[14M135i]

It is my first post on this forum so hello my fellow BMW enthusiasts I'm in need of some help/ advice.

I have a 2014 M135i,want to upgrade the wheels to a set of 19 inch staggered Bola rims. Now I want to also lower my car to go along with that to improve the handling also but so it does not look like my car is on stilts to. But I don't want to lower it so much that I feel everything on the road(like it was with my E46) just to the right amount,want that handling to be perfect along with it being lowered to the right amount looking great. So I was thinking of upgrading the shocks and springs to one of the Bilstein Kits,I've been told not to put my motor on coilovers as that would completely ruin the comfort and ride of it. These are the Bola wheels I want need to also figure out what width and offset I want on them. Bola CSR Alloy Wheels In Gloss Black Set Of 4

Can anyone please help,any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Simon Site Manager]

It is my first post on this forum so hello my fellow BMW enthusiasts I'm in need of some help/ advice.

I have a 2014 M135i,want to upgrade the wheels to a set of 19 inch staggered Bola rims. Now I want to also lower my car to go along with that to improve the handling also but so it does not look like my car is on stilts to. But I don't want to lower it so much that I feel everything on the road(like it was with my E46) just to the right amount,want that handling to be perfect along with it being lowered to the right amount looking great. So I was thinking of upgrading the shocks and springs to one of the Bilstein Kits,I've been told not to put my motor on coilovers as that would completely ruin the comfort and ride of it. These are the Bola wheels I want need to also figure out what width and offset I want on them. Bola CSR Alloy Wheels In Gloss Black Set Of 4

Can anyone please help,any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Just to let you know, you're not being ignored. Sorry, I haven't a clue! But welcome to the forum. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to help.

 

[danb21t]

Firstly you need to establish if you have passive or active suspension.

If you don't want to replace with a "kit" then you can buy the Bilstein B8 shocks separately and then pair those with whatever springs you wish, for desired height and spring rate.

If you don't really want any drop but want a better spring rate, then a popular kit is the Billy B12 ProKit.

 

[14M135i]

I have passive suspension on my M135i. I definitely want a drop but not by much,don't want it scraping the ground or scratching my splitter every time I go over a speed-up. If I was to pair the Bilstein B8 shocks with some springs what would you recommend it? H&R or Eibachs?

 

[msej449]

From reading the forum, other than the suspension it seems to be the consensus that adding a limited slip differential will make the most difference to the handling - way ahead of wider 19" wheels. You can go to wider wheels but all it'll do is amplify the issue with the open diff' anyway. Budget £2K for a retro-fit LSD, although forum users report they can be had for a bit less, if you shop around.

Also (and regulars will sigh at my constant repetition of the point) wider tyres means you're more prone to aquaplaning in heavy rain and deep surface water conditions. If the wider 19" are for summer only, and you have a different set of winter wheels, then that's fine, because you're not getting better summer handling at the expense of worse winter handling. And the M135i/140i models are already notorious for being tail-happy. Otherwise, the narrow vs wide choice is a zero-sum game: it's always a compromise if you're running the same tyre all year 'round.

Trouble is that £2K is a big investment and it's obviously cheaper to go for the secondary option of wider tyres. But there's no getting 'round the issue that all the M-Lites should have come with the LSD as standard (factory-fitted it would probably have been more like £1200). It's arguable that once you've done the primary mod of better suspension, if you can't afford the £2K for an LSD then it's not worth making amy more mods - you'll just notice the shortcomings of the open diff' all the more.

Of course, if the 19" wheels are a costmetic mod, then that's another thing and it's perfectly reasonable to fit them - it's your car to do with what you want. But all they'll likely do is give you a harsher ride and even twitchier wet weather handling in the winter, albeit with some improvement in traction in the summer.

 

[Simon Site Manager]

I agree with msej449, first stop is an MP LSD.

Organise a group by here:-

Williams Performance

Williams Performance specialise in the M-Lite range of BMW's and the supply of GENUINE BMW parts at cheaper than main dealer prices. We carry a range of common M-Lite service parts in stock and all other parts can be quickly sourced. We stock and supply performance aftermarket parts for BMW...

www.babybmw.net

Three of us went up to Marc in Jan 2021 and paid £2k for the M Performance variety fitted. The good thing about the MP LSD is that you get your open diff back and when you come to sell the car, put the open diff back on and flog the MP.

 

[rob180bhp]

In my opinion 1st steps are rear axle bushes or inserts as the whole back end is based around it ,and if the frame can move independently from the chassis whats the point adding better suspension or lsd / get the basics right 1st

 

[msej449]

The other thing about a dealer-fitted M Performance LSD is that you're still eligible to take out BMW Extended Warranty at a later date, if you decide it's cost-effective. If it's a 3rd-.party LSD or an MP LSD but fitted by an independent, the cover wouldn't be available or voided if you had it.

And just the choice of tyre can have a huge effect on handling. A primary issue is certainly just getting the existing rubber right. See the tyre thread for lots of recommendations.

 

[Vetus]

Follow my experiences on my m135i, with MP LSD I had a great improvement on handling, during high speed, high acceleration even in braking. The lsd transform literally the car, this is REAL!
After that M4 brace LCA and TS make a great impact on front axle stability, more camber and caster give you the right feeling during the corners. In the end, after above modification, I suggest a better dumper Like bilstein B8.

 

[14M135i]

Hello again my fellow BMW enthusiasts. Been away for awhile. Thank you all for your advice & your opinions & very sorry for the late late reply.
I've finally decided on what route I am going with my m135i, but need some final advice on the setup.

I will be putting in as follows
Powerflex Rear subframe Rear Bush Insert
Powerflex Rear subframe Front Bush Insert
M performance bump stops(unless you guys think I should stick to OEM,as I am lowering it.
Eibach Pro Springs 25mm front/15mm rear(Have been told they pair very well with oem shocks)please correct me if I am wrong. (May potentially in the future go bilstein shocks but not anytime soon.)
*Alloys will be 19 inch staggered Bola CSRs 8.5 J Front
9.5 J Rear
In the future and some point later on towards the end of this year I will be putting in a Quaife LSD & a H & R antil roll bar,the latter will probably be sometime soon in next few months.

My concern here is as I am lowering it on Eibach Pros and putting 19's on it I don't want any rubbing on the arches at all and have been told the offset needs to be perfect to stop this and I'm unsure about tyre size. I will be going for michellin ps4s though,for tyres)
Spoke to a guy from wheelbase and he said 45 offset all the way around which I think is personally to much. Any further advice is appreciated. Just need correct offset and tyre size then I'm ready to go.

Thank you all

 

[Henry Chinaski]

I've been told not to put my motor on coilovers as that would completely ruin the comfort and ride of it. These are the

Is that advice reliable? My limited understanding is that some coil over kits are designed specifically for road use, not the track; some of them even have names such as "street" or "comfort". I've seen a few members on here say they're using B16 coil overs with great success, that they're very happy with them. Unlike the OP, I have adaptive suspension and I was thinking that if I ever upgrade my suspension then I would use B8 Damptronic, but I've since been put off by so many members of forums in the UK and the US saying that in Sport mode they are far too stiff to use on the road. Given that coil overs are adjustable, I'm wondering if the B16 Damptronic kit could be set up so that both the Comfort mode and the Sport mode work well on most UK roads.

 

[MSM]

I have the bilstein b16 Komfort coil over kit on my car. This kit completely improved the ride comfort, traction and handling of my car. I live in an area with a lot of poor road surfaces and speed bumps, so I intentionally wanted to improve ride comfort, traction and control on real world poor roads, not on racetracks. These coilovers are a great improvement over the standard 32k miles ish old OE passive setup on my car.

 

[14M135i]

I

Hello again my fellow BMW enthusiasts. Been away for awhile. Thank you all for your advice & your opinions & very sorry for the late late reply.
I've finally decided on what route I am going with my m135i, but need some final advice on the setup.

I will be putting in as follows
Powerflex Rear subframe Rear Bush Insert
Powerflex Rear subframe Front Bush Insert
M performance bump stops(unless you guys think I should stick to OEM,as I am lowering it.
Eibach Pro Springs 25mm front/15mm rear(Have been told they pair very well with oem shocks)please correct me if I am wrong. (May potentially in the future go bilstein shocks but not anytime soon.)
*Alloys will be 19 inch staggered Bola CSRs 8.5 J Front
9.5 J Rear
In the future and some point later on towards the end of this year I will be putting in a Quaife LSD & a H & R antil roll bar,the latter will probably be sometime soon in next few months.

My concern here is as I am lowering it on Eibach Pros and putting 19's on it I don't want any rubbing on the arches at all and have been told the offset needs to be perfect to stop this and I'm unsure about tyre size. I will be going for michellin ps4s though,for tyres)
Spoke to a guy from wheelbase and he said 45 offset all the way around which I think is personally to much. Any further advice is appreciated. Just need correct offset and tyre size then I'm ready to go.

Thank you all

Hello again my fellow BMW enthusiasts. Been away for awhile. Thank you all for your advice & your opinions & very sorry for the late late reply.
I've finally decided on what route I am going with my m135i, but need some final advice on the setup.

I will be putting in as follows
Powerflex Rear subframe Rear Bush Insert
Powerflex Rear subframe Front Bush Insert
M performance bump stops(unless you guys think I should stick to OEM,as I am lowering it.
Eibach Pro Springs 25mm front/15mm rear(Have been told they pair very well with oem shocks)please correct me if I am wrong. (May potentially in the future go bilstein shocks but not anytime soon.)
*Alloys will be 19 inch staggered Bola CSRs 8.5 J Front
9.5 J Rear
In the future and some point later on towards the end of this year I will be putting in a Quaife LSD & a H & R antil roll bar,the latter will probably be sometime soon in next few months.

My concern here is as I am lowering it on Eibach Pros and putting 19's on it I don't want any rubbing on the arches at all and have been told the offset needs to be perfect to stop this and I'm unsure about tyre size. I will be going for michellin ps4s though,for tyres)
Spoke to a guy from wheelbase and he said 45 offset all the way around which I think is personally to much. Any further advice is appreciated. Just need correct offset and tyre size then I'm ready to go.

Thank you all

I May potentially change the dampers at some point in the future and if I do bilstein will be the route I go down for sure. Just need to figure out my current issue atm. With the wheels/offset & tyre size.

 

[14M135i]

After doing a little bit more digging and getting various opinions from wheel companies. I've been told ET 40 & 8.5 J all the way around. Have looked into Japan Racing 11 wheels to... Anyone?