Getting the right coilover system

[dcaron9999]

Running the rear 8.5" ET52 wheels with 10mm spacers up front with -3.2* camber. Understeer is greatly reduced especially during high speed turns. I still get a bit of plowing during low speed turns as there is probably less tire patch on the ground...

[Fidiman]

So guys, after almost 2 months of relfexions, here is the point where I am:

- I have the opportunity thanks to a shop in germany to have a big offer on ST coilovers (-20% on the price of KW website) plus free shipping to my flat in Germany. So I'm considering the ST-XA or XTA solution which is more or less the same as KW v2. If I chose them, I will have to take care a bit to them : maybe a coat of Plastidip to protect them, washing them from the salt of winter, etc ... I will have to spend towards 800 and 960€. I know a lot of persons are very satisfied with the simple ST-X.

- Another opportunity is a guy who is selling KW Clubsport coilovers. They are from early 2012 and have 10 000km (mainly freeway beacause it was his daily). Due to that and an hypotetic rebuild, I think I will be able to negociate them arround 1000€. The guy has them in his garage for almost 1 year ... I'm a bit frightened they will be to stiff for a road and track use (especially for the road).

To conclude : on one hand I can go with brand new v2-like coilovers (and why not upgrading them later with Swift springs to have more track habilities) or to the other I can achieve the obkective and have trackable coilovers but used ...

What do you guys advise me to do ? It's getting on my nerves 'cause I simply cannot find a decent solution.

[Fidiman]

Hi guys, such a long time I did not post here ... I dislike to do "up" like that, but I think you will forgive me.


I finally decided to go with ST XTA because I had a good deal with them : 899€ delivered instead of ... much more I read during a long time all the certificate of the german TüV and I finally found that this kit is the same as KW v2 but with linear spring front (rear are the same as v2, progressive) and camber plates.

Here is a little review of this kit as there are quite none for the E82 ... Last week I recieved them and decided to mount them. Here are some pictures ...


First, you see the BIG differance toward the XTA and the M sport suspension + Eibach Pro Kit :

Mounted, they are like that :

I had a SUV-style BMW 1er :

I decided to lower the front of the car and let the rear settle a bit (only few kilometers, it was the foloowing day of the installation) :

[url=https://flic.kr/p/pTHHan]

Finally washed it after such a long time ...

That was how she settled (rear and front) after the alignment (I know it's too early but I didn't have the tools to adjust the wheels correctly at home ... Moreover, regarding to the price of Michelin PSS ...) :

Here are my values of the alignment. I think it's something good to begin, I will adjust them in a couple of months when I will find the definitive lowering and the correct rebound settings for street (for the track, I will have to wait till spring comes) :

Front
Left camber : -1°26' -1°28' Right camber
Total toe : 0.9

Rear
Left camber : -1°35' -1°35' Right camber
Total toe : 1.1

So, as previously said, the springs are not completely settled, I will have to wait a range of 1000km more or less. As the rear will naturally lower, I will have more camber rear (I don't know how much, I will see it next alignment).

Now I'm lowered at the minimum rear, I can have 20mm of travell on the rear perches (corresponding to 30mm toward the wheel and the fender). I adjust it to have -36,5mm of lowering comparing to stock suspension, it will be slightly lower than my Eibach Prokit.

After 250km more or less, I have a distance from fender to center wheel of 325mm front (cannot put one finger) and 340mm rear (one finger and some millimeters in addition) :

Loving my front camber :

As it is my first kit of coilovers, I didn't know what to expect ... I was very frightened of the harshness, the noise, poor quality and so on.

But wait mate ! You're not installing sh*tty coils but KW ! So that's true, I mounted them by myself like all the other job I did on my car. They are very well engineered and the installation is quite easy. It was the first time I did such a job. Only drawback : the rear ... The prenches are not THAT well thought : they completely move when you're trying to adjust them. So here are the steps I recommand if you want to adjust your rear highness :
- put a jack under the camber arm
- compress it (your spring will be compressed as well)
- put your strap and continue compressing the spring with it
- when you cannont compress anymore, lower the jack, the spring still remain compressed
- you will be able to move the perch as you want
- when finished, compress the camber arm again, decompress the strap and ... That's done
All the mesurement I did where done all wheels on the floor and with high precision. Thanks to that, I have the same lowering on each axle.

The factory settings are quite good : from the stifer, you open 9 clicks front and 6 rear (on 16 clicks, but in fact 18 in total : you're not supposed to use the two extreme ones). It's less bouncy than my stupid M Sport suspension and Eibach springs. I will test in the coming days at 3 clicks front and 2 rear. I will buy the 1M bars in order to have the access of the rebound settings front.
Remember : when you will found your lowering (front), you will have to lock the perches with the little KW/ST tool. If you tighten it too much, the little screw will pop out of some millimeters and you will have to tighten it once again ... So be precise in your job !

You could think the rubber employed for adjusting the lowering front and the system rear (with no lock) can be frightening ... In fact yes, but after reflexion ... Not at all : you will have the weight of your car on it (almost 1500kg), so you will have some forces which will lock them. In addition, your spring will try to "un-comprim" which will add another force. Don't worry, I said it was well engineered

The linear springs are totally different from the ones I tested on the 135i E82 of a friend of mine. Those supplied by KW/ST are on top. They are not bouncy as those on the car I drove. In addition, don't forget KW put linear springs only on the front of the kit, not on the rear. They do that even on their Clubsport version ! If you want full linear springs, you should go for the ones supplied by Swift

So let's speak a bit abou the drawbacks because nothing is perfect in life ... The camber plates ... I have all harder stuf on my car : E93 M3 anti-roll bars front and rear, M suspension arms front and rear and so on. It contributes to the harshness and noise you can hear whem the road is getting worse and worse. But nevermind, I knew what it would happended when I bought the kit.
So I can clearly here some metallic noises because of the camber plates in the cabin. They are a bit getting on nerves in the street till 70km/h but on highway and higher speed (till your tachometer will allow, thanks Germany), you won't hear anything. It will produce this typicall "clong" on the big asperities or holes on the road. When you will go on a pothole, you will hear your new stuff making noise too. In addition, don't forget the antiroll bars will increase this phenomena too ...

For the good news now The car is more comfortable and much more planted than the M suspension and Eibach Prokit. You can faster and faster into the curves. I was used to take one at 140km/h and cutting it to have the less bodyroll and bad reaction as possible ... I took it and stayed on my lane, not going to the other one, at 160km/h and the car wanted and could go even faster. I thought there was no limit. I decided to stop playing if some guy in blue was watching me (who knows ?).
On litlle backroads, that's fantastic too : I can go at the same speed as before but I feel much more safe ! You can imagin, after testing that I did not stayed at the same speed as before : I wanted to put more speed in the coreners, and that's what I did. Car is incredible ... And don't forget these are the factory settings ! I couldn't imagine on the track and with a harder rebound

This kit helps you to push out the limit of your car and use the full potential of other modifications you did before (like antiroll bars for example). I will update the post after some kilometers in addition.
Moreover, I think I will increase the higness front a bit and why not lower the rear of some millimeters too. Why not achieving 325-330mm from center wheel to arches all arround. I think it will have a nice look in addition of having a nice handling. I should maybe opent the rebound of the front dampers a bit more in order to have more comfort on highway or on backroads when I don't want to drive like a maniac.

I think I will stop there and I hope it will help the guys who don't want to spend a lot in coilovers and want to have KW quality (and even more thanks to their upgrades on the v2).
My satisfaction regarding to the ST XTA ? I would say 85% because of the noises of the camber plates and the rear which is a pain to adjust, so ... Hightly recommanded


I will put this post in copy to the presentation of my car ...