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      03-05-2017, 04:18 AM   #1
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Lowered xDrive experience and pictures requested...

Hello all,
Recently I bought an 650i Gran Coupé xDrive. It's a little high on it's wheels, so I was planning to lower it on Eibach springs. I also did this with my previous 3 BMW's. However, these were E46 and E92 3 series and a lot easier to do by yourself.
From a friend I got the official installation instructions of the struts and springs. Reading this made me doubt if I should do the installation. It seems you need a few special BMW tools to do the job correctly. Especially the front, which requires a laser calibration tool:



So I was hoping there were other people who did the installation or had it done at a shop? And, if yes, did they (or you) use this special tool?
Is coding necessary?

How low did the car get with your new sping setup and how's the ride?
Did you get any problems with the xDrive system since lowering the car?

Any pictures of lowered xDrive 6 series would be greatly appreciated!

Last edited by PIR3lly; 03-05-2017 at 11:46 AM..
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      03-07-2017, 11:17 AM   #2
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I just ordered some Eibach springs and they are being shipped to me. I have absolutely no intention on trying this install myself but will be posting pics as soon as they are installed. Note that I have an F12 so the ride on my xdrive may look a little different.
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      03-07-2017, 03:08 PM   #3
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I would be very interested to see how it looks on your car. Is the installation done by an official BMW dealership, or another shop? And do they have those special tools?

My springs have already arrived. Doing the installation together with a friend of mine, who works in a professional car shop. But they don't have the special tools. They do, however, have a good relationship with the local BMW dealership. So we're hoping we can borrow their tools (or rent them).
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      03-24-2017, 04:59 PM   #4
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I just lowered the car myself today.
Was a straight forward, 4 hour, job (with the special BMW tools we borrowed).
Made some pics of the install. If I find some spare time, I might be able to upload them, if requested.





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      03-25-2017, 07:43 AM   #5
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Your car looks amazing. What springs did you use?
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      03-25-2017, 07:57 AM   #6
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Eibach Springs.
Great ride and comfort.

Now I just need to get myself some nice 20" wheels...
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      03-26-2017, 04:12 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PIR3lly View Post
Eibach Springs.
Great ride and comfort.

Now I just need to get myself some nice 20" wheels...
I ordered some 20" vs forged vs08's (10.5 on back and 9 front) a few weeks back from pk design. Should be delivered in a week or two at the most. Can't wait to get them put on and I will take pictures once they are.

I am having the eibach springs installed this week.
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      03-26-2017, 05:21 PM   #8
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Msugogrn,


I also have a 650 x drive. I notice your going with a staggered instead of square ( all same size) set up. Did you hear about any issues with a staggered vs square set up on the x drive.

I was interested in the bmw 433 style m6 wheel with similar dimensions but I was told it can't be done on a x drive. So how are the wheels you ordered in that size going to work? I know it will look awesome regardless but any insight appreciated.
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      03-26-2017, 07:15 PM   #9
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There is no issue running staggered wheels on an x drive car. You just have to make sure the diameter of the tires is the same. I use 255/35/20 front and 295/30/20 rear. They are exactly the same diameter.
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      03-26-2017, 07:38 PM   #10
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I think with the m6 you generally see a 20x11 wheel whereas for the 650/640, 20 x 10.5 is generally the largest size I have seen. The m6 is have a different offset too. Thanks upstate for the reminder. I am pretty sure that I am running the same aspect ratios you referenced but I'm going to confirm now. Thanks again!
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      03-26-2017, 10:53 PM   #11
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I think I misunderstood shelldog's question. You can't use M6 wheels on a non M 6 series. The width and offsets are wrong. The rears would poke out beyond the fender close to an inch. It's not just width you need to worry about.

Last edited by upstate650; 03-27-2017 at 10:18 AM..
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      03-27-2017, 02:20 AM   #12
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The 650i xdrive comes from factory with a staggered setup. Don't know why it would be a problem as long as you keep wheel diameter front rear as close as possible.

One more picture after lowering with Eibach:


Last edited by PIR3lly; 03-27-2017 at 01:16 PM..
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      03-27-2017, 03:26 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PIR3lly View Post
The 650i xdrive comes from factory with a staggered setup. Don't know why it would be a problem as long as you keep wheel diameter front rear as close as possible.

One more picture after lowering with Eibach:
Looks great PIR3lly! Really hoping I get a similar look with the drop!

Upstate: What is the width of your front and rear wheels? I checked out the tires I ordered and for my rear 10.5's, I am going with 285/30's (26.73" tall) while for the front 9's, I am going with 245/35's (26.75" tall). I think the negligible 0.02" different in height from front to back should be okay and not impact AWD but if you know something I don't, I'd love to get your thoughts. If you are running the same width wheels though, other than traction, are there any other benefits to running the wider tires?
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      03-27-2017, 03:46 PM   #14
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Stock size is 245/40/19 and 275/35/19 or 245/35/20 and 275/30/20 (on 8.5J and 9J wheels).
That works fine on an xdrive. With 245/35 and 285/30 your diameter should be even closer front and rear. So perfect setup.
I want to go 255/35 on 9J and 295/30 on 10.5J to not get the tires to stretched, but your sizes should work.

Other than traction, a wider rear tire will also give you more understeer. And it just looks better... ;-)

Last edited by PIR3lly; 03-27-2017 at 03:52 PM..
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      03-27-2017, 04:02 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MSUGOGRN View Post
Looks great PIR3lly! Really hoping I get a similar look with the drop!

Upstate: What is the width of your front and rear wheels? I checked out the tires I ordered and for my rear 10.5's, I am going with 285/30's (26.73" tall) while for the front 9's, I am going with 245/35's (26.75" tall). I think the negligible 0.02" different in height from front to back should be okay and not impact AWD but if you know something I don't, I'd love to get your thoughts. If you are running the same width wheels though, other than traction, are there any other benefits to running the wider tires?
I use M5 wheels - 9" front and 10" rear. 295 tire looks perfect on a 10" wheel. I don't like a stretched look at all. 245 on a 9" wheel is less than optimal. M5's come with a 265 on that wheel. I would think that 285 on a 10.5" wheel will also look a touch stretched for my taste. I find that the extra width on the tire provides the obvious benefit of extra grip when pushed, but it also makes the ride a little smoother in every day situations - you float over smaller road imperfection and holes (this is compared to stock sizes, not so much between 245 and 255, that would be a negligible difference). The extra tire width also gives a bit of protection to your wheel. And a 295 tire in the rear is sexy as hell.
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Last edited by upstate650; 03-27-2017 at 04:20 PM..
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      03-27-2017, 04:23 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PIR3lly View Post
The 650i xdrive comes from factory with a staggered setup. Don't know why it would be a problem as long as you keep wheel diameter front rear as close as possible.

One more picture after lowering with Eibach:

Very nice. We're almost twins.
Wheels, exhaust and you're golden.
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      03-27-2017, 04:41 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by upstate650 View Post
I use M5 wheels - 9" front and 10" rear. 295 tire looks perfect on a 10" wheel. I don't like a stretched look at all. 245 on a 9" wheel is less than optimal. M5's come with a 265 on that wheel. I would think that 285 on a 10.5" wheel will also look a touch stretched for my taste. I find that the extra width on the tire provides the obvious benefit of extra grip when pushed, but it also makes the ride a little smoother in every day situations - you float over smaller road imperfection and holes (this is compared to stock sizes, not so much between 245 and 255, that would be a negligible difference). The extra tire width also gives a bit of protection to your wheel. And a 295 tire in the rear is sexy as hell.
Okay...I am a little confused now so please accept my apologies. The 295's are wider than the 285's right? Just when you say stretched I think the opposite you know? If I am correct that the 295's are wider, and if you are running them on your 10.0" wheels, I am wondering if I should even think about doing 305's since they are going on 10.5" wheels.

Also, appreciate the feedback on the 9" fronts. Sounds like I definitely want at least 255's.

Do you have any pics of your car on the site? I did a quick search and couldn't find any but would greatly appreciate seeing how those tires look on your wheels.
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      03-27-2017, 05:09 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MSUGOGRN View Post
Okay...I am a little confused now so please accept my apologies. The 295's are wider than the 285's right? Just when you say stretched I think the opposite you know? If I am correct that the 295's are wider, and if you are running them on your 10.0" wheels, I am wondering if I should even think about doing 305's since they are going on 10.5" wheels.

Also, appreciate the feedback on the 9" fronts. Sounds like I definitely want at least 255's.

Do you have any pics of your car on the site? I did a quick search and couldn't find any but would greatly appreciate seeing how those tires look on your wheels.
you could definitely do 305's on the 10.5" wheel, but the problem might be finding a front tire to match. I havent looked at those so I cant give you any advice on that. Pirelli makes four different versions of the 255/35 tire, one is with Mercedes specs and it is wider than the others, very close to 265 width - thats the one I use. PM me your phone number and I will text you a pic. I havent taken any good ones yet but I have some cell phone pics. There is one on this site somewhere.
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      03-27-2017, 05:20 PM   #19
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For xdrive, you can either run 245/285 for 9" fr and 10.5" rear without it looking stretched or 255/295. 265/305 will be very close and may rub, especially if you're going to lower your car.
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      03-27-2017, 05:36 PM   #20
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Thanks gents. Really veering towards the 255/295's now.
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      03-31-2017, 09:25 AM   #21
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And, MSUGOGRN, did you get your car lowered this week?
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      04-01-2017, 10:39 AM   #22
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Ugh...Little bit of a story. I am currently on a short vacation so I dropped my car off with the mechanic before I left to do the springs. Was hoping that I would come back to a freshly lowered car. They were able to finish the front but unfortunately it sounds like my rear struts are leaking. As my car is under warranty, I am having them hold off on installing the rear springs and I'm going to take the car into the dealership this week to have the struts fixed. I am guessing that if I went ahead and had them do their rear springs then they would blame the leaking struts on the new springs. Then I will have a rear springs installed and have the car aligned. It may work out well as I should be getting my VS Forged VS08's delivered in a week or 2 so I should hopefully be able to provide the full look for you guys.

Last edited by MSUGOGRN; 04-01-2017 at 06:29 PM..
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