Performance Suspension

BruceWarne · 11-06-2010, 01:26 AM

Hi

I currently drive a Mini Cooper S JCW with some suspension mods. My lease is about to expire.

I do 1 or 2 trackdays a month. I'm a few seconds off the TTC pace with street tires...I figure I can buy my MINI and spend $5000 on it and be competitive...or just buy a 135 + brake pads/fluid & R-compounds (plus some practice to learn RWD again) and shave a few seconds off that way (135 is also TTC last I checked)...I hope I'm not too naive.

So I'm about to sign for a 2011 135i.

I hate understeer, and I spent quite a bit of time and money getting rid of (most of) it on the MINI.

It seems that the 135 has a reputation for pushing? Sort of opposite to my previous RWD car (S2000)...

I'd like the handling to be at least neutral.

I would also like to keep my factory warranty intact -for now. I guess the big suspension/brake mods will happen eventually, but for now I want to be conservative...

Is the BMW Performance Suspension kit worth it? Or would a front swaybar give me what I want (weird dialing out understeer with a stiffer front bar - but I understand the physics)? Are there any "stealth" bars that I can fit - I'd hate to get my warranty voided about something so benign.

I'm asking because EVO magazine installed the kit and their laptimes went up...

pixelblue · 11-06-2010, 10:03 AM

Camber plates plus all the other things you had mentioned.

pixelblue · 11-06-2010, 10:35 AM

Btw whatever happened to evo mag 135 project? Seems like they gave up. Shame, they should have looked up this forum for ideas

Groundpilot · 11-06-2010, 05:05 PM

If you hate understeer and want to be conservative(no suspension upgrades), than you should forget about 135i. I was thinking the same way as you when i got my 135i, and only installed m3 front bar and m3 control arms, also removed alinment pins. Hit the track and destroyed my front expensive ps2 tires in just 2 track days. Without good coilover system and camber plates, front tires of this car roll into positive camber and as a result of this you get a heavy understeer and delamination of outside edges of front tires.

BruceWarne · 11-07-2010, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M3 09 AND135I 11

If you hate understeer and want to be conservative(no suspension upgrades), than you should forget about 135i. I was thinking the same way as you when i got my 135i, and only installed m3 front bar and m3 control arms, also removed alinment pins. Hit the track and destroyed my front expensive ps2 tires in just 2 track days. Without good coilover system and camber plates, front tires of this car roll into positive camber and as a result of this you get a heavy understeer and delamination of outside edges of front tires.

Thanks for the reply - that's what I was afraid of...And is great information to have. A little bit of understeer is not always a bad thing - I installed a HUGE front swaybar on my S2000 to dial in a bit of push...but too much quickly ruins a relationship.

How much impact would a front swaybar + camber plates have? I'm hoping that would take care of most of the problem...

Also the 135i is in NASA's TTC class (+12 handicap) - but I won't be able to do shocks (3) , springs(2), swaybar(2), "real" R-compounds(+10), narrower 17" tires (-7) and not hit +20 and get bumped to TTB... The most I can do is swaybar, tires, camber plates, springs (but MY11 comes with linear rate springs, so I'll probably stick with that for now).

What's the camber plate of choice? I had Ireland Engineering on the MINI, and was about to upgrade to Vorshlag when I decided to call it quits and buy a new car...

Which brings me to my next question: How forgiving is BMW about minor mods like these? Will they void my warranty if they find the camber plates or swaybar?

Someone asked about the EVO project 135i...They did the performance suspension, went about 0.5 seconds slower...then did the power kit - was a full second up half-way through the lap when the car went into limp mode or something...Horribly Pathetic Fuel Pump?

stevenc · 11-14-2010, 10:07 AM

The EVO project has been pretty much discredited because they did other mods between lap times.

The performance suspension really is worth the money. Its not too agressive, but worth it. I also pulled the alignment pin and maxed out neg camber and i really feel the car is quite nuetral.

11-06-2010, 01:26 AM	#1
BruceWarne Private 6 Rep 57 Posts Drives: 2011 135i Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: AZ iTrader: (0)	Performance Suspension - worth it? Hi I currently drive a Mini Cooper S JCW with some suspension mods. My lease is about to expire. I do 1 or 2 trackdays a month. I'm a few seconds off the TTC pace with street tires...I figure I can buy my MINI and spend $5000 on it and be competitive...or just buy a 135 + brake pads/fluid & R-compounds (plus some practice to learn RWD again) and shave a few seconds off that way (135 is also TTC last I checked)...I hope I'm not too naive. So I'm about to sign for a 2011 135i. I hate understeer, and I spent quite a bit of time and money getting rid of (most of) it on the MINI. It seems that the 135 has a reputation for pushing? Sort of opposite to my previous RWD car (S2000)... I'd like the handling to be at least neutral. I would also like to keep my factory warranty intact -for now. I guess the big suspension/brake mods will happen eventually, but for now I want to be conservative... Is the BMW Performance Suspension kit worth it? Or would a front swaybar give me what I want (weird dialing out understeer with a stiffer front bar - but I understand the physics)? Are there any "stealth" bars that I can fit - I'd hate to get my warranty voided about something so benign. I'm asking because EVO magazine installed the kit and their laptimes went up...
	Appreciate 0 Tweet Quote

11-06-2010, 10:03 AM	#2
pixelblue Colonel 140 Rep 2,234 Posts Drives: the silver bullet Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: northern virginia iTrader: (2) Garage List 2010 135i [8.90]	Camber plates plus all the other things you had mentioned. __________________ "I would quote everything pixelblue said, but you've already read it. Take it from someone who's put the 1 through its paces"
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-06-2010, 10:35 AM	#3
pixelblue Colonel 140 Rep 2,234 Posts Drives: the silver bullet Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: northern virginia iTrader: (2) Garage List 2010 135i [8.90]	Btw whatever happened to evo mag 135 project? Seems like they gave up. Shame, they should have looked up this forum for ideas __________________ "I would quote everything pixelblue said, but you've already read it. Take it from someone who's put the 1 through its paces"
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-06-2010, 05:05 PM	#4
Groundpilot Banned 476 Rep 1,711 Posts Drives: 135I DCT , e92 M3 DCT, Audi A6 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: long island,ny iTrader: (0)	If you hate understeer and want to be conservative(no suspension upgrades), than you should forget about 135i. I was thinking the same way as you when i got my 135i, and only installed m3 front bar and m3 control arms, also removed alinment pins. Hit the track and destroyed my front expensive ps2 tires in just 2 track days. Without good coilover system and camber plates, front tires of this car roll into positive camber and as a result of this you get a heavy understeer and delamination of outside edges of front tires.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-14-2010, 10:07 AM	#6
stevenc Coming Soon 254 Rep 960 Posts Drives: 2015 BMW M4 Alphine White MT Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Houston, TX iTrader: (0)	The EVO project has been pretty much discredited because they did other mods between lap times. The performance suspension really is worth the money. Its not too agressive, but worth it. I also pulled the alignment pin and maxed out neg camber and i really feel the car is quite nuetral.
	Appreciate 0 Quote