Modded KW V3 Coilovers for maximum performance

[BerkTechnology]

Like all things that go fast the gearheads will always find a way to make them faster. The KW V3's have served us well for about a year now but in the pursuit of pusing the 135i platform even further BERK TECHNOLOGY has begun tinkering with the KW coilovers.

Out of the box they maintain a ride that is comfortable enough for a daily driver and rough roads, but have spring rates and dampening curves that are stiff enough to handle the weekend thrashing at the local racetrack or autocross.

I would notice the rear end "bounce" over the small oscillations in the track surface while watching from the tower as our 135i would barrel down the front straight at over 120mph. We consulted HP Autowerks and Orb to figure out what was going on with the suspension here.

It turns out that the KW spring rates out of the box are a bit soft for the serious enthusiast who wants to extract everything out of the already capable platform.

OEM KW springs OUT
Custom spec'ed springs IN!

Some cool peanut packing baggies from Japan. We'll call them JDM peanuts bags.


The new Swift springs from HP Autowerks installed. We also run these springs on our Time Attack MR2 Turbo & Honda S2000.


We increased the front spring rates by approximately 50% and the rear spring rate by 50% compared to the OEM KW rates. Overall the spring rate is about 3 times greater than the OEM BMW spring rates.

The car a few weeks ago. The car looks naked again! We had to peel off all of the graphics for a photoshoot. They were going for the OEM look but it gave us a good reason to change the color scheme of the car. I want some gold wheels really bad now!


The car is almost there. These springs really helped the car feel much tighter and the rear end doesn't bounce any more along the road, much better for stability. The car doesn't feel much stiffer on the street than before due to the wheel rates not changing as much. We'll save the wheel rate & spring rate discussion for later!

The new gold decals. They seriously helped the car go faster.


The old red/black decals.

[BerkTechnology]

And look how glazed that front rotor is! You can litteraly see the caliper's reflection!

[philaf_666]

I'm not tracking my car, but I also feel my suspension could be a bit stiffer. I do feel the bouncy effect in the rear and would like to get rid of it.

I have the KW v2 set at max stiffness. Do you think the same spring setup would do me good? Is there any way we can get them too? And for how much?.

Thanks!

[Mark M]

Originally Posted by philaf_666

I'm not tracking my car, but I also feel my suspension could be a bit stiffer. I do feel the bouncy effect in the rear and would like to get rid of it.

I have the KW v2 set at max stiffness. Do you think the same spring setup would do me good? Is there any way we can get them too? And for how much?.

Thanks!

Just a heads up.....KW does NOT recommend their dampers set on either full hard or full soft. Suggest a click or two in from either extreme.

[philaf_666]

Originally Posted by Mark M

Just a heads up.....KW does NOT recommend their dampers set on either full hard or full soft. Suggest a click or two in from either extreme.

Thanks, but that's what I meant by max (2 clicks back)

[BerkTechnology]

Originally Posted by philaf_666

I'm not tracking my car, but I also feel my suspension could be a bit stiffer. I do feel the bouncy effect in the rear and would like to get rid of it.

I have the KW v2 set at max stiffness. Do you think the same spring setup would do me good? Is there any way we can get them too? And for how much?.

Thanks!

Contact Harold at HP Autoworks. He can get you setup with the Swift springs.