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      09-05-2020, 03:27 PM   #1
Davy Jordi
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M35i on H&R Lowering Springs Anyone?? Ride Quality?

hello there,

i just purchased a brand new 2020 x2 m35i and i love the vehicle. i have always owned lexus vehicles, so this is my first foray into the german world of automobiles and i think i picked a fantastic first choice.

anyhow, i was really looking at the h&r lowering springs for this vehicle but i'm not sure 1. whether they would interfere with the stock m35i suspension setup and 2. whether they would make the ride quality horrendous.

can anyone chime in with regard to the questions above?

thank you!
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      09-06-2020, 12:42 AM   #2
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okay, it seems as though adaptive suspension is an option and i don't see it listed on the window sticker so i guess my car doesn't have the adaptive dampers, but rather the standard m sport suspension which i think would do just fine with springs if i'm not mistaken..
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      09-06-2020, 09:13 AM   #3
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But why lowering it more when it does just fine on the track?!
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      09-06-2020, 11:22 AM   #4
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Might be a little early to do that, considering it will likely terminate your suspension warranty, or more.

But, do you have the 19's or the 20's? Suspension is different and I suspect the car would be especially harsh if the latter.

I admit though, the car would look a lot different with one less inch of rear elevation.
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      09-06-2020, 02:04 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by //TMT View Post
Might be a little early to do that, considering it will likely terminate your suspension warranty, or more.

But, do you have the 19's or the 20's? Suspension is different and I suspect the car would be especially harsh if the latter.

I admit though, the car would look a lot different with one less inch of rear elevation.
i have the 19"s, so that's why i'm considering the lowering springs.

if i had the 20"s then the wheel wells would be filled much better.

that aside, the pictures on the web of this car lowered on H&R springs look fantastic. it's whether the ride quality would be horrific or not, though and that's why i was asking if anyone here has lowered the car. i'm not too worried about the suspension warranty as like, i've never owned a car or kept a car long enough to have any suspension components fail, especially when using lowering springs that give such a mild drop.

to the person referencing track usage, my car will never see the track. wasn't the intent that i bought this car. if i wanted a track car then i would have bought a proper m car like the beloved m2 competition.
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      09-06-2020, 02:12 PM   #6
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this is what the car looks like with the 19" wheels lowered on h&r springs. pretty damn good looking if you ask me but the ride quality question remains...

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      09-06-2020, 05:16 PM   #7
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Damn.
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      09-06-2020, 05:18 PM   #8
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exactly. it's really good looking.
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      09-07-2020, 07:44 PM   #9
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Looks like someone imported the m135i...
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      09-08-2020, 07:50 PM   #10
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yeah, well the 1 series isn't available in north america so no one except gearheads will know that the lifted hot hatch we're all driving has been turned into a proper hot hatch.

that said, the x2 m35i is far better looking than the 1 series imo.
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      09-08-2020, 08:43 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Davy Jordi View Post
that said, the x2 m35i is far better looking than the 1 series imo.
very that..
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      09-08-2020, 10:01 PM   #12
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I've used H&R springs on a couple of BMWs and they have always been good...its a Tier 1 aftermarket suspension company with involvement in motorsports as well.

Depending in your goal and use, you should be fine with the springs in terms of ride and visual. If you are looking to doing more track oriented stuff, I would suggest looking at coilovers instead.
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      09-09-2020, 06:59 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Will Pwr View Post
I've used H&R springs on a couple of BMWs and they have always been good...its a Tier 1 aftermarket suspension company with involvement in motorsports as well.

Depending in your goal and use, you should be fine with the springs in terms of ride and visual. If you are looking to doing more track oriented stuff, I would suggest looking at coilovers instead.
thanks so much for your post - this is the type of info that i was looking for, so thanks so much for taking the time to post.

i'm not taking the car on the track, it's an aesthetic mod, so i was just wondering about comfort and i'm glad to hear that h&r does well. i've used eibach springs on my previous car, a 2018 Lexus IS300 F-Sport, and they were amazing, so hopefully the h&r springs will be just as great.

thanks again!
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      09-09-2020, 09:50 AM   #14
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I'm a little jaded with H&R not to rock the boat. I have only used them twice, and once it was bad. So for my e60 535xi it was documented by others that they didn't have good springs for the AWD version of the 5 series. In fact, it's a known complaint that there isn't good options. I, however, got some nice big wheels and the car looked like a monster truck. Since I picked up the springs for next to nothing and I do my own work I put them on. Excellent look.. but poor poor ride. I got lazy and bought a house so I just drove it like it was for another year or so. I went to coilovers and it was night and day! So those H&R springs did a very poor dis-service to their name for that application.

If the springs were actually designed for the X2 specifically, I would say they would be a great fit.. however, if they took them from another model and just hoped they would work, then it could be bad. Your comment about the 20's filling in better is a little bit like my problem with the e60. They don't actually fit any different, but the "rubber" of the tires would be smaller, which should exaggerate the wheel well gap. The only way to visually change this is to go up a size in the tire profile. This usually means going up by 5 on the sidewall profile to make the actual rolling diameter of the tires bigger. It will throw off the spedometer , but usually 3% is within acceptable range.

Still, I can't argue that it looks really nice in those pictures!
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      09-09-2020, 02:08 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Davy Jordi View Post
thanks so much for your post - this is the type of info that i was looking for, so thanks so much for taking the time to post.

i'm not taking the car on the track, it's an aesthetic mod, so i was just wondering about comfort and i'm glad to hear that h&r does well. i've used eibach springs on my previous car, a 2018 Lexus IS300 F-Sport, and they were amazing, so hopefully the h&r springs will be just as great.

thanks again!
No problem. H&R and Eibach both offer great lowering spring kits. Eibach tend to lower less than H&Rs. The ride really comes down to how much you are lowering it and how your shocks/struts can still perform with them. For example, on my F10, after installing the springs, the ride was good, but a bit soft for my liking when in comfort mode, but when in sport mode for the suspension it was great. Basically, the dampening needs to be able to accommodate with the adjustment in ride high and spring rate. This is the reason why people consider going coilovers, its allows for greater range of adjustability, tuning and overall matching of specs between the spring and the shocks. However, if you the lowering is only about 1.0-1.5 inches, it should be ok on the stock shocks for a sporty/performance minded vehicle in my opinion. FWIW, I've went the coilover route for most of all of my cars, but I have done springs only in scenarios that a coilover was just overkill or it wasnt available. Ironically, my current X3MC will be lowered on H&R Springs...despite my previous M3s all had either AST, KW or HKS coilovers. For my wife's X2, I will probably keep the stock ride height but just put spacers on it to bring out the stance of the stock wheels.

Oh and just as rice_rocket88 said, technically the 20s dont really fill out the wheel well, they should be the overall same diameter, its just a mixture of the visual aspects that there is a thinner tire and the wheel might have a lower offset, which brings the wheel stance more outward (less sunk in) which can provide a more "filled out" look.
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      09-10-2020, 04:09 AM   #16
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both of you guys offer excellent insight. eibach offers excellent springs from past experience and i'm sorry that you had such a negative experience with the h&r springs, rice_rocket88 .

it seems that i've run into a wall because the springs that eibach makes are for the sdrive28i and the springs that h&r makes are for the xdrive28i but both manufacturers on various websites state that the springs will not fit the m35i and i can't for the life of me understand why because i have the static suspension setup not the variable dampening setup. the only reason i can think of is perhaps the shocks are different on the m35i but even then with a 20-30mm drop, it doesn't seem as though having specialised shocks would make the vehicle incompatible with the springs used for the xdrive28i model. i'm not sure, but if anyone can point me in the right direction, that would be way helpful.

if not and there really are no easy solutions to lowering the ride on springs and coilovers are my only option, then i'd rather just purchase the 20" wheels and go with those whilst not lowering the car than installing coilovers because coilovers are a pain and i'm not planning any track use at all, just spirited street driving.
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      09-10-2020, 07:59 AM   #17
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Well I'm only doing a little thinking here: The M35i model is supposed to have stiffer springs, and more dampening on the struts. It still seems a little odd that it would be a one off piece rather than re-used from another model. It could also mean that it's a bunch of crap and it's just lowering springs with different spring rates (and not any different dampening of the struts). If you're adventurous enough you could certainly try it.. (I know I would if we fast forward say 4 years and all my warranty expired and I'm bored). The worst case scenario is that it doesn't fit.. or the ride is stiffer. If the shocks are damped more than the stock ride, then they would be more suited to lowering springs vs using stock suspension and lowering it. The only thing that might might be different is the spring diameter itself won't fit, but I would think that would be a rare occurrence. Still the whole idea is playing with it, which to me it's a brand new car I wouldn't bother. You could certainly call H&R or Eibach and see if you can talk to someone. Perhaps you can go to newtis and search the part numbers to see cross compatibility.
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      09-10-2020, 09:25 AM   #18
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i think that i'll call h&r later and see what they say. if the ride is going to be super stiff or if i'm going to hitting the bump stops all the time, then no, it's better to leave as is.

i've almost always installed springs on my cars bc 1. i don't track them and 2. it's for aesthetic purposes and i've never run into any suspension problems because the drop has been about an inch on every vehicle making it quite mild and so no harm to other components was done.

i don't want to be adventurous with a brand new car, though, so i'd really have to think about it if h&r is stating that they don't make springs for this model and neither does eibach.

there is some other german company that does apparently but they ship within europe and i haven't heard of them and wouldn't want to risk it.

perhaps it's better to leave as is.
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      09-10-2020, 10:08 AM   #19
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I am curious as to what the mini GP would be using for suspension.. although a lot of similar parts, I would think it sits lower than the m35i. At least what I would say is that our struts would be good for lowering springs, as they are adapted for being lower than stock already. I am not holding my breath for a lot of aftermarket parts on the m35i as it's such a low production and not sought after car. That may be the only regret on my part... I love modifying my stuff, but availability is certainly very very low on this.

While I'm here at work I went to realoem and tried to look up the parts.. it seems the spring itself isn't even listed as available as it's greyed out:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=31_1194

Last edited by rice_rocket88; 09-10-2020 at 10:23 AM..
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      09-10-2020, 02:55 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rice_rocket88 View Post
I am curious as to what the mini GP would be using for suspension.. although a lot of similar parts, I would think it sits lower than the m35i. At least what I would say is that our struts would be good for lowering springs, as they are adapted for being lower than stock already. I am not holding my breath for a lot of aftermarket parts on the m35i as it's such a low production and not sought after car. That may be the only regret on my part... I love modifying my stuff, but availability is certainly very very low on this.

While I'm here at work I went to realoem and tried to look up the parts.. it seems the spring itself isn't even listed as available as it's greyed out:

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=31_1194
The JCW clubman may be a better option for springs - closer in weight...
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      09-10-2020, 03:10 PM   #21
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IIRC, the shocks between the M35i and xDrive2.8i are different part numbers which doesn't surprise me as its most likely a higher dampening rate on the M35i.

I would check with H&R in regards to the springs. I would assume that they physically are the same shape/dimensions, but whether the spring rates would be suited for an M35i is the variable. I do believe that the H&R EU release campaign showcased an M35i, but I could be wrong as it could be a non-M35i with the M Sport kit. Just check with H&R North America...sometimes the manufacturers don't always date their listings on the sites or maybe it just hasn't been tested on a US spec M35i yet.

In the end its worth the effort to check with them and if anything it's feedback that most companies would like to hear about...that can help them determine the demand to address specific vehicles or not. This is based of my experience of working in the automotive industry, more specific the aftermarket sector.

Hope that helps!

W
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      09-10-2020, 05:02 PM   #22
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hi everyone,

so i called h&r and asked why the m35i wasn't listed as a compatible vehicle along with the xdrive28i with the m sport suspension and they told me that they didn't know, but that the springs that are available for the xdrive28i are compatible with the m35i.

made my day because they are like the only manufacturer of lowering springs for our cars and i didn't want to go the coilover route.

so, anyone looking at this in the future, go right ahead because h&r confirmed the fitment!

thank you to everyone who helped contributing their thoughts, experiences, opinions and advice within this thread. as soon as i'm able to have the spring ordered, delivered and installed i'll provide some pictures!
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