[deezofchuck]

Hey guys - Have have been reading up on coilovers vs. springs/shocks and have decided to go with coilovers for my e92 335xi... I have pretty much narrowed down the search to the H&R street performance set. I have heard mixed reviews for the KW V1s and the V3 are just too overkill for what I want.

Can people chime in and post what coilovers you are running now and how you like them real quick?

I know there are a lot of threads but MOST of them are from years ago....and I don't want to spend $2k for some TCK's....

thanks!

[LionOfGosforth]

A lot depends on needs and budget. I went with the HPA SA Koni coilovers a few weeks back with swift springs. Other than not being able to lower the car quite as much as I thought (went down about 1-1.25in), i'm pretty happy overall. The improvement in aesthetics but more importantly the handling, has been huge over stock. I could have gone a little cheaper with KWv1's (run around 1250-1300 ish) or went with slightly higher end (AST's run around 2000-2100) but made this choice. They run in the $1500 range. If you're interested at all, hit up Harold at HP Autowerks, guy is awesome.

[deezofchuck]

Originally Posted by LionOfGosforth

A lot depends on needs and budget. I went with the HPA SA Koni coilovers a few weeks back with swift springs. Other than not being able to lower the car quite as much as I thought (went down about 1-1.25in), i'm pretty happy overall. The improvement in aesthetics but more importantly the handling, has been huge over stock. I could have gone a little cheaper with KWv1's (run around 1250-1300 ish) or went with slightly higher end (AST's run around 2000-2100) but made this choice. They run in the $1500 range. If you're interested at all, hit up Harold at HP Autowerks, guy is awesome.

sweet - thanks for the review - but the main reason i wanted coilovers was the adjust ability and you are saying you still can't lower the car as much as you would want? I guess I better double check the lowering rates for the front and rears - but most seem to have a range of 1-3" on both ends...

I know coilovers cost a little more than springs/shocks, but I think it's worth it esp if you are even thinking of tracking

[LionOfGosforth]

They are height adjustable, but the xi's have reduced travel with shorter struts (due to accommodating the front half shafts as i've learned), they don't go as low as I figured they would, certainly not "slammed" if that's what you're looking for. That said, the drop is fine with me, like I said, around 1.25in and more importantly, hugely reduced body roll and much much flatter through the corners. The handling characteristics outweigh the surprise at only being able to lower 1-1.25 inch safely. You CAN go lower (probably around 2in to it's lowest) but I wouldn't recommend it...I tried that but with virtually no compression travel and hitting those bumpstops, I was encouraged to raise it ASAP!

Edit to add...I will post up a couple of pics to give you an idea.

[LionOfGosforth]

Here are a couple of pics:

Before

[LionOfGosforth]

And after (sorry they're a little large)

Keep in mind, i'm running oem 18in wheels and pretty mild offsets etc, nothing very aggressive. I think it looks a lot better and handles 100% better, some might not be thrilled with the drop. I'm personally ok with it.

[wanlong]

I am think of going with HPA SA Koni coilovers + swift too, but I was excepting more drop than this

[LionOfGosforth]

My drop is a little on the conservative side perhaps but that's partly because the height of the car afterwards was not as high a priority as improving the handling. I did experiment and went as low as I could to try it out but I found that when lowered fully in the front, compression travel was an issue and not worth the jarring ride. I decided to sacrifice some aesthetics for practicality, especially since this is my DD. Honestly, I was appalled at the stock suspension, horribly floaty, the car would dive nastily under braking and be completely unsettled by any bump and gave no confidence whatsoever. This is a massive change for the better.

I have heard reliably that you can go lower on the xi with KW's and AST's (and maybe with the tc kline's) but haven't the experience of them first-hand to verify this. If you're looking seriously at this kit, i'd recommend speaking with Harold first, he will answer all questions.

Edit - i'm talking about the front lowering possibilities in my posts, the rear had no issues and could go MUCH lower if needed as it's almost at it's highest right now. Could probably go down another 3 inches in the rear if I wanted to.

[wanlong]

my priority is to improve the horrible handling of xi suspension, and then drop as much as I can. but in fact I won't drop that much since the bad road in Toronto. I am going with HPA Koni coilovers with swift anyways since this is the only one with swift spring on xi within my budget.

[Doyle]

The TCK kit come with a 7" front spring. I changed mine out for a 6" in order to fit 275s up front. This also allows you to drop the front a little bit further. I didn't because, well, look under my name <--- lol. I prefer ride quality/performance over having a hard parker. That said, I still scrape over speedbumps every so often.

I'll take some pics later this afternoon. I'm a little lower than lion.

[LionOfGosforth]

^
Thanks for the input Doyle, I know you posted a quality review of the TC Klines a little while back. Curious, when playing with ride height on the tc klines, did you ever experience much bumpstop collision with that kit? I found that the height I have it at right now (about 0.75in above it's lowest setting) provides a decent lowering without being too jarring. Previously, I experienced a big issue with being too low, no matter how carefully I drove, compression travel was a big issue until I raised it to it's current height.

[Doyle]

Not really. With the 7" spring I had 2 threads left until the lower perch ran out of adjustment (check out my review thread for pictures). I made contact with the bumpstops maybe 2-3 times. With the 6" springs I haven't bottomed out at all.

I'm running a pretty stiff spring up front (450#) as well as MUCH lighter wheel (<19# for 18x9.5), though. My shop was adamant about not putting anything lower than 450# up front. I suspect this is the reason (lots of weight to control, and little compression travel).

[LionOfGosforth]

Thanks...beginning to think a higher spring rate might have been a good idea. I went with 300 front and 600 rear, thinking a little extra compliance daily would be beneficial, perhaps should have gone a little stiffer in the front. You live and learn.

[Doyle]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Aside from a few crazies that sweat stance/ride height/whatever, most people will think your car looks sharp.

If you get some extra money, then maybe throw on 450/800 swifts. Until then, enjoy your ride! Its a BMW!

[LionOfGosforth]

Haha, you're right and I know i'm being a little too much of a worrier here. Once I get the rear adjustment completely correct (a little bouncy currently), i'm sure i'll be 100% happy. Glad I got the externally adjustable dampers now. The car handles much better than before and subjectively, looks a lot better too. Thanks for the input again, appreciated.

[wanlong]

I think the single adjustment shocks can not handle springs higher than 700 if I don't change m3 bushing?

[EyeGuy]

Thinking about going with the koni and swifts myself. Hows the ride quality compared to stock?? The ride height doesnt bother me much. must be getting old.

[LionOfGosforth]

Originally Posted by wanlong

I think the single adjustment shocks can only handle springs higher than 700 if I don't change m3 bushing?

336f and 672r are the recommended rates, if you go much beyond that, you'll likely see the limitations of the stock bushings magnify.

[LionOfGosforth]

Originally Posted by EyeGuy

Thinking about going with the koni and swifts myself. Hows the ride quality compared to stock?? The ride height doesnt bother me much. must be getting old.

IMHO, the ride quality is very good. You definitely feel the road more but the car is so much more planted and flat through the corners. Lean and roll is greatly reduced too and steering feel and precision is improved also.

[wanlong]

Originally Posted by LionOfGosforth

336f and 672r are the recommended rates, if you go much beyond that, you'll likely see the limitations of the stock bushings magnify.

I meat the rear can not handle higher then 700 if I dont change to m3 bushing

[LionOfGosforth]

Originally Posted by wanlong

I meat the rear can not handle higher then 700 if I dont change to m3 bushing

I think the stock rates in the rear are like 350-ish (might be wrong there) so the higher you go, the worse the stock bushings will perform. I'd like to have done the m3 bushings myself but the labor costs involved are prohibitive.

[Eracer76]

Im very happy with my KW V1's... The improvement over stock is huge!
There is a lot less body roll in the turns, the nose dive under braking is almost nonexistent and it's definitely planted on bumpy roads & turns now
I like how easy they are to adjust too... I first started out with a subtle drop, but I have since lowered the front and rear another 1/4" and even though I lowered it more from the original install, the ride quality hasn't changed at all.


Here are some pics of the drop before I lowered it a 1/4" more... There is much more adjustability left too, but I can't lower the rear anymore, because the tires already slightly rub if I have the kids in the back seat and I hit a big bump/dip in the road... I guess I should roll the fenders