Lowering Springs for F15 X5

[cjcampbell]

Hey,

Looking for some springs that’ll drop my 2015 X5 35i a couple inches - any experience and recommendations?

Thanks!

[shimmy23]

if i take your post literally, dropping the X a couple inches isn't accomplished without coilovers. BC racing, KW are the two main coilovers i've heard mentioned here. there's a budget coilover (silvers?) also available now. keep in mind a 2+" drop may need new arms to correctly align your car for optimal performance and tire wear.

for a less aggressive drop, you have other spring only options like H&R VTF (front adjustable) or sport springs, eibach, and other budget friendly brands.

search the forum and google for pictures of drops and the brands i mentioned.

[cjcampbell]

What’s the max drop I can achieve with springs alone?

[jiggz]

Originally Posted by cjcampbell

What’s the max drop I can achieve with springs alone?

I think H&R will get you lowest, I think 1-1.5? You need to look it up.

Ride quality will be noticeably diminished, not a great trade-off IMO. Dinan or Eibach springs will ride much better, but not get you as low. If you want 1.5+ coilovers are the only option. Costly, but won't have crappy ride quality like some of these springs, specifically the ones with the most drop.

[shimmy23]

Originally Posted by cjcampbell

What’s the max drop I can achieve with springs alone?

as jiggz mentioned, lowest drop and stock shocks/struts are not a good combo. expect a shitty ride if you do that. search the forum or even google the brands i mentioned. you can read up yourself on the drop values

[yupetc]

I've done the H&R drop with Bilstein B6 on all 4, drops about 1.5" front and 1.2" back. Ride quality is shit, I cringe on every unevenness on the road. If you run 19" or larger wheels, good luck going on pot-holes. I've lost a few RF tires due to pot-holes on the H&R/B6 setup.

I've then settled for Eibach springs paired with KONI Active Sport FSD shocks, Drops about 0.8" front and 0.6" back. Ride quality is way better and refined than the previous setup, but not soft and squishy like stock setup. The FSD from the shocks actually does a great job keeping the car very nimble even at high speeds, great confidence cornering. The best I can describe it is like on my G30 5-series, going from comfort mode to sport mode on those factory DDC's.

By the way, amongst all the different combinations, my X5 is also fitted with the Ultra Racing sway bars on both front and rear. So my cornering experience may not be relative to yours in comparison; factory sway bars are very soft.