[ItBloo]

I just got my 535i, and want to lower the ride, while maintaining the luxury feeling. I have no idea how any of it works, but I do know about H&R Springs.

If I go for a set of those, do I need new dampers or what?

I also plan on putting 20" Wheels on (style 356). I've heard that those wheels are quite heavy, but I've sourced them for $250/each. Any other recommendations for a similar style?

[lsturbointeg]

i have the Liquid Black 356's and love them...tho they're sitting in my garage since i'm rolling on my Alpha 21's. to me they don't feel heavy at all. as far as the H&R's that will be more of your aggressive drop so i'm not sure if those will still give you that luxury feel. i know the ACS springs are more of your mild drop which a lot of guys have gone to since they too were looking for a more luxury feel without feeling the road too much. keep in mind tho your stock struts can only take so much before they blow/leak as some members have complained about blowing their shocks shortly after installing their springs.

if you browse through this section of the forum you can find guys who have already posted their impressions on H&R's/ACS if you want more input on these

[snj1013]

Per http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/, Style 356 is very heavy, 15.6kg, or 34.3 lbs. I don't know that the site is accurate, but I've heard the same that this wheel is very heavy. I do like the style, but I wouldn't put that much unsprung weight on the car. There are other options out there, similar to your price range. I would look at a rotary forged wheel. They are available from just about all manufacturers now, and are a good compromise of weight vs price vs strength.
Here is one option from Forgestar that is similar to the 356 http://www.forgestar.com/wheels/coll...k-series/cf5v/

[lsturbointeg]

The 356's are OEM wheels so I'm assuming BMW Engineers approve them to be on our cars or else they wouldn't offer them. As far as unsprung weight I don't see that an issue. Unless you can provide some hard data from BMW why these would cause issues. I know BMW doubles has the same wheels and he's tuned and never brought up his wheels being too heavy?

[snj1013]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

The 356's are OEM wheels so I'm assuming BMW Engineers approve them to be on our cars or else they wouldn't offer them. As far as unsprung weight I don't see that an issue. Unless you can provide some hard data from BMW why these would cause issues. I know BMW doubles has the same wheels and he's tuned and never brought up his wheels being too heavy?

Will they "work" sure. Does reducing unsprung weight help performace, yes. The general rule of thumb is a reduction of one lb. of unsprung weight is equivalent to 6-7 lbs of weight of the car.

A rotary forged wheel will weigh 5-10 lbs less than the 356 style wheel. That is equivalent to 120-280 lbs of actual weight. Now when you are changing from a stock 18" or 19" wheel that weighs about weighs somewhere between the rotary forged wheel and the 356, yeah, you probably won't notice much of a difference.

Now when you combine a lightweight wheel, with ditching the runflats for conventional tires, you can really start to see some real world differences. Runflats weigh another 5-10 lbs more than conventional tires per tire. So runflats on a 356 will weigh 10-20 lbs more per corner than conventional tires on a rotary forged wheel.

Now the only downside, reducing the unsprung weight can make your car a bit more sensitive to bumps. It's not hard to understand why, the more mass the tire and wheel has, the more the bump will be dampened.

Hope this helps.

[ItBloo]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Wow that looks great!

[ItBloo]

Originally Posted by snj1013

Will they "work" sure. Does reducing unsprung weight help performace, yes. The general rule of thumb is a reduction of one lb. of unsprung weight is equivalent to 6-7 lbs of weight of the car.

A rotary forged wheel will weigh 5-10 lbs less than the 356 style wheel. That is equivalent to 120-280 lbs of actual weight. Now when you are changing from a stock 18" or 19" wheel that weighs about weighs somewhere between the rotary forged wheel and the 356, yeah, you probably won't notice much of a difference.

Now when you combine a lightweight wheel, with ditching the runflats for conventional tires, you can really start to see some real world differences. Runflats weigh another 5-10 lbs more than conventional tires per tire. So runflats on a 356 will weigh 10-20 lbs more per corner than conventional tires on a rotary forged wheel.

Now the only downside, reducing the unsprung weight can make your car a bit more sensitive to bumps. It's not hard to understand why, the more mass the tire and wheel has, the more the bump will be dampened.

Hope this helps.

How would lowering the car affect in addition? If I were to go for a lightweight wheel, non runflats and lowered suspension, do you think that real world comfort would be affected?

[snj1013]

If you want to lower, I would recommend the H&R OEM springs or ACS. Lowering your car isn't going to enhance the comfort, but with either of the springs mentioned, the impact should be minimized. As far as tires, I would choose an All Season Performance tires such as Continental DWS 06 or Michelin A/S3+. You would give up very little performance in the tire compared to a Summer tire such as the Michelin Pilot Super Sports but gain some comfort as well as a tire that wears much better. As far as wheels, as I stated earlier, I would go the rotary forged route, but if you don't push your car, and like the looks of the 356, you'll be fine.

[ItBloo]

Understood! I'm not sure where I want to be in the sporty/luxury scale. I have a place nearbyish that I'm definitely going to stop by and consult first hand on performing these mods. Thanks!

Will post updates, if/when they happen.