Front End Noise After Koni Yellow install

[morrisonmagic]

I have a 2009 128i convertible. I replaced my front swaybar with a H&R last year and enjoyed the improvement so I just changed out my stock struts with Koni Yellows. The ride quality is great and handling is improved but I am now getting a clunking popping noise over irregular road surfaces and undilations and I can feel it as well. It seems to be generated from the underside of the car. I would love some help in trouble shooting possible problems before I bring the car back to my shop. Thank you all in advance for your suggestions.

[E82MSport]

Check the condition of your swaybar links. An easy way to tell if the links are causing the noise is to disconnect one of the link ends and take it for a drive.

[morrisonmagic]

Thanks for the response. Turned out the upper sway bar bushings were not torqued correctly. Problem solved. I am very pleased with this set up H&R sway bars with Koni Yellows with BMW sport springs that came with the car. Seems like a good match. Not highly aggressive but way smoother with a lot better dampening.

[BMW135pls]

Originally Posted by morrisonmagic

Thanks for the response. Turned out the upper sway bar bushings were not torqued correctly. Problem solved. I am very pleased with this set up H&R sway bars with Koni Yellows with BMW sport springs that came with the car. Seems like a good match. Not highly aggressive but way smoother with a lot better dampening.

Cool man, good to know. I'm getting the Koni Yellows soon, but I have been worrying that they would be too rough riding. Good to hear that they are smooth. What sort of firmness setting are you using on them?

[morrisonmagic]

Originally Posted by BMW135pls

Cool man, good to know. I'm getting the Koni Yellows soon, but I have been worrying that they would be too rough riding. Good to hear that they are smooth. What sort of firmness setting are you using on them?

I am 3/4 turn from full soft in the rear and 1 full turn from full soft in the front. If you have not upgraded your sway bats the H&R front and back are very well balanced together. I spend a lot of time tracking my other car so I am really pleased with the BMW now. It is very comfortable ride much better than the stock B4 BILSTEIN. I think you will be very happy. I also put on pirelli Nero GT's 235x45 in the rear and 215x50 in the front. The Koni's are on Sale through the end of June so I would pull the trigger now.

[BMW135pls]

Originally Posted by morrisonmagic

I am 3/4 turn from full soft in the rear and 1 full turn from full soft in the front. If you have not upgraded your sway bats the H&R front and back are very well balanced together. I spend a lot of time tracking my other car so I am really pleased with the BMW now. It is very comfortable ride much better than the stock B4 BILSTEIN. I think you will be very happy. I also put on pirelli Nero GT's 235x45 in the rear and 215x50 in the front. The Koni's are on Sale through the end of June so I would pull the trigger now.

I definitely will buy them, definitely tomorrow. I notice just from reading around that most people run them in the vicinity of 1 turn from full soft, as you also do. Is that a sweet spot for them or something? I had actually thought that I might start toward the firmer end of things and work toward softer if that didn't work out. Reason being is that there are quite a few rough roads here and lots of opportunities for the suspension to bottom out, as it already does on stock shocks and ride height. I thought a firmer setting might keep the subframe from slamming the chassis, and may smooth some of the rougher patches of road with pesky manholes, road patches and such. At least that's my thought on it, which admittedly isn't worth much as I don't even have them yet.

[morrisonmagic]

Originally Posted by BMW135pls

I definitely will buy them, definitely tomorrow. I notice just from reading around that most people run them in the vicinity of 1 turn from full soft, as you also do. Is that a sweet spot for them or something? I had actually thought that I might start toward the firmer end of things and work toward softer if that didn't work out. Reason being is that there are quite a few rough roads here and lots of opportunities for the suspension to bottom out, as it already does on stock shocks and ride height. I thought a firmer setting might keep the subframe from slamming the chassis, and may smooth some of the rougher patches of road with pesky manholes, road patches and such. At least that's my thought on it, which admittedly isn't worth much as I don't even have them yet.

Ok here's how it work If you over dampen the Koni Yellows you'll find you have a bouncy ride at high speed and it will be harsh and you will lose grip They will actually perform less effectively then if they were too soft The settings that I have are not only what I would recommend but as you already have noticed is the traditional setting that most members of the forum have used. There is a reason for this. Trust in what others have done and you will do well with your settings. Don't trust in others and you will not do well and will have to reset everything. This means removing the rears. I have had Koni yellows on other vehicles all of which have been similarly setup and I found the ride to not only be comfortable but very very sporty. and I recommend the settings that I gave you of and of course clearly free to do what you wish.

[BMW135pls]

Originally Posted by morrisonmagic

Ok here's how it work If you over dampen the Koni Yellows you'll find you have a bouncy ride at high speed and it will be harsh and you will lose grip They will actually perform less effectively then if they were too soft The settings that I have are not only what I would recommend but as you already have noticed is the traditional setting that most members of the forum have used. There is a reason for this. Trust in what others have done and you will do well with your settings. Don't trust in others and you will not do well and will have to reset everything. This means removing the rears. I have had Koni yellows on other vehicles all of which have been similarly setup and I found the ride to not only be comfortable but very very sporty. and I recommend the settings that I gave you of and of course clearly free to do what you wish.

No doubt man, if there's good reasoning behind it then I'll do it. Just a question though. How come you chose a softer setting in the rear and a firmer setting in the front since the front chassis has no dampening bushings while the rear does? Again, there is probably a solid reason for it, but on the stock shocks, my experience is the front is quite a bit firmer than the rears even on the firmer M rear bushings, so from that point of reference it would seem logical to go softer in the front.

[morrisonmagic]

Originally Posted by BMW135pls

No doubt man, if there's good reasoning behind it then I'll do it. Just a question though. How come you chose a softer setting in the rear and a firmer setting in the front since the front chassis has no dampening bushings while the rear does? Again, there is probably a solid reason for it, but on the stock shocks, my experience is the front is quite a bit firmer than the rears even on the firmer M rear bushings, so from that point of reference it would seem logical to go softer in the front.

Soft in the rear because there is a lot less weight. It will let the rear bite better and not lose traction. There are a lot of websites that can give you a more scientific answer. Just google it. The Internet is a wealth of information outside the forum.

[HP Autosport]

A good rule of the thumb is always double check your install first. Every nut and bolt should be torque to spec and checked again, then test drive and check it a third time. You should not any a loose nut or bolt this way.

[MightyMouseTech]

Upper sway bar bushings?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Upper sway bar bushings?

I think they mean the sway bar end links.

#5 in this picture...
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=31_0696