Lowering Options for BMW E24

[Neeli_E24]

Hi guys,

New to the site, but am an avid BMW fanatic - having owned all of them from an E30 up to my current E90.

I have just purchased an E24 635CSi after wanting one for many months. I am hoping I can get some advice regarding lowering it.

I need to achieve a drop of around 50mm, and my situation is as follows: I have seen loads of lowering springs for sale on various sites for between £125 - £175, all giving a drop of 35mm. This is 15mm less than what I really need but around the budget I would like to spend.

I then started looking at the coilover options. I have seen a few that would fit the E24 but they vary in price from £800 upwards. This really is a lot, lot more than I want to spend.

Does anybody have any experience/advice with cutting lowering springs? I think this is route I am going to have to take. I believe that cutting one ring off of each spring with give me the overall drop that I want.

Would I then need to buy shorter shocks, as I am guessing the OEM ones on the vehicle will be too long for the lowering springs, or would they sit comfortable inside lowered springs?

I want to clarify that I really don't want to spend too much on lowering the car, so please no suggestions of coilovers/crazy hydraulics that cost £££. I just cannot justify spending that much on what will essentially be an occasional weekend car (I already have an every day car as well as a motorcycle).

Would welcome any comments/recommendations/suggestions. Thank you.

[molly_watah]

Don't cut springs on these. From what I've heard, everybody who's cut springs on their 6 has regretted it. There's a few guides around to build your own coilovers for e28s/e24s for fairly cheap. As cliche as it sounds, don't cheap out on suspension. You said this car will be an occasional weekend car- you probably wanna at least make it enjoyable to drive in that case. If you can't afford it now, save up until you can afford coils. You can find used BC's for 700ish around if you look hard enough, which isn't much more than you would spend on lowering springs + shocks/struts (and you don't want to do lowering springs & oem dampers, they'll blow in no time).