I purchased my 2001 330Ci in March of 2001. I loved the handling and swore I would never touch the suspension or wheels. Well, March of 2001 was about the same time I migrated from www.bimmer.org to e46fanatics.com. It didn't take long before the mod bug bit me and I started shopping for suspension and wheel upgrades. I live in St. Louis and the roads are not exactly "slammed car" friendly so I had to chose a suspension that wasn't going to put me too close to the asphalt. I wanted to improve my handling and eliminate wheel-gap without tucking the tires in the wheel wells. I considered changing my springs, but later decided to seek a full suspension replacement. I also did not want to kill my ride quality since my car is a daily driver. I did my research and decided to go with the H&R Stage 3.5 Cupkit suspension.

H&R Springs has a myriad of proven high quality products for the BMW line-up, so I was not disappointed with the quality and fit of the H&R Cupkit suspension. I am a DIY guy so I installed the suspension myself with handtools, a floorjack, and a couple of jack stands. The Cupkit is a direct replacement for the OEM suspension so everything fit like a glove. I did not have to trim my bump-stops or dust boots because my car was already equipped with the OEM sports suspension.

The Cupkit lowered my car an estimated 1.5" in the front and 1.25" in the rear when compared to the stock ride height. I am running AC Schnitzer Type III 1-piece wheels with 235/40/18 Bridgestone Potenza S0-3 tires and all wheel-gap was eliminated without tucking the tires. I did not have to roll my fenders since 235's are not very wide and the lowering was rather modest.

Please keep in mind my car also has UUC Sway Barbarians installed and set at maximum stiffness in the rear and medium stiffness in the front. My car's handling was definitely drastically improved compared to stock handling with the Cupkit installed. The car corners very flat and with very little body roll.

Well, "How harsh is the ride?" is what everyone wants to know. Anytime you lower a car and reduce the suspension travel; you will end up with a "harsher" ride. Ride quality is a very relative thing to judge and it is best described when compared to something you can relate to. The H&R Cupkit suspension is definitely harsher than OEM. If I had to compare the two on a scale of one to ten; (1) being very soft and (10) being very stiff. The OEM ride quality would be a (2) and the H&R Cupkit ride quality would be a (6.5).

Like I said; my car is a daily driver and I have driven about 7,500 miles on the Cupkit with about 60% city and 40% highway miles. The ride is stiff but not too stiff for everyday commuting and it's a great set up for driving school.

I would definitely recommend the H&R Cupkit suspension to anyone looking for a decent drop at an affordable price. I paid $642 shipped, but have seen the suspension for sale as low as $549. I like the setup because the springs are matched with the struts and the install is not much more work than replacing just the springs. I would also recommend upgrading the rear shock mounts when installing the Cupkit. I went with the OEM E46 M3 RSM's with the Z3 reinforcement plate for added stiffness. There are many suspension choices for the E46 owner to ponder, but the H&R Cupkit is one of the best bangs for the buck.