H&R Coilovers Installed. Thoughts and Questions..

[CountZero]

Hey there,

I just got home from having my H&R coilovers installed and I wanted to share some thoughts with the board..

First of all, the Quality of the parts is Excellent. Everything that I expected based on the reputation of H&R.

I had a local shop take care of the installation as my garage isnt done, and I didnt want to work in the rain today anyways... <G>

I'm not sure how long the actual install took. I dropped the car off at 8am, and when I arrived back at 11 it was done and waiting for me.. The tech told me that he has the coilovers set at their lowest setting. This is as Low as I can go with them. He recommended that if I wanted to go any lower, I should contact H&R and see if there is an alternate spring that I can get that would allow more travel. Apparently the Uppermost setting on these will actually Raise the car ABOVE stock height. According to the Shop, the car is currently right around 2 inches lower than stock. (Since I was running late this Morning, I forgot to measure actual height before leaving for the shop, so I cant really say EXACTLY how much lower it is.) Based on the Look of the car and close observation, I can believe the 2 inch drop. (That also matches the specs from H&R) I dont think that I want to go any lower than it is currently so I'm not too horribly concerned about the springs. Its a decent drop, and I still have the ability to raise it if I need to. Maybe down the road I can look into alternate springs. Who knows.. I'm not looking to scrape off lane markers with my from splitter so this will probably be perfect..

Could someone that has a Stock Height M3/4 possibly take a Quick measurement front and rear for me for a general comparison?

I am very impressed with the ride. I've had lowered cars before and normally the harshness of the ride seems to increase a decent amount with Lowering kits. Man, This setup is GREAT! Ride seems really close to stock in terms of the stiffness and the overall feel. The Car feels alot tighter now though. Rear end squat and front end dive seem to have both decreased quite a bit. Overall the car feels alot Flatter and more balanced. I dont feel as much body roll either.. (Not that there was much to start with..) Handling seems more responsive than prior to the coilovers.. I really need to head out to my favorite Twisty road and see how it feels..

Some Questions for folks that already have the H&R coilovers installed....

1. Where do you have your height Set? (Approx)
2. Did your Springs settle much after installation?
3. Has anyone upgraded the springs that come with the Kit?
4. Any hints and tips for setting, adjusting, living with these critters?


I'm sure that I've left out some stuff about them. If anyone has any questions about them, I'll do what I can to answer anything you may need to know about them.

I'll include links to Photos so those that want to take a look can, and the folks on slower connections dont have to wade through the load times..

BEFORE
http://liquidrealities.com/images/bmw/bmw1.jpg
http://liquidrealities.com/images/bmw/bmw2.jpg

AFTER
http://liquidrealities.com/images/bmw/coilover1.jpg
http://liquidrealities.com/images/bmw/coilover2.jpg
http://liquidrealities.com/images/bmw/coilover3.jpg

[dgm3]

If you a true fanatic and you're coilovers are height adjustable, you could always get your car corner balance to find the optimum height. I had my TMS Group N suspension corner weighted after I installed it.

[KraZy007]

I have H&R coilovers, and my front looks if not the same then maybe a tad lower than urs...but mine is not on the lowest setting....i'm on 5 coils. Weird. Mine are however, the first generation coilovers, do u by any chance have the dual spring ones?

And how would i go about getting my car corner balanceD?

jimmy

[SMSilver97]

CountZero

Nice ride. What shop did you have do the work? Have you used them before? What did the setup cost?parts/labor? Where in AZ are you located? I'm in the west valley.

SM

[CountZero]

Originally posted by KraZy007

I have H&R coilovers, and my front looks if not the same then maybe a tad lower than urs...but mine is not on the lowest setting....i'm on 5 coils. Weird. Mine are however, the first generation coilovers, do u by any chance have the dual spring ones?

[/B]

Hmmmmm... When I checked all the parts for damage when they arrived UPS there were only 4 springs in the box. (2 Front and 2 Rear) I didn't know that there was a difference in multiple generations of the coilovers from H&R... I've had folks ask if the rear is adjustable on mine, Which it is. But I've never heard about dual spring ones... I'll have to check the number of coils just for fun and see how many are there.. Have you seen a part number for the multiple spring ones by any chance? The H&R website only lists one set for the E36 M3 and the part number on the site matches the part number on the box I got.. Interesting.. Maybe my springs will settle a bit as they break in..

Originally posted by SMSilver97
CountZero

Nice ride. What shop did you have do the work? Have you used them before? What did the setup cost?parts/labor? Where in AZ are you located? I'm in the west valley.

SM

Thanks! I'm down in Tucson, and I had Ultra Performance do the installation. The Set of coilovers was $1399 plus shipping, and total labor to install the coilovers along with new Rear shock mounts was $200. I've used Ultra for several things. They lowered a Civic I had way back, and they did a decent amount of work on an Acura I had as well.. One of their employees has an E36 BMW that they have been playing with for years and they regularly do work on a guys Race Prepped E36 that I know, so they are really familiar with the BMW's.

I've used other local shops for work in the past.. Exhaust installation, etc.. But I feel safer using a performance shop for performance upgrades..

If you have any other questions,let me know.. Maybe the next time I'm up North, we can get together.. I'm going to be up there at some point to hit Chapman BMW for some Dinan software I think.. Maybe we can hook up there...

[dgm3]

Originally posted by KraZy007
And how would i go about getting my car corner balanceD?

jimmy

You would need use scales to weigh the car at each corner and adjust height accordingly. I am able to adjust the rear by adding different shock perches. I did this for the track.

[Phantom]

Hey, Count,

I'm also in the NW valley, near Arrowhead Mall. I'd like to see how your coilovers ride 'cuz I'm shopping around for susp upgrades. I'll be back stateside the last part of March, them I'm doing Buttonwillow Raceway the last weekend in March. It'd be great to check the coilovers out before I track my car. Whaddaya say

[CountZero]

I'd be more than happy to take you for a spin and let you see how they feel..

Let me know when you are back in town and we can work out a time to get together.. Either I can head up to Phx for the day or you can head down to Tucson for a few hours and we can get together for a drive..

After a few more quick trips today, they still ride nice.. I'll let you know if any of my thoughts have changed after I've had them longer..

[pete]

yeah, i just did the same. well, actually i just had my Koni coilovers installed several days ago. The front on mine is all the way down save 1/4 inch. I think i'm gonna lower it down the rest soon. However, springs usually settle in a bit over the first hundred miles or so, that may be why its a little higher then Krazy's car. It will probably get lower with time. Mine has about 30 miles on it since, so i have to see. It would be fun to slam it, but the gutters and such around here, at intersections and stuff wouldn't work, it would bottom out all over the place. Right now, i can go through pretty big stuff and it won't, so i'm happy, also only has about 1/2 in of tire gap, plus i'm gonna put a 245/35/18 (i think thats the size, i can't quite remember the profile) on the front, which is 1 inch taller section then the stock, so it will fill it up more. looks pimp, and it rides really nice, doesn't bounce like my neuspeed springs/shocks on my audi. (race & bilsteins). definantly a better package, though a lot more money.


I think my koni's are lower then your H&R's, from the pictures anyways. i dunno, thats about where they should come stock, IMHO, but i guess there are too many grocery getter peeps that wanna go straight through ditches and stuff.

[DINAN COSMOS]

Hey Pete,
Can u post some pic of your Koni coilover, so I can compare with H&R. and the rear also height adjustable for Koni?

[pete]

ummm. yeah, its crappy weather here, i'll post some to my site and here soon... i've gotta get the car out and wash it etc etc. (snowing out). um, the rear ride hight adjustability is optional, obout 200 more i think. these also have adjustable dampers, so if you change springs, you can change them w/o coilover units to match. (if you can't change them, and change stiffness of spring, it will be out of tune, and won't perform well)... also, these ride awesome, i love them. better then my old h&r's on my VW, but i'm not sure how the bmw ones compare.