[mgc9991]

Hi guys, currently installing H&R springs on my 435i xDrive. Started with the rear and the left side went fine. I moved onto the right side and took off the spring and put the new spring in. I put in the shock absorber bolt that connects to the LCA, went in fine. I tried lining up the wheel bearing carrier to the LCA and it did not line up, after 2 days of trying to line this up with the bushing that is between both sides...

When I was trying to jack up the LCA to get the holes to line up, I noticed that the front side of the LCA was actually hitting the bushing and sort of bending it upwards, so I preceded with caution. However, it never lined up after that. I am assuming that when I jacked up the LCA and it got stuck on the bushing it did bend it or somehow damage it. After two days of this project I put the bolt through the LCA without the wheel bearing carrier and it seemed straight, I also did this with the bushing and it went through as well. So I am ruling out that the bolt is bent.

For reference:
#1: the left side went fine and is finished
#2: the shock absorber to LCA bolt lines up perfectly fine and after I had put the new spring in on the right the only thing that did not line up was the LCA to wheel bearing carrier

If theres any techs or anyone that knows what I can do to fix this, I'd appreciate any advice. I am looking at replacing the bushing, on FCP euro it's $20 (part # 33326792553). However if the wheel bearing carrier assembly is damaged I would be out around $600.

I currently cannot just take this to a shop because without the suspension all buttoned up you can't drive. Should I ask a shop to come to my house and figure this out?

Here are some pictures:

[FaRKle!]

1) Put some alignment/witness marks on your lower camber arm eccentric washer/subframe. This is where the lower camber arm connects to the subframe. A paint pen or whiteout pen works well for this.
2) Loosen the lower camber arm eccentric nut/bolt.
3) You should be able to align the ball joint in the wheel carrier and lower camber arm holes. Connect them and torque to spec.
4) Jack up the wheel carrier to the normal position (where it sits at normal ride height).
5) Align lower camber arm eccentric bolt/washer with your previous witness marks and tighten to spec.

[blumagic]

It looks close. I usually have luck shifting alignment around with a thick flathead screw driver on the other side. Might have more play if the shock bolt is loose and endlink is off

[mgc9991]

Originally Posted by blumagic

It looks close. I usually have luck shifting alignment around with a thick flathead screw driver on the other side. Might have more play if the shock bolt is loose and endlink is off

Yes I did that and the other side would then shift and the LCA would block the bolt. I tried threading it through on both sides and it just wouldnt line up.

[mgc9991]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

1) Put some alignment/witness marks on your lower camber arm eccentric washer/subframe. This is where the lower camber arm connects to the subframe. A paint pen or whiteout pen works well for this.
2) Loosen the lower camber arm eccentric nut/bolt.
3) You should be able to align the ball joint in the wheel carrier and lower camber arm holes. Connect them and torque to spec.
4) Jack up the wheel carrier to the normal position (where it sits at normal ride height).
5) Align lower camber arm eccentric bolt/washer with your previous witness marks and tighten to spec.

That sounds like a good idea, I'll try it now

[M4-CPA]

Originally Posted by mportd.f32

That sounds like a good idea, I'll try it now

Just finished this myself, took me about an hour to get this lined up properly. Blows my mind that I can get one side in, nice and smooth but the other side is just slightly off. I laid on my back and bench pressed the unit to get it to line up.

[exE36M3]

We all empathize... I used WD40, another floor jack, and a screwdriver.

[mgc9991]

Originally Posted by CPA440xi

Just finished this myself, took me about an hour to get this lined up properly. Blows my mind that I can get one side in, nice and smooth but the other side is just slightly off. I laid on my back and bench pressed the unit to get it to line up.

On god bro I was under there for hours yesterday, just got rear done thankfully

[about94ninjas]

Originally Posted by mportd.f32

On god bro I was under there for hours yesterday, just got rear done thankfully

I just did mine last night too and had the same issue. It's not an install until something doesn't go as planned and it takes three times longer than expected

[brigade24]

Originally Posted by about94ninjas

I just did mine last night too and had the same issue. It's not an install until something doesn't go as planned and it takes three times longer than expected

damn, been there...needed an extra jack and crow bar. at least its done now...

[mgc9991]

Originally Posted by brigade24

damn, been there...needed an extra jack and crow bar. at least its done now...

Just got the car back from alignment yesterday, i dont know how the roads are by you, but I can feel a big difference in ride quality and have already bottomed out the suspension twice. Is that a normal side affect you think?

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by mportd.f32

I can feel a big difference in ride quality and have already bottomed out the suspension twice. Is that a normal side affect you think?

When dropping the car on H&Rs and not shortening the bump stops proportionally? Absolutely. You're probably already riding on the bump stops at static height.

[mgc9991]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

When dropping the car on H&Rs and not shortening the bump stops proportionally? Absolutely. You're probably already riding on the bump stops at static height.

Shihhh, I read a while back on one of the threads that they were not needed for aftermarket springs. Is it something I should've upgraded as well or do I just have to go much slower over rough road? The specific place I bottomed out twice was a construction patch filled with a little gravel so I'm not too worried but at high speeds on the highway that might be some place for caution.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by mportd.f32

Shihhh, I read a while back on one of the threads that they were not needed for aftermarket springs. Is it something I should've upgraded as well or do I just have to go much slower over rough road? The specific place I bottomed out twice was a construction patch filled with a little gravel so I'm not too worried but at high speeds on the highway that might be some place for caution.

Don't take my word for it:

Originally Posted by rcaso26

Just wanted to give an update here. I installed a set of the "dinan" shortened bump stops on my Koni FSD and Eibach Pro Kit setup and it fixed the bottoming out problem. The "dinan" bump stops are nothing but marked up OEM bump stops from older vehicles, so I just ordered the parts on eBay.

The part numbers are:

Front: 31331138814
Rear: 33536762722

Thanks for Farkle for his help on this!

Originally Posted by davidc13

I just got around installing shortened bump stops - went with the F8x option, front and back. The frequent bottoming out on mild road features has stopped.

To recap - running Eibach E10-20-031-04-22.

I did replace the rears 1st, driving around for a week before installing the fronts, and the change was much more noticeable than the fronts. As several have mentioned, the F3X bump stops were probably already engaging the dampers at static height - hence the frequent bottoming out.

Front F8x: 31336859768
Rear F8x: 31337847662

Originally Posted by skier_du

I ran shorter rear bump stops and trimmed the B8 internal bump stops on the front shocks. Before trimming the fronts, I was practically driving around on them all the time. The ride was a little harsh on bumps of any kind. When I got in there, the front bump stops had started to fall apart. After trimming the ride improved greatly over small and large bumps. From reports I read, if you lower less than an inch, you can probably be ok with stock bump stops. But any shorter and it's recommended to have shorter ones to not be in them too much. There's a thread with the exact bump stops and part numbers if you search. If you're sticking with stock shocks, than perhaps keep the lowering less than an inch. If you want more lowering, you'll need shocks too or it won't ride well. The factory shocks will not be able to control the springs well and the lowering will be out of the factory shock range. But that's a general recommendation.

And there are many more to go around...

[mgc9991]

FaRKle! Ig I should've done more research before doing this idk. Too late at this point I spent $230 on alignment at BMW lol, not gonna waste time either taking off that stubborn suspension. But I also guess it is a good way to get me to slow down lmao. Thanks for your help tho

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by mportd.f32

FaRKle! Ig I should've done more research before doing this idk. Too late at this point I spent $230 on alignment at BMW lol, not gonna waste time either taking off that stubborn suspension. But I also guess it is a good way to get me to slow down lmao. Thanks for your help tho

You shouldn't need to get an alignment if swapping bump stops.

Changing just the bump stops is pretty easy since for the front you can just unbolt the strut from the top mount with the car on the ground, and then when you raise the car the knuckle/strut assembly should drop down out of it enough to pull the bump stop out. For the rear you just need to take the damper out, so no unbolting the lower camber arm from the wheel carrier or subframe.