[kevinb511]

Hello,
I had a broken rear spring on my xdrive 550, and decided to replace with RWD springs to get a bit of a drop. Rear is perfect, but the font is about 3/4" too low. I thought they would all drop the same amount. Any ideas on how the front could be raised to match the rear? Spacers of some kind?

[Unspec]

Get xDrive springs for the front, or just some lowering springs. There's no way to raise it with the current springs.

[kevinb511]

Thanks for the reply. I was afraid of that. The rear sat great, but the front was too high with the xdrive springs still in, so I swapped them out and now they are too low. Was such a big job, the thought of putting the xdrive springs back in again, kills me

[Unspec]

IMO proper lowering springs are better than using RWD springs on a xDrive. Can lead to some wonky handling as they weren't designed for the xDrive's weight.

[WinstonE92xi]

Originally Posted by kevinb511

Hello,
I had a broken rear spring on my xdrive 550, and decided to replace with RWD springs to get a bit of a drop. Rear is perfect, but the font is about 3/4" too low. I thought they would all drop the same amount. Any ideas on how the front could be raised to match the rear? Spacers of some kind?

Can you put up pics? How does it ride?

[kevinb511]

I'll add some pics this morning. It rides better than it did with the xdrive springs. It's basically just a cosmetic thing for me. I don't like the front and back not matching and I feel the front looks just a bit too low. Front also hits the wheel well on larger bumps. Back is perfect

[kevinb511]

Here is how it's looking

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by kevinb511

I'll add some pics this morning. It rides better than it did with the xdrive springs. It's basically just a cosmetic thing for me. I don't like the front and back not matching and I feel the front looks just a bit too low. Front also hits the wheel well on larger bumps. Back is perfect

I'd start budgeting out for new/aftermarket dampers. The OE ones are gonna go real quick with those springs installed.

[kevinb511]

Agreed. I'm going to put the stock xdrive springs back in the front. The rear didn't have much of a drop when I installed the RWD ones, so will probably leave those. Interestingly enough, when I was looking up front xdrive springs with EDC, it's the same part number for both the 550i and 550ix. By that theory, the ones I just installed should be the same, but they clearly are not. The ones I installed came off a 550i with EDC.

[moks_garage]

Originally Posted by kevinb511

Agreed. I'm going to put the stock xdrive springs back in the front. The rear didn't have much of a drop when I installed the RWD ones, so will probably leave those. Interestingly enough, when I was looking up front xdrive springs with EDC, it's the same part number for both the 550i and 550ix. By that theory, the ones I just installed should be the same, but they clearly are not. The ones I installed came off a 550i with EDC.

What's the part number? I just bought a replacement set for the rear on my 535xi because one of the coils broke around the bottom pad. I went thought several part numbers until getbmwparts narrowed it down to 33-53-6-786-657, which, awkwardly enough, shows it doesn't fit if you check through some parts portals. I don't recall what the verdict was on realOEM but I decided to keep it OEM due to lack of aftermarket options for DHP/EDC equipped cars and wanting to keep the stock dampers going for a little while longer.