Godspeed Mono SS Coilovers on 1993 325is
While I understand I will likely be subjected to a vicious verbal beating for installing this "cheap chinese crap" on my BMW (and then having the gall to post about it), here we go.
So, my new to me $1900 325is needed some suspension work. It had three blown shocks and the ride height was too high for my liking. A few years ago I lowered my 323is some Tein S. Tech lowering springs and orange Koni STR.T struts and shocks. And last year I installed some BC Racing coilovers on my beloved 1995 540/6 Touring.
I have been happy with both setups with a few caveats. The Koni/Tein set up was less expensive but after replacing all the misc parts it still wasn't that great of a value (forget exactly how much I ended up spending...). The 323 is low, borderline too low, but right about where I wanted it. The ride is decent, the car handles well, but there is no adjustability (except for the "camber washers" I installed behind the front struts).
The BC Racing coilovers are IMO a great value but were still $1200 (~$1000 for an E36). I appreciate the camber plates and being able to dial in the ride height. The wheels and tires on the Touring are: front 235/35 tires on 19X8.5 (15ET)Rear: 275/30 tires on 19X10 (15ET), so it was very helpful to be able to tweak the ride height.
After doing way too little research I decided to take a chance on a set of Godspeed Project Mono SS coilovers. They cost $630 delivered to my house...
My cat was suspicious, here she is giving them the sniff test...
It looks like they passed her sniff test, although she did activate her laser eyes before napping on the box.
Packaging was excellent; there was a thick (non-Harbor Freight style) box inside the outer box, lined with more thick card board and foam inserts at the bottom.
I was not in love with the color combination, but it looks less pink and more salmon in person. Visually at least, the quality, fit and finish of the components looks good, but who knows what lurks inside those cartridges...
I disassembled everything to inspect and put some anti-seize on the threads before reassembly.
Installation is pretty straight forward. An added benefit of the front units is that there tabs for using M3 swaybar links.
I apologize for not having any post install pics to show the ride height; I will try to snap a few today. I also installed some nicer Style 30 wheels I had sitting in the basement, along with some fresh (and yummy) Potenza RE-11 tires, but my alignment guy has been out of town so I am trying not to drive it too much until I get it aligned. I did however, take the car out for a few test drives. The shocks have 16 damper settings; I started out on 8 but ended up dialing them down to 5. So far so good; the car handles and rides way better than it should. We shall see how long until one of those shocks blows up; hopefully it's before the 1 year warranty is up...
Another note, during installation I chose to leave the rear rubber spring pads in place. This of course limits how low the rear springs will go. I ended up at max lowering in the rear without it being super low... I will post some pics tonight and I will try to update this post in terms of the long term.
Rick
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1993 325is - The New Daily?
1998 323is - The Daily Beater
1995 530i - The Alternate Beater
1995 540i/6 Touring - Lord Borthwick
1995 540i - The Donor & Parts Locker - Finally sent to the Crusher - RIP
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