So am I crazy or not

I've bought the wife an '01 325Ci convertible, something that we can ride in with the kids and have the top down. She doesn't want me doing any "racing" stuff to it, so I'm leaving that for the Miatas My question is this: I'm looking at replacing the shocks, it's got 160K miles on it on original suspension. Normally when I'm getting something with this many miles, I'm throwing shocks/springs/etc. at it. Since she wants it to stay stock ride height, I can't put sport springs on it. Would 160K miles have affected the stock springs enough that they would benefit from replacing with a stock spring? Found some springs on RockAuto, looking at doing that with some new OEM spec springs to smooth out the bumps some. We have a very bumpy driveway, that's why the no lowering is such an issue for her.

160k, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to replace the springs, especially since they'll already be off the car, and springs are generally cheap. You don't really want old parts with new at that many miles, the sag in the springs will cause the new shocks to burn up early.

you are going to want new springs, shocks, and bushings. I would not be surprised if you find one or more of your springs is broken

Ok, that's what I thought, just wanted to make sure I wasn't being OCD about getting new springs.

My only thought in response to reading this thread:

Weird....

I'd find someone who has a set of low mileage factory take-offs and go with those. They should be cheap and shouldn't upset the ride.

This is not a jab at the OP Really a question / general comment. I have only replaced one set of springs in all my cars over the years due to wear and those were leaf springs in my 75 formula 400. And they did not break they were sagging. I have never replaced a set of coil springs due to them waring out / breaking in any street car that I have owned. Is this a BMW thing or have I been incredibly lucky?

@ the OP. I suspect that new springs will not give you a softer more comfortable ride and your wife would want. They will raise the car up if the ones have sagged. I would consider a set of springs that have a increasing compression rate. I think IBOC would be a good choice. I don't know if they make them in standard height or not for your car. I have them in my Porsche but I got ones that also lowered the car by 1 1/2 inches. It might be worth a call to them to see if they have them in standard height. I would also consider a set of adjustable Koni. This way you can easily "adjust" things when / if you get your hands on the car.

it is a problem a lot of German cars had.. BMW, VW, Audi.. the coils at the top would get rusty and break. I am pretty sure it is a fixed problem in the newer cars.

Koni FSDs? No experience with them, but they are supposed to be nice on the bumpies.

dean1484 wrote: This is not a jab at the OP Really a question / general comment. I have only replaced one set of springs in all my cars over the years due to wear and those were leaf springs in my 75 formula 400. And they did not break they were sagging. I have never replaced a set of coil springs due to them waring out / breaking in any street car that I have owned. Is this a BMW thing or have I been incredibly lucky? @ the OP. I suspect that new springs will not give you a softer more comfortable ride and your wife would want. They will raise the car up if the ones have sagged. I would consider a set of springs that have a increasing compression rate. I think IBOC would be a good choice. I don't know if they make them in standard height or not for your car. I have them in my Porsche but I got ones that also lowered the car by 1 1/2 inches. It might be worth a call to them to see if they have them in standard height. I would also consider a set of adjustable Koni. This way you can easily "adjust" things when / if you get your hands on the car.

I know in my '88 300ZX when I put springs/shocks on it at 100k miles, the stock stuff had already sagged so far the lowering springs didn't lower the car.

H&R OE Sport springs perhaps?

Measure the ride height, if it's even the springs are probably ok. I can't see them sagging in perfect harmony. New shocks, yes I would.