H&R Sport Springs on 120i review

[kinetica]

I did quite a bit of searching for springs fitted on a 120i, and found very little info (lots of info on e82s). So here is my review, in case others want this info:

Car 2006 e87 120i hatchback
Wheels: GTC specific details here (http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=672160)

Springs: H&R Sport Springs part number 29187-1 (see pic below of label)

Distance from bottom of fender to top of wheel (not the tyre, but the wheel rim)
Rear before: 95mm After: 79mm
Difference in Rear after install: 16mm (.63 inch)

Front before: 108mm After:78mm
Difference in front after install: 30mm (1.2 inch)

Rationale for H&R over other choices:
1. Great past experiences with H&R on M3, M Coupe, GTI, and 911
2. I like the fact it drops the front more than the rear. And in this case, the car is level (wheel gap is now 78mm front and 79mm rear) vs having a bigger gap in the front.

Purchased and Installed on the Gold Coast for a decent price ($700 total for parts, labour, and alignment) by:
Mermaid Suspension Centre
1/3 North Street
Mermaid Beach, 4218

Test Drive:
Significant difference in steering feel/turn-in.
Slightly less body roll.
The combo of the wheels/tyres and these springs gives the 120i much better handling, it corners like a completely different car. It is much more fun to drive now. Plus it looks 100x better, IMO.

Bad: There is a little bounce when going over very choppy roads (like the Gold Coast Highway light rail construction zones). I usually upgrade struts and springs together, however I am not kidding myself that the 120i will ever make a serious racing threat, so I can live with the very minor bounce on harsh roads. On nice roads, the improvement is amazing!

I only have this one pic right now, in the dark garage taken on my phone. I will post more soon to show before/after.

NOTE: the rusty wheel hubs are glaring at me. Next mod: sand and paint them!


And here is the label, to help with part number concerns:

[510135]

car looks good bro! nice little review there. loving the custom rust mod Black kidney grills to come?

[kinetica]

Originally Posted by nik0123

car looks good bro! nice little review there. loving the custom rust mod Black kidney grills to come?

Thanks! Black grills are on the list.

Just drove on the Gold Coast-Springbrook road (99), and WOW, this little econo-hatch can carve now! Definitely not a M, but very road worthy!

[_Ryan_]

What offsets are your wheels?

Thanks for the review. FYI: normally best to measure centre of hub to guard, that way others with differing wheel/tyre combos will get an accurate comparison.

[woosh]

$700 installed and aligned is a beast of a price! Good job securing that haha

The underpowered e87s definitely handle great on the corners! Have fun

[kinetica]

Originally Posted by _Ryan_

What offsets are your wheels?

Wheels are 18x8.5 +45 front and 18x19.5 +50 rear

No rubbing issues at all.

[Knightelf]

Looks good! I had an E87 118i for a few years, actually kinda miss it as a daily driver.