DIY Guide - H&R Springs on 650i xDrive Gran Coupe

[NDAzone]

By the way guys, after you lower the car you may wish you had installed spacers. The wheels may look a bit sunken into the car more noticeably. I lowered mine on H&R in January, I'm so glad I installed spacers.

[board57796]

Originally Posted by Boss330

Just changed the right rear spring on my GC.

There is NO need to remove the rear shelf to access the three top strut mount nuts. Just pop out the speaker covers, remove the speakers and take out the foam insulation over the strut mount.

This gives you access to the three 13mm nuts.

I used a small 1/4" ratchet wrench with a short extension to undo the nuts. No problem at all to undo the three nuts through the holes for the speaker. The whole process took exactly 1,5 hours, including changing the spring and reinstalling.

To remove the speaker cover, undo the wiring to the speakers and undo the three bolts took probably roughly 10 minutes...

So you guys can save A LOT of time doing it this way instead of removing the rear shelf.

This video shows how it's it done on a F10. The speaker access hole on the GC did not allow for as easy access as it seems to be on the F10, but still no problem with the 1/4 ratchet. There is enough headroom between the underside of the shelf and the nuts that you can actually have the rathcet and extension underneath the shelf as you undo the bolts. For the front nut you can use the small access hole just above the nut, instead of the speaker hole.

Good to know. Wish I’d seen that video before I did mine. Oops.

[Luftpost]

As Boss330 stated, I can CONFIRM that the 3 nuts for the rear shock tower can be removed without backseat/shelf disassembly. All it takes is rear speaker removal, a 1/4' and 3/8' drive ratchets with 13 mm sockets, swivel joints, 13 mm (1/4" drive) deep well socket and a telescopic magnet to capture and re-thread the nuts without loosing them (this is key!). Difficulty level is low.

I am in the process of finishing installing Eibachs now. Turned out to be a very enjoyable project with minimal fuss.

L

[board57796]

I just completed this DIY on my other F06 yesterday and figured I’d add a few notes. The front is basically unchanged from what I wrote.

For the rear:

I still lowered the rear shelf out of the way and onto the rear seat backs as I did in the DIY, even knowing the speaker-cover trick works. The reason being is it only added maybe 10 minutes total to the entire project, removal and re-install (since I knew exactly what tools I needed and parts needed to come off this time) and it made it much easier to thread the nuts onto the strut mount as I was doing it by myself this time. Being able to have more open area to be both holding the strut with one hand while also blindly starting the nuts onto the studs with the other hand was worth the “hassle” of removing the rear shelf, to me.

Also, having an impact gun instead of just basic hand tools was a game changer especially on that bolt that holds the strut to the rear hub. There is great access to the bolt as long as you have an extension and swivel adaptor. I have a 1/2” impact gun and after a few on-off pulses with that bad boy that nut popped loose. That part with the hand tool probably took me 30 minutes per side last time! Done in seconds with the impact wrench.

The part in my DIY about the “number 7” stamp on the rear strut upper mount is irrelevant. The stampings on this car were different. The main point still stands though that the three studs aren’t equidistant and need to be correctly oriented to have any hope of them going through the holes in the body. It took about 30 seconds of fiddling, again, by myself, to get them through the holes but much less time than last time since I knew there was a specific orientation to that top mount.

Hardest part this time was being solo and having to push down on the brake rotor with all my weight almost while also trying to line up the lower joint on the strut to the rear of the carrier.

Also I didn’t even need the spring compressors at all on the rear, removal or install.

Other than those notes, pretty much the same as my original DIY! Hopefully it’s continuing to help people.

[M640i]

Thanks for the DIY! Just installed Eibach springs today

[Luftpost]

One of the best mods you can do on these cars. It will settle a bit over the next week or so. I have had me Eibachs for quite some time and have no complaints. Ride quality is very good.

Did you have to take the rear shelf off or were you able to get in through the speaker access area?

L.

[M640i]

Originally Posted by Luftpost

One of the best mods you can do on these cars. It will settle a bit over the next week or so. I have had me Eibachs for quite some time and have no complaints. Ride quality is very good.

Did you have to take the rear shelf off or were you able to get in through the speaker access area?

L.

I was able to get through the speaker. Cover comes off quite easy, then there's 3 screws holding the speakers in. I did not have to remove the insulation as the video shows, I just folded it back. Otherwise I followed board57796 DIY and it went smooth. I did not have to release the ball joint to the control arm as the video shows, I was able to slide it out by pushing the hub down.

[Drecoop757]

I’ve seen others have run into the issue that the metal cap on top of the shock collar stops the vtf collar from going on. Anyone found a way to remove it easier? Or is it just bang it off or heat it up to remove? Don’t want to damage the shock or risk puncture removing it but if some force is needed I guess so