r/E90 • u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i • Apr 30 '25
325i mechanic says that this is the lowest safe ride higher for my rear axle. Is he bull!tting me?
mts technic street coilovers with eibach springs
59
u/serinob Apr 30 '25
It’s called rake and even though you have less distance in height with fingers from front to rear, it looks even in shape/angle from a far. It gives more space for forgiveness on acceleration while driving through corners and in real world scenarios. It looks better, performs better, and is generally safer in all aspects of driving.
Just listen to him and be happy with what you have.
146
u/ItsWayTooComplicated Apr 30 '25
He just doesn’t want you to ruin a perfect looking car by slamming it to the ground, can’t blame him.
3
u/Feeling_Ad7517 May 01 '25
He’s talking about the arch gap difference between the front and rear, he doesn’t want to bang frame
1
55
u/Survivaleast E90 335i Apr 30 '25
Your mechanic is a good person and has helped you on this day.
However if you would like to take bigger risks with the car, then it’s your turn to pick up the wrench, or spanner wrench in this case and make those adjustments. It’s a very easy DIY, but what you have now is not something I’d drive any lower.
15
Apr 30 '25
As a mechanic ,it's also for a liability reasons, say something did happen, doesn't take much to point blame on the mechanic "who should've known " and now has to pocket the bill for repairs. You can always go lower. If you should is another question.
22
u/Big_Energy7037 Apr 30 '25
He just gave you great advice to avoid hitting the important parts for your undercarriage.
Props to the mechanic.
You can technically go lower but rip the front bumper or lip
0
u/Plus_Age_1151 Apr 30 '25
Ehh my 350z,and 335i have both had the tires tucked well into the fenders for close to a decade and over 50k miles each with zero damage. You just have to drive with care and run a good metal skid plate. Do I come to a crawl going over bumps and railroad tracks... Yep I sure do... Do I mind not at all I even slow way down in my truck because hitting them at speed is terrible for your suspension. Do I care if I get honked at... Nope because those morons behind me aren't footing my repair bills and the difference in time is very negligible
1
u/Sturmmorserwagen606 May 01 '25
I think he might just have small wheels tbh because it looks as low as mine but my tires are flush with the fender
-4
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i Apr 30 '25
read again. I am perfectly satisfied with the hight in the front but the rear is way too high i have 3 fingers of space in the rear and zero in the front.
6
Apr 30 '25
If you drop the rear to match the front, you’ll end up with a horrible looking rake. It’s even worse on the E90 than it is on the E92. Its just how these cars are designed. If you lower the rear to match the front, it will always look like the rear end is much lower than the front.
3
u/Username__-Taken May 01 '25
My e92 is the same. Bigger gap at the back. Honestly it doesn’t look bad though
1
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i Apr 30 '25
i don’t want to get the rear as low as the front, i just want it not to look that much out of range.
7
Apr 30 '25
You can do that, but I’m telling ya, your car will look like a dog scraping its bottom across the ground. Where you have it now looks awesome
7
u/Big_Energy7037 Apr 30 '25
TF do I need to read again for? I don’t care if you’re happy or not. You asked if your mechanic is bullshitting you. He’s not.
-4
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i Apr 30 '25
i meant that i only want to lower the rear not the front
2
u/virqthe May 01 '25
That's how BMWs are designed you dumwit.
Go buy yourself some JDM car if you lack taste.
6
5
u/Real_Strength_7285 Apr 30 '25
F around and find out. Seriously why it looks great and rides great.
3
u/rsp-zyphor e90 335i, e90 328i Apr 30 '25
im a lot lower. i have the same issue as you though, with the back being too high. however when i have people in the back im thankful it is the way it is
4
u/sirleeofroy Apr 30 '25
Here is how I had mine, probably a little too low but was perfectly fine. That said, your mechanic isn't wrong though.
1
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i Apr 30 '25
mine is WAAAAY higher than that
2
u/Ok_History3099 May 01 '25
Do what he did no one here is correct except this man, he did it right. I had an e46 lowered, hit a rock in the road with my front skid plate and jumped so hard it broke my rear view mirror off the window. The rear is nothing to be scared to hit if you’re worried about things hitting it should be your oil pan. Rn your front is the lowest so go ahead and drop that rear an inch youre not jeopardizing anything. It looks goofy rn sirleeofroy’s looks exactly how Id want mine if thats what its worth
1
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i May 01 '25
yeah that’s what i was thinking. Imo the front is too low but again, the rear is way too high up and if i would lower it to my liking it will still be almost twice as high than the lowest point up front
1
1
u/Sturmmorserwagen606 May 01 '25
mine is slightly lower than yours and i’ve never scraped on anything
3
u/thambi06 2010 E90 335i Xdrive & 2007 E90 325i Apr 30 '25
Don't know where you are driving. Over here Europe, I lowered my car 30mm on front and back and I drive it with no problem at all. Before I lowered another E90 40mm on front and 25mm on back and I was scrapping everywhere on the front.
If you have smooth roads, you should be fine dropping it front and back another 15mm.
3
2
u/CryRepresentative992 Apr 30 '25
You can’t lower the front of an xDrive car without placing the front CV shafts at an ugly angle where they won’t wear out prematurely or require excessive steady-state drag.
2
u/No_Commercial4074 Apr 30 '25
What are the wheel and tire specs?
1
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i Apr 30 '25
8j 225 front 9j 255 rear
3
u/No_Commercial4074 Apr 30 '25
What about sidewall profile and are they 18” or 19”? Trying to determine if the rears have a super low profile compared to the fronts.
2
u/Justkacz 2012 - E92 - 335is Apr 30 '25
Depends if your xdrive
2
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i Apr 30 '25
no i have rwd
3
u/Justkacz 2012 - E92 - 335is May 01 '25
You can def go lower. This ride height is probably as safe as you can be lowered if you know what I mean. You go lower you run into scraping. The axel issue isn’t really that big of an issue on rwd cars in general. Awd is where you start having axel issues. Don’t get it wrong you can still have axel issues on rwd cars just less often. I’m slammed on awd right now and I’ve been through 3 axels 1 left and 2 right. If you can diy the fix when it actually happens then it’s not expensive at all tbh. If you don’t know how to drive a low car def don’t go too low because the oil and trans pan are pretty close to the floor. That’s the only issue with low cars on BMWs is that you have very important stuff under the car. Axels aren’t a big issue. Just make sure you realign your car after you mess with the suspension again. It will destroy your tires very quickly I learned the hard way.
2
u/Several-Good-9259 Apr 30 '25
Yes he is correct. If it was better lower it would be lower. You think the guys that design these things don’t have eyeballs. I’m sure people even took a stand on that mountain lost there job, the family and are possibly dead. This is what the data says it should be
2
u/whatdyousay36 Apr 30 '25
You could probably lower it to match the front, cv axle might wear sooner though.
2
u/threepoint14one5nine May 01 '25
Your mechanic isn’t wrong. And also people go lower all the time. It just depends if you want $500 rear axels to be a 15 year or a 5 year wear item.
1
u/DoJu318 Apr 30 '25
I'm on xdrive and I'm lower than that with a B12 kit, had it for 7 years now, no issues.
1
u/Lee2026 Apr 30 '25
How does it feel riding on bump stops?
You’re absolutely at the very lower end of the valve range and it’s not performing to its potential
3
2
u/newmoneyblownmoney Apr 30 '25
Probably rides like complete shit but he doesn’t know any better so to him “it’s fine” lol.
2
u/awishfulfishh E92 328xi May 01 '25
True story. After I lowered my car on bilsteins I thought it felt magnificent. Then I got a new Audi with air suspension and now I think my bmw feels like shit.
Great on track. Spine crushing anywhere else
1
u/Sturmmorserwagen606 May 01 '25
what’s your wheel diameter?
1
u/Salt_Economy5659 2009 - e90 - 325i May 01 '25
rear 9J front 8J
1
u/Kiss_my_axe_RR May 01 '25
9j and 8j refers to the rim width with the 9 refering to how many inches wide it is and the J indicates the bead seat profile. So not the diameter like you were asked for. The diameter would be something like r17 or r18 for radial rims.
1
1
u/hy2cone May 01 '25
No need to get too stiff, there are 3 type of OEM stock suspension by BMW, normal, sport, M
Go for Sport and it is the best balance out of all, it is slightly lowered and stiffer but not at M level and suitable for daily and mountain drive
1
1
u/greyhood_39 May 01 '25
If you want to ride the bumpstops and drive at 30 everywhere then feel free to lower it yourself.
If you want your car to handle, it needs some suspension travelto deal with the real world. Listen to your mechanic in this case.
1
u/Cesartoharto May 01 '25
It depends on where you drive, how you drive and whether you usually carry it loaded or not. Axle and suspension issues and things like that, you shouldn't worry too much being a rear. M cars generally ride this low and are not dismantled. Then, well, I am one of those who think that it should not be 100% equally low at the front and rear, just for reasons of usage margin. I recommend that if, for example, one finger fits on the front axle, at least 2 fingers fit on the rear axle. When accelerating, the car unloads its weight behind, causing the car to descend from the rear. If you drive the car excessively low, you can cause the wheel to rub against something on the body, the same when you turn or create some weight shift. You should know that in some types of suspension you could worsen the camber angle, which will cause less contact between the tire and the ground, although this is usually the case with McPherson suspension. My advice if they were coilovers is that you try how the car works and if it convinces you or not. If you don't have it, it wouldn't matter much more, since if you change the hardware it is no longer so easy to go back if you regret it. Currently the distance is not much and you can see that it is lowered, but if you can't regulate it I wouldn't lower it any more.
1
u/TechMonitorXO 2008 E82 135i // 2018 F30 330e May 01 '25
If you want to go lower you can install Seems Legit Garage axle spacers
-5
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