Coilover Ride Height Adjustment

[stevetenney]

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For anyone who has changed the ride height and moved the spring cups, how hard is it to turn them on the shock? I'm trying to raise mine to public road setting and the spring cup is impossible to move. It feels like I ought to hit it with a hammer to break it loose. I just put some Beoshield on it to try to penetrate and loosen it up. I have loosened the setscrew.

Thanks

[imjello]

spring cup? nah dawg, there is two spinning bois. you turn those opposite of each other to separate then move to designated height and tighten back together. If you do not have the side in the air I imagine its not easy to be successful.

*spring perches

Nevermind, I just looked at a picture of the OEM M4 GTS Suspension and I am wrong. Please listen to someone else. Thank you. Have a good day.

[FormulaMMM]

Any progress? You're using the spanner? Shouldn't be hard.

[stevetenney]

I'm using the spanner. I've made some progress. It's very slow going. It's still quite tight even with penetrating oil. It looks pretty clean, but it doesn't move very well. KW suggested that I could tap the spanner with a hammer and that started it moving. I've gotten almost half the distance that I need. I've ordered a better spanner that should help and should arrive today. There are a variety of spanners out there that could be better, but I don't know. I also don't know how easy it should be to move the perch/spring cup to raise the car. I haven't gotten past the left front yet though.

[TT1351]

Make sure you unload the suspension first, will make it easier. Fronts are easier than the rears, not a lot of usable room back there.

[stevetenney]

Originally Posted by TT1351

Make sure you unload the suspension first, will make it easier. Fronts are easier than the rears, not a lot of usable room back there.

It's on a jack and the wheel has been removed. Is that what you mean? I hope we don't have to remove the strut from the car.

[FormulaMMM]

Something is up. Spins with the kit's spanner and reasonable force. Have you tried the other side?

[stevetenney]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

Something is up. Spins with the kit's spanner and reasonable force. Have you tried the other side?

No I haven't. I've just tried the front left. Spins would be an exaggeration. It moves with much force applied. I've moved it about half what I need, but having more difficulty. It was down against the race track stops. I have not idea how long it has been setup like this.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by stevetenney

No I haven't. I've just tried the front left. Spins would be an exaggeration. It moves with much force applied. I've moved it about half what I need, but having more difficulty. It was down against the race track stops. I have not idea how long it has been setup like this.

Right, I don't mean like a spinning top. Normally it rotates with reasonable, hand tight level force applied on the spanner. I'd check the other side.

[the_scotsman]

I have not yet played with the suspension, but is there not a lock ring?

[stevetenney]

Originally Posted by the_scotsman

I have not yet played with the suspension, but is there not a lock ring?

There's a setscrew on the spring perch / cup to secure it. There's also a racetrack blocking ring that's locked in place. BMW doesn't want the car to be lower than that setting. Some people have removed the race track blocking ring to go lower. My car was set to the race track setting and I'd like to bring it back to the public road / Nordschliefe setting to get a little more ground clearance. There's also damper settings that can be applied.

[stevetenney]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

Right, I don't mean like a spinning top. Normally it rotates with reasonable, hand tight level force applied on the spanner. I'd check the other side.

OK, I moved to the other side and was able to make the adjustment and put the spacer in place in about 30 minutes. The threads were somewhat gritty feeling, but I had WD-40 in there and it moved. I'm going to look at the rears now. I don't know what to think about the first side. The strut may have to come out.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by stevetenney

OK, I moved to the other side and was able to make the adjustment and put the spacer in place in about 30 minutes. The threads were somewhat gritty feeling, but I had WD-40 in there and it moved. I'm going to look at the rears now. I don't know what to think about the first side. The strut may have to come out.

That's a bummer. Mileage? State/region of previous ownership? Maybe some ideas here https://raceland.com/news/how-to-free-seized-collars/

[stevetenney]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

That's a bummer. Mileage? State/region of previous ownership? Maybe some ideas here https://raceland.com/news/how-to-free-seized-collars/

It's got 13k miles on it. It's fully wrapped in Excel and hardly has a mark on it. Very good condition. From the Carfax, it was purchased in CA and moved to the DC area where I purchased it. It's had three previous owners.

Thanks for the link. I'm assuming the strut will have to come out to fully free the collar and it will need to be replaced. It will take some time to get one from Germany.

Working on the rears now. Looks like I have to release the shock to get enough room to make the adjustment to the perch in the back.

[Gomeler]

I believe you have to remove the lower bolt of the shock in the rears to enable adjustment of the separated spring. It is recommended to replace that bolt when removing it. There were some instructions in the copy of the manual hosted on newtis, but it looks like BMW forced them to take it down

Bummer on your fronts, mine rotated smoothly but my car also had sub-1k miles when I fiddled with it. Curious if the threading on the coilover body was damaged. I've had no issues with dirty racecar perches that couldn't be solved with brake clean, a brush, and compressed air.

[stevetenney]

Appearance of the threading on the shock tube looks perfectly clean. I put Boeshield in the top of the perch to lubricate the threads and it began to move after tapping the wrench with a hammer. I also directed some compressed air in there and some debris did come out. I was able to move the perch manually with much difficulty, but after some progress it wouldn't move any further. The notches in the perch have gotten marred up now so some don't provide a solid hold for the wrench any longer. I'll finish the rears and then go back to the driver's side front to see what I can do. This shouldn't have taken any longer than a couple of hours.

I've got the manual. I'll replace the bolts at a later time.

[stevetenney]

Does the rear shock have to be completely removed to get at the perch? It looks like that would make it a pretty easy adjustment.