BMW e23, e24, e28 DIY Air Suspension Solutions

[NegativeCamber]

can you list everything needed to bag an e23? im just confused on what you used for the fronts, and management.

and do you recommend getting bigger rims?

I accomplished what I wanted with airlift universal struts in the front. I was just showing two options that you can use in the front and explained that there were limitations of the UAS option on the e23 when trying to put the front subframe on the ground. This may differ with the e28 or e24. Those owners will need to measure.
You need airlift bellow bags for the front and airlift sleeves for the rear. Management is up to you but you can either buy a manual kit or an electric kit. I went with the airlift digital management from Bagriders.
Wheel size is all personal preference. As you can see, the car was on stock 14" wheels and it still looked dumped

[EDIRTYY808]

how'd you know the placement of the airbag wouldn't interfere with the tire with 17s? cuz you were on 14s. since i wanna use maybe a 18in or 19in rim, would i need to weld the airlift higher?

[NegativeCamber]

how'd you know the placement of the airbag wouldn't interfere with the tire with 17s? cuz you were on 14s. since i wanna use maybe a 18in or 19in rim, would i need to weld the airlift higher?

i kept the wheel to tire ratio the same. you can use a tire calculator to find the right size tire. in my opinion a 19" wheel is too large for these cars, and the ratio may be larger than the stock size. in that case, you will need to have the wheel you want to run in order to determine the mount height.

[EDIRTYY808]

thanks for all the help. how about camber, do i need to angle the struts inwards for camber in the front and rear? or will it camber automatically when i air out?

[NegativeCamber]

thanks for all the help. how about camber, do i need to angle the struts inwards for camber in the front and rear? or will it camber automatically when i air out?

you can angle the struts, but i am not sure you can predetermine what the end result will be by randomly choosing a degree. you may or may not like the result.

i know that airlift sells some of the prebuilt bmw kits with camber plates, so you might want to ask them you could buy the plates and if they would be compatible with the fabricator kit.

also, you would need to see if any of those would have the same stud pattern as your car.
then there is the option of just making your own plates as theneek did with his e21 on airlift struts.

[EDIRTYY808]

did you angle the front or rear? i want the fronts straight as possible, maybe a lil camber, and the rear a little more camber so not too much, so should i just angle it a lil inwards? as long as it shows camber, im good.

[Svenska94Aero]

i know that airlift sells some of the prebuilt bmw kits with camber plates, so you might want to ask them you could buy the plates and if they would be compatible with the fabricator kit.

If you want to run camber plates, you will need a different bag than the one included in the fab kit. The 58480 bag has a different top plate style that eliminates the stock kit bearing/bushing to allow you to mount it to a camber plate and allow the unit to pivot with the pillow bearing. I'm running into the same issue with making camber plates for my car.

[NegativeCamber]

did you angle the front or rear? i want the fronts straight as possible, maybe a lil camber, and the rear a little more camber so not too much, so should i just angle it a lil inwards? as long as it shows camber, im good.

i didn't add any camber. i welded the pipe in the same angle as the stock strut housing and centered the strut in the strut tower, while making sure it cleared the wheel and tire. with the stock strut angle, you will like the natural camber that occurs when completely air'ed out. to be honest, its not extreme and pretty straight.
the rear on the other hand, wont be able to be adjusted. there isnt enough room. you have just enough clearance to have the sleeves fully inflated. the bag will be centered in the strut tower.

If you want to run camber plates, you will need a different bag than the one included in the fab kit. The 58480 bag has a different top plate style that eliminates the stock kit bearing/bushing to allow you to mount it to a camber plate and allow the unit to pivot with the pillow bearing. I'm running into the same issue with making camber plates for my car.

thanks for the info. now i wonder if there is a difference between the diameter of the struts and how they seal. Airlift should sell the fab kit with a camber plate bag as an option.

[Svenska94Aero]

thanks for the info. now i wonder if there is a difference between the diameter of the struts and how they seal. Airlift should sell the fab kit with a camber plate bag as an option.

I definitely agree. And after speaking directly with AirLift, the bag is a direct replacement for the strut body included in the kit, there is no difference in the actual strut.

[Nick475]

would you have to use the shortened corrado shocks if you're using the uas bags? sorry for nooby question. trying to figure out how to bag my 28

[NegativeCamber]

would you have to use the shortened corrado shocks if you're using the uas bags? sorry for nooby question. trying to figure out how to bag my 28

take a look at where you would need to weld then look at how much stroke your stock strut will offer. it should be able to extend enough for the full length of the bag, and collapse enough for a fully compressed bag. ride height will be somewhere in between.

[Nick475]

thanks man

[Nick475]

couldn you just swap out the spring on the stock strut with a rolling sleeve? i mean you probably wont get as low with the stock shocks but still

edit. and if not a rolling sleeve, could you just use an aerosport bag?

[NegativeCamber]

couldn you just swap out the spring on the stock strut with a rolling sleeve? i mean you probably wont get as low with the stock shocks but still

edit. and if not a rolling sleeve, could you just use an aerosport bag?

I haven't seen a sleeve that can be mounted over a strut like an aerosport. Even of there was, the max weight rating would probably not be up to par for the front end of a car. You can use aero sports with stock shocks. It most likely would ride like crap. The stock damping parameters of the strut usually doesn't control bag oscillation very well. I've read a bunch of complaints when people use that combination . It may not happen initially, but it probably will wear the strut down faster.

[Nick475]

Thanks for getting back so quickly. I always forget to be specific, but for that last question, I was specifically talking about rears. I figured the sleeve wouldn't be strong enough for up front