I own an 06 R53 JCW hard top and recently changed the front strut upper mounts to a set of Vorshlag camber plates. I got it all aligned and this thing feels like I am driving on rails and are as quiet as can be! Best of all, no more ruptured upper mounts! Problem is that these strut mounts, because of the superior construction and thicker mounting plate has raised my front end about 1/2 an inch (Conservatively). It is not obnoxious or anything, but I really want to drop the front end back down where it was initially. I verified that the springs are seated properly and that everything is installed correctly, so I am thinking maybe I could put a set of JCW springs on this to bring it back down. The car was not built with the red springs (I verified this with the dealer). Of course, I am learning that JCW springs are not all created equally, I would love the say that I have no idea which of the JCW part numbers I need to use, but I guess I am hoping someone might offer some guidance having been in this boat before.

 

Its like a 10mm drop with JCW springs. Some of the springs are now NLA. Their was 4 part numbers in the front and 4 part numbers for the rear. The spring table is used to give you the numbers. But it gives you both front and rears drop. If they drop the same you will still have the slight lift in the front. All i could think is get coilover to level it out?

 

Agreed with ECS' stated 10mm reduction in ground clearance, per the official JCW Suspension Kit press release linked below (courtesy Motoring File): SUBJECT: JOHN COOPER WORKS SPORT SUSPENSION

I was able to purchase the set shown below (not from ECS) prox 3 years ago, which were then available in a BMW Germany warehouse location. Those P/Ns worked quite well for my lightly optioned slicktop R53, with specific spring rates meant to correspond to as-built vehicle weight. Further, I reused the thick Helix adjustable camber plates (NLA) which were installed as part of tracking mods when my car was new, which resulted in combo of ground clearance and stance that appeals to me visually, as well as ride compliance vs the Eibach lowering springs which I removed at that time. With all that said, seems JCW "reds" should also work well with the Vorshlag plates?

Edited to add; must ensure springs are fully clocked into positions to ensure intended ride height, which during assembly with a spring compressor is easy to drift out of being fully seated against the pad stop. I had that slight issue when assembling mine, as did my buddy and I when we replaced the OEM struts/shocks on his factory JCW Checkmate (shown below) a few weeks ago with Koni Special Actives.

 

Do those camber plates go underneath the strut tower or on top? Nice first gen aluminum Workmate you got there! Mine looks much more used than that. Great workbenches.

 

^^^ Camber plates assembled on struts as a unit and "sandwiched" between tower sheetmetal and M7 plates. Very rigid combo! I bought that B&D Workmate new for my late father, regretfully sold during garage sale last summer before I moved from there.

 

Vorshlag claims a 2 mm difference in stack height vs stock, which I tend to believe. However, I installed mine at the same time as a different set of springs, so I can’t really say for sure. They really shouldn’t have changed your ride height. How much do you think your worn mounts were sagging?

 

How is everything going now?

 

try sourcing early JCW red springs or Eibach Pros for a subtle drop.