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      03-15-2018, 11:35 PM   #1
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KW Dynamic Dampening Control (DDC) Review/Thoughts

First of all, thanks to AutoTalent and Justin.AutoTalent for the KW DDC & Install.

I only have the KW DDC on for a few weeks, but since my M3 isn’t my daily, didn’t have a lot of mileage yet. I’m probably only at around 250ish miles on it. However, I have a pretty good idea of how the car rides so I’ll put my thoughts down for those of you who are curious of this is worth it or not. One of the reason why I got KW DDC over the springs are a long-term solution, as well as wanting a better quality in general. That isn’t saying the OEM ZCP suspension was bad (it wasn’t, it was good actually) but you shouldn’t do just springs as a long-term thing, it isn’t healthy for your stock suspensions as it isn’t supposed to be lowered. I, like a lot of us, wanted to keep our EDC intact but have a better solution than just springs. My original 2015 M4 had KW HAS on, and one of the things I found most annoying during long drives or roads with a lot of bumps, was how floaty the car was on rebound. Original Suspension (2015 F8x) were obvious with the rebound, as that was the primary problem. ZCP fixed a lot of that problem but the car gets stiff, without a lot of compromise.

After the DDC has been put on, one thing I noticed almost immediately when I was driving home was how planted the car was, and I was able to feel the road. ZCP Suspension is stiff and yeah you can somewhat feel connected to the road but probably because the suspension is stiff, you mainly just rattle a little. You don’t really feel the car absorb and rebound from the road. It is a very hard thing to describe until you drive the car and feel that difference. This is a different thing from track, as having a stiff suspension is mainly a plus for track but it is a bit of a con when it comes to just daily driving. Not all of us wants to be a bobblehead when we drive or hear our car rattle around (considering how BMW builds the F8x chassis and all of that). KW DDC more or less eliminates the body roll enough where I am happy with it. Obviously I want some body roll still but not that much as stock.

The feeling of driving in comfort but, feeling what the road is w/o that bobblehead feeling, is something I never truly knew or was able to enjoy until I have had DDC on. The roads where I live is good for a lot of places, until you get further down into San Gabriel Valley where the roads get uneven. So, feeling the car absorb, recover almost immediately without upsetting the car or the passengers in Comfort is something I’m really able to enjoy now. How many of us can say driving in Comfort is fun? For me at the very least, I can. Yes, Comfort is stiffer by a certain degree but you probably won’t notice unless you are super picky like I am.

The other mode I tend to drive a lot in happens to be Sport. I avoid Sport+ because of my previous experience with Sport+ in my 2015 M4 (it wasn’t too fun). Anyway, in Sport mode, it is most definitely stiffer but, again, not uncomfortable. Unlike Comfort (which I use generally for regular street, non-freeway use) you definitely will get bumped around a little bit, you’ll get that slight bobblehead feeling but using it as more of a freeway, you probably won’t get too much of that. Unless you like driving on rough streets with it, but hey I’m not judging Sport is pretty much the right amount of stiffness for me currently, at least for the stiffness I would generally prefer. I cannot really say much regarding Sport+ since I don’t do that mode often.

One of the primary reasons why I wanted to do KW DDC in the first place is I wanted full coilovers that improved on OEM ride quality w/o losing the EDC part of the car. None of us had an option until all the way now. Considering Bilstein took 3 years since they announced their Damptronics to finally release it. (Or it seems like they yet again pushed it back… lol). I can’t say I don’t trust Bilstein but I much prefer KW. When KW came out with their DDC, I more or less confirmed to get it over having traditional Springs only option like OEM M-Performance HAS kit. My current stance is about 1 finger clearance front and back, same like my old setup with KW HAS but I might need to drop the front just slightly. I’m picky.

I’m very happy with my first full coilover setup. I always wanted KW V3 but never did it because I didn’t want to lose the ability to adjust. Now that I finally got that (more or less) I can see why people say good things regarding KW V3s. The DDC’s sit pretty low from the get go but it isn’t so much where you are SOO low you are tucking in your tires. I don’t like that look. There is enough adjustment that I am happy with, hell I could have probably left it at the height KW sent with and be happy with it. I don’t think AutoTalent adjusted it that much honestly.

Is it worth the slightly more pricetag over KW V3, Bilstein PSS, or even JRZ? I think it is, considering what you are getting. But price is a different calling to everyone.

Cheers.

P.S. Also, would you KEEP waiting for Bilstein to release their Damptronics for us in the States? It's literally been 3 years lol.
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      03-15-2018, 11:56 PM   #2
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Thanks for the review!

What wheel and tire sizes are you running? Any touching/interference from the KW coilover?
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      03-16-2018, 12:26 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skewzm3 View Post
Thanks for the review!

What wheel and tire sizes are you running? Any touching/interference from the KW coilover?
255/35 and 305/30. As far as I can tell, no rubbing. I checked a few times with my flashlight.
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      03-16-2018, 03:04 AM   #4
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Finally we have a review. Thanks for taking the time.
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      03-16-2018, 09:28 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcades View Post
255/35 and 305/30. As far as I can tell, no rubbing. I checked a few times with my flashlight.
How many hours did they bill you for the install?
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      03-16-2018, 01:36 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcades View Post
255/35 and 305/30. As far as I can tell, no rubbing. I checked a few times with my flashlight.
How much did you lower the front/rear?
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      03-16-2018, 04:21 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skewzm3 View Post
How many hours did they bill you for the install?
You have to contact AutoTalent for that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yas_sir View Post
How much did you lower the front/rear?
Not sure actually, I told them ahead of time about the amount of gap I wanted. If KW DDC is based from the KW V3 (which all signs to it being likely) then not much adjustment at all. Mainly the front is adjusted, I didn't see them adjust the rear.
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      03-16-2018, 04:35 PM   #8
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[QUOTE=Arcades;22924504]You have to contact AutoTalent for that.

I'm not on the west coast, was just trying to get a better idea of what people were billing as I've never had coilovers with edc/ddc installed.
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      03-16-2018, 06:30 PM   #9
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[QUOTE=skewzm3;22924589]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcades View Post
You have to contact AutoTalent for that.

I'm not on the west coast, was just trying to get a better idea of what people were billing as I've never had coilovers with edc/ddc installed.
Thanks Arcades for the write up!

The installation time is no longer than regular coil overs, the system includes a direct plug and play unit to the OEM EDC.
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      03-16-2018, 06:43 PM   #10
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[QUOTE=Justin.AutoTalent;22925110]
Quote:
Originally Posted by skewzm3 View Post

Thanks Arcades for the write up!

The installation time is no longer than regular coil overs, the system includes a direct plug and play unit to the OEM EDC.
Thank you !
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      03-16-2018, 07:50 PM   #11
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Been waiting for some feedback on these, thanks

I'm one of the blokes waiting and pushing for the bilstein damptronic release - last update I had was a march release so I'll chase up my dealer again for another update

If they're delayed again I might just bite the bullet on the kw ddc

Coming from an rs3 to m3, biggest change I felt was how stiff the f80 body shell is, and I can imagine how good it'd feel with a quality dampener that doesn't crash over broken tarmac in initial travel like the oe Sachs
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      03-16-2018, 08:29 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domino_z View Post
Been waiting for some feedback on these, thanks

I'm one of the blokes waiting and pushing for the bilstein damptronic release - last update I had was a march release so I'll chase up my dealer again for another update

If they're delayed again I might just bite the bullet on the kw ddc

Coming from an rs3 to m3, biggest change I felt was how stiff the f80 body shell is, and I can imagine how good it'd feel with a quality dampener that doesn't crash over broken tarmac in initial travel like the oe Sachs
The issue with F8x suspension, as noted by others, is the fact that the OEM suspension is bad with rebounds. ZCP fixes some of it, but it just stiffens up the suspension so rebounding just absorbs it hard. Non-ZCP Suspension was just bad with rebound.

There is no hint of this with the KW DDC. As you would expect from probably the most well known suspension company out there, they did it right to their specs and not a BMW, Benz, Audi, VW requested spec.
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      03-17-2018, 09:17 AM   #13
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Great review, thank you. I was contemplating them as well but decided against them as I heard camber plates would not work with them
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      03-17-2018, 06:00 PM   #14
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Great review, thank you. I was contemplating them as well but decided against them as I heard camber plates would not work with them
Honestly I have no clue. I remember seeing the replies from KW themselves on the forums here indicating that but I won't say for certain.

AutoTalent and their techs would know for sure.
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      03-17-2018, 10:11 PM   #15
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More pictures Arcades!!!!
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      03-17-2018, 10:20 PM   #16
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Yes please! More photos!!
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      03-17-2018, 10:45 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Circuit Hunter View Post
Great review, thank you. I was contemplating them as well but decided against them as I heard camber plates would not work with them
Any camber plate designed to work with the stock edc dampers should work with these.
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      03-17-2018, 11:00 PM   #18
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Am I understanding your comment correctly. How the car sits is kw's recommended height?
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      03-18-2018, 07:36 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domino_z View Post
Am I understanding your comment correctly. How the car sits is kw's recommended height?
The height it comes w/ is what KW recommends from what I understand.


Quote:
Originally Posted by skewzm3 View Post
Yes please! More photos!!
I'll try!

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Originally Posted by exo-shell View Post
More pictures Arcades!!!!
I'll try! Not a stance bro :P
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      03-18-2018, 08:05 PM   #20
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Thanks so much for the review!

I'm currently on the fence between these and the M Performance HAS kit, I gave up waiting on Bilstein.
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      03-19-2018, 07:54 AM   #21
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+1 on the KW DDC had mine installed last weekend.
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      03-20-2018, 01:43 PM   #22
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Arcades / @Abckkt did u install KW DDC ECU WLAN Module as well? and if yes can you set up 5 different profiles which are different from the pre-set Comfort, Sport and Sport + as advertised?

thx in advance
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