[BimmerHausPerformance]

[MatthewLC]

This is what I'm referring to

[BimmerHausPerformance]

Ah yes. I read that in the trouble shooting section for the BC Coilovers. I don't think of that as pre-load in the same way you actually PRE LOAD your springs in the video I shared.

[Sylverlee]

Originally Posted by BrowBMW

Ah yes. I read that in the trouble shooting section for the BC Coilovers. I don't think of that as pre-load in the same way you actually PRE LOAD your springs in the video I shared.

Thx - yeah this is what I think about when someone says pre-load. Everyone does this after installing coilovers? This is my second car with coilovers and just use it as it comes from the manufacturer. I'm guessing it's probably within the ball park of being ok, but am going to look into doing this if it helps unlock better ride/performance.

[BimmerHausPerformance]

Originally Posted by Sylverlee

Thx - yeah this is what I think about when someone says pre-load. Everyone does this after installing coilovers? This is my second car with coilovers and just use it as it comes from the manufacturer. I'm guessing it's probably within the ball park of being ok, but am going to look into doing this if it helps unlock better ride/performance.

Wait, you said: Everyone does this - which one?

Control Arm preload: I didn't remove the control arm so I didn't need to tighten it to spec at stock ride height or under load. And the reason that is mentioned in the BC trouble shooting is in case you are hearing noises and you happen to have loosen some components.

Spring Preload: BC Fronts come set with preload - so you normally don't have to set them. And remember, pre load doesn't change spring rates so you might not notice a difference in ride. But it helps reduce noise by keeping things tight and not rattling around. If you think about it, by the time you get the whole weight of the car on the spring, you are normally compressed MORE than the 4mm of preload you put on it... but beware you can do TOO much preload for sure and then that will affect things.

Now for the rears... because you have to use parts from the stock set up (at least on the BC's) I did have to set preload on those.

[Sylverlee]

Originally Posted by BrowBMW

Wait, you said: Everyone does this - which one?

Control Arm preload: I didn't remove the control arm so I didn't need to tighten it to spec at stock ride height or under load. And the reason that is mentioned in the BC trouble shooting is in case you are hearing noises and you happen to have loosen some components.

Spring Preload: BC Fronts come set with preload - so you normally don't have to set them. And remember, pre load doesn't change spring rates so you might not notice a difference in ride. But it helps reduce noise by keeping things tight and not rattling around. If you think about it, by the time you get the whole weight of the car on the spring, you are normally compressed MORE than the 4mm of preload you put on it... but beware you can do TOO much preload for sure and then that will affect things.

Now for the rears... because you have to use parts from the stock set up (at least on the BC's) I did have to set preload on those.

I see ok. I was talking about the spring preload. Yeah fronts probably came loaded with my Megan's too, and installer probably did the rears. So likely good as is.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by MatthewLC

If you're going through the effort, I would recommend you reset the preload on all your bushings at the new ride height.

My drop is a little more extreme than yours (probably around 3.5") but I already have some rear bushings that are starting to tear due to me never reseting the preload of them at this new height. For context, I've only put about 10-15k km on the car since the coilovers have been installed

Not sure what you mean. I took everything apart and fastened everything requiring "normal position" at the "new normal position" by compressing the suspension with a jack until the car just started to lift off of the quickjack. I did not measure normal position like TIS says. I took a quick measurement with a tape measure while doing the job to sanity check what I was seeing and I think it was in the 340-350mm range. (if anything a little too low I suppose - I thought it was going to come out at 340mm).

EDIT: I see you clarified after your first post. I did remove the front upper wishbones as part of my install and I think the entire front end was put together with proper normal position. I may be missing a position or two at the rear though....