Hopefully handling and fitment can go together. 135i fun.

[thatonetime]

UPDATE

WHAT HAVE I DONE???????

[VMRWheels]

I thought your car looked familiar! Saw it at the HRE Open House! Looked really good!

[mike082802]

Originally Posted by thatonetime

UPDATE

WHAT HAVE I DONE???????

jrz? anything lacking with the eibach coilovers?

[thatonetime]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

I thought your car looked familiar! Saw it at the HRE Open House! Looked really good!

Thank you. It was a fun event but a far drive

Originally Posted by mike082802

jrz? anything lacking with the eibach coilovers?

Yeah, JRZ RS Pro's. Got a super good deal on them so I could not pass up. The Eibachs are amazing. Im swapping them to my E91 Wagon and the JRZ's are going on the 1 series.

[mike082802]

Originally Posted by thatonetime

Thank you. It was a fun event but a far drive



Yeah, JRZ RS Pro's. Got a super good deal on them so I could not pass up. The Eibachs are amazing. Im swapping them to my E91 Wagon and the JRZ's are going on the 1 series.

are you expecting the jrz's to be that much better? im no expert so i figure i should stick to single adjustables. i did see a set go for 1600 with swift springs though and thought that was a pretty sweet deal.

if you dont mind me asking whats a super good deal? pm me. thats the same thing you said about the eibachs. Does it rain in cali dope coiloveers for super deals?

on a lighter note i went to torque one of the top strut nuts to one of my ast 4100 and snapped the shaft,and after two weeks i picked up the strut yesterday, 425$ later for replacing the shaft which had to come from holland, i really feel like i got it good without the lube. and yesterday i saw a set of front ohlins road and track with 10k miles for 225$ for the pair, i definitely would have picked them up. for 450 i probably could have gotten a new strut from ast. day late and a dolla short you live and learn. i can now swapp a front strut in less than an hour.

[thatonetime]

Originally Posted by mike082802

are you expecting the jrz's to be that much better? im no expert so i figure i should stick to single adjustables. i did see a set go for 1600 with swift springs though and thought that was a pretty sweet deal.

if you dont mind me asking whats a super good deal? pm me. thats the same thing you said about the eibachs. Does it rain in cali dope coiloveers for super deals?

on a lighter note i went to torque one of the top strut nuts to one of my ast 4100 and snapped the shaft,and after two weeks i picked up the strut yesterday, 425$ later for replacing the shaft which had to come from holland, i really feel like i got it good without the lube. and yesterday i saw a set of front ohlins road and track with 10k miles for 225$ for the pair, i definitely would have picked them up. for 450 i probably could have gotten a new strut from ast. day late and a dolla short you live and learn. i can now swapp a front strut in less than an hour.

Well having a 2 way is amazing. KW Clubsports is what screwed me up. After owning them for a full year on my daily driver I have nothing but good things to say. The ride quality was amazing, the adjustability was great and the all around tuning of the suspension was a breeze. With the Rebound and Compression being adjustable you can dial out anything you don't want the car to do. In between that and running Falken RT615k's for tires and Clubracers for pads, car is unstoppable......yes I know there is always something better but for a base good budget setup, it was amazing.

I love the Eibachs and I'm not getting rid of them. They are going in my E91 Wagon. I'm keeping them. The external reservoirs are great and the monotube shocks make for a superior ride on the street.

Only reason I'm swapping over to the JRZ's is because they are inverted rear shocks and are true rear coilovers. It's one piece in the rear, no more inboard spring. On paper JRZ claims and other people claim the product is that much better, so for the price, I decided to give it a shot.

That being said, my KW Clubsports are going up for sale. LMK is anyone wants those Compression and Rebound adjustable and they have camberplates.

I've been asked by a few people where I keep finding used 1 series coilovers, so let me clarify. For the E8x chassis and e9x chassis the coilovers are the same, as long as they are not off a e9x M car. So the Eibachs I got came off a e90 330 and now the JRZ's I got came off a e92 335i. The E9x and E8x share the same suspension. Even my rear toe arms came off a e90 335i. Look in the 3 series classifieds for suspension parts. There are some good deals on there, a lot of those guys are swapping to M's since the prices have dropped.

E90post 3 Series Suspension Classifieds

[mike082802]

i scroll through the e90 suspension f/s forum everyday. i saw a set of jrz go for like 1600 with swift springs. i also saw the eibachs if they were the ones you bought from this f/s section. looks great and sorry about the bumper. i liked the kinesis wheels though as they have always been my favorite, maybe because i can never find a set in 18's.

[dane083]

Originally Posted by thatonetime

Well having a 2 way is amazing. KW Clubsports is what screwed me up. After owning them for a full year on my daily driver I have nothing but good things to say. The ride quality was amazing, the adjustability was great and the all around tuning of the suspension was a breeze. With the Rebound and Compression being adjustable you can dial out anything you don't want the car to do. In between that and running Falken RT615k's for tires and Clubracers for pads, car is unstoppable......yes I know there is always something better but for a base good budget setup, it was amazing.

I love the Eibachs and I'm not getting rid of them. They are going in my E91 Wagon. I'm keeping them. The external reservoirs are great and the monotube shocks make for a superior ride on the street.

Only reason I'm swapping over to the JRZ's is because they are inverted rear shocks and are true rear coilovers. It's one piece in the rear, no more inboard spring. On paper JRZ claims and other people claim the product is that much better, so for the price, I decided to give it a shot.

That being said, my KW Clubsports are going up for sale. LMK is anyone wants those Compression and Rebound adjustable and they have camberplates.

I've been asked by a few people where I keep finding used 1 series coilovers, so let me clarify. For the E8x chassis and e9x chassis the coilovers are the same, as long as they are not off a e9x M car. So the Eibachs I got came off a e90 330 and now the JRZ's I got came off a e92 335i. The E9x and E8x share the same suspension. Even my rear toe arms came off a e90 335i. Look in the 3 series classifieds for suspension parts. There are some good deals on there, a lot of those guys are swapping to M's since the prices have dropped.

E90post 3 Series Suspension Classifieds

How much for the Clubsports? Pm if easier

[thatonetime]

Originally Posted by mike082802

i scroll through the e90 suspension f/s forum everyday. i saw a set of jrz go for like 1600 with swift springs. i also saw the eibachs if they were the ones you bought from this f/s section. looks great and sorry about the bumper. i liked the kinesis wheels though as they have always been my favorite, maybe because i can never find a set in 18's.

My buddy has 2 sets of 18" Kinesis for his 964 Porsche and we figured that the centers are the same. The only difference between the 17's and 18's is the lips and barrels. I might snag a set from him and try to swap out the centers.

Originally Posted by dane083

How much for the Clubsports? Pm if easier

PMed


UPDATE
JRZ RS-PRO Cleanup

So my plan was to pull the coilovers apart, clean everything, re-lube everything and reassemble. As I got ready to do just that I saw this.......F*UK!!!





So now let's pull everything apart and examine the damage. I can see both tops are ruined but now to find out the extent of the damage and WHY this occurred. One is clearly snapped all the way through and the other is almost fully broken.



Everything is apart and separated.





I called Ground Control to talk to them about the damage. Dustin picked up the phone and was great to deal with. He had me email him photos. After looking at the photos he knew the WHY of the situation and the solution so it never happens again. A lot of shops and people order JRZ's and put them together themselves. The shop that assembles these never put in bumpstops. So when the spring fully loads over bumps the spring top hat takes the hit. I went over all the pieces with him and I purchased only what was broken.

Here is the break down



Here are the pieces I ordered from Ground Control. They got here in 2 days. Awesome service. He included extra o rings and lube



Here are the pieces I was able to salvage



Here is the assembly line up



New o rings on



Bearings getting put in and lubed





Done with the top hats



Cleaning the camber plate fish eye



All apart and clean



Fully Reassembled



I hope the one piece inverted rears feel good :cool
Install is going today after work.

[RyanDavies]

How much camber are you able to get, max, with that setup?

I hate that the 128 can't fit the reservoirs where you have them. Mine are on the strut bar now, but I'd *really* like to move them.

[lowside67]

It looks like you don't do that many track events, but I would seriously give thought to the rear coilover setup. Without a cage or reinforcement of the rear shock towers, they are not particularly strong and adding the load of the coilover spring to that sheet metal is asking a lot more than they were designed for.

The improvements of going to the true coilover design are unlikely to be realized until you have a fully monoball suspension - ie no rubber bushings anywhere, but you run all the risks for little potential gain.

Just food for thought, I love what you've done with the car though, looks great!

Best of luck,
Mark

[thatonetime]

Originally Posted by RyanDavies

How much camber are you able to get, max, with that setup?

I hate that the 128 can't fit the reservoirs where you have them. Mine are on the strut bar now, but I'd *really* like to move them.

So as of right now I'm running -2.2 front camber with stock toe. I think if I run 7.5 caster instead of the 8.5 its at now, I can get to -2.5/2.6 camber. Other than that I would have to notch the strut tower.

Why can't you run the externals in the same spot. The 128i does not have the oil-cooler lines on the passenger side so you should have more room than I do.

Originally Posted by lowside67

It looks like you don't do that many track events, but I would seriously give thought to the rear coilover setup. Without a cage or reinforcement of the rear shock towers, they are not particularly strong and adding the load of the coilover spring to that sheet metal is asking a lot more than they were designed for.

The improvements of going to the true coilover design are unlikely to be realized until you have a fully monoball suspension - ie no rubber bushings anywhere, but you run all the risks for little potential gain.

Just food for thought, I love what you've done with the car though, looks great!

Best of luck,
Mark

Im going to start running SpeedSF Time Attack.
I've actually talked to a few places/shops and they have been running true coilovers on a street/track cars with no issues. Its not the same old E46/E36 chassis issues. My buddy has been running true rear coilover on his E90 M3 for the past 2 years on a street/track without a single issue (no reinforcements, no cage, no strutbar) He's put a close total of 25k miles on it.
I agree with you 100% on the monoball suspension. I've driven 2 cars with them and its fantastic. The steering is so precise and the car feels solid with no sloppiness.
I guess I'll be the forum ginny pig on the rear coilover setup. Ill report back is anything does down.

[thatonetime]

UPDATE
JRZ Install

So here goes. Let's start off by cleaning the messy garage



Almost clean...



And clean



This lift works great and since we have 4 cars we do our own work and friends seem to come over all the time as well......the lift makes perfect sense.

Slide under the car, make sure the rubber blocks go under the jacking points



push up on a button and...





I've done this install a few times now so it's super easy besides this part. The driver side reservoir is a paint to pass through on the 135i cause of the charge pipe and DV's are in the way. It's ok, I'm not doing it



New stuff is in



these damn quick releases for the externals are so nice



Greasing the rear shock joints



Coolest thing I've ever seen on my garage floor. External reservoir party



No more bottom bushing in the rear control arms





The solid rear top



True coilover inverted rears



One rear shock left



DONE! Honestly I did not get the ride height perfect the first time. The lift went up and down a few time :rolleyes



Also had 20 min before they closed to get alignment, yes!



Went for a quick drive to adjust some of the settings. Started off at full soft and first dialed in the compression then the rebound. It feels incredible. The 135i understeer is 100% gone, it's like it was never an issue, the car feels smooth and turn in is excellent. I still need a few minor tweaks. The front compression is 1 from full stiff which means there is not enough Nitrogen in the reservoirs. I'm going to take the car in tomorrow and have a raceshop check the pressures. I have a feeling they are all under 100. That being said 550 and 650 as spring rates work amazing. I had 700lb springs in the rear before but since it was not a true coilover, it's half that. So from 350 to 650 rear jump... car feels just as smooth as before.

[thatonetime]

UPDATE
Still setting up the coilovers, more parts

So I ordered this. This is trouble. For the ones who know... Its 2 step with WOT (wide open throttle) add-on for my JB4 tune. I'll be honest, it's more for fun feature than use since I don't drag race.



Back on the JRZ topic. They ride great and feel good but after doing a few up and down mountain runs I'm officially at the top of the Compression range. It should not be that way so, they are most likely low on Nitrogen.



I decided to give one of my buddies a call. Some of you may know him from Formula Drift. If I end up going to a round I always shoot photos of him, he's the local hommie. Matt Field.



And the car... my eyes always hurt after editing about 40 of these. This car it too damn bright



Matts dad races Trophy Trucks and they adjust their shocks with Nitrogen. So I went by and the pressures in the shocks from the previous owner were a joke.

Front:
L 25psi R 29psi
Rear:
L 97psi R 86psi

So we decided to let all the old stuff out and put new Nitrogen in.

All the air out



200PSI in



The ride changed 100% now. So I now have to start all over again. The ride is really stiff now so I might go down to 150psi or 175psi.

[thatonetime]

UPDATE
Had a buddy come over, played with my JRZ's

Had my buddy swing by with his M3. He decided to go true coilover in the rear also.



Lift on the highest level



Pulling off the old inboard springs



My bad! Cool guy with this CAE shifter



Well, guess I'm not that cool with my 2 way JRZ RS Pros. He's got Nitron 3 ways. Compression has high and low speed adjustment. So cool.

Fronts have the reservoirs on the body



While he was working on his rear suspension I installed his tow strap and cut the hole for the cover.



And there we have it. True rear coilovers



And the rear location on the reservoirs





We need to raise the rear about a inch but other than that its good.
We might have a BMW problem. Parked the wagon in my neighbors driveway since he's away for the weekend... makes it look like "he's home"



So I got my own shock gauge. 200psi rides/handles good but the ride is a bit harsh. A few buddies told me to go down on the pressure. Rather than jumping straight to 150 and then having to add Nitrogen I decided to go down in increments of 10psi.



This is where I'm going to stay at. The ride quality is officially better than stock, its handles great and the height is perfect.



Current settings:

Front:
160PSI
550lb Hyperco Springs
Compression: 7/12
Rebound:6/22

Rear:
180PSI
650lb Hyperco Springs
Compression: 6/12
Rebound: 6/22

[thatonetime]

UPDATE

Well, here we are again. Don't know what happened. Car started smoking again. We have put 800miles on the car since the new turbos and we have driven it really nice since I wanted everything to break in nice if thats even a thing with turbos.

I'll let you guys know what it is when they tell me.

[deesea]

Hey man, this build is a lot of fun. Learning loads from you as you do it too! Was hoping you could clarify how you managed to cram the BBS CH front wheels in there. Looks like you're quite low... Was the 2.X negative camber enough, or are the fenders rolled/pulled?

Keep at it dude!

[Orangee94]

Originally Posted by thatonetime

your neighbours car !!!

[RyanDavies]

Rather similar wheel rates to where I ended up on my STX car. (575/1000 with OE location rear). I agree with your assessment of ride quality.

That said, I would keep canister pressure where it was, and reduce compression damping. Don't want cavitation of fluid. I'm at ~225. I also run rather little compression damping in comparison (but similar rebound settings). It "feels" better with higher settings, but more swiftly overloads the tire, less progressive breakaway, and overall less mechanical grip.

Really wish there was room in the N52 engine bay to mount the canisters like yours.

[Matticus91]

Love your posts and your car dude, keep 'em coming. REALLY makes me want to jump on wheels and suspension though!

[thatonetime]

Originally Posted by deesea

Hey man, this build is a lot of fun. Learning loads from you as you do it too! Was hoping you could clarify how you managed to cram the BBS CH front wheels in there. Looks like you're quite low... Was the 2.X negative camber enough, or are the fenders rolled/pulled?
Keep at it dude!

I showed above how I fit the rears in there. The fronts are not rolled or pulled. Im running - 2.3 front camber and thats it. No spacers and everything clears.

Originally Posted by Orangee94

your neighbors car !!!

It's mine. I parked it in my neighbors driveway cause he was out of town and he wanted to make it seem like someone was home

Originally Posted by RyanDavies

Rather similar wheel rates to where I ended up on my STX car. (575/1000 with OE location rear). I agree with your assessment of ride quality.

That said, I would keep canister pressure where it was, and reduce compression damping. Don't want cavitation of fluid. I'm at ~225. I also run rather little compression damping in comparison (but similar rebound settings). It "feels" better with higher settings, but more swiftly overloads the tire, less progressive breakaway, and overall less mechanical grip.

Really wish there was room in the N52 engine bay to mount the canisters like yours.

I know a few other people running around 150PSI. With less PSI it feels much smoother. I guess if I was running 450lb - 350lb springs rates I should be running more PSI. Im going to do more reading on this, its always a learning experience. lol

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Love your posts and your car dude, keep 'em coming. REALLY makes me want to jump on wheels and suspension though!

haha. Its a boarder line addiction at this point.

UPDATE

Well, the car is still at the dealer and keeps smoking.

They have already replaced:
- Valve Cover Gasket
- Valve Cover
- PCV Valve

and the Turbos where replaced the time before that.

The car keeps smoking...

They did a full leak down test and everything is perfect so now they are going over everything with a bora scope.



To be honest I think its the exhaust valve seals.

I found this on another forum:

1) failed pcv valve/valve cover gasket/valve cover… (Replaced)
2) failed turbo seals in OEM/RB turbos/any turbo that utilizes the OEM frames...(Replaced)
3) failed valve stem seals: Compete rebuild/upgrade of the head. (yeah...... this might be it)

[rod.bearings]

Very nice build. Love that you tried so many different fitments haha. I currently have 245/265 PSS on my apex arc 8s.

Didn't go through the whole thread yet but do you by chance have any alignment specs?

EDIT - Have you checked your rear main seal for any leaks? But don't know if that would be causing the smoking.