Coilover dilema

[Ade_7]

Hi Everyone

It's been quite a while since I've posted as work and family life has been a bit crazy!

Anyway with the roads starting to dry a little I'm starting to be able to open the car up again and am immediately finding it less stable than I'd like. The more you try to lean on it the more it feels like it's fighting itself. Rather than absorb the road surface imperfection/undulations it seems to get more unsettled in a rather unflattering bucking bronco style of operation.....

I think this is probably me getting more used to the car and becoming more aware of the short comings of the damping setup.

Anyway I've had a promotion at work and after a recent 33hr flight delay with BA received some compensation from them, so it seems like fate really wants me to treat the car to some coilovers.

I've read over pretty much everything and come down to the following choices.

I'd really like to get the Bilstein B16 Damptronic as my first choice but they seem to be delayed forever so I am resigning myself to the fact that they may never actually appear....

KW V3s seem like a good option as they are used by quite a lot of people and widely liked although I started to find a number of comments that for fast road use they struggle to cope with larger bump damping as well as monotube dampers?

Ohlins look great but the standard rear springs supplied are widely considered to be completely wrong for a fast road car setup.

Which brings me back to Bilstein B16 PSS10s as a passive setup. However these seem to be not so common so little feedback from owners regarding their performance. Although it seems some favour them over KWs and those that have them seem very please with them.

So without the option of an EDC compatible system then it would seem to be a toss up between KW V3s (with either the delete module or coding to remove the error msgs) or Bilstein B16 PSS10 (with coding to remove error msgs).
Both should come in at around 2k fitted so does anyone have any experience of the two setups? Ideally driven M3s fitted with both and can offer comparisons?

Secondly can anyone recommend any places for fitting and alignment?

I'd normally use Deutsch tech in MK but because they don't have full in house alignment i could go somewhere that does if they're not too far? Either that or have them fit them then take a trip to a good alignment place after a few weeks of settling?

As usual any experiences welcome

Ade

[Wills2]

I drove the ACS M4 on their RS coilovers and it was fantastic, PH also did a review on that car and loved it back to back with the long term M4 they had.

Might be worth adding those to the list.

http://shop.ac-schnitzer.co.uk/rs-ad...f82-6068-p.asp

The great thing about ACS is they will supply and fit at their UK distributer, they stand by their products and the installation and many BMW dealers will supply and fit as well.

I'd love a set TBH.

[Ade_7]

Hi Wills

Thanks for the reply. The ACS RS kit is based on the KW V3 kit. It's the subject of debate across forums if it is re-valved to ACS specs or just simply rebranded. But in either case they are going to behave in a very similar way as far as I have read.

The ACS kit though is warrantied which is obviously great but another £1000 on top so, significantly more expensive for similar performance...

Thinking more about it the other thing I'm struggling to get good accurate information about too the maximum ride heights. I don't want the car to look too slammed. It's currently on ACS springs and I like the ride height and look so ideally don't want to be much lower....

Ade

[Wills2]

I think a deal could be done on that price? Yeah I knew it was KW based, I believe they maintain it's built to ACS specs.

I was very impressed by the car, maybe we could do a deal with Lorcan if we both get it.

I've been wondering about springs (MP kit) or coilovers for ages a big part of choosing will be who will supply and fit them and that pushes me to either ACS or BMW for MP springs, from what I read by the time you've paid the dealers labour rates you're not far off the RS price.

Guy (GTSussex) on here has them hopefully he could chime in on the ride height.

[mechanic75]

Hi Ade,

damptronic will be released in the next few weeks, I spoke with them at Autosport show, and judging by how many are looking for them there should be some reviews up pretty soon. It might be worth holding off to see what the verdict is.

I was almost certainly going to go with Tractive but they have jacked their prices even higher and customer service is non existent so far. Shame as they look incredible.

Talk to Chris in Center Gravity. He will set it up exactly how you want it and you will enjoy the process. You have absolute certainty it will be done to the highest of standards and spot on.

Keep us posted,
cheers
M

[Ade_7]

Originally Posted by mechanic75

Hi Ade,

damptronic will be released in the next few weeks, I spoke with them at Autosport show, and judging by how many are looking for them there should be some reviews up pretty soon. It might be worth holding off to see what the verdict is.

I was almost certainly going to go with Tractive but they have jacked their prices even higher and customer service is non existent so far. Shame as they look incredible.

Talk to Chris in Center Gravity. He will set it up exactly how you want it and you will enjoy the process. You have absolute certainty it will be done to the highest of standards and spot on.

Keep us posted,
cheers
M

That's very interesting, thanks for the news.... I spoke with them at Goodwood last year and they said it should be new year / February latest.....

I actually spoke with a few other companies just last week who do Bilstein in the UK and one guy told me he called them to check while I was on hold and was told there is no date for them at all??

I've just sent Bilstein an email directly to see what they say.....

Fingers crossed that they finally make it to market!

I did read about the Tractive setup too and agree they look amazing but the price and total lack of actual information regarding distribution/support put me off.

Also thanks for the recommendation for Centre Gravity, only about an hour and 20 from me so good to know

Ade

[Ade_7]

Hmm I just got this reply from Bilstein following my question about the availability of the B16 Damptronic for the f80 M3.....

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for the email and the interest in our products.

We have to inform you, that the BILSTEIN product mentioned below
is not available at present.
We plan to have these available at the middle of 2017.

We are sorry for not having better news for you.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for further information


So yet another it'll be another few months.... sounds about the same as they've been saying since late 2015.....

So I guess i'm back to square one.

I really wish there was a decent BMW tuner somewhere in the UK who had good knowledge of a variety of products like some of the companies you get in the states. Everyone in the UK only seem to concentrate on one product range meaning the views tend to feel a little biased....

I'm keen to get some coilovers but feel a bit like there's only really KW as a known option and the more I look at pictures the more i'm wondering if they are a bit too low at their max height for my taste?

[mechanic75]

Hi Ade,

I'll ask my guy and see what he says. He spoke with Bilstein directly within the last couple of weeks.

Tractive still calling me but woeful customer service putting me off...

[Ade_7]

Originally Posted by mechanic75

Hi Ade,

I'll ask my guy and see what he says. He spoke with Bilstein directly within the last couple of weeks.

Tractive still calling me but woeful customer service putting me off...

I spoke with someone at CA int in the UK today who said they have four sets on order and they've been told June....

[RKR]

A friend of mine works for AST in the Netherlands and he messaged me today to tell me about their brand new 5100 coilover system for the M3/M4 platform. I haven't seen any owners feedback with them being so new however if you wanted a good deal I could get him to sort you out. From memory they were £1600 + VAT retail

This is not a sales post but from having AST's in the past I can confirm they are very good. Made by the same people who make the Moton systems

[Y8HOO]

Maybe a bit out of the price range but Intrax (Holland) are a good option, their 1K2 range covers the M4 with spring rates matched to customer requirements. I don't have personal experience with them on the M4 but have with previous M Cars.

[Ade_7]

Originally Posted by RKR

A friend of mine works for AST in the Netherlands and he messaged me today to tell me about their brand new 5100 coilover system for the M3/M4 platform. I haven't seen any owners feedback with them being so new however if you wanted a good deal I could get him to sort you out. From memory they were £1600 + VAT retail

This is not a sales post but from having AST's in the past I can confirm they are very good. Made by the same people who make the Moton systems

Attachment 1593980

Thanks that's very interesting....

I can't say it was a brand I knew that much about but I do know of Moton and they are allegedly excellent quality!

Out of interest can you PM me a price for them? I spoke with AST UK today and they say about £2400 fitted including EDC delete module etc so not a bad price at all.

[Ade_7]

Originally Posted by Y8HOO

Maybe a bit out of the price range but Intrax (Holland) are a good option, their 1K2 range covers the M4 with spring rates matched to customer requirements. I don't have personal experience with them on the M4 but have with previous M Cars.

Thanks for the info but I can't find much in the way of references to anything for the current models?

[Y8HOO]

Originally Posted by Ade_7

Thanks for the info but I can't find much in the way of references to anything for the current models?

Link to 1k2 system for M4:

http://en.intraxracing.nl/merken/bmw/f82-m4/1k2/

[Ade_7]

Originally Posted by Y8HOO

Link to 1k2 system for M4:

http://en.intraxracing.nl/merken/bmw/f82-m4/1k2/

Thanks for the link but I meant references to opinions from owners, pictures of them on a car installed etc

[gtsussex]

Originally Posted by Wills2

I think a deal could be done on that price? Yeah I knew it was KW based, I believe they maintain it's built to ACS specs.

I was very impressed by the car, maybe we could do a deal with Lorcan if we both get it.

I've been wondering about springs (MP kit) or coilovers for ages a big part of choosing will be who will supply and fit them and that pushes me to either ACS or BMW for MP springs, from what I read by the time you've paid the dealers labour rates you're not far off the RS price.

Guy (GTSussex) on here has them hopefully he could chime in on the ride height.

Sorry, don't look much these days as bit busy with work.

Which coilovers to go for is a tricky one. ACS and the KW3 are valved differently (people can be as cynical as they want - gets boring after a while). Would most people notice? I'm not sure as one setting doesn't fit all anyway. I can vary my suspension significantly by adjusting it. As it is, when I had the 20' CP wheels on, I actually ran it completely differently to the settings I now use for the 19' 437s.

I originally went for the ACS option as I too drove that M4 and loved it. I felt that they'd cracked the right compromise for UK roads. Took them a while to do as Chris and Lorcan changed ride heights and settings away from Germany spec and my second time of driving it, the car was better. So I felt I had a good place to start. I'd also had the RS kit on my 335d and it served me well.

Whatever flavour of KW you go for, it will be an improvement as long as set up well. Beware that certainly on the V3's there's a limit to how high you can keep the back - mine's as far up the thread as I'd be happy with. Don't get me wrong - never had an issue with rubbing. I've also put my front up since I had the kit fitted - about 8mm but made all the difference.

As for the Damptronic's, they've been promising them for yonks. I don't really see the problem with a decent passive setup.

Personally I think it's the best upgrade you can do. The car is hugely more managable and enjoyable.

[Ade_7]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts.

I think I'm leaning towards either the PSS10s or ASTs at the moment as they seem similarly priced and both have a more conservative ride height drop.

I'll keep everyone updated with whatever I decide and my thoughts once I have had them done!

[Ade_7]

Ok so I may have just booked the car in for coilovers on the 13th April

I'm more than a little bit excited

[Wills2]

Which ones Ade?

[Ade_7]

I'm going for the AST 5100s. The more I've looked into them, spoken with a few that have them and AST the more they sound ideal for the type of driving I do.

I like the fact that if you wanted to you could "upgrade them" if you wanted a more serious setup rather than just ditch them and buy a new set etc.

Plus I'm looking at adding compression adjustment to them so they have a little more possibility for track work if I ever get my finger out and get on one!

Ade

[Ade_7]

Just as a note to add adjustable compression is £30 per damper so it seems a bit of a no brainer

[jquan1]

I think Deutschtech now have wheel alignment facilities