Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 What is the height of front springs on a 1973 '02? I am in the process of putting the front suspension back together and want to use as much of the original equipment as possible. Also, what type of struts are best for a a stock to slightly firmer than stock ride? And, are caliper rebuid kits a good option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 ride (email me if you're interested in a good lightly used set). They will work with your stock height springs. As far as calipers are concerned, I've rebuilt them and next time will spend the extra $ for rebuilt from one of the parts houses. DIY is a pain without compressed air, and some of the rebuild kits have really inferior and ill-fitting components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 Not 2002 related, but I just order new Bilstein Tourings for my 1992 E34 525i. I wanted to keep the factory ride, but firm it up a bit. Tourings are 15% more firmer than BMW OEM. They say HD's are 25-30% firmer vs. BMW OEM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 I am leaving the spacers off (the ones at the top of the coil but below the strut bearing)according to my research this is OK and reduces the height a bit. Have you any experience with that? I like the idea of Bilsteins. Thanks for the offer of yours, as I get closer (a couple of weeks) I may be in touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 Undo the three nuts at each top strut mount, disconnect the front sway bar at either end. If you jack the car up on one side and push the wheel down, you should be able to simply push the strut assembly down to get clear of the wheel well. You will probably need a spring compressor if you intend to remove the original springs; if so, take the opportunity to replace the rubber pads on the top and bottom of each spring. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 than the 73-76 variety. Later cars had taller springs to meet bumper height requirements... Mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 URL: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/reference/spring_rates.html adjustment, front or rear? By the looks of the FAQ spring info, the "Standard" springs for front would be for the early models, and the "Heavy Duty" springs for the rear are for early cars. The Heavy Duty/Standard designations for front/rear seem transposed for either the front or rear. So which naming/classification is correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 front spacers removed and the same thickness rear spacers are exactly an inch different in height, irregardless of wheel/tire combos. Wondered about this for some years until I found out the bumper height requirement put in place for the first time in 1973 along with the 2 1/2 mph crash requirement. Bumpers had to withstand 5 mph in '74, with same height requirement. Don't have my parts book in front of me, but I think I remember seeing '73 USA cars using a different part number spring from the "rest of the world" cars. Cheers Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 So... Pre '73 US cars had a bumper height requirement of "x" and then '73 US cars had the bumper height req. of "x"+ 1inch. I suppose, then that '74+ springs got stiffer for the squaretails and perhaps then longer to account for the added weight of the cars. I can't imagine that your 69 sagged 1" shorter than your '73. I DO know that my '71 has stamped spacers, was there a US bumper height requirement for PRE-'71 cars? The spring lengths in the chart ARE uncompressed, so perhaps when compressed, they come out to be 1" shorter. All I "knew" before, was the later cars had stiffer springs to account for their increased weight. Also, that at some point a bumper height requirement was added in the US, and that it was at least by '71, judging by my stamped-dated spacers on my car. But if they raised the front, didn't they raise the rear? The two stockish '71s that I've just looked at had rear spacers of 1 dot, the smallest of rear spacers. Wonder if the bumper requirement is for the front only? Perhaps the rear spacers w/ the dots also play into the bumper height requirements. I'm getting dizzy now... Trivial I suppose, But I've got several sets of 25+ yr old stock springs and spacers that I'm planning on swapping to get that "right" look/feel on my car, and there are already so many variables that will affect my ride height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 (nt) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 (nt) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 On my first 02, the back tires would rub because the car sat so low. Shifting into 2nd or 3rd, that chirp you heard was from the tires on the body, not the tires on the pavement. This was a bone stock 71 bought from the original owner. The replacement springs were supposed to lower the car about 1/2 to 3/4". My car actually raised up, but the rubbing was gone, and the handling improved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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