Suspension - H&R Cup Kit vs. Koni FSD & Eibach

[SLO]

I am looking for opinions on the H&R Cup Kits (both the Touring and Sport Kit) vs. the FSD/Eibach Kit.

I want to lower the car and try to preserve as much of the ride comfort as possible without sacrificing handling. YES...i want to have my cake AND eat it too! I had GC Coilovers on my E46 M3 and while it was the best handling car i ever had, it was way too harsh for a daily driver.

Does anyone have any experience with the ride comfort and handling between these three compared to stock?

Here is some comarison info i found:

Koni FSD & Eibach Pro Kit:
Front - 1.2" drop
Rear - 1.2" drop

H&R Touring Cup Kit:
Front - 1.8" drop
Rear - 1.3" drop

H&R Sport Cup Kit:
Front - 2.2" drop
Rear - 1.5" drop

[Mark M]

I too have been scouring the boards looking for opinions on how to improve the supsension, lower the car, without making it too harsh for long trips.

I usually refrain from making comments on something I don't have first hand knowledge of. However, there have been a couple postings on this board that feel the Konis / Eibach is too harsh. I can't comment if this is true, or perhaps it is just a result of the runflats and with some new rubber it could be perfect.

H&Rs have piqued my curiosity, but they might be too low for my preference.

You might as well just jump on the KW coilover bandwagon. No one has anything bad to say about KW. When spring comes around I am likely going to pull the trigger on a set of KWs myself.

As for your comment on Ground Control, I have them on my e36 M3 and love em. I like the feel of a linear rate spring, inspires confidence in corners. However my spring rates are 350/475 which keep it fairly streetable.

[ulrichd]

Mark,
I think the post about Koni/Eibach being too harsh was with Koni Yellows. My experience with a moderately lowered 03 Cooper S with FSDs was very positive. The ride was more compliant than the stock setup.

[Add1ct]

I was thinking about each combo too- the FSDs had amazing reviews vs the yellow sports vs stock on an e46 coupe a couple years ago, i read somewhere that H&R cup kits are worse than stock, any truth to that I am wondering

[fmxomar]

judging by the specs cup kit has way too much rake

i have eibachs on stock shocks and they are good, but matched with koni fsd you will love the set up if you dont like harshness.

but I on the other hang am going coilovers asap

[1013mm]

whats the difference between cup kits and coils?

[fmxomar]

Originally Posted by jzhang

whats the difference between cup kits and coils?

its not adjustable height

[SLO]

Originally Posted by Add1ct

I was thinking about each combo too- the FSDs had amazing reviews vs the yellow sports vs stock on an e46 coupe a couple years ago, i read somewhere that H&R cup kits are worse than stock, any truth to that I am wondering

Worse in handling or comfort?

[Add1ct]

for the e46 test they did- both subjective and objective the consensus was FSD>Yellows>stock sport struts/shocks, don't know about for our cars

[SLO]

After doing some more reading, it looks like the opinions on the H&R Cup Kits vary by BMW. They were popular for the E30, not so popular for the E36 and questionable for the E46.

So a better question is: is anyone running the Cup Kit on a 1er? What are the impressions compared to stock specific to the 135i?

[fourtailpipes]

i'd go with the eibach springs and koni shocks. the h&r springs make MEGA rake, and h&r shocks are garbage. i had H&R ultra coilovers on my s4 briefly (2005), and i was amazed at the crappy quality. maybe they've improved since then, but i'd go with the option that preserves the factory rake (eibach springs), and uses nice high quality shocks (koni), or a nice coilover, like PSS-10 or KW V1/2.

[maupineda]

I know this is an old post but reading thru it makes me wonder if the people can be blind at times. The 1er OEM suspension gives rake at the front, my car had like 1.5 inches of wheel gap and about just 1 in the back. I have H&R springs and simply don't see the rake is mentioned here and some other threads my car sits very flat with wheels ever so slightly tucked into the arches.

[135gofast]

i searched on this forum for pics of h&r springs just yesterday. onthis forum, searching for "h&r", the search engine returns no results. i had to search for springs and scroll through all the posts looking for h&r entries. there are several pics of member cars that look great on h&r springs. i think maximus_prime, hondagonerogue, and mcobert have decent pics of their rides on hr sport springs. there are super sport pics too, those are too low for my taste.

can you post pics of your ride?

i am installing hr springs on wednesday next week. will post then too, even though my car looks silly on skinny winters, and start a thread maybe to get a bunch of pics together.

the search engine supports the myth

[RimasRS]

I think KONIs will do the job

[mikal7]

Here's a better question: which of these shocks are rebound adjustable if any?? Those are the ones I'd buy.

[corsachili]

I'm curious to hear about more 135i owner's experiences too. I'm looking for a mildly agressive upgrade for our 135i, which currently has Sport Suspension on it. Have any Sport Suspension equipped 135i owners found significant benefits from upgrading? I doubt we'll go as far as a coilover kit as we'll most likely auto-x it with a very occasional track day. The ride is compliant now and we'd like to sharpen it up without turning it in to an uncomfortable driver, especially with the roads where we live (Northern California, Santa Cruz Mtns). Our Cayman S is, ahem, much louder and more jarring, and we'd like to retain some amount of comfort in the 135i.

-tj in los gatos

[RimasRS]

Originally Posted by corsachili

I'm curious to hear about more 135i owner's experiences too. I'm looking for a mildly agressive upgrade for our 135i, which currently has Sport Suspension on it. Have any Sport Suspension equipped 135i owners found significant benefits from upgrading? I doubt we'll go as far as a coilover kit as we'll most likely auto-x it with a very occasional track day. The ride is compliant now and we'd like to sharpen it up without turning it in to an uncomfortable driver, especially with the roads where we live (Northern California, Santa Cruz Mtns). Our Cayman S is, ahem, much louder and more jarring, and we'd like to retain some amount of comfort in the 135i.

-tj in los gatos

Look for Bilstein B12 Pro kit its combined with Eibach springs good price and mid aggressive there was some reviews on e90 post...

BMW performance suspension should be good also...

[1Pirate]

Originally Posted by corsachili

I'm curious to hear about more 135i owner's experiences too. I'm looking for a mildly agressive upgrade for our 135i, which currently has Sport Suspension on it. Have any Sport Suspension equipped 135i owners found significant benefits from upgrading? I doubt we'll go as far as a coilover kit as we'll most likely auto-x it with a very occasional track day. The ride is compliant now and we'd like to sharpen it up without turning it in to an uncomfortable driver, especially with the roads where we live (Northern California, Santa Cruz Mtns). Our Cayman S is, ahem, much louder and more jarring, and we'd like to retain some amount of comfort in the 135i.

-tj in los gatos

I think you would be pleasantly surprised at how much better your car would ride and drive if you switched to aftermarket dampers like Koni Sports. The stock dampers are the weakest link in the suspension. I've got Koni Sports, which are adjustable, along with most of the M3 suspension upgrades and 2011 M Sport springs. My car now handles signifiicantly better and it actually rides better too. You already have the 2011 (and later) M Sport springs (BMW switched from progressive to linear rear springs beginning in the 2011 model year).

Adding some of the M3 suspension parts would also help. I started with the M3 FSB and then added front control arms and tension rods. Next I added rear M3 guide rods. Finally I added M3 rear upper links and rear sub frame bushings. Each step improved the overall handling of the car.

In terms of bang for the buck after adding aftermarket dampers, I'd do the M3 FSB (E93), control arms and tension rods and then rear guide rods. The M3 rear sub frame bushings are a worthwhile mod, but the labor involved in installing them is significant ($700 plus) so by the time you add the bushings you are looking at $1,000 minimum for just that mod. You can add the M3 FSB, control arms and tension rods and the rear guide rods all for that price.