KW Height Adjustable Spring Kit M4 // Photos, Install and Impressions

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Gabe,
If you currently have passive is there really any advantage with going with this set up over just springs or lets say coil overs? Leaving out any debate of KW springs being better or worse than others and of course the advantage of choosing your own heights....

[Gabe@TAG]

Originally Posted by ehagerty

Gabe,
If you currently have passive is there really any advantage with going with this set up over just springs or lets say coil overs? Leaving out any debate of KW springs being better or worse than others and of course the advantage of choosing your own heights....

When you install the KW HAS kit, you inherently improve some basics, like less body roll, and a bit more response from steering input. You'll also notice a bit more stability at higher speed.

[drftorres]

Need price shipping to 00926

Also, how difficult or easy is to adjust height at home? How different is in terms of comfort compared with H&R Sport Springs?

I am currently using H&R Sport Springs but too low for daily driving. THANKS!

[Gabe@TAG]

Originally Posted by drftorres

Need price shipping to 00926

Also, how difficult or easy is to adjust height at home? How different is in terms of comfort compared with H&R Sport Springs?

I am currently using H&R Sport Springs but too low for daily driving. THANKS!

PM coming your way!

[AlterZgo]

Originally Posted by drftorres

Also, how difficult or easy is to adjust height at home?

Adjustment is relatively easy. Just jack the car up on a corner, remove the wheel. At this point, depending on how dirty the spring kit is, I would wipe down the threads of the spring collar with a damp rag to get as much debris out of the way as possible.

Then, loosen the bolt holding the spring perch in place with an allen wrench, then grab and hold the spring firmly in place while you use the supplied coilover wrench to raise or lower the spring perch. One obvious tip - when you finish turning the spring collar, make sure that you end up with the hole for the allen wrench bolt facing outwards so you can lock the spring perch back in place.

I found the rears to be a bit harder to adjust than the front as the spring collar was harder to turn... perhaps higher rear spring rate?

There are two supplied wrenches. Use the wrench with the box shaped notch at the end for the front springs and use the wrench with the rounded off nub for the rear springs.

[AlterZgo]

Originally Posted by ehagerty

Gabe,
If you currently have passive is there really any advantage with going with this set up over just springs or lets say coil overs? Leaving out any debate of KW springs being better or worse than others and of course the advantage of choosing your own heights....

I had a passive suspension KW HAS set up for a while. KW HAS has same benefits and drawbacks as other spring kits with the main advantage being that you can set the height exactly where you want (as long as where you want falls within KW HAS's height adjustment range, which is relatively narrow compared to some coilover kits that let you really lower the car more).

For me, the biggest drawback and why I eventually went with full coil overs is the damping of the passive suspension, while great in the beginning, began to get worn out and underdamped over a few thousand miles. With that said, this would happen with any spring kit you buy as well. You can perhaps prolong the life of the stock damper by not overly lowering your car, but if you want to maintain the excellent handling, you will eventually need new or better dampers than stock. Not sure if any shock mfg plans to release sportier dampers for our cars though, hence me going the full coilover route.

Another drawback specific to KW HAS - the front springs and perch may interfere with tire clearance if you run wider rims/tires. Some people have indicated spacers are needed to avoid rubbing if you increase tire/rim sizes. Personally, the car is begging for spacers and I am running 15mm spacers all around so this was a non-issue for me.

[CrazyWitness]

PMed

[WizKidOz]

Originally Posted by Neema@TAG

Yes that would work if you ran a 15mm spacer in the front.

I just picked up my F82 and have been reading all the positive reviews regarding the KW HAS set up. I am not in the market to upgrade/change out my wheels so my question is regarding the stock oem wheel setup; can I successfully run the KW HAS with my stock setup? If spacers are required, what size should I get for front / rear (what company do you recommend). And will the ride be negatively affected if I decide to go the stock oem wheel route with kw has? Upgrading wheels is out of my budget right now and I too have the adaptive M suspension. Basically I want to lower the car while retaining the in cabin / adaptive m suspension function and get as smooth a ride as possible. Looking to purchase the kw has very soon (today) if I can in fact get away with rubbing my stock oem wheel/rim setup without any loss of overall ride comfort. Thanks in advance!

[Chris N]

Ordered my kit yesterday. A local private BMW (not a factory dealer) quoted me $1100 for the install with alignment. This seems nuts given an earlier post that stated 4 hours with alignment. What are others finding?

I'm an ex-mechanic and will install them myself if needed. I just don't feel like taking the time.

[Gabe@TAG]

Originally Posted by Chris N

Ordered my kit yesterday. A local private BMW (not a factory dealer) quoted me $1100 for the install with alignment. This seems nuts given an earlier post that stated 4 hours with alignment. What are others finding?

I'm an ex-mechanic and will install them myself if needed. I just don't feel like taking the time.

$1100 for install and alignment, NOT including the KW HAS kit itself?

Yeah that’s not right.

[Chris N]

That's what I thought! I found another that I trust who quoted $500; which seems a little more palatable.

[Chris N]

Does adding the KW kit void any of the BMW warranties?

[Gabe@TAG]

Originally Posted by Chris N

That's what I thought! I found another that I trust who quoted $500; which seems a little more palatable.

That’s more in the real of reality.

Originally Posted by Chris N

Does adding the KW kit void any of the BMW warranties?

No reason why it should. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case of it doing so. I had it on my car for 20k miles and never had an issue.

[F80Moe]

Just ordered from your website.

Can't wait

[Gabe@TAG]

Originally Posted by F80Moe

Just ordered from your website.

Can't wait

Saw it! Awesome, and thank you!! Now the Status Gruppe lip will look even sicker

[Allank]

Cost shipped to 60452

[Gabe@TAG]

Originally Posted by Klenka

Cost shipped to 60452

PM coming your way!

[M-terkait]

Originally Posted by Gabe@TAG

[URL="http://bit.ly/KWM4Springs"]

I'm wondering if these rubber seats for the helper springs are from BMW or from KW? because OEM rubber seats are for progressive springs while these are linear springs.

If so can we purchase them assuming KW uses 60mm linear spring like Swift?

I've Tc Kline and they didn't really provide all these little stuff that makes difference. like the rubber or helper spring. without helper spring the rear spring is off the perch while off ground (jacked up).

[Danne_485]

Is it true that you can't mount these springs without damaging the paint of the spring? I got mine installed at my local BMW dealer and when I later had the car on a lift I saw at least one huge mark in one of the springs that was all down to the metal. They said its common and almost impossible to avoid. This sound strange to me but I don't have the experience to tell if it's wrong or right, so I was thinking you might be able to help me? I think it seems strange and I think this would limit the lifetime of the spring also because of rust and wear. What is your thoughts? Thanks!

[M4-Power]

Been running KW HAS for several months now
Ride is rock solid and corner handling is tight
Most of all....I freaking love the stance

[Danne_485]

Originally Posted by M4-Power

Been running KW HAS for several months now
Ride is rock solid and corner handling is tight
Most of all....I freaking love the stance

How did you get it so low in the front? Does it settle much? Because mine is nowhere near that drop, on what suppose to be the lowest setting, from what my installer told me. :/

[M4-Power]

Originally Posted by Danne_485

How did you get it so low in the front? Does it settle much? Because mine is nowhere near that drop, on what suppose to be the lowest setting, from what my installer told me. :/

15mm spacers on the front and an installer who knows no limits ;-)