New to the Car Scene

[LiftedToLowered]

Hey Everyone!

I am new to the car scene and have loved some of the lowered cars and trucks I have seen, so I figured I would give it a shot. My username should give you a clue to what I am coming from. I had a 2004 F150 that had a 6" BDS Suspension lift, 20x12 Wheels and 35x12.50 Tires, retrofitted headlights, cold air intake, etc, etc. I am not new when it comes to truck stance. When I had my truck, I had initially want to trade up to a newer F250 and put a Kelderman Air Suspension lift kit on the truck with some 22x14s, but decided to go a different route instead. With that being said, I traded my truck in for a Silver 2010 328i. As soon as I told my buddy what I had gotten, he immediately replied with "bag it". I knew what bagging a car was, but wasn't sure what all went into it when compared to that of a suspension lift. My plans for this car are to bag it, possible bumper swap, wheels, retrofitting the headlights, or just buying OEM projectors. As of right now, that's all I really have in mind. A little background about me, I'm currently enlisted in the Air Force, Active Duty, and am going to school down in Biloxi, MS at Keesler AFB. I will be here the next couple months until I PCS to my first duty station. My progress on this might be slow depending on where I end up, but overall it should be a fun and different little project for me. Any input or ideas of some things I could do are more than welcomed.

Just an idea of what I am coming from,


Thanks,
Rob

[Drew_224]

I made the opposite swap. You'll enjoy it here. Welcome!

[LiftedToLowered]

I made the opposite swap. You'll enjoy it here. Welcome!

Yeah, I love my trucks, don't get me wrong, but the gas mileage is terrible and with this I can still have some fun with along with the good mpg. Worse comes to worse, I sell it later on down the road and buy a newer 6.7 F250.

[_e90]

Ooooh. Post pics of the e90!

Truck looks like a beast, btw.

[LiftedToLowered]

Ooooh. Post pics of the e90!

Truck looks like a beast, btw.

Thanks, I miss my truck sometimes and then I remember the gas mileage I was getting with it. I'll be posting it once I get it back in possession. Parents currently have it back at home and are going to drive it down to me. Hopefully will be getting everything done to it while I am here at Keesler for the next couple months.

Also, I am looking for advice on what equipment all goes into bagging vehicles. I was looking on Accuair's site and found kits for my car, but am not sure what all would be needed so I don't have to run back and fourth buying stuff.

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

Ha, I made the same kind of move - lifted Cummins Dodge to a bagged Mercedes.

Welcome!

Let us know what you're looking at and what's got you confused regarding air ride - we're happy to help.

[LiftedToLowered]

Ha, I made the same kind of move - lifted Cummins Dodge to a bagged Mercedes.

Welcome!

Let us know what you're looking at and what's got you confused regarding air ride - we're happy to help.

This is what I was looking at on Accuair, http://www.accuair.com/airmanagement...e-w-touchpad-2 Just not sure if I would need anything else aside from the actual bags for the suspension.

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

That kit should have everything you need aside from bags and whatever air fittings they'll require. You'll probably need a few miscellaneous air fittings here and there depending on the setup you decide upon, but that kit will get you most everything you need.

If it fits in your budget, I'd at least consider getting a 444c or 480c compressor instead of a 400c, as well as an air tank rated to 200 psi. With a 5-gallon tank, you might also consider dual compressors so you're not waiting all day for air - I certainly wish I had gone with dual compressors on my setup.

[LiftedToLowered]

That kit should have everything you need aside from bags and whatever air fittings they'll require. You'll probably need a few miscellaneous air fittings here and there depending on the setup you decide upon, but that kit will get you most everything you need.

If it fits in your budget, I'd at least consider getting a 444c or 480c compressor instead of a 400c, as well as an air tank rated to 200 psi. With a 5-gallon tank, you might also consider dual compressors so you're not waiting all day for air - I certainly wish I had gone with dual compressors on my setup.

I will definitely look into it. All of this is brand new to me so I'm not sure what all is involved. I wasn't sure if I would need any type of extra connections or cables is all.

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

You will need a cable and fuse to get power from the battery to the AccuAir ECU and valve setup. If you're planning on running an audio system, you can just tap off your amplifier wiring. Otherwise, an 8-gauge wire with fuse will be more than adequate to power the e-Level system. It also doesn't look like that kit includes a relay, so you'll want a standard 40A relay for each compressor in your system. I believe the kits that BagRiders offers do include the relay, so it might be worth seeing how their kits compare pricewise to buying direct from AccuAir.

I would also consider a tank drain. With an aluminum tank, water isn't nearly the issue it is with a steel one, but I still don't like large amounts of water buildup in the tank. The water trap AccuAir includes will help a lot, but you'll still likely get some amount of water in your tank.

Depending on what you think about the noise of air evacuating your system on air down, you might also consider dump mufflers. I run a single SpeedAire dump on my VU4, and it's nearly silent. Some people like noisy air dumps, some people don't.

One last thing, and this is really something you can worry about once your system is installed and tested, but some people (myself included) have had to install flow controls to get the car airing up and down evenly from front to back. On my car, the ridiculous front-heavy weight bias causes the front to air down much faster than the rear, and I had to install flow controls to keep the car from "ratcheting" down as the e-Level system tried in vain to keep everything even. Again, this is something you can worry about later on.

[LiftedToLowered]

You will need a cable and fuse to get power from the battery to the AccuAir ECU and valve setup. If you're planning on running an audio system, you can just tap off your amplifier wiring. Otherwise, an 8-gauge wire with fuse will be more than adequate to power the e-Level system. It also doesn't look like that kit includes a relay, so you'll want a standard 40A relay for each compressor in your system. I believe the kits that BagRiders offers do include the relay, so it might be worth seeing how their kits compare pricewise to buying direct from AccuAir.

I would also consider a tank drain. With an aluminum tank, water isn't nearly the issue it is with a steel one, but I still don't like large amounts of water buildup in the tank. The water trap AccuAir includes will help a lot, but you'll still likely get some amount of water in your tank.

Depending on what you think about the noise of air evacuating your system on air down, you might also consider dump mufflers. I run a single SpeedAire dump on my VU4, and it's nearly silent. Some people like noisy air dumps, some people don't.

One last thing, and this is really something you can worry about once your system is installed and tested, but some people (myself included) have had to install flow controls to get the car airing up and down evenly from front to back. On my car, the ridiculous front-heavy weight bias causes the front to air down much faster than the rear, and I had to install flow controls to keep the car from "ratcheting" down as the e-Level system tried in vain to keep everything even. Again, this is something you can worry about later on.

Awesome! You've been a ton of help! I just want to make sure I know how all of this stuff will end up working together instead of having someone just throw this on my car and not having a single clue what something does. As far as a system goes, that will all be figured out later. I'd rather knock out suspension and wheels first. Also, any idea the widest wheel I would be able to run in the back would be? I know that i have seen 10.5s and 11's, but I'm not sure if lowering the vehicle would effect the fitment of the wheel/tire combo. Would it be something I would have to test fit or could figure out with some research. With my truck, everyone told me that 12" wide wheels with a -44 offset wouldn't fit, but needless to say that it does fit with some very minor cutting.

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

To amend my above wire gauge recommendations, since you've got a trunk-mounted battery (I believe...), 8-gauge will be sufficient for e-Level with a single Viair compressor. If you want dual Viairs or a single Air Zenith, I'd upgrade to 4-gauge to handle the additional amperage draw.

[LiftedToLowered]

To amend my above wire gauge recommendations, since you've got a trunk-mounted battery (I believe...), 8-gauge will be sufficient for e-Level with a single Viair compressor. If you want dual Viairs or a single Air Zenith, I'd upgrade to 4-gauge to handle the additional amperage draw.

Yes, I do have a trunk mounted battery.I think what I might end up doing, is just running a dual battery setup seeing as how I would like a better audio setup in the car. It has the bottom end system in the car right now and it's alright, but definitely could be much better. As far as subs, I've always ran two 10's or 12's, but I know that I will be somewhat limited on the space I have with everything I will have going into the trunk unless I find somewhere else to relocate things. Also, silly question (I think at least), What factors come into play into how low your vehicle actually drops with bags? What would it take for me to make the bimmer completely slammed as opposed to an inch or two off the ground

On a side note, checked out your build thread and its awesome!

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

Thanks for the compliment on my build!

As far as how low the car will go, really the key issues are things like suspension arm clearance and bag range. Up front, you'll have a bag-over-strut system, which often are adjustable like a coilover, where you can trade max lift for max low by spinning a collar. In the rear, I believe you have separate springs and shocks, so you'll be limited by how flat your rear bags can pancake or when wheels / suspension arms start running into things. Typically the latter will be your limiting factor. Again, I'm no E90 expert, so I don't know exactly where you're going to run into issues, but if you're looking for extreme low, you may have to consider doing frame notches like the VW guys do to prevent suspension arms from fouling on the frame. Or just be a cheater and run a body kit or a lip

As far as electrical goes, seems like a more powerful alternator would be a more productive avenue than a second battery if you're worried about power consumption. It may not wind up being an issue - I've got a 90A alt on my car, and I've been surprised how well it's kept up. That said, I don't run my sound system particularly hard most of the time, and I've got no coil or spark plugs that need power.

[LiftedToLowered]

Thanks for the compliment on my build!

As far as how low the car will go, really the key issues are things like suspension arm clearance and bag range. Up front, you'll have a bag-over-strut system, which often are adjustable like a coilover, where you can trade max lift for max low by spinning a collar. In the rear, I believe you have separate springs and shocks, so you'll be limited by how flat your rear bags can pancake or when wheels / suspension arms start running into things. Typically the latter will be your limiting factor. Again, I'm no E90 expert, so I don't know exactly where you're going to run into issues, but if you're looking for extreme low, you may have to consider doing frame notches like the VW guys do to prevent suspension arms from fouling on the frame. Or just be a cheater and run a body kit or a lip

As far as electrical goes, seems like a more powerful alternator would be a more productive avenue than a second battery if you're worried about power consumption. It may not wind up being an issue - I've got a 90A alt on my car, and I've been surprised how well it's kept up. That said, I don't run my sound system particularly hard most of the time, and I've got no coil or spark plugs that need power.

Thanks for the info! Makes a little more sense to me now. And yeah I didn't even think of getting a bigger alternator instead of another battery.


So far, ideas have been running through my head as to what to do with the bimmer and I have come up with some ideas.

Short term:
- Tint 5% all around and 35% on the windshield
- 19x9.5(front) and 19x11(rear) dark purple wheels
- Smoked tail lights
- Lowered with springs for the time being.

Long Term:
- Repainted Black
- Interior redone
- Black leather seats with suede inserts and purple stitching
- Blacked out with carbon fiber trim(maybe)
- M3 Replica bumpers
- OEM Projectors(not sure if I will swap halos or not)
- Exhaust (maybe)
- Bagged
- Audio system entirely redone!

Just a couple ideas that I was able to come up with today while doing grunt work around base.