Someone found some e23 coilovers on a car in the yard

[SicStang03]

Anyone from here buy these? I am wondering if they were e34/2 made to fit on an e23. They had to have dripped new holes for the top mount, right?

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=325800

[Hit Man X]

Kent up in BC bought 'em for his 745i.

[SicStang03]

We need to get some more pics of them. I wonder who owned the car initially.

[Hit Man X]

Zip him a PM, I speak with him on a regular basis.



Who knows, they came off a junkyard car...so it is anyone's guess.

[SHOoff11]

Post up any info you find out!

[SicStang03]

I honestly want to know if he gets them to fit without modification and if there are any marking to indicate which model they are from Ksport. Also, if it looks like a custom job on the knuckle.

[1981320i]

Hey, yeah i bought them. I should have them in late July and i'll post up some pictures then.

[SicStang03]

Thanks!

[CMG]

There must be info online somewhere about these. I doubt the person that did them was completely offline but if they no longer have the car they might not check forums. Wonder what else might have been on the car.

[SicStang03]

Hey, yeah i bought them. I should have them in late July and i'll post up some pictures then.

Also, one good thing about Ksport is that you can buy shorter or taller springs to change the stiffness or if you need to clear wheels. I had Ksport coilovers on my e36 M3 and it took a lot of springs to find the ones I liked. Therefore I have some extra springs if you need to change yours out.. Let me know.

Here is what I have (2 of each):

205mm in length 8.7kg / 487lbs

180mm in length 11.5mm wire diameter, ID: 63 OD: 86.5, 8kg per mm / 447lbs per inch

160mm in length 11mm wire diameter, ID: 63 OD: 86.5, 9kg per mm / 503lbs per inch

[1981320i]

Update,

Received the coils and can't find any information on them, no marking or anything. I have no idea how the front was mounted as the holes are no where near close. The guy who pulled them said the PO widened some holes? no idea, the lower struts for the front are correct. I'll need to figure out how to mount the front if im going to re-use the top but i think d-unit had issues running original top mount.

[D Unit]

Sounds like the car it was taken from was either not an e23 or an e23 that drilled 3 new holes on the strut tower. If it was me, I'd be pretty pissed at the seller.

[bigperm206]

Holy thread revival (lol). I've acquired the KSport coilovers (previously sourced from a junkyard e23) from Kent (thanks Kent) and will attempt to move this saga forward, albeit at a snail's pace unfortunately. The Seattle area weather at this time isn't much help for us driveway mechanics. Any help from the suspension/coilover gurus out there is much appreciated. Kent has a lot of good pics but if someone wants some more (for example a close up of something) feel free to reach out to me.

Update,

Received the coils and can't find any information on them, no marking or anything. I have no idea how the front was mounted as the holes are no where near close. The guy who pulled them said the PO widened some holes? no idea, the lower struts for the front are correct. I'll need to figure out how to mount the front if im going to re-use the top but i think d-unit had issues running original top mount.

[Jay535is]

Id like to see some overall pics, especially the top mount, and how the threaded collars are on the front strut housings.

[bigperm206]

Id like to see some overall pics, especially the top mount, and how the threaded collars are on the front strut housings.

Shoot me a PM where I can text some pics to you.

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[CMG]

I vaguely remember those, but thanks to photobucket no pics to refresh the memory. From what I recall they were just a custom coilover set up someone made. I do not know of any production E23 coilover, some people have made some but it's basically a front insert welded in.

[Jay535is]

I'm just curious how they were put together. Coilovers are simple, but the execution can be easily botched.
I remember D Unit having issues with the top mount/bearing.

[kojo96]

I'm just curious how they were put together. Coilovers are simple, but the execution can be easily botched.
I remember D Unit having issues with the top mount/bearing.

He ended up having Ireland Engineering make a set of camber plates- I spoke to Jeff, he'd still do up a set but needs a strut bushing for a template, the ID bearing size is different on the e23.

[bigperm206]

He ended up having Ireland Engineering make a set of camber plates- I spoke to Jeff, he'd still do up a set but needs a strut bushing for a template, the ID bearing size is different on the e23.

Would KMac camber plates work?

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[Jay535is]

Does KMac make plates for the E23? Hole spacing is different from E24/28/30 which is most commong.

[bigperm206]

Does KMac make plates for the E23? Hole spacing is different from E24/28/30 which is most commong.

I found a pair on eBay. Also, KMac's website shows e23 camber plate setups for track and street. I was wondering if anyone on here has had experience with the KMAC camber plates?

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[kojo96]

I ran them on an e28 a while ago, part of the Dinan suspension package- Gave good adjustability, and from the limited knowledge I had on them they used a good quality bearing (important), the real difference aside from the bolt spacing is the strut rod size on the e23 and the associated bearing ID, think the rest is the same when it comes to fabrication.
Some people hate on the Kmac plates but that's pretty much like anything else and when sourcing parts is limited, sometimes you gotta take what you can get-

[bigperm206]

I ran them on an e28 a while ago, part of the Dinan suspension package- Gave good adjustability, and from the limited knowledge I had on them they used a good quality bearing (important), the real difference aside from the bolt spacing is the strut rod size on the e23 and the associated bearing ID, think the rest is the same when it comes to fabrication.
Some people hate on the Kmac plates but that's pretty much like anything else and when sourcing parts is limited, sometimes you gotta take what you can get-

Kojo, thanks for the info. I'll probably take a run at the ones on eBay.

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[CMG]

I had heard that IE could make E23 plates but I called them recently and asked about it and got a no. KMAC has been the only option forever for front camber plates, and they have had different versions over the years but you would need the ones with both camber/caster adjustments. They do work, but are not necessary for lowered suspension. I have lots of suspension stuff for various bmw and lots of GC stuff. I would think the easiest route would be to shorten and modify front housings to accept inserts and coil collars. This is commonly done for E30 and E36, and I'll have to measure but don't recall if the e23 tube is that much bigger. Normally I would say just get a set of good springs and shocks/struts but due to lack of e23 springs I think this is a good idea for us to follow up on.

[Jay535is]

I'm 97% certain that E23 front strut tubes are the same diameter as E28/32/34.
BUT, E23 are the shortest of the bunch already.
I do agree though that modifying the strut tubes to accept a more universal and cheaper insert for a coilover setup is the long term way to go.