3 series coil springs

Hi all,
My trusty 318 (1997) was in the garage having a new cat fitted and i was
advised there was a rear offside suspension coil spring broken, the mechanic
told me its best to replace both coil springs, something about road holding
and balance. Do you guys and gals agree with him to replace both or just the
broken one. BTW the car has done 158000 miles.
Thanks in advance.

On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 16:58:43 GMT, "yvette dickerson"
> wrote:

>Hi all,
>My trusty 318 (1997) was in the garage having a new cat fitted and i was
>advised there was a rear offside suspension coil spring broken, the mechanic
>told me its best to replace both coil springs, something about road holding
>and balance. Do you guys and gals agree with him to replace both or just the
>broken one. BTW the car has done 158000 miles.
>Thanks in advance.

Some things, such as shocks and springs, are best replaced in pairs.
Especially after that kind of mileage.

It's also surprising that the garage noticed it before the driver did,
but maybe that's just a woman driver thing...
--
Dan.

"yvette dickerson" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
> My trusty 318 (1997) was in the garage having a new cat fitted and i was
> advised there was a rear offside suspension coil spring broken, the
> mechanic
> told me its best to replace both coil springs, something about road
> holding
> and balance. Do you guys and gals agree with him to replace both or just
> the
> broken one. BTW the car has done 158000 miles.
> Thanks in advance.
>

Hi,
I had a similar experience with my first E36 M3. I thought it over for
quite some time. After giving the undercarriage a good inspection I found
that it was also time for new struts and shocks. I did a lot of research and
decided to replace all of the springs and struts (and shocks) with a matched
set. I believe the manufacturer was Boge? I bought them from BavAuto.com.
It made a wonderful difference in the handling and ride. I never
regretted putting that much money into it. If you cannot afford such a
replacement kit then I would suggest just changing both rear springs. it
will keep the car symmetrical and balanced in the read of the chassis.

Just my opinion; however, I hope it helps.

Cheers,
Wayne K.

It's pretty unusual for a spring to fail on these cars so I wouldn't replace
the other one based on concern that it would fail soon. My 318i has 340,000
on it and the springs are fine. There is also no reason to replace the good
one in order to make sure they are matched because there's no reason to
believe that two 'new' springs of the same part number will be matched any
better than an old one and a new one of the same part number. Some people
contend that spring characteristics change over time and that springs get
'tired' after years of use but there is no physical explanation to support
this myth so that also would not support replacing the good one. Save your
money.


"yvette dickerson" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
> My trusty 318 (1997) was in the garage having a new cat fitted and i was
> advised there was a rear offside suspension coil spring broken, the
> mechanic
> told me its best to replace both coil springs, something about road
> holding
> and balance. Do you guys and gals agree with him to replace both or just
> the
> broken one. BTW the car has done 158000 miles.
> Thanks in advance.
>
>

> It's also surprising that the garage noticed it before the driver did,
> but maybe that's just a woman driver thing...
> --
> Dan.

Well i did notice the gap differed between the tyre and arch on either side
but thought i was just the weight of all the shopping in the boot

It's not that the other spring will fail, it's that it won't match the
new one. As soon as they are installed springs begin to lose rate and
loaded hight (slowly...). The new spring will be higher than the used
one. Now if this car is just transportation to you and you don't really
care about handling, then it's probably not a big deal.

-jim

Jack wrote:
> It's pretty unusual for a spring to fail on these cars so I wouldn't replace
> the other one based on concern that it would fail soon. My 318i has 340,000
> on it and the springs are fine. There is also no reason to replace the good
> one in order to make sure they are matched because there's no reason to
> believe that two 'new' springs of the same part number will be matched any
> better than an old one and a new one of the same part number. Some people
> contend that spring characteristics change over time and that springs get
> 'tired' after years of use but there is no physical explanation to support
> this myth so that also would not support replacing the good one. Save your
> money.
>
>
> "yvette dickerson" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Hi all,
>>My trusty 318 (1997) was in the garage having a new cat fitted and i was
>>advised there was a rear offside suspension coil spring broken, the
>>mechanic
>>told me its best to replace both coil springs, something about road
>>holding
>>and balance. Do you guys and gals agree with him to replace both or just
>>the
>>broken one. BTW the car has done 158000 miles.
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
>
>
>

In article >,
JimV > wrote:
> It's not that the other spring will fail, it's that it won't match the
> new one. As soon as they are installed springs begin to lose rate and
> loaded hight (slowly...). The new spring will be higher than the used
> one. Now if this car is just transportation to you and you don't really
> care about handling, then it's probably not a big deal.

You could tell that easily by measuring the height of a new one against an
old one - unloaded.

--
*Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Jack" > wrote
> the other one based on concern that it would fail soon. My 318i has
> 340,000 on it and the springs are fine. There is also no reason to
> replace the good one in order to make sure they are matched because
> there's no reason to believe that two 'new' springs of the same part
> number will be matched any better than an old one and a new one of the
> same part number. Some people contend that spring characteristics change
> over time and that springs get 'tired' after years of use but there is no
> physical explanation to support this myth so that also would not support
> replacing the good one. Save your money.

It's not that they get "tired", but they eventually sag - ie, lose their
original
height. Replacing both will ensure that one side won't be lower than the
other. If you don't believe me, I can show you pics of my '91 E34 new,
and now. It's sagged at least an inch. Or my '87 motorhome, which looks
like a low-rider - about a 3" sag from new.

Floyd

"yvette dickerson" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
> My trusty 318 (1997) was in the garage having a new cat fitted and i was
> advised there was a rear offside suspension coil spring broken, the
> mechanic
> told me its best to replace both coil springs, something about road
> holding
> and balance. Do you guys and gals agree with him to replace both or just
> the
> broken one. BTW the car has done 158000 miles.
> Thanks in advance.
>
>

yvette dickerson wrote:
> Hi all,
> My trusty 318 (1997) was in the garage having a new cat fitted and i was
> advised there was a rear offside suspension coil spring broken, the mechanic
> told me its best to replace both coil springs, something about road holding
> and balance. Do you guys and gals agree with him to replace both or just the
> broken one. BTW the car has done 158000 miles.
> Thanks in advance.
>
>

Yes.

-Fred W