Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa Popov
Misread your original post, didn't realize those parts were already on your car.
I'll preface this by saying I live in South Carolina. I'd put money on Somalia having better roads than us.
Dampers: As others have suggested, Konis sound like the way to go. They're supposed to be much more compliant than Bilsteins plus you get adjustability. Kinda wish that I'd gone with the yellows to better tolerate our 3rd world quality roads. The B8s are tolerable for me, but on really bad roads they're not a good time. Been considering the Dinan rear mounts for the added rear travel, they're a straight upgrade.
Springs: I'd highly recommend the BMWPs. I absolutely love mine. They're a tad bit softer than Eibachs and the drop is much more conservative, perfect for a daily. M-sport springs were too soft despite our bad roads.Run, don't walk, to get them though.
Control arms: The M3 front arms were well worth it for me. I didn't notice much of an NVH increase after installing, and the steering response and additional camber have been awesome. The stock fluid filled bushing suck, but if you're looking to avoid NVH you could go back to the stock upper arm. The lower just adds camber with no drawbacks from what I understand. I don't have experience with the rear guide rods but they're on my to do list to tighten up the rear a bit more.
RSFBs: From my understanding, the M3 subframe bushings won't be worth changing out. Other options might be a bit better performance wise without any added NVH, but the install is a colossal PIA or pretty pricey if you have a shop do it. I would've gone with 2 piece poly if I was going whole-hog on the install, but I'm lazy and went with Whiteline inserts.
Sway bar: Can't comment on the sway bar, I don't know much about what they add in terms of NVH or ride quality. I just picked up an E93 M3 bar as a conservative upgrade, haven't installed yet though. I have heard that the M3 bushings actually ride better than the stock ones though.
Camber plates: I'd say my point still stands about the camber plates. I don't run any at all since my car is a DD, so I was shooting for -1.5 which was achievable with just the M3 arms. If I wanted more camber I'd go with fixed plates. I'm not a track rat, so the adjustability isn't worth the price and potential NVH for me.
Trans mounts: I have Rogue mounts and they've added no NVH whatsoever. They're not a massive upgrade, but they're stiffer than E46 M3 mounts and don't have any of the drawbacks of poly mounts. They were a mild upgrade for me (worth noting than I have a Dinan SSK) but do give a bit more positive engagement and confidence when trying to find a gear. For $60 I'd say they're worth it.
Engine mounts: My car is coming due for engine mounts so I've done a bit of digging on this and found that if you're trying to avoid NVH while tightening things up, the best option would be the 335is mount(s) or 60 durometer mounts for a more aggressive upgrade. Seems like everything else is NVH city.
Can't comment on the toe arms, know nothing about those either.
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Thank you for your insight! I'd just like to touch on the Springs section; you mention you'd recommend picking up the BMW springs. Could you give me the
part number that would be compatible with my vehicle? I can't seem to differentiate the M-sport springs that came stock with my 135i, and those.
Lol, the Somalia line killed me. I'm going to dig a bit deeper on the koni dampers, i have heard good things from both Koni special actives and Yellows, do you have any transparency on the differences and benefits/drawbacks of either?