter and no body roll on high speed turns/Hwy off ramps so lets see, i will be testing the $&@ out her on my way to bimmerfest on saturday ;)

I bought some Hartage springs because the H&R are unbearable :( however I noticed since I parted out my G35 I was really starting to mod the X5d (wife's daily driver) this happened before when I had nothing of my own I wanted to modify so I figured I had better get something of my own....so I picked up an X5M :D I am for sure getting rid of the H&Rs I am not sure if I should put the Hartage springs on the diesel or put the diesel back to stock springs or if I should put the Hartage on the M:dunno: I am almost scared to put springs on the M after my experience on the diesel I might leave them both stock for now and get some KW coilovers for the M.....everything looks so much better lowered I hate to raise the diesel up and I know the M will look 10x better lowered.

hi
 

My X5 50i M sport 2012 only have one rear link ,driver side!
no links in the passenger side.

I have the same setup and now my car is super bouncy, still have the stock shocks/struts. My wife wont ride in the truck with me anymore...

Seeing the lack of support this platform has, I either replace everything with KW, replace the front with D2 coilovers and rear shocks with Bilsteins, or use Bilsteins to replace the stock shocks/struts. But I definitely cant be driving it like this for much longer. Stance is perfect imho.

Been wanting to lower the X5 since i brought it for the Mrs as the gap in the front wheel was enough to put your head through ;) After all the useful info on here ended up going for H&R Springs with adjustable rear links.
The car looks and rides much better give it abit firm over humps but no bouncing as others claim. The cars sitting on 20" 333M alloys. How can I upload pics from my phone to share with you all!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ce20e3431e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7aad649c0c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0e7f1b48bb.jpg



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Looks great, what kit have you used?

Let's bring the thread back to life.
The main reason I want to lower mine is because the front tire camber wear on the outside face.
Tires aren't cheap!

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Anybody have any issues since lowering there X5's
Need answer from both 6cyl and 8Cyl owners, please specify when responding.

H&R springs and wheel spacers
 

Hello my X5 looks identcial to your's, same color except I have the M Sport staggered wheels. I am unable to upload a picture for you.
I did the same thing to my 2011 back in 2013, but also was recommended to use the H&R wheel spacers, which they installed.
It looks great but ride has been compromised to more of "sports car" feel. I like it but wife says it's harsh.
The only dilemma I have is that it has been that it's difficult to align, (lowering springs and wheel spacers).
I use the BMW dealer as they load the car with weights. I have had cupping issues on right rear tire as well. I've had it aligned each time after installing new tires. The suspension and alignment are within spec, but I'm on the 3rd set of tires, because of cupping on the right rear??
I've switched from the runflats to Conti Extreme Contact DWS 6. Ride quality is awesome. Have gotten the best wear using these tires, over 25k miles and still lots of tread left.

late post and my turn to show :-)
 

H&R Kit 2.0 drop.

Well done sir! Love it!

Will the H&R 1.2 drop kit with rear links work for an x5 with Dynamic Drive with EDC?

This a question about E70?? What year?

I'm sorry yes this question was for an 08 e70 4.8 with EDC...

Anyone?

Yes

Eibach 1.2" with B8's up front and B4's in rear lowered via ISTA
https://i.imgur.com/9KmicwSh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zYrAPKwh.png

https://i.imgur.com/OvLJG6qh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7SPn5d1h.png

EDC shocks?

no

Anyone cut their front springs?

Cutting shocks springs
 

I would NOT recommend cutting the shock springs.

I managed to cut almost 1 coil And dropped it about a half inch. Now it’s perfect with the drop links at the rear.