[miker2013]

so i finally got around to having the koni yellows, dinan fixed camber plates, strongflex rear yellow subframe bushings and uuc front/rear sway bars installed on my 335xi coupe with stock springs and stock bridgestone run flats

i decided to stay with stock springs cause i am not concerned for ride height currently but may decide go to a bmw perf spring or dinan spring in future so thats why i went with a shock that i could use with lowering springs should i decide

while i still need to dial in the konis a little as they are set to soft currently, (more on that below) i am thrilled with the results

the car i would say is 85% perfect as is, the difference is like night and day obviously, the car now handles and turns and rides better than stock in every way and in all conditions

one thing i find especially noticeable is this stiffer suspension actually handles most bumps and road imperfections better than the softer stock suspension... the stock suspension soaked up all the very minor chatter and tiny imperfections with its softness while unfortunately allowing the car to bottom out on the medium and large ones making the ride rough...the yellows, however, even on soft will not bottom out or near to it with the stock springs even on major stuff.. now of course with the yellows you will feel more of the road and more of the tiny/small imperfections but its worth the trade off

the car turns much quicker now with much less body roll... the rear bar is on the middle setting and the difference with understeer is fantastic and was noticeable right away as i tested it and the car handles all turns radically better and with more speed and the car actually feels like it follows the turns and wants more throttle in the turns rather than the stock feeling that the car is trying to go straight and wash out... again very noticeable difference, the additional rear bar and the camber plates have really tamed the understeer on this car

changing lanes with the stiffer shocks and sways is fantastic, no more body roll or floating feeling at all, steering feels much more precise i don't know if its the additional negative camber as well or the new hydrobearings but the steering feels much more precise and sharp

getting on the throttle and changing gears on the 6mt also is much smoother and faster as the car no longer bucks up and down when applying throttle or when changing gears... this was something i found especially noticeable when i had passengers in the car

i could go on and on but the change is fantastic... the stiffer rear subframe bushings also are contributing to the tighter feeling as well

so what are the cons? absolutely none however my car immediately has started with a few light squeaks here and there in the cabin over rougher roads where it was perfectly quiet before, again worth the tradeoff

here are the issues i am still having that i hope i can get members opinions on

1- the car still suffers (altho not nearly as bad as stock) from that side to side bouncing feeling, mostly at lower speeds now but also a bit at higher speeds too... its hard to describe the feeling but its kindof like a boat rocking side to side feeling u get over uneven pavement

how can i cure this? firm up the stocks/struts? or is it my springs or maybe stiffen the rear bar?

2-the car still has some front to back bucking when shifting gears or getting on the throttle

again will firming the shocks and struts help?

thanks for the input

[kenmar]

In the past, I have never had squeaking issues with properly lubed poly bushing antisway bars until I recently installed an Eibach set on my VW last year. Now, I almost always get squeaking for the first few minutes of driving, even though I generously lubed the bushings including the metal stops on the rear bar. I did observe, however, that the squeaking was much worse when I initially installed the bars without lubing the metal stops. All antisway bars that I previously installed on other cars had zero squeaking issues when properly lubed, but these designs did not have the metal stops. I'm planning to install yellow Konis, an OEM M3 rear antisway bar and OEM M3 rear subframe bushings on my xi in an effort to keep things quiet. I'm also interested in whether the poly Strongflex are the source of your noise and how they hold up in colder weather.

[miker2013]

Originally Posted by kenmar

In the past, I have never had squeaking issues with properly lubed poly bushing antisway bars until I recently installed an Eibach set on my VW last year. Now, I almost always get squeaking for the first few minutes of driving, even though I generously lubed the bushings including the metal stops on the rear bar. I did observe, however, that the squeaking was much worse when I initially installed the bars without lubing the metal stops. All antisway bars that I previously installed on other cars had zero squeaking issues when properly lubed, but these designs did not have the metal stops. I'm planning to install yellow Konis, an OEM M3 rear antisway bar and OEM M3 rear subframe bushings on my xi in an effort to keep things quiet. I'm also interested in whether the poly Strongflex are the source of your noise and how they hold up in colder weather.

the squeaking noises are the plastic bits inside the cabin, but yes certainly being caused by the stiffer components and the bushings.. nothing serious but just noticeable over rough roads

but the parts themselves do not squeak, there are no noticeable noises at all from outside the cabin

[ucdbiendog]

similar setup as mine except i dont have the camber plates/bushings and i do have eibach pro springs to lower it a bit. absolutely love it.

[miker2013]

i am noticing quite a bit more tire and road noise with the new setup with my stock run flats... i am replacing the run flats with continentals non rft next week but does anyone have any idea why the road noise from the rft tires would be so much noticeable after install?

obviously they were loud before but are much louder now and i can hear a rhythmic whooshing sound from the front tires when driving, especially when slowing down or speeding up

i added koni yellows and strong flex yellow subframe bushings and uuc sway bars, which do you think is most succeptable to create noise and harshness?

any thoughts?

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by miker2013

1- the car still suffers (altho not nearly as bad as stock) from that side to side bouncing feeling, mostly at lower speeds now but also a bit at higher speeds too... its hard to describe the feeling but its kindof like a boat rocking side to side feeling u get over uneven pavement

how can i cure this? firm up the stocks/struts? or is it my springs or maybe stiffen the rear bar?

That's from the sway bars. You've made the suspension less independent, and that side to side bucking feeling is a result of increasing the spring rate in roll.

Originally Posted by miker2013

2-the car still has some front to back bucking when shifting gears or getting on the throttle

again will firming the shocks and struts help?

thanks for the input

That's probably more likely due to lash somewhere, check the engine mounts/trans mount/flex disc/differential for play. Firming up shocks probably won't help.