Ohlins coilovers

[OzJustin]

Hi all

I've started looking into replacing the stock M-sport dampers on my 135i and am leaning strongly towards the Ohlins Road & Track or TC Kline Koni kit.

Paying only a little more for a locally supported 2 year warranty seems to make sense though when comparing against the US options factoring in the horrible AUD and shipping, duty etc.

For those that have bought the Ohlins locally can I ask which distributor/dealer you sourced them through and feedback on their service?

From my searching it seems that ProSpeedRacing (NSW) are the cheapest at $2,995.
http://www.prospeedracing.com.au/pro...-e90-2005.html

They don't list a kit for 1-series though. Can anyone tell me if 1 and 3 series coilovers are interchangeable?

[Giveway74]

The bilstiens i got were interchangeable between 1 and 3 series.
Except for M models. The M3 ones are different.

[John_01]

The ohlins road and track kit is actually made for the 3 series, but some people have installed on the 1 series cars. There is some unusual aspect for the road and track kit where the rear springs are quite soft compared to the fronts.

I bought TC Kline single adjustable rear dampers for HP Autowerks. I'm using Koni yellow front struts bought from ECS tuning. I guess it would be expensive now with the poorer exchange rate.

[DR-JEKL]

I know a lot of m3 guys are stating the kw v3's are a better coilover setup and if you track the car the ohlins are too soft whereas the kw cs's are the go.

If your car is a dedicated street car and you value comfort more so than outright handling these are the best choice

[Nugget]

I bought them from Pro Speed racing then swapped in Swift Springs.
Great set up.
These are the details of the swifts compared to the springs supplied by Ohlins.


I know some vendors (like HP Autowerks) will sell just the dampers without springs which might work out better.

I still have some springs lying around.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1020238

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Nugget

I bought them from Pro Speed racing then swapped in Swift Springs.
Great set up.
These are the details of the swifts compared to the springs supplied by Ohlins.


I know some vendors (like HP Autowerks) will sell just the dampers without springs which might work out better.

I still have some springs lying around.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1020238

Those ohlins springs really are soft arent they!

I know my M3 BC BR springs are suprisingly very stiff 14kgmm R (~ 137N) & 10 kgmm F (~99N)

[John_01]

Originally Posted by Nugget

I know some vendors (like HP Autowerks) will sell just the dampers without springs which might work out better.

I still have some springs lying around.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1020238

What issue did you have with the 342lb 8" springs? I though they would be ok for the front.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by John_01

What issue did you have with the 342lb 8" springs? I though they would be ok for the front.

Too long. At the ride height I wanted they put the spring perch right where the tyre was so I had to use spacers.
7" spring solved it.

8" Ohlins springs.
Wheel/tyres are Advan RZ. 18x8.5 et45 +5mm spacer with 225/40 AD08s.


Vs 7" swift springs
Wheels/tyres are Volk TE37s 18x8.5 et35 with 225/40 Toyo R888.

[John_01]

Its disappointing to have this kind of issue as it just adds a few hundred dollars extra on top of the cost of the coilovers.
Maybe the KW V2 would be better value for money as it seems its ready to go out of the box. The spring rates are better thought out too.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by John_01

Its disappointing to have this kind of issue as it just adds a few hundred dollars extra on top of the cost of the coilovers.
Maybe the KW V2 would be better value for money as it seems its ready to go out of the box. The spring rates are better thought out too.

What wheels do you have? This won't be an issue on stock wheels.

This is not a problem exclusive to Ohlins, I suspect it would be the same with KWs.

Some good reading here.
http://www.myapexparts.com/2013/09/1...s-track-setup/

[OzJustin]

Originally Posted by Nugget

I bought them from Pro Speed racing then swapped in Swift Springs.
Great set up.
These are the details of the swifts compared to the springs supplied by Ohlins.


I know some vendors (like HP Autowerks) will sell just the dampers without springs which might work out better.

I still have some springs lying around.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1020238

Thanks for the info Nugget.

What ride height were you running when you had problems with the 8" Ohlins springs?

My tyre setup is slightly less aggressive than yours so I will have a little more space on the inside if I were to go with the stock Ohlins strut/spring setup. My front wheels are 18 x 8.0+40 with 225/40 Goodyear Eagle F1 A2. I would also prefer to stay very similar height to stock M-sport. Perhaps 1cm drop front and 3cm rear max.

I wonder if I could source just Ohlins dampers from ProSpeedRacing and then source 7" and 9" Swift springs from either HPA or Infusiont (which seem to be an Australian dealer for Swift).
http://infusiont.com/

[titium]

Originally Posted by OzJustin

I wonder if I could source just Ohlins dampers from ProSpeedRacing and then source 7" and 9" Swift springs from either HPA or Infusiont (which seem to be an Australian dealer for Swift).

just messaged the number on the infusiont website regarding getting swift spec r springs was told to order direct from the states.

[OzJustin]

Originally Posted by titium

just messaged the number on the infusiont website regarding getting swift spec r springs was told to order direct from the states.

That's a real shame. So much for them being an AU dealer.

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by OzJustin

Thanks for the info Nugget.

What ride height were you running when you had problems with the 8" Ohlins springs?

My tyre setup is slightly less aggressive than yours so I will have a little more space on the inside if I were to go with the stock Ohlins strut/spring setup. My front wheels are 18 x 8.0+40 with 225/40 Goodyear Eagle F1 A2. I would also prefer to stay very similar height to stock M-sport. Perhaps 1cm drop front and 3cm rear max.

I wonder if I could source just Ohlins dampers from ProSpeedRacing and then source 7" and 9" Swift springs from either HPA or Infusiont (which seem to be an Australian dealer for Swift).
http://infusiont.com/

Ride height:

Centre wheel to guard
LF:330mm RF:325mm
LR:335mm RR:330

Bottomwheel to Guard
LF:580mm RF:575mm
LR:585mm RR:580mm

and side pic of that height with the two wheel setups.
Was functionally low.

[John_01]

Those height measurements are pretty much identical to what I run on my car. Its not super low and allows the suspension to perform well. I think the height in the pics must be with the 392lb 7" front springs. I think it will be pretty firm for a street driven car, but really nice for track driving. Did you run an upgraded front sway bar as well?

[DR-JEKL]

FWIW I noticed in the latest audi tuner magazine bilstein offer a clubsport coilover endorsed by the legendary walter Rohrl:

http://www.bilstein.de/en-uk/product...ein-clubsport/

[MR RIZK]

FWIW when bought ohlins for my 350z they were through prospeedracing. Was pretty quick and an easy transaction

[Nugget]

Originally Posted by John_01

Those height measurements are pretty much identical to what I run on my car. Its not super low and allows the suspension to perform well. I think the height in the pics must be with the 392lb 7" front springs. I think it will be pretty firm for a street driven car, but really nice for track driving. Did you run an upgraded front sway bar as well?

I don't have the car any more but it rode really well, high quality dampers can overcome stiff springs.

Front Sway Bar was from the BMW performance suspension kit, which is what I had before changing to the Ohlins.
Not sure if it is similar to the e92/3 one people typically use.

[John_01]

Thanks for the info. I also used the BMW performance front sway. Its softer than the e93 m3 bar, since I've used both.