My Car - 1997 840ci - After wheels etc

your car

Dear 'guest',
who are you ? Your car looks beautiful, can you please post more information ?
Thanks
Manfred Hafner

Looks suspiciously like Ian Downie's projectile to me!

Crap bit of parking in last pic by the way!!

John.

Not mine ....

That looks like either Avus or Mauritius blue to me .. mine is Velvet Blue

Fine wheels though - maybe that is Del's car as I know he just got hold of some Alpina wheels

Oops, sorry Ian, a case of mistaken identity on my part!!! Lovely wheels though, eh?

C'mon 'Guest', identify yourself!

John.

I own up its my Car ! - Del

Hi !

Couldn't log when I posted the pics hence the 'Guest' login. By the way Ian well deduced it was my car :-

Its a 1997 840ci Sport - Avus Blue
The whole car has been resprayed at BMW , genuine Alpina Wheels, brand new M-Tech Suspension ( was thinking of aftermarket springs etc but didn't want the usual camber problems ). The car feels tight as the day it left the factory - especially with the new wheels, grip is something else ! The suspension still needs wearing in so hopefully after a bit of driving it will be sitting nicer. I have to say I was thinking of buying a jag XK8 recently but after much thought a jag does not turn as many heads and no way is it as well built.

Parking !

By the way the I'd never park that close to a car in front - but in this case the car in front belonged to me as well so no worries about some idot doin the usual reverse until I hit something routine which is so common in London !

Hi,
car looks great. How much did the respray cost ?

Nice color and nice wheels.

Sorry to correct you but springs should need any time to wear in or settle. Quality springs M Tech included, are scragged after manufacture. Scragging is the process of compressing the coils till they cannot go further, this removes any sagging that would otherwise occur. Another point is, regardless of what springs you use, if they are lower than stock for that model it will, not may, but will change the camber and caster angles as well as toe in. Toe in can be corrected both front and rear while front camber and caster are fixed unless you use an aftermarket kit such as K-Mac (Australia). Their kit replaces the top spring retianer with a clutch type setup that allows movement of the shock absorber both forward and back while allowing movement towards and away from the engine.

There is sufficient adjustment to correct camber for any height when lowering and or correction after a good hit. also you can get up to 7 degrees caster which is same as M% spec.

Anyone who wants them contact me, I would be glad to assist
Theo

Respray

Hi All ,

The respray cost around £3000 from an official BMW dealer. I managed to get a great deal while they were working on some other stuff on my car.

By the way Theo thanks for the answer about the springs - I was happy with the lowering using the m-tech stuff and the ride is great but the gap in the front wheel arch is around 2 inches still. I was originally going to put on Alpina springs as they lower the front of the car a bit more than M- tech so all the stuff I read about them says but I could not get any info about specific ride height drops hence I went with the M- Tech stuff. Do you know about the Alpina spring specs - any ideas about lowering the front using a different spring combo ? ANy help would be greatly apprecaieted.

Thanks
Del

Springs

Del G'day Pal,

springs is a science but its not rocket science. Seeing you already have a quality spring then you should seach your area for a spring maker/spring works and have them re- set.

Look for the oldest fart you can find and have a chat with him (if its a her I would be wary, ok) to see if he knows his stuff. You can usually distinguish a bullshitter from a tradesman by getting a feel for whether he is trying to sell you his serivce or answering questions with practical answers. If his eyes are brown he could be full of s%*t but I have brown eyes myself and and often told that I talk BS but the fact is springs can be re-set to different heights no problems provided you have a real experienced and seasoned spring maker. You would be lucky to find one who will take them out and re-install them ( they are around) so you need to tell him how much he needs to compress the coils.

Be carefull you don't go too low and sacrifice looks for handling. Too low will upset stuff to the point where you will end up with control arms which are already well through their travel/swing centre and in laymans terms it will bump steer and generally be a pig to drive hard and fast around corners. 35 TO 40 MM is cool but beyond that several problems arise.

Sorry to go on but as soon as you drop it the camber aand caster angles change and in stock trim they cannmot be adjusted. There is an Australian company, K-Mac, that makes adjuster kits so that both can be adjusted to allow optimum settings to be restored which prevents your rubber from being shredded.

If you stay with say, 40mm drop you are ok but you still need to install a camber caster kit on the front. Rears are adjustable ex factory. The other consideration is clearance.

Hope it makes sense, if not ask ok?
Theo

GOOD ADVICE MATE

Hi Theo,

Thanks for the advice - I will look into it. I'm looking at dropping the ride height 10mm at the back and 25 - 30 mm at the front ( no more than that ) . Looks like I'll have to find a good workshop to take care of matters. Just to clarify, will any further adjustment to the springs at the front no matter how small a drop in height require the adjusttable K - Mac's or can I get away with a certain amount of drop in height before I need them? If so what sort of how many mm drop can I do without the need for K- macs if your in the know.

Your advice has been greatly appreciated !

Thanks
Del

This is H&R springs with 1/2 coil removed from the bottom to accomodate the K-Macs.

I needed to do the K-Macs because of excess wear on the outer edges of the fronts. Wouldn't be without them now.

The wheels are 18" with Goodyear F1 tires in 245/40 x 18 which is the correct rolling diameter to match the stock tire height.

Del,

Terry says it all 'Would not be without them". With 10mm drop it probably won't shred your tyres but it will change camber. Whether it has enough effect on tyres is debateable as 8' tend to scrub front outside edges due to understeer characteristics. (see K-Bars article in modifications section).

As I am close buddies with KeviN K-Mac Mc Intyre I have access to not only his camber caster kits but also he makes uprated sway bars so you dont need to guess what is on the list of 'to be done'.
Theo

Without the K-Macs and on stock suspension parts my 840 had slightly negative camber on one wheel and slightly positive on the other!! The tires showed it with really excessive wear on the outer edge.

135,000 miles of California and Washington pot holes took their toll.

Then the law of "Un-intended Consequences" took over

Added the K-mac to get adjustability so the next tires didn't wear like that.

The original struts were so soft that they would colapse rather than push thru the K-macs--ADD Bilstiens

Now the Nose of the car points up too much

ADD Springs A set of Dinans was the only thing available in Portland and I needed to leave the next day for 8 Fest. Put on Front only-car looks OK again.

Back from 8 Fest--After seeing all of those other 8's my head is ringing with Ideas going round and round!
Don't know where to start!!!
Which BANK to rob??
If you ever find yourself in the middle of a parking lot full of 8's you will know what I mean!!! Every car is at least subtly DIFFERENT!!!!! Some seem Extremely different!!!!
Try 80 some 8's in the same place!!! "I WANT THAT" is now a crusade!!!!

Anyway, now with time to play--H&R springs to lower the car all around--K-Bars on order--The search for toys for my baby is on!!!

New chin spoiler, Gear ratio change, Goodyear F1's all around. Magnaflow mufflers coming this week!! I suppose that I could mention Subwoofer, Ghost face reciever and sattelite radio too!

I think that I may need to join an 8 Owners Group to see if I can be saved!! Whoops that is what started all of this!!!

Terry,

I'm sorry to hear that you have caught the same disease as I have.
In the medical world prescription without diadnosis is called malpractice but what we have here can clearly be diagnosed as 'eighterenteritis'.

It is fortunately resticted to a small group, but spread across many points of planet earth.

Your symptoms are quite typical although on occasion the 'attached' male of the species has become so obsessed with what needs to be done and actually doing it that often the process of reducing ones bank account and focus of ones time can in fact lead to the female partner having to live on reduced spoils. Within a very short time this can lead to an involuntary and quite dramatic reduction in the frequency of the sex act which of course can further complicate the complaint.

My wife has been exposed to the symptoms however she seems to have developed a resistance and shows no signs of any adverse effects. I notice however that when she is driving the 8 her personality undergoes an instant chase and she becomes immune to the looks from other drivers.

In particular she seems to have developed an almost magnetic attraction to younger males that are standing on street corners whose bottom jaws bounce off their athletic chests as they stand with their mouths open.

During one of these more recent events (while I was her passenger) I was at a point where I had just started talking of our almost non existant love life when she suggested that I may now be suffering from a further complication which she descirebed as case of "seminal backlog".

Given that this site is frequented by people that may be easily offended easily I cannot tell you what she suggested I should do to relieve the symptoms which she described as having "clouded views and the loss of ability to be able to understand that she should be able to take the 8 to tennis each Tuesday and Wednesday evening as well as any other time that she feels the urge"!

Ah well. it is a disease that will probably be with me for quite some years and in the meantime I will just have to keep looking at photos of yours and the other 8's in the same way as many do with porn sites.

Yours has particularly nice set (of wheels) and that bottom lip is also something else that can make even an old man very happy!

Hope we stay sick for some time yet Buddy,
Cheers
Theo

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A local group keeps trying to get me to go to Meetings. I don't think it will help though. We would have 3 8s in the parking lot and Probably draw a crowd of Ego Inflators. That would certainly nullify any gains we made!

Nice Car!

Terry,

The lip turned out really nice and your car looks awesome. I really wish I could have put the lip on my car but my driveway is too steep and I don't want to park my baby outside.

I haven't had time to put the chip in but will once I get situated at my new place. Can you PM me more pics of your car?

I am planning to get H&R's but would like to get the front to have an even gap with the rear. Did you cut 1/2 coil on all 4? How does that affect the spring rate and ride?

You'll enjoy your Magnaflows...I've been happy with my set-up!

It was nice attending Wrenchfest back in July! Hope to meet more 8 owners!

Regards,

John

Zitat von TerryY

This is H&R springs with 1/2 coil removed from the bottom to accomodate the K-Macs.

I needed to do the K-Macs because of excess wear on the outer edges of the fronts. Wouldn't be without them now.

The wheels are 18" with Goodyear F1 tires in 245/40 x 18 which is the correct rolling diameter to match the stock tire height.

I have about run out of pictures between here and Bimmerforums 8 section.

I decided to stop "Molesting " my 840 trying to get all the Go I could afford and just jump into the Snake pit.

Proudly announcing the arrival of my 840s little brother just Yesterday!!!

1998 SVT Cobra Convertible in Electric Blue!!
Weighed in at 3500 pounds with 305 HP of badazz motor and a 5 speed.

If Hollywood ever made a Special effect called "Hot Rod" it would use the Cobra as the sound effects! 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds with the top up or down!!

I'll try to take some pictures of the kids together this weekend.

Nice!

Zitat von TerryY

I have about run out of pictures between here and Bimmerforums 8 section.

I decided to stop "Molesting " my 840 trying to get all the Go I could afford and just jump into the Snake pit.

Proudly announcing the arrival of my 840s little brother just Yesterday!!!

1998 SVT Cobra Convertible in Electric Blue!!
Weighed in at 3500 pounds with 305 HP of badazz motor and a 5 speed.

If Hollywood ever made a Special effect called "Hot Rod" it would use the Cobra as the sound effects! 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds with the top up or down!!

I'll try to take some pictures of the kids together this weekend.

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