[Nmt28]

I'll need new struts soon and fcp have 2 sets. One is for sport suspension and one is for standard. Are these interchangeable? Can I put the sport on if I have the standard? And is the sport worth the extra money?

 

[Nmt28]

After checking a bunch of 1999 328i VINs I finally found one with the sports suspension option code.
226: Sports Suspension Settings

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BMW VIN Decoder retrieves detailed information about the equipment and production details of BMW, ALPINA, MINI and Rolls Royce vehicles and BMW motorcycles. Attached are generated photos of your configuration.

bimmer.work

Awesome info, thanks! Great info about the sport springs. I'm wondering if it's worth the extra money. It'll probably be another month before I do this so plenty of time for research.

 

[Nmt28]

After checking a bunch of 1999 328i VINs I finally found one with the sports suspension option code.
226: Sports Suspension Settings

bimmer.work : VIN Decoder for BMW

BMW VIN Decoder retrieves detailed information about the equipment and production details of BMW, ALPINA, MINI and Rolls Royce vehicles and BMW motorcycles. Attached are generated photos of your configuration.

bimmer.work

Turns out I do indeed have the 226 sports suspension already. Guess that settles that then...

I did run the idea of an aftermarket kit past my bmw mechanic but he told me not to be stupid

 

[Nmt28]

I daily drive mine, and I would not want my car any lower or any more stiff than the stock sport suspension, FYI.

Good to know. My mechanic told me I would ruin the car and that I don't even get near the limits of the stock suspension

 

[Nmt28]

It doesn't definitively mean anything either way. People don't always appreciate that the sports, comfort, SE, M-Sport, whatever-the-importer-for-your-market-called-them packages are just packages. Importers would bundled together options the factory would happily fit individually and offered them at a price lower than buying them all separately. (Importers do that partly to help protect residuals and partly so they can order cars before having sold them when demand is quiet) For example, in my market, we had "SE", which came with standard suspension by default, or "M-Sport" , which came bundled with sport suspension, seats, steering wheel, gear knob, 18" wheels etc by default. But it was perfectly possible to option sports suspension on the SE or standard suspension on the M-Sport. And some people did.

So the million dollar question is, how do you really know what part you have? Get the part out and check the number? Would be good to know without pulling the part out