How long does it take for shocks to settle down?

"MountainCommand" (MountainCommand)
08/29/2013 at 18:19 • Filed to: lowlife

My dad and i put in new Bilsteins struts and Eibach springs in his 740i, and it was suppose to lower it at an advertised amount of 1". Upon measuring, they barely dropped the car 1/4"... This seemed odd since when we had the shocks out to compare, there was about a ~1" difference between the overall lengths. Also, the Bilsteins had the Nurburgring nordschleife logo on them, which obviously means that they are awesome. haha.

And HOLY CRAP. Getting the rear struts out of the car was a PITA!. Aside from having to remove the entire rear of the interior to get to the top mount for the shock. It really is a 2 person job changing these things out on such a big car.

Also. Do last year 740i have a rear sway bar? My dad bought rear sway endlinks, however, that part seems to be nonexistent on his car...

But now im off to see if Bilstein makes shocks for my car, as i like how they have improved my dads car. But, im wondering if will be upset if i dont go with an adjustable coilover... which in that case may be Tein... So many choices.

(I dont have a good pic of just his car, so thats an older one.)

and the tag is meant to be sarcastic.

DISCUSSION (21)

dogisbadob > MountainCommand
08/29/2013 at 18:22

1" from the original height. Springs can sag over time, so 1/4 from the sagged height, 1" from original height. The E38 is a heavy car.

Almost every sedan with rear struts will require removing the rear seat and shit, especially if you don't have folding seats. My ES300 is easy to remove the remove the back seat on, and you don't have to remove the parcel shelf on it (although this is necessary on the Camry of the same year)

HammerheadFistpunch > MountainCommand
08/29/2013 at 18:23

I don't know about these springs, but talking to the off road guys about lifts on their heavy land cruisers (coils not leaf), it seems like the advertised ride height happens about 3-6 months of use, before that they are about an inch higher.

MountainCommand > dogisbadob
08/29/2013 at 18:27

You know that makes sense now. His shocks were, as far as we know, as old as the car. 150K miles.... That could be.

That and the whole radio deck came out too. Though it looked awesome to see a 'gutted' e38. and driving around while it was gutted was neat too.

dogisbadob > MountainCommand
08/29/2013 at 18:28

M7 CSL? :p

MountainCommand > HammerheadFistpunch
08/29/2013 at 18:29

Thats too funny. I heard nearly the exact same thing from a guy who put a leveling kit on his truck. His front end was a bit higher than normal/advertised, but it did settle down.

MountainCommand > dogisbadob
08/29/2013 at 18:32

Kinja'd!!!

m7 csl.

Haha. But you know, to be honest, People would probably think his is an m7 since BMW put the /M logo all over this car. They just left it off the badging.

dogisbadob > MountainCommand
08/29/2013 at 18:35

Yeah it's pretty rare to even see a SWB 7-series!

gavinski91 > MountainCommand
08/29/2013 at 21:05

Yeah I feel you for the PITA. Just helped my dad do the shocks on his E39 528i.

Also, if you know anyone who needs Eibach Heavy Duty front struts for an E39, I have some barely used ones (less than 100 miles). My dad bought them, then went to replace them and found out that his car has H&R lowering springs.

MountainCommand > gavinski91
08/29/2013 at 21:23

Sadly i dont know anyone with an e39. Maybe just ask oppo if anyone here wants them?

But yea, it wasnt the easiest wrenching ive helped with. Those germans sure do put a lot of thought into these cars though. Its the thing im most impressed with when i work with my dad on his bmw.

Squid > MountainCommand
08/29/2013 at 22:38

Did you let the suspension settle while on the ground before torquing all the suspension bits down? If you torqued them down while the car was up in the air you might have some binding issues with the bushings and such. . .

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > MountainCommand
08/29/2013 at 23:33

My E38 has a rear sway bar

MountainCommand > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
08/30/2013 at 13:39

Do you know if the last year model 01, had something else? There was nothing under the car that was obvious it was missing. No obvious mounting spots either.

MountainCommand > Squid
08/30/2013 at 13:41

No. However, the bmw shop manual and the bilstein manual didnt mention either of that. The car drives great, and no obvious issues though. Were just chalking it up to settling need to occur.

Squid > MountainCommand
08/30/2013 at 14:23

Have you gotten it re-aligned yet?

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > MountainCommand
08/30/2013 at 15:44

Only the sport package got a rear swaybar

MountainCommand > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
08/30/2013 at 20:53

Hmmm. But his is the sport package.... This is rather confusing.

MountainCommand > Squid
08/30/2013 at 20:58

No he has not. I think he wants to do a few more changes with his front sway bar before he is all said an done.

But i dont know if you need one or not. We only removed the shocks. Nothing else in the suspenion was removed. Thats why is was a PITA. Since it helps to remove the control arms and such, but we didnt.

Squid > MountainCommand
08/30/2013 at 21:25

Yeah that makes it a big pain not dropping the arms out but an alignment will tell you if things are not how they should be. Anytime suspension work is done an alignment should follow especially if you are seeking a lower ride height.

There may be some coil bind going on but the suspension should settle relatively quickly.

Get an alignment done before fiddling with the sways, they don't change your alignment specs, only how much the body rolls in cornering.

MountainCommand > Squid
08/30/2013 at 21:34

After i replied to you, i just asked him that question. And he said "absolutely you get an alignment". So your were spot on there.

Otherwise we're not too worried, since the more i search it seems to be settling is just a part of getting new springs and struts.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > MountainCommand
08/31/2013 at 05:25

No it isn't. Sports did not come in white.

MountainCommand > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
08/31/2013 at 22:14

(im not being snarky but) Pretty sure they did...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthre…

I cant find anything on bimmerforums saying Sport models never came in white. People have plenty of wtb and wts ads up for white sports.

Plus, im going crazy looking up everything i can about 740i sports now and everything checks out. His car has all the options the sport came with.

steptronic transmission
M-Parallel 18" wheels
Vavona Redwood interior trim
Shadowline Trim
18-way electric sport seats (sport seats)(movable thigh support)
3-spoke M steering wheel
Clear turn signal lenses.
Power folding mirrors if Convenience Package equipped
the front grill face is chrome instead of all black
Original sport packs came with all black trim instead of chrome around the windows

I found this during swaybar searching....

"Only the iL versions with self leveling suspension have a rear bar."

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthre…

"it is now official. On the non-self level cars there are NO brackets on the subframe." In reference to the subframe mounts for the swaybar.

And im sure if i go and decode his vin, im sure ill end up finding that it is a sport model.