Which coilovers on an f80?

[sagi]

I'm wondering what coilovers setup people recommend for an F80 that has OEM adaptive suspension.

I want the ride quality to feel soft like OEM if possible or better ( if that's even possible). The car is a daily driver.

Based one some research it looks like TCkline and jrz are pretty good since you can pick your spring rate.

Anyone have this setup and use an EDC module to remove the error messages that will pop up? If so which one do you recommend?

For those who have coilover setups...any recommendations of parts to buy in addition to the coilover kit. I.e: top mounts...bushing etc...trying to avoid double installation costs and mainly any annoying squeaks and noises etc.

Thanks

[N54MPower]

Picking spring rates are a good option

a. If you are going to do a significant amount of track days.

b. Are knowledgeable about suspension and can pick the right spring rates that will offer what you are looking for.


If you are willing to eliminate the adaptive suspension on the car the popular choice is probably the KW V3's. They have better dampening than the OE suspension even at lower ride height and come with the cancellation kit to avoid any errors. Apart from KW, you have Bilstein, Ohlins, and AST to name a few.

If you want to retain your adaptive function you can go KW HAS, M Performance HAS, Ground Control, KW DDC which is a full coilover like the V3's that retain the OE driving modes and adjustability like stock but replaces the dampers and rides like a V3 set up which is rides better than stock.

Bilstein also offers their Damptronic which works like KW's DDC but has limited availability in the U.S and thus not much feedback.

[M3SQRD]

What’s your budget? Higher-end dampers with independent rebound and compression adjustment will provide the best ride quality.

Your primary goal is to make the ride more compliant. No other goals/requirements?

Adding camber plates, lower front thrust bearings, rear toe arms, etc. can increase NVH (slightly in most cases) but it sounds like that’s something you’re looking to avoid/minimize?

[sagi]

Originally Posted by N54MPower

Picking spring rates are a good option

a. If you are going to do a significant amount of track days.

b. Are knowledgeable about suspension and can pick the right spring rates that will offer what you are looking for.


If you are willing to eliminate the adaptive suspension on the car the popular choice is probably the KW V3's. They have better dampening than the OE suspension even at lower ride height and come with the cancellation kit to avoid any errors. Apart from KW, you have Bilstein, Ohlins, and AST to name a few.

If you want to retain your adaptive function you can go KW HAS, M Performance HAS, Ground Control, KW DDC which is a full coilover like the V3's that retain the OE driving modes and adjustability like stock but replaces the dampers and rides like a V3 set up which is rides better than stock.

Bilstein also offers their Damptronic which works like KW's DDC but has limited availability in the U.S and thus not much feedback.

Thanks for the feedback! I was originally planning to get KW m3 but I read some reviews on the forum that someone hated the ride quality as it was too harsh and too low at the highest setting...which changed my mind..

I'm worried because mine is going to be a daily driver and not planning on tracking it. I've seen some pics of f80s with kw v3 and the highest setting (apparently) is slammed.

[BzsBimmer]

I’m probably going to get the KW DDC setup. I like simple. I’m more of a spirited canyon driver as of late so it should fit my bill.

[sagi]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

What’s your budget? Higher-end dampers with independent rebound and compression adjustment will provide the best ride quality.

Your primary goal is to make the ride more compliant. No other goals/requirements?

Adding camber plates, lower front thrust bearings, rear toe arms, etc. can increase NVH (slightly in most cases) but it sounds like that’s something you’re looking to avoid/minimize?

I'm not too worried about the budget as I already know mods are expensive for f80s lol. I just want to buy the suspension kit right the first time.

Basically my goals are:
-have the vehicle drive smooth and comfortable as stock or better.
-ensure no errors are present on the dash etc if the adaptive suspension is removed.
-ideally it would be nice to keep the adaptive button or even the suspension with HAS if people who have this setup can confirm I can adjust the height above the tires or more and not slammed as well as the ride comfort being smooth as stock or better. I want to be able to have people in the car without rubbing the floor or fenders lol
-ensure no noises or vibrations are present after the installation and setup. I read the front two way struts cause vibrations.

I used to have kw v1 on my e92 and loved it....super smooth and was able to have people in the car without worrying about scrapping the floor and bottoming out etc..

Thanks again for the feedback.

[BzsBimmer]

Sounds like your choices are BMW HAS, KW DDC, or Bilstein setup.

[CigarPundit]

Originally Posted by sagi

I'm not too worried about the budget as I already know mods are expensive for f80s lol. I just want to buy the suspension kit right the first time.

Basically my goals are:
-have the vehicle drive smooth and comfortable as stock or better.
-ensure no errors are present on the dash etc if the adaptive suspension is removed.
-ideally it would be nice to keep the adaptive button or even the suspension with HAS if people who have this setup can confirm I can adjust the height above the tires or more and not slammed as well as the ride comfort being smooth as stock or better. I want to be able to have people in the car without rubbing the floor or fenders lol
-ensure no noises or vibrations are present after the installation and setup. I read the front two way struts cause vibrations.

I used to have kw v1 on my e92 and loved it....super smooth and was able to have people in the car without worrying about scrapping the floor and bottoming out etc..

Thanks again for the feedback.

Given those goals, why not leave it stock or go with springs like MS Comp? That’s what I have and I love them. The ride is a bit stiffer, but it doesn’t bother me at all and the ride height is perfect. Are you going with coil overs primarily for the ride comfort?

[sagi]

Originally Posted by CigarPundit

Given those goals, why not leave it stock or go with springs like MS Comp? That’s what I have and I love them. The ride is a bit stiffer, but it doesn’t bother me at all and the ride height is perfect. Are you going with coil overs primarily for the ride comfort?

I'll.check out the MS Comp...I'm going for coilovers for comfort and the ability to adjust the height to my preference...minimal wheel gap while ensuring I don't rub fenders etc..

[Justin.AutoTalent]

If youre going for comfort then you for sure want coils. Springs ride OK the first 10-20k miles, but progressively get worse and worse and rapidly degrade the dampers reducing comfort.

If you want a soft ride, then Bilstein or Ohlins are your best bet out the box.

V3 are a little stiff, but I don't think it's far off from stock at all. I had these on my prior F80.

My current one has KW CS2, people complain about stiffness, but the CS2 out the box still ride softer than my Swift Springs on Stock Shocks

[jpy1980]

Originally Posted by Justin.AutoTalent

If youre going for comfort then you for sure want coils. Springs ride OK the first 10-20k miles, but progressively get worse and worse and rapidly degrade the dampers reducing comfort.

If you want a soft ride, then Bilstein or Ohlins are your best bet out the box.

V3 are a little stiff, but I don't think it's far off from stock at all. I had these on my prior F80.

My current one has KW CS2, people complain about stiffness, but the CS2 out the box still ride softer than my Swift Springs on Stock Shocks

Hey Justin

What are your thoughts with the ohlins coming with coils that have such high spring rates? Shouldn’t that make the ride less comfy for DD?

[Justin.AutoTalent]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Hey Justin

What are your thoughts with the ohlins coming with coils that have such high spring rates? Shouldn’t that make the ride less comfy for DD?

With the Ohlins, there are several options of spring rates you can go.

The most popular set up is:

48010-19 (70N/mm)
48010-67 (190N/mm)

This is for those who want to maybe track once or twice a year, canyon their car, and also daily drive.

Something that might fit your requests

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Hey Justin

What are your thoughts with the ohlins coming with coils that have such high spring rates? Shouldn’t that make the ride less comfy for DD?

I’m running F 600 lbf/in (~105 N/mm) and R 900 lbf/in (~160 N/mm) with MCS 2-way remote reservoir dampers. This is a track-biased setup with independent rebound and compression damping adjustment. I would NOT recommend running anything stiffer on the R for a street DD car. For a DD car with Ohlins R&T, I’d recommend F 70 N/mm and R 120-130 N/mm. The R rates are low enough that you’ll get a good DD yet stiff enough to still have fun on the weekend or an occasional track day.

[domino_z]

Tractive - search forum for my feedback posts

[MetalsMan]

See my post below yours. Just installed JRZ's RS Two setup. Was very pleased with the quality and install was easy. However I also paid over 400 for the Jrz Edc cancellation units and I'm still having issues. I get a chassis restriction error message every time I start the car. Now I'm getting about 6 error messages off and on that I'm trying to figure out. Not sure if it's due to the install of the Jrz units or not, but didn't have these problems prior. There are sensors attached to each stock damper, not exactly sure of their purpose but I removed mine and tied off the wiring when the Jrz setup was installed. There is a bracket for mounting the front sensors on the Jrz dampers, but there is no such mount on the Jrz rears, so I removed them altogether. This could be an issue as well, but if so the jrz units should have these sensor mounts on their units as well.

[MetalsMan]

My local BMW repair shop swears by MCS coilovers, but has a pretty biased opinion I believe.

[BzsBimmer]

Originally Posted by Justin.AutoTalent

If youre going for comfort then you for sure want coils. Springs ride OK the first 10-20k miles, but progressively get worse and worse and rapidly degrade the dampers reducing comfort.

If you want a soft ride, then Bilstein or Ohlins are your best bet out the box.

V3 are a little stiff, but I don't think it's far off from stock at all. I had these on my prior F80.

My current one has KW CS2, people complain about stiffness, but the CS2 out the box still ride softer than my Swift Springs on Stock Shocks

No love for KW DDC?

[jacobe92]

Originally Posted by MetalsMan

See my post below yours. Just installed JRZ's RS Two setup. Was very pleased with the quality and install was easy. However I also paid over 400 for the Jrz Edc cancellation units and I'm still having issues. I get a chassis restriction error message every time I start the car. Now I'm getting about 6 error messages off and on that I'm trying to figure out. Not sure if it's due to the install of the Jrz units or not, but didn't have these problems prior. There are sensors attached to each stock damper, not exactly sure of their purpose but I removed mine and tied off the wiring when the Jrz setup was installed. There is a bracket for mounting the front sensors on the Jrz dampers, but there is no such mount on the Jrz rears, so I removed them altogether. This could be an issue as well, but if so the jrz units should have these sensor mounts on their units as well.

Next time go to a tuner shop that specializes in the M3/M4. When @EAS out of Anaheim CA first installed my JRZ RS Pro, I also had the same CEL you mentioned. No problem, they just coded it out and it was included in the labor. Also, the JRZ EDC deletes you have, that's a waste of money. Those they can remove by coding too.

[N54MPower]

Originally Posted by sagi

Thanks for the feedback! I was originally planning to get KW m3 but I read some reviews on the forum that someone hated the ride quality as it was too harsh and too low at the highest setting...which changed my mind..

I'm worried because mine is going to be a daily driver and not planning on tracking it. I've seen some pics of f80s with kw v3 and the highest setting (apparently) is slammed.

I had KW V3's on my old F80. They rode better than the car did stock, and stock shocks on H&R springs.

I currently have KW DDC's on my current F80 and I love them. They ride better than stock like the V3's, retain EDC and still retain use of the adaptive suspension and offer adjustable dampening via the stock controls.

I also have KW's V3's on my E46 sedan and those ride and handle extremely well in street driving conditions.

[ptper]

Originally Posted by N54MPower

I had KW V3's on my old F80. They rode better than the car did stock, and stock shocks on H&R springs.

I currently have KW DDC's on my current F80 and I love them. They ride better than stock like the V3's, retain EDC and still retain use of the adaptive suspension and offer adjustable dampening via the stock controls.

I also have KW's V3's on my E46 sedan and those ride and handle extremely well in street driving conditions.

Do you have any pics with the kw v3's to share? I'm also concerned about slamming in the rear. I'm not worried about harshness. My old s4 had h&r coils which were pretty stiff. I actually liked it. I just made a purchase on HAS, then changed my mind and ordered coils. FML.

[Justin.AutoTalent]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

No love for KW DDC?

Nothing wrong with them, I feel like they're a bit overkill for my personal taste

For the price I did the CS2 instead

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by MetalsMan

My local BMW repair shop swears by MCS coilovers, but has a pretty biased opinion I believe.

I’ve used Moton, JRZ, TCK and MCS dampers on my e46 M3, e92 M3s and f82 M4. The MCS 2WR dampers are by far the best dampers I’ve used. I’m about to install a set of 2WRs on my ‘18 240ix.