It's time to rebuild the front suspension on my 97 XK8 and I need some advice. Are Bearmach Springs worth the Money? What are the pros and cons? Are Bilstein Dampeners a good choice or what other choices do I have? Poly bushes or not? Love my Jags and there is a lot of knowledge on Jaguar Forums, I value you guys input. Cheers

 

It appears Bearmark is actually manufactured by Eibach, which is a quality vendor. These are lowering springs, so your spring rate is going to increase to compensate for the drop. If you have a convertible, increases in spring rates will result in more cowl shake. I might consider them if I had a coupe, but with a vert... not a chance. For what it's worth, H&R sells lowering springs that fit both vert and coupe, but advise against installing them on vert... IMO because of the rough ride and resulting cowl shake.

When I reublit the front end on my 97 vert, I stuck w/ the OEM springs. Although they were dropping a bit, which I liked, the camber adjustments for the front are limited to an eccentric bolt in the lower control arm which only provides half a degree positive adjustment.

So remember if you drop using lowering springs, your camber will increase, the insides of the front tires will wear quicker and unevenly. The ride will be stiffer, and you will probably have more cowl shake.

Bilsteins are OEM mfr and factory replacements.

Same advice re: coupe or vert w/ the bushings. Poly bushings sound like the perfect replacement for OEM rubber, but they have a downside. They often squeak [even the 'impregnated w/ silicon ones], they are much harder and consequently will transmit more noise, shake, etc. into the cabin. The upside is they last longer, eliminate much of the suspension deflection; and can provide a much firmer ride with sharper steering. It is your choice.

While they can be removed and replaced with OEM rubber; before I did all that work, I would find a ride in a model like mine that had poly bushings to see for myself. In my build, after weighing all the options, I stuck w/ OEM rubber.