The BMW E36 Compact was born as a compact executive car, providing you with all the luxuries of a BMW…but the Compact also offers the convenience of a hatchback. You know, just in case you want to pick up some 2×4’s from your favorite home improvement store on your way home from the office.

If you are looking to turn your Compact into something more than just executive transportation, the suspension is a good place to start. While lowering a vehicle certainly increases the ‘cool factor’, there is so much more to consider besides just going low. Do you really want to put up with a less-than-luxurious ride? Does the thought of scraping against speed bumps make you cringe?

Air Lift Performance‘s mission is to stop you from worrying about lowering your BMW—with a suspension designed not only to lower your car, but also to turn it into a smooth-riding, corner-slaying rocket with the ability to clear almost any obstacle! Doesn’t the idea of being able to adjust your entire suspension almost instantly—with the touch of a button and twist of a knob—sound like what you have been looking for?

Up front, we start with our monotube, threaded body strut, partnered with our smooth-riding, double-bellow air spring. Not only can you change the height of the car by increasing or decreasing air pressure, but since the strut body is threaded, you can change the height of the strut simply by spinning the lower mount up or down. To add even more adjustability, these struts have 30 different levels of damping, so you can go from a smooth street ride to race-car-like stiffness with the twist of a knob. To top it all off, we include adjustable caster/camber plates, made out of T6061 aluminum and anodized red, for a show-stopping appearance and excellent race track adjustability.

For the rear, we simply replace the factory coil spring with a double-bellows air spring, giving you a 5.6-inch drop. To keep the rear from bouncing down the road, we use 30-level dam