Ohlins R&T Mi01 Install

[spidertri]

I finally ordered the Ohlins R&T Mi01 kit and Vorshlag camber plates from Barry at 3DM Motorsport. (Was planning on doing it last year, but so many events got cancelled that I postponed...)

My car's current configuration:
- 2011 128i Sport package
- Koni Yellows with Eibach springs
- Dinan fixed camber plates
- 17x8.5 et40 Apex Arc8 with 245/40-17 RE71R
- M3 tension struts and lower control arms (front only)
- Whiteline rear subframe bushings

What I ordered:
- Ohlins Mi01 kit w/ standard valving
- 7.0 kgf/mm (~392lb) 7" Swift front springs
- 12.0 kgf/mm (~672lb) 8" Swift rear springs
- Vorshlag camber plates in specific E8x/E9x configuration for maximum tire clearance and strut tower clearance.

Vorshlag has the option of a double or single row bearing, for these cars, running the single row bearing and thicker reinforcement plates allows for the strut nut to sit below the strut tower opening. Keeping the strut nut below the strut tower means that you are not limited by the relatively small strut tower opening and can get more negative camber.

My goal is to set the car up for track days and have it be more composed than it has been with the koni/eibach setup. I've been doing track days since 2011 and had used my E36 318ti up until last year. That car had TCK SAs with 500lb front springs and 700lb rears and was much more of a dedicated track car. I'd like to keep the 128 more streetable but still reliable and fun on track.


Thanks to fe1rx's Ohlins install thread from several years ago we have a ton of fantastic information about how the original Mi00 kit worked on the E8x platform even though it had been designed for the E9x.

Before I install this new kit, I plan to take measurements and see if Ohlins has changed anything significantly for the E82 specific Mi01 kit. If anyone has measurements or pictures that they would like, please let me know and I will get that posted up. Unfortunately, I don't have the same access to measurement devices as fe1rx but I should be able to get good information on what is different in this kit.

Speaking with Barry, he advised on going with the swift spring upgrade but sticking with standard Ohlins valving for now. The updated valving is very close to his custom track day kit, with his version being slightly more aggressive. He felt it was more worthwhile to run the valving as-is and then decide which direction to go when the time comes or if I move to different springs. The kit should be okay with +/-25% spring rate change before needing to be revalved.

[asbrr]

Nice! I bought an Ohlins kit from Barry for my 987.2 Cayman S! Barry mentioned the Ohlins springs are delayed and suggested going with a Swift setup as well, which works out nicely as I wanted to step the rates done one level which would have meant buying extra springs from Ohlins.

Good guy to work with...

[spidertri]

Barry has been great to work with and he was willing to talk with me about all the questions I had about the new kit and his experience developing parts for the E8x and E9x chassis, I highly recommend 3DM.

The Ohlins and Swift packages showed up today, I'll get some pictures and measurements posted.

[2008e92328i]

Following your thread! Have you had the chance to install them yet? Curious to hear your review compared to your current setup

[spidertri]

I haven't installed them yet, it will be in the next couple weeks. I've got the car apart doing a full cooling system overhaul, so the Ohlins are up next before a track day on Feb 13th.

I was really impressed with how well packaged all the Ohlins components were. I opened them up to make sure everything is there and take some initial measurements. I'll post more pictures of those as I get them prepped for install.











Got the Vorshlag plates too. According to 3DM, these plates are a custom spec'd version that have a second reinforcement plate and extended hardware in order to keep the strut nut under the strut tower in the car. That way the strut tower opening doesn't limit the full travel of the camber plate.

The doubled up reinforcement plate is ~13mm (probably 1/2") tall and the top of the nut is about 7mm above the red plate. From where the spring contacts the perch, the vorshlag plate is 50mm tall.

[spidertri]

Quick update, I had a chance to lay everything out yesterday and make sure all the parts are in good shape.

Compared to the old Mi00 kit, this new one does have many updates that show further development for the chassis. Maybe Ohlins updated this stuff between fe1rx's install thread and now and they've been included for a while, but I remember a few instances of things he made that now come standard.

- Rear spring adjusters that fit cleanly into the body
- A mix of plastic and rubber spring isolator pads are included for use on all four corners on the top and bottom of each spring
- The rear shock stroke has been shortened by 25mm
- Front strut travel has been shortened by 11mm

Otherwise, dimensionally, everything matched up with what fe1rx posted in his thread.

[WeryPert1]

Gorgeous!

Jealous!!

[spidertri]

Barry @ 3DM let me know the specs on the front internal bumpstop

Total strut stroke: 103mm
Bumpstop free length: 25mm
Bumpstop compressed length: 5mm

Useable strut stroke = 103mm - 5mm (fully compressed bumpstop) = 98mm

I'm only planning to preload the front spring 2mm to keep it in the ideal working range.

[spidertri]

Got everything installed last Saturday.

I first tried putting the front perches at 4mm of preload and ended up lower than I wanted in the front. Mainly the ride height, but also in terms of tire to perch clearance, with a 245/40-17 RE71R on 17x8.5 ET40 there was about 3mm of clearance to the spring perch.

Luckily, when I reached out to fe1rx, before starting the install, he had a pair of his 10mm strut spacers that I was able to purchase.

Installing the 10mm spacers brought the spring up enough that I was able to reduce to 2mm of preload and have 7mm of clearance between the tire and perch. Front ride height is at 325mm, which is much closer to what I was aiming for.

I had a corner balance and alignment done yesterday and ended up at 49.5% cross weight with -3.5 camber in the front.

Initial ride quality impressions:
- Set at 10 clicks from full stiff, at lower speed you can absolutely feel the rough pavement, cracks, bumps, etc. But the suspension absorbs it with little drama. On the highway, it's amazingly smooth over expansion joints and random bumps, I'm very impressed.
- Set it to 14 clicks from full stiff, very noticeably made the suspension more compliant. Most of my previous experience has been koni based kits so it's nice to have the defined clicks and be able to feel a difference with such a small adjustment.

Heading to Carolina Motorsports Park this weekend to try it all out.


Konis and Eibachs out.


Ohlins in:




Tire to perch clearance (7mm at narrowest):

[MightyMouseTech]

Looks good. Very informative. Planning on doing the 1M version Ohlins on my own car. Surprised how tight the clearance is on the front.

[spidertri]

Thanks! I've been watching your thread, definitely jealous that you'll be able to run the threaded body Ohlins to set ride height.

I'm certainly running an aggressive tire but I'm happy with the clearance with the strut spacer installed. I didn't want to have to run wheel spacers unless absolutely necessary and I have some 3mm on hand if needed.

Some of the serious autox guys have managed to run 6" springs on these cars, which seems physically possible based on how much thread I have above the perch. But you really get into the territory of being outside the springs usable range and into the permanent deformation and possible coil bind before the bumpstop fully compresses. You'd certainly gain more inboard clearance though.

[$iriu$black]

Great content here, thanks spidertri for posting. We have almost identical suspension (mine is the “old version” M101 derived from the E90 platform) and have to say good job w fitting the 245 section tires. We also have identical wheel specs (mine is the BWorld forged ones 8.5x40 I believe) and have been on the edge if I should buy the 245/40s for fear of not clearing the strut. I don’t have that strut spacer that you got from fe1rx and I wonder if it’s still possible to fit it without this? I know MightyMouseTech was able to do so IIRC, so at least there’s hope. I track my car and this suspension proved to perform absolutely mega on circuit driving.

Enjoy it!

[spidertri]

Without the strut spacer, and 4mm of preload, there was about 3mm clearance between the tire and the spring perch.

I spent some time searching for a good rule of thumb on how much clearance is needed, the results were all over the place but most seemed to say that 3-5mm is a good gap. Especially if you may change tire brands, new vs used tires, etc. If you kept it lower and wanted more peace of mind, a thin 3mm wheel spacer should be plenty to make sure there is clearance.

I've also found comments that modern tires only deflect at the contact patch when cornering and that the top of the tire shouldn't actually move all that much. This of course can depend on tire pressure and whether the tire is stretched or pinched on the particular wheel width.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by $iriu$black

Great content here, thanks spidertri for posting. We have almost identical suspension (mine is the “old version” M101 derived from the E90 platform) and have to say good job w fitting the 245 section tires. We also have identical wheel specs (mine is the BWorld forged ones 8.5x40 I believe) and have been on the edge if I should buy the 245/40s for fear of not clearing the strut. I don’t have that strut spacer that you got from fe1rx and I wonder if it’s still possible to fit it without this? I know MightyMouseTech was able to do so IIRC, so at least there’s hope. I track my car and this suspension proved to perform absolutely mega on circuit driving.

Enjoy it!

Well, I have not done anything yet, so the verdict is still out. I am running 18x8.5 ET45 front wheels with 245/35/18. It's going to be tight.

[MightyMouseTech]

Spidertri, it looks like the new kits come with appropriate upper and lower spring pads to isolate the spring from the lower arm at the bottom and the adjustable upper perch? That would be good news as it is no longer metal on metal. Don't want any unwanted noise.

[Thunderguts]

Damn I love me some Ohlins! It's the strut clearance that really concerns me. I wonder if you could chamfer the locking ring. It's only a locking ring. You'd still have maximum surface contact with the adjustment ring even if you ground down most of the lower half. For that matter I'd bet you could easily grind off some of the lower adjustment ring without compromising its strength. It looks like you could gain at least 3 mm of additional clearance just by slightly tapering the rings.

I'm an odd one. I'd be happy just with a set of high-quality Ohlins struts. I don't care about adjustability, I just want the dampers.

[spidertri]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Spidertri, it looks like the new kits come with appropriate upper and lower spring pads to isolate the spring from the lower arm at the bottom and the adjustable upper perch? That would be good news as it is no longer metal on metal. Don't want any unwanted noise.

MightyMouseTech Yeah, I was glad to see they came with isolators as well. All four corners came with rubber and plastic isolators to avoid metal on metal contact.

At the front, there is a 2mm plastic spacer between the spring perch and the bottom of the spring, and a 2mm rubber isolator between the top of the spring and upper seat.
The rear has a 5mm rubber spacer on the control arm which a 3mm thick plastic spring seat sits on to locate the spring in the correct place. The top has a 2mm rubber isolator between the spring and perch. I also added a Swift thrust sheet at this location.

There is another 2mm thick rubber isolator between the perch and body.


Thunderguts

Potentially, I could remove the two Ohlins provided isolator parts and replace them with only the Swift plastic thrust sheets (1mm thick) and gain ~2mm more clearance to the tire. Where it is now, I don't anticipate any rubbing. On my old E36, I ran tires ~3mm from the strut and it never made any contact. Though, on that car, the spring perch was completely clear of the tire and it was clearance to the strut body itself.

[spidertri]

Thunderguts

I went out and was looking things over before heading to the track tomorrow. I do think you could chamfer the lower lock rings and gain some more clearance.

Another option could be to get a second set of the lock rings that the rear perches use, they are smaller diameter and thickness than the ones used on the front. The threaded spring perches used front and rear are the same part though.

[$iriu$black]

Originally Posted by spidertri

Thunderguts

I went out and was looking things over before heading to the track tomorrow. I do think you could chamfer the lower lock rings and gain some more clearance.

Another option could be to get a second set of the lock rings that the rear perches use, they are smaller diameter and thickness than the ones used on the front. The threaded spring perches used front and rear are the same part though.

Thunderguts spidertri

Magnificent idea this one. I’m wondering though if they ever sell individual hardware like this. I’ve had great experiences w dealing directly w Öhlins I have to say. I had a little boo-boo a while back where one of my front strut seem to had a little bump that might have caused it to bend. I contemplated having it fixed bit decided to get a new one after finding out you can buy direct from the source (main US supplier is in NC IIRC). But basically to sell me one separate strut, they needed to break up one set to do so, so basically losing the chance to sell that full set.

Let me know guys if you ever hve any luck switching this lock ring up. My car is in deep hibernation now and my garage isnt heated unfortunately so I can’t try this one out. No tools for chamfering metal either.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by Thunderguts

I'm an odd one. I'd be happy just with a set of high-quality Ohlins struts. I don't care about adjustability, I just want the dampers.

Not odd at all! I wanted the same thing, ended up buying the full R&T kit for my other new-to-me car despite not needing the adjustability. I just didn't want to mess with other combinations anymore, and went whole hog. I will set it once for height and damping, and leave it.

[mad_hatter]

This thread is timed perfectly, I've been talking with Barry at 3DM about an Ohlins kit for my car.

Do you happen to have a photo of ride height with the setup as is? I'm also curious about the tire to fender clearance that you have.

Thanks!

[spidertri]

Yeah, I can measure it today, I've been holding off on an update until I had a chance to pull the wheels off and look everything over.

Besides the weather being miserable (rain and 30s) it was a totally uneventful track weekend. The car felt fantastic, I could easily find the grip limit in the rain and the car broke away progressively and was very easy to correct.

I started at 5 clicks from hard all the way around, but softened the rear to 7 clicks and that really helped settle the rear end down with the limited grip.

Here's a shot of the ride heights after corner balance and alignment.