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Thread: Coilsprings confusion

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    South Hill, Puyallup
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    My Cars
    15 M235i 97 SC 328is

    Coilsprings confusion

    I plan on changing out the springs on my 2015 M235i that I recently purchased.
    I know there is the usual H&R, Vorgtland, and the adjustable KW's. I previously went with the H&R's on my e36 and was always happy with them. But now I am hearing good things about the German made Vortgland, which are pretty much the same price as the H&R's.
    • Finally, we have the KW's which I know a lot of guys are going with because of the fact that your ride height is adjustable. These run a good $500+ over the other two. But, I myself like others do really like the idea of being able to adjust the ride height and not just get what the springs end up sagging down to after 6 months. But I have to admit that I was reading posts in another forum and someone made a good point. "With the KW, aren't you just going to end up setting the height to what you want it to be and then end up leaving it there?" That is a good question because the way I look at it, unless you are tracking the car that is exactly what you will do. Set the ride height and then tighten it down and forget it.

    So in the end does anyone have some good advice??
    Thanks,
    David

    97' Artic Silver m52 Vortech V3 11PSI, RWHP 353.98, AA Custom Tune, RMS Aftercooling, VAC 1mm Over-Sized Valves, Stage 2 VAC head, Supertech Springs Ti Retainers, Schrick 264/256 Cams, M50 Manifold, Turner "Shorty" headers, Magna Flow racing cats, Lucas 42lb'rs, Walboro 255, Bosch 803 MAF, IPT Stall Converter, IPT Performance M3 ZF5HP18, 5-Speed Auto, 3:91 gears, Spal, Fluidyne, Dinan, Anza, Bilstein, H&R, PFC, HKG, Brembo, Auto Meter, VDO, Plasma Euro Gauges, ZKW, Prolumen, Viper 5901, Beyern, Yokohama, Monarch A1 Hand Controls, OG member of the "NO FEET" Hands Only!" drivers club.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
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    43
    My Cars
    e90 with Cobb, H&R, more
    I would definitely agree that the vast majority of coilover owners set the height once and don't ever move them. If you do, you'll also need to get an alignment at roughly $100 a pop. Even if you track the car, the small extra amount you lower the car versus your everyday street height isn't going to do much. Having rebound and/or damping adjustment will be much more useful, though again what your settings are on the street will probably work just fine on the track.

    I've had springs, springs and shocks/struts, non-adjustable coilovers, and adjustable coilovers, (on STI, Porsche, BMW, and more) and I stopped adjusting the damping or rebound for track days after finding that what I'd dialed in for the street worked better on the track than whatever new settings I did since there just wasn't time to adjust them on track days. If I spent an entire weekend at the track, it would often take me both days to really get the suspension set up right, and by then the track days were over. Concentrating on my driving lines, turn-in, braking, and the rest of my driving technique was WAY more useful than trying to adjust a suspension that I already had set up really well for spirited street driving.
    Scott
    fast = good
    slow = bad
    See my old Porsche here...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    FL
    Posts
    4,754
    My Cars
    are slow.
    Quote Originally Posted by teflonjones View Post
    I would definitely agree that the vast majority of coilover owners set the height once and don't ever move them. If you do, you'll also need to get an alignment at roughly $100 a pop. Even if you track the car, the small extra amount you lower the car versus your everyday street height isn't going to do much. Having rebound and/or damping adjustment will be much more useful, though again what your settings are on the street will probably work just fine on the track.

    I've had springs, springs and shocks/struts, non-adjustable coilovers, and adjustable coilovers, (on STI, Porsche, BMW, and more) and I stopped adjusting the damping or rebound for track days after finding that what I'd dialed in for the street worked better on the track than whatever new settings I did since there just wasn't time to adjust them on track days. If I spent an entire weekend at the track, it would often take me both days to really get the suspension set up right, and by then the track days were over. Concentrating on my driving lines, turn-in, braking, and the rest of my driving technique was WAY more useful than trying to adjust a suspension that I already had set up really well for spirited street driving.

    Scott gets it.

    Honestly with all of the suspensions I've purchased, I can say maybe I've changed the settings 2-3 times on the 6+ coilovers I've purchased. Usually I run the same setup on the street as I would on the track. I am not a pro, and the coilovers offer an advantage over the stock car, which already far exceeds my abilities.

    It looks like the H&R's offer ride height adjustment however.

    If you really want to go low budget you can always pickup a set of BC Racing coilovers (Swift springs are well worth the few extra dollars), I have them on my current E92 and my previous E36 and haven't had an issue in 60k+ miles. (flame suit on).
    Last edited by Hova; 12-15-2018 at 02:38 AM.
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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Charleston, SC
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    2000 M5, 2018 Macan Turb
    I’ve tracked an M235i on stock active suspension - why do you want to change it at all? It will already go very fast as is and still rides great. Suggest you ditch the run flats, get some good tires and try a track day and see what your car can already do.


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