Weird Bilstein coilover issue ... can someone help

spdrcrgtr · 10-03-2021, 02:39 PM

Having a strange problem with my coilovers and wanted to see if someone experienced similar issues.

I have Bilstein B16 Damptronic coilvoers all around. Overall they're great albeit pretty stiff, but for the life of me can't get the passenger-side rear height to match the driver-side.

I measured the gap between the collar and the spring perch and set the same distance on the other side ... still higher on the passegerside

Then I even made the gap smaller than the driverside and it's still higher ..WTF?

I have a suspicion that it was incorrectly installed, but I may be wrong.

Has anyone has a similar experience and what did you do to fix it?

Thank you!

spdrcrgtr · 10-03-2021, 02:41 PM

Oh, btw, just for reference the passenger-side rear is about 1/4 inch (about) higher than the driverside.

AlterZgo · 10-03-2021, 08:17 PM

Side to side heights will virtually never be identical. I have the same issue w/ my PSS10 coil overs. So, to even it out, one side is raised slightly more than the other. A 1/4” difference btw L and R is negligible and likely disappears or increases when you get into the drivers seat. As long as it looks relatively even, I wouldn’t worry about it. Besides, if you really want to focus on performance, you’d corner balance the car and if you did that the heights L & R very likely wouldn’t match… but the amt of weight would be evenly distributed for optimum handling.

spdrcrgtr · 10-04-2021, 09:07 AM

Your right, but it's one of those things that bugs me, and Id like to get it a bit closer to each other (left vs right rear). The front is practically identical.

spidy512 · 10-05-2021, 03:45 PM

Yo!

Remember, there is also cross load, as well as front to back load. And as Alterzgo pointed out, side to side loads.

You may need to bring up your drivers side to put more pressure on the the other side. Or use the opposite rear corner to help balance things out. Scales at each corner would help.

For reference, one of my old Subaru 2.5 RS I set up for weekend autocross had odd heights at each corner to accomplish the "perfect" balance with m in the car. If you looked hard enough, the passenger front corner was higher than the driver side. Not my much mind you, but enough the trained eye could see it. It was making up for lack of weight in the drivers rear wheel. That is where the race shop set it up for perfect weight at each corner. That car was one of the best handling cars I have driven.

good luck!
josh

slaughter.mode · 10-05-2021, 04:24 PM

This is normal. It's almost never the same once you divert from stock. My car came with the MPHAS from the factory (this model was fully, fully loaded) and I noticed the same scenario as you and the solution was not bringing the passenger side down but rather bringing the driver and driver rear corners up to push it.

Think about the way the car handles steep driveways where your tire will literally be off the ground as you angle in, that's how stiff this car is and how strong each corner is and how much they work together.

With the Damptronics I actually have it set to a few rotations from the bottom all the way around but the rear a bit higher than the front and maybe it's just luck but it's flush all the way around.

Aesthetically it's annoying but functionally, the stance when you sit in the car (alone) is what matters the most so have someone sit in the driver seat and check it out at that point to get a real visualization of what's happening.

Also, with the B16s, I highly recommend a CS EDC tune (unless you have a CS then ignore me). It literally is a night and day difference. If you haven't done it yet, do it. It rides so much smoother now vs my stock ZCP config.

I actually had mine done today, which is why I'm in this subsection to write a review of how great it is.

kubax86 did it for me. Here's the website:

https://bimmer-remote.com/

spdrcrgtr · 10-05-2021, 11:38 PM

CS tune; interesting ...

Agreed how it should look with you sitting in ... but the problem is that the car is lower on the driverside without any load, so its probably even lower with me in the car (I'm about 180 lbs).

slaughter.mode · 10-05-2021, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spdrcrgtr

CS tune; interesting ...

Agreed how it should look with you sitting in ... but the problem is that the car is lower on the driverside without any load, so its probably even lower with me in the car (I'm about 180 lbs).

Try resetting the drop and work your way down again. It can't hurt. Also try dropping the front more than the back to see if the rear can equally 'push' the front down. I have a pretty aggressive stance with my BBS LM-Rs with 275s in the front and 305s in the rear so for me it's always tucked all the way around anyway but when I was on my 666Ms the difference between each gap was more pronounced.

M 4 FUN · 10-06-2021, 05:24 AM

Does the shocks have the same total length?
Why i wonder is because if the upper shock body is possible to adjust, like they are on Öhlins R&T kit it might be adjusted differently between eachother. otherwise the only way to get it right is to corner weight the car, which should be done anyway to get the balance right.

spdrcrgtr · 10-06-2021, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nv_f82

Try resetting the drop and work your way down again. It can't hurt. Also try dropping the front more than the back to see if the rear can equally 'push' the front down. I have a pretty aggressive stance with my BBS LM-Rs with 275s in the front and 305s in the rear so for me it's always tucked all the way around anyway but when I was on my 666Ms the difference between each gap was more pronounced.

My front is pretty low (about a 1 finger gap), so I don't want to lower any more otherwise it will make it practically impossible to daily drive.

I'm probably going to try to lower the driver's side a bit and leave the passenger the same to see if they even out.

The shock has no manual adjustments so I don't think that's the issue.

Just really strange that they cant be set the exact same and have the same height. Is the passenger somehow lighter than the driver's side?

slaughter.mode · 10-06-2021, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spdrcrgtr

My front is pretty low (about a 1 finger gap), so I don't want to lower any more otherwise it will make it practically impossible to daily drive.

I'm probably going to try to lower the driver's side a bit and leave the passenger the same to see if they even out.

The shock has no manual adjustments so I don't think that's the issue.

Just really strange that they cant be set the exact same and have the same height. Is the passenger somehow lighter than the driver's side?

Right what I meant was bring it up and work your way down. Raise it.

10-03-2021, 02:39 PM	#1
spdrcrgtr Lieutenant 115 Rep 482 Posts Drives: BMW M4 Heritage Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (1)	Weird Bilstein coilover issue ... can someone help Having a strange problem with my coilovers and wanted to see if someone experienced similar issues. I have Bilstein B16 Damptronic coilvoers all around. Overall they're great albeit pretty stiff, but for the life of me can't get the passenger-side rear height to match the driver-side. I measured the gap between the collar and the spring perch and set the same distance on the other side ... still higher on the passegerside Then I even made the gap smaller than the driverside and it's still higher ..WTF? I have a suspicion that it was incorrectly installed, but I may be wrong. Has anyone has a similar experience and what did you do to fix it? Thank you!
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10-03-2021, 02:41 PM	#2
spdrcrgtr Lieutenant 115 Rep 482 Posts Drives: BMW M4 Heritage Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (1)	Oh, btw, just for reference the passenger-side rear is about 1/4 inch (about) higher than the driverside.
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10-03-2021, 08:17 PM	#3
AlterZgo Lieutenant Colonel 1538 Rep 1,665 Posts Drives: 23 X3 M40i, 21 911S, 24 Taycan Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Gilbert, AZ iTrader: (0)	Side to side heights will virtually never be identical. I have the same issue w/ my PSS10 coil overs. So, to even it out, one side is raised slightly more than the other. A 1/4” difference btw L and R is negligible and likely disappears or increases when you get into the drivers seat. As long as it looks relatively even, I wouldn’t worry about it. Besides, if you really want to focus on performance, you’d corner balance the car and if you did that the heights L & R very likely wouldn’t match… but the amt of weight would be evenly distributed for optimum handling.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

10-04-2021, 09:07 AM	#4
spdrcrgtr Lieutenant 115 Rep 482 Posts Drives: BMW M4 Heritage Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (1)	Your right, but it's one of those things that bugs me, and Id like to get it a bit closer to each other (left vs right rear). The front is practically identical.
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10-05-2021, 03:45 PM	#5
spidy512 Captain 492 Rep 688 Posts Drives: 2015 f80 M3 Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: East Bay Area, CA iTrader: (0) Garage List 2015 BMW M3 [0.00]	Yo! Remember, there is also cross load, as well as front to back load. And as Alterzgo pointed out, side to side loads. You may need to bring up your drivers side to put more pressure on the the other side. Or use the opposite rear corner to help balance things out. Scales at each corner would help. For reference, one of my old Subaru 2.5 RS I set up for weekend autocross had odd heights at each corner to accomplish the "perfect" balance with m in the car. If you looked hard enough, the passenger front corner was higher than the driver side. Not my much mind you, but enough the trained eye could see it. It was making up for lack of weight in the drivers rear wheel. That is where the race shop set it up for perfect weight at each corner. That car was one of the best handling cars I have driven. good luck! josh Last edited by spidy512; 10-05-2021 at 03:54 PM..
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10-05-2021, 04:24 PM	#6
slaughter.mode Major 881 Rep 1,044 Posts Drives: 2018 M4 Competition Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Chino Hills, California iTrader: (0) Garage List 2018 BMW M4 ZCP [9.80]	This is normal. It's almost never the same once you divert from stock. My car came with the MPHAS from the factory (this model was fully, fully loaded) and I noticed the same scenario as you and the solution was not bringing the passenger side down but rather bringing the driver and driver rear corners up to push it. Think about the way the car handles steep driveways where your tire will literally be off the ground as you angle in, that's how stiff this car is and how strong each corner is and how much they work together. With the Damptronics I actually have it set to a few rotations from the bottom all the way around but the rear a bit higher than the front and maybe it's just luck but it's flush all the way around. Aesthetically it's annoying but functionally, the stance when you sit in the car (alone) is what matters the most so have someone sit in the driver seat and check it out at that point to get a real visualization of what's happening. Also, with the B16s, I highly recommend a CS EDC tune (unless you have a CS then ignore me). It literally is a night and day difference. If you haven't done it yet, do it. It rides so much smoother now vs my stock ZCP config. I actually had mine done today, which is why I'm in this subsection to write a review of how great it is. kubax86 did it for me. Here's the website: https://bimmer-remote.com/
	Appreciate 0 Quote

10-05-2021, 11:38 PM	#7
spdrcrgtr Lieutenant 115 Rep 482 Posts Drives: BMW M4 Heritage Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (1)	CS tune; interesting ... Agreed how it should look with you sitting in ... but the problem is that the car is lower on the driverside without any load, so its probably even lower with me in the car (I'm about 180 lbs).
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10-06-2021, 05:24 AM	#9
M 4 FUN Captain 605 Rep 641 Posts Drives: 320 Si, M4 comp. M3 E46 Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Sweden iTrader: (0)	Does the shocks have the same total length? Why i wonder is because if the upper shock body is possible to adjust, like they are on Öhlins R&T kit it might be adjusted differently between eachother. otherwise the only way to get it right is to corner weight the car, which should be done anyway to get the balance right.
	Appreciate 0 Quote