ITT, ZHP Mafioso Learn Everything There is to Know About Coilover Suspension Set-ups

[danewilson77]

Fortune auto appeal to me because of

A) digressive shock and shock dyno
B) swift spring upgrade - worth the extra money
C) warranty
D) a lot of flexibility on dampening and ride height

Plus the cost and how they are built as far as quality is a thumbs up. Plus fortunate auto puts everything to the test on the car and off the car including on the track.

Plus... They're 30 minutes from me

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[Vas]

The past two years they held a really nice open house meet.

Hurry up tax season lol.

[danewilson77]

The past two years they held a really nice open house meet.

Hurry up tax season lol.

+1

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[DSC-off]

I'm wondering what the opinion is for my potential needs. At some point in the next 1-1.5 years I'd like to either refresh or upgrade my suspension with either a full coil-over kit or some sort of OEM hybrid setup.

Here are my criteria

1. It's for my e46 M3
2. I feel like the stock suspension has never been replaced/upgraded and it's probably getting pretty tired
3. I attempted to get the car aligned but the camber did not seem to want to come back to stock (front was like -.2, back -.8, stock is supposed to be somewhere near: -.8/-1.65). I'm not sure if this was caused by the mechanic's ignorance (doubt he'd worked on a BMW before...) or suspension components getting tired. I also gave it my best effort to adjust the car as well while it was on the alignment rack, but I didn't see anything obvious that the mechanic missed.
4. I would love to make the car handle even better than it does now, if i could make it grab the road even a little harder than it does now I would appreciate that on a daily basis (I love hitting winding back roads after work).
5. This car is my daily driver
6. Right now my commute is less than 5 miles, but it will be going up to ~30 at some point in the near future (once I move).
7. My daily commute is always going to have several VERY tall speed bumps, and i like being able to get over them without scraping anything
8. I occasionally take the car on extended 100+ mile trips, and I sometimes take business associates and/or customers in my car so the suspension can't be soul shattering
9. Sadly for the time being the car will be used in winter and weather until I can secure something more suited to the task.
10. I have not been to any track days or autoX events yet, but I would love to start going to them. It probably would only be 2-4 times a year unless I really get addicted.

I would prefer the suspension be under $1.2-1.7k, but as this is not an immediate thing I can spend some time saving if it's upwards of $2-2.2k so long as it makes a difference with the aforementioned criteria. Mainly does it improve the handling and still let me clear speed bumps without shattering spines.

My Infiniti G35 is low (like front-1.2 and back-1.5 lower than stock, which is already low) and it is infuriating not being able to go over speed bumps, having to enter/exit every driveway/lot at a serious angle. It really makes the car way less practical.


I've done some shopping around and I have been looking over all of the commonly available coilover kits like the PSS10s, KW V2s, FK Silverline Plus X, but I have also been considering maybe just putting in fresh OEM/Sachs or some Koni struts-shocks. What is the community's opinion?

[Avetiso]

Charlie (cakM3) has said good things about BC Racing Coils. Inexpensive, pretty high quality. They cost around $1000. PM him.

[cakM3]

Purchased BC BR Coilovers through JG Technik in Branford CT.
$900 purchase price, $1250 installed.

I would say, they are much more tame than PSS9's from personal experience (my brother had them on his GTI and it felt like you were being thrown out of the car when you hit a bump).

Fully adjustable camber, ride height, and 20 way shock stiffness with the turn of a nob on top of each shock tower. I must say this feature alone is worth it because when I drive by myself I set it to the stiffest setting and love the handling. When the wife is in the car I set it to 10 (half stiffness) and my wife doesnt realize a difference vs oem shocks.
One thing I did notice, the perches that sit in between the camber plate and shocks are a rugged plastic. In the winter when temps get at or below freezing, this plastic shrinks and sounds like the front shocks are loose. It turns out BC ships out metal perches to fix this issue if it persists. Once spring hit the problem went away. Overall I would say these coilovers are 8/10. But for the money 10/10.

Justin, I've been using BC Racing "BR" series coilovers for about 4 years now and have to agree with Kris' assessment above. Can't get a better set of coilovers for the money. These are perfect for street use but if you intend to seriously track your car then I would suggest going with either the PSS-9/10s or KWs. As some have said, you get what you paid for.

With that said, both of my BMWs are set up on BC Racing coils...couldn't be happier with my choice . Pics of my ride height using these coilovers are in both project threads and there are a few here on this forum who have seen, and ridden in my ///M in person. On both cars my coilovers are set at 15 for damping force adjustments & compression/rebound settings. I paid $999 including shipping for these.

Information on BC Racing "BR" series coilovers:
- Mono-tube shock design
- 30 levels of damping force adjustment, adjust compression/rebound
- Pillowball mounts and adjustable camber plates included (where applicable)
- Adjustable rear camber plates available (don't have this)
- Separate full length height adjustable
- One year warranty (only drawback but I haven't had any issues after 4 years usage)
- Rebuildable

The "BR" series is perfect for street driving and occasional road course duty (autocross/spirited street driving). With easily accessible adjustment knobs for fine tuning your compression/rebound and separately adjustable ride height.

Here's the link: http://bcracingsuperstore.com/product/bmw/98-06-e46/bc-racing-br-type-coilover-for-98-06-bmw-e46

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Johal E32]

I'm wondering what the opinion is for my potential needs. At some point in the next 1-1.5 years I'd like to either refresh or upgrade my suspension with either a full coil-over kit or some sort of OEM hybrid setup.

Here are my criteria

1. It's for my e46 M3
2. I feel like the stock suspension has never been replaced/upgraded and it's probably getting pretty tired
3. I attempted to get the car aligned but the camber did not seem to want to come back to stock (front was like -.2, back -.8, stock is supposed to be somewhere near: -.8/-1.65). I'm not sure if this was caused by the mechanic's ignorance (doubt he'd worked on a BMW before...) or suspension components getting tired. I also gave it my best effort to adjust the car as well while it was on the alignment rack, but I didn't see anything obvious that the mechanic missed.
4. I would love to make the car handle even better than it does now, if i could make it grab the road even a little harder than it does now I would appreciate that on a daily basis (I love hitting winding back roads after work).
5. This car is my daily driver
6. Right now my commute is less than 5 miles, but it will be going up to ~30 at some point in the near future (once I move).
7. My daily commute is always going to have several VERY tall speed bumps, and i like being able to get over them without scraping anything
8. I occasionally take the car on extended 100+ mile trips, and I sometimes take business associates and/or customers in my car so the suspension can't be soul shattering
9. Sadly for the time being the car will be used in winter and weather until I can secure something more suited to the task.
10. I have not been to any track days or autoX events yet, but I would love to start going to them. It probably would only be 2-4 times a year unless I really get addicted.

I would prefer the suspension be under $1.2-1.7k, but as this is not an immediate thing I can spend some time saving if it's upwards of $2-2.2k so long as it makes a difference with the aforementioned criteria. Mainly does it improve the handling and still let me clear speed bumps without shattering spines.

My Infiniti G35 is low (like front-1.2 and back-1.5 lower than stock, which is already low) and it is infuriating not being able to go over speed bumps, having to enter/exit every driveway/lot at a serious angle. It really makes the car way less practical.


I've done some shopping around and I have been looking over all of the commonly available coilover kits like the PSS10s, KW V2s, FK Silverline Plus X, but I have also been considering maybe just putting in fresh OEM/Sachs or some Koni struts-shocks. What is the community's opinion?

I'd go Bilstein PSS10 for your E46 M3. Bilstein is a very well established name, and I know lots of E46 M3 owners who love the pss10 coils, and they are coilovers so you can keep the ride height close to stock, and you can adjust the dampening 1-10.

[DSC-off]

Charlie,
Have you gone over any really tall speedbumps with your M3 using that suspension? How much do those coilovers lower the car, I didn't see any specs on the website.

[cakM3]

Charlie,
Have you gone over any really tall speedbumps with your M3 using that suspension? How much do those coilovers lower the car, I didn't see any specs on the website.

I have gone over some speed bumps and they come up on my car almost to the bottom but I have never dragged. My car is lowered about 1.5" from stock ride height. I think I can go lower still....not going to up here in New England...

This was taken on a trip to VA. Notice the wide yellow strip under my ///M in the reflection in the window....that's a big and wide speed bump...


My front lip spoiler almost touches this speed bump....I was sweating it just alittle bit...



You can see just how much clearance I have between the speed bump and the bottom of my ///M


I haven't dragged but then it depends on how steep the speed bump is. Some aren't as gradual as this one was so rather than risk it, I usually avoid them to be safe.

Like I said, for the price I'm very pleased with the performance of these coilovers. They also come with adjustable camber plates for the front struts. Not bad for $999

I liked them so much that when I upgraded the ZHPs suspension this year, I went with the same setup.

[WOLFN8TR]

Sub'd to learn from the Pros!