Pictures of Lowered 1 Series Cabriolet

[Rob Daman]

Yea I got em on the forums. I was gonna pull the trigger on Apex wheels then found the deal.

You have the advantage with coilovers to adjust at will. I was a little bit worried about too much squat but it's about the same gap all the way around right now.

I'm running 225/255 set up so I don't get any type of noticeable rubbing so far. I took a 40 mph curve with no issues and over a few speed bumps too.

Ride is pretty good overall. I can feel the tightness in the rear but it's no bouncy. That's one of the things that got me tired of my Evo was bounciness.

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Why do I feel like i've seen those Advans, on those tires before? Buy them from another member? Sweet either way.

Love your ride height up front man. I really need to raise the rear a bit, it's too low and makes the rear wheel look too sunk for a 265.

[135Pats]

I’ve found the 1er on stock rear suspension to be very skippy and unsettled, but not bouncy. It doesn’t float so much as it hops all over the place, which makes sense when you look at the wheelbase etc. Better subframe bushings or inserts really help to settle it back there. My car is OK out back at this point but I need more tire up front, it pushes hard mid-corner then wants to snap oversteer, which is an extremely un-cool and unsettling feeling for the driver. Without M3 front arms I can’t even imagine the current setup I run working out well. We’ll see…got so much on the plate right now tires will have to wait a little bit.

[Rob Daman]

Thanks!

I think my set up is coming out clean.

I'm not noticing any noise or NVH on these street camber plates so far. I've read some people commenting on that. It seems that's why guys go with the M3 arms and/or Dinan camber mounts.

I haven't even got my 1st car payment yet and I've modded like crazy. lol

I just wished I had found info about how to remove the top rear shock mount without pulling out all trunk covers. Those little push tabs were annoying.

Originally Posted by 135iam

looks bad ass Rob! I really like the aggressive look of those wheels.

Camber plates look to be a "must have" with those springs (or any lowering springs) on a convert with any wheel/tire combo taller/wider that stock.

Thanks for all the info guys! I've learned more on lowering 1 series convertibles the last few weeks that I did searching on here for months before.

[Rob Daman]

I too noticed that funky rear feeling. I always take the exact same route home so I can always duplicate the issues. I'll try to tackle the inserts either today after work or this weekend. I looked at some wires attached to the subframe so I'm guessing I should disconnect them but I'll relook.

Snap oversteer is definitely not cool. I can imagine having that happen when it's wet out!

Originally Posted by 135Pats

I’ve found the 1er on stock rear suspension to be very skippy and unsettled, but not bouncy. It doesn’t float so much as it hops all over the place, which makes sense when you look at the wheelbase etc. Better subframe bushings or inserts really help to settle it back there. My car is OK out back at this point but I need more tire up front, it pushes hard mid-corner then wants to snap oversteer, which is an extremely un-cool and unsettling feeling for the driver. Without M3 front arms I can’t even imagine the current setup I run working out well. We’ll see…got so much on the plate right now tires will have to wait a little bit.

[135iam]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

I’ve found the 1er on stock rear suspension to be very skippy and unsettled, but not bouncy. It doesn’t float so much as it hops all over the place....

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I am looking forward to the warmer weather in my area this week so I can exercise my new setup a bit and get a better feel for it.

Not sure how you guys are for rattles, but I currently have strip of velcro (the soft side) between the A pillar and vent housing on the passenger side. It has silenced the noise, but I need to come up with a long term solution. other than that the car is quite, but that rattle/creak was aweful.

[135iam]

Originally Posted by Rob Daman

I looked at some wires attached to the subframe so I'm guessing I should disconnect them but I'll relook.

Yes unhook those, and the bracket holding lines to the top suspension arm. both open easily with a small flat blade screwdriver.

the inserts will lower the subframe 1/8-1/4" just like my whiteline full bushings did I would think.

[Rob Daman]

Ok. Cool. thanks for the tip.

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by 135iam

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I am looking forward to the warmer weather in my area this week so I can exercise my new setup a bit and get a better feel for it.

Not sure how you guys are for rattles, but I currently have strip of velcro (the soft side) between the A pillar and vent housing on the passenger side. It has silenced the noise, but I need to come up with a long term solution. other than that the car is quite, but that rattle/creak was aweful.

Do you have any pictures of it? Do you mean it’s physically in the A-Pillar, behind the cosmetic cover? My car is STUPID creaky on the passenger side a pillar area. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I have a loud car and usually listen to music fairly loudly so I don’t mind much…but man. It’s no joke.

[135iam]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Do you have any pictures of it? Do you mean it’s physically in the A-Pillar, behind the cosmetic cover? My car is STUPID creaky on the passenger side a pillar area. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I have a loud car and usually listen to music fairly loudly so I don’t mind much…but man. It’s no joke.

No, I will get one.

for my car it was real easy, I havent ever taken anything apart. if you stand outside the car and grab the bottom of the a pillar and squeeze it (with your thumb on the painted part of the a pillar) you will see it move away from the dash and the vent. My squeaking isnt between the dash and the a pillar, its between the dash and that vent. The velcro I used is 4"x5/8" roughly. I just put it in that gap and it sticks out about 1/4" or so and you can wiggle it around in that space. I slid mine back as far as it will go towards the rear of the car and the squeek is 100% gone from that spot. Just need to trim the piece a bit so it doesnt hang out. hope that makes sense

[135iam]

Here is a shot of the simple but effective solution for my dash squeek. And this wasnt a minor squeek, it was aweful.

[Rob Daman]

So I got the car aligned today.

Below is a before and after shot after the the drop. I'll take better end result pics soon.

anyhow it's BMW Performance springs from a coupe which went way lower than I expected but still looks good. Koni sport yellow shocks with GC front street camber plates. Front is -1.5 and rear is -1.8 camber.

I didn't take measurements of before and after but stock was m sport height and afterwards there's barely any tire to fender gap.

[spun]

Nice

Those Recaro booster seats are awsome.
My oldest just got big enough to not need his anymore.

[135iam]

Alright bad back Rob, that looks hot!

^^^gotta bust your chops a bit, since you just bought this car for the better ride quality

I'm sure the koni/PS combo has a nice ride as I have read alot of reviews on it. Like you I am surprised at the extent of the drop as those are the minimum drop coupe spring out there.

how are you liking the subframe inserts?

[Rob Daman]

Yea I had them in my Evo X so I used to talk about having 4 Recaros in a car. My oldest is tall but not tall enough yet to get out the booster yet.

Originally Posted by spun

Nice

Those Recaro booster seats are awsome.
My oldest just got big enough to not need his anymore.

Haha thanks.

It's still way way better ride quality than the Evo any day. I'd say it got maybe 10% bouncier/firmer on a straight way. Not back jarring over any speed bumps. That feels stockish.

I'm glad the rear didn't sag.

As far as the inserts my butt dyno says it definitely firmed up the rear and perhaps i'm getting a little bit more NVH but it could be from my alignment as my tires are more planted. The camber before alignment was -2.5 all around.

Originally Posted by 135iam

Alright bad back Rob, that looks hot!

^^^gotta bust your chops a bit, since you just bought this car for the better ride quality

I'm sure the koni/PS combo has a nice ride as I have read alot of reviews on it. Like you I am surprised at the extent of the drop as those are the minimum drop coupe spring out there.

how are you liking the subframe inserts?

[Rob Daman]

So I drove over my typical route home and confirmed that the rear end was definitely better. I used to feel a wobbly booty but now it's tighter. Lol.

I recommend inserts at a minimum.

[135iam]

Originally Posted by Rob Daman

So I drove over my typical route home and confirmed that the rear end was definitely better. I used to feel a wobbly booty but now it's tighter. Lol.

I recommend inserts at a minimum.

Nobody likes a wobbly booty, glad they are working out good.

[135Pats]

Those Advans are so outstanding.

[Rob Daman]

some may but not me. haha

Originally Posted by 135iam

Nobody likes a wobbly booty, glad they are working out good.

thanks.

Originally Posted by 135Pats

Those Advans are so outstanding.

[135iam]

Here are are a few shots of my cars progress.

Here it is the day I picked it up and drove 150 miles home. Bone stock, the dealer even put a new set of 215/245 runflats on it!


Here is how looks now. (with a new top and 6 injectors thanks to my remaining warranty)
Mods include JB4 G5 tune, VRSF 7" IC, BMS DCI, Whiteline rear subframe bushings, M3 front and rear arms, KWv3 coilovers, Dinan camber plates, Apex Arc 8's 18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rear with 245/35/18 and 265/35/18 S04's. -2.5 front camber and -1.5 rear.
AR downpipes waiting to go on.

Usually running on map 5 with 40% e85 and loving it I'm not much for cosmetic mods, but I think that aweful stock antenna needs to go!

I usually have automotive adhd and change cars frequently, right now I can honestly say I have no desire to replace this car. Well, unless I fall into a large stack of money and can pick up a 2015 911 Targa S (that car is just beautiful IMO)

[135iam]

Originally Posted by 135Pats

My car is OK out back at this point but I need more tire up front, it pushes hard mid-corner then wants to snap oversteer, which is an extremely un-cool and unsettling feeling for the driver. Without M3 front arms I can’t even imagine the current setup I run working out well. We’ll see…got so much on the plate right now tires will have to wait a little bit.

So I finally got the opportunity to drive my car thru some good turns in warm weather (82-85F) and my current setup has the same midcorner understeer you mentioned. Low speed the car feels pretty good, but on high speed sweepers really pushing the car with all 4 tires lightly squeeling (55-85 mph) understeer starts to become evident. As I pushed harder in a few spots and got the tires more howling than squeeling understeer got worse, especially when rolling on the power. (Steady state corners or mild acceleration had just slight understeer)

Never once felt like the rear was gonna come around. I would say compared to an S2000 this car is extremely easy to drive fast and find its limits.

265's all around with the evolution racewerks front end would be nice!

[Rob Daman]

cool review.

s2000 was definitely not an easy car to drive due to that snap oversteer.

Originally Posted by 135iam

So I finally got the opportunity to drive my car thru some good turns in warm weather (82-85F) and my current setup has the same midcorner understeer you mentioned. Low speed the car feels pretty good, but on high speed sweepers really pushing the car with all 4 tires lightly squeeling (55-85 mph) understeer starts to become evident. As I pushed harder in a few spots and got the tires more howling than squeeling understeer got worse, especially when rolling on the power. (Steady state corners or mild acceleration had just slight understeer)

Never once felt like the rear was gonna come around. I would say compared to an S2000 this car is extremely easy to drive fast and find its limits.

265's all around with the evolution racewerks front end would be nice!

[Rob Daman]

here's a pic of my car i took last night. it shows the drop nicely.