|
Have been running the Bilstein B12 kit and pretty familiar with the setup and its pros and cons.
For most people the B12 kit is a great upgrade over stock. Once you start doing all the available suspension bolt ons, put sticky tyres on and do high speed driving over not so smooth roads/tracks it is not really suitable.
The front suspension of my car was good initially but the springs kept sagging. I have attempted to run ride height spacers to improve the suspension geometry under load but it does not solve the suspension travel. Under even just light bumps on the roads the fronts are riding on the bump stops, resulting in an uncomfortable ride. I am running around 18.35mm of ride height spacers (with the suspension geometry it would be around 20mm of lift) and the wheels are STILL tucked under the gaurds. Clearly the front eibach springs have failed and will only keep getting worse.
I had a few options
Get new springs - This would be the cheapest solution, but having seen a lot of people running springs they normally sit way too low for my liking. Also the eibach springs are probably too soft for my use.
Get coilovers - Gives adjustable height, but a lot of coilovers are still too low even at maximum height. I have noted that the KW/ST coilover range gives good adjustment and doesnt make the car sit too low. Bilstein B14s also sit well on E82 and E90, but a bit too low on E92.
I ended up going with the KW V2s as I saw them 2nd hand for a good price. I figure if I don't like the spring rates I can always convert the setup to use custom springs.
This will be the new setup I will be installing:
KW V2 coilovers
Dinan camber plates
New lemforder top mounts
Just a note with the lemforder top mounts, the alignment pins used to be removable with a pair of vicegrips but now it is pressed into the mount. I used an 8.5mm drill bit to drill them out on the drill press, very easy and only took a few seconds.
Below is a pic of how the car sits currently, way too low. Surprisingly doesn't scrape on everything, but is still bad for maintaining good suspension geometry up front.
|