BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (1M / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i)
 





 

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      05-14-2013, 08:19 AM   #45
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Well I really hope they sort it out quickly for you, it sucks when things don't go according to plan

I'm really looking forward to see your end result and get your feedback. Being in the same city, it will be invaluable.

Frankly, I am really confused about options after reading so much conflicting feedback on coilovers/springs etc. I think I'll stick to what I can see, touch and hear.

It will be interesting to see what others have done at our little meet up this Saturday, it would have been nice to see yours - where's that christening happening?
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      05-14-2013, 09:22 AM   #46
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Yeah, hope it's sorted tomorrow. Might have to get spacers for the front though which is not ideal. Front wheels aren't even that wide 18x8 et 45 with 225/40/18.
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      05-14-2013, 12:07 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nugget View Post
No a shop is doing it, has been installed taken out and reinstalled as they thought it couldn't be right. At the moment the front spring perch hits the wheel and it is sitting like a 4x4.
Trying to figure out if it's them or the kit's fault. But it's looking like spacers may be necessary which is weird as my front wheels are only 8" wide with 225s on them.
Remember the kit was designed with only 20mm of lowering and stock wheels in mind. Anything that is not OE offset of width may contact the lower spring perches and wheel spacers may be required. The other option would be using a shorter spring to allow the lower spring perch to sit above the wheels/tires.
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      05-14-2013, 07:24 PM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HP Autowerks View Post
Remember the kit was designed with only 20mm of lowering and stock wheels in mind. Anything that is not OE offset of width may contact the lower spring perches and wheel spacers may be required. The other option would be using a shorter spring to allow the lower spring perch to sit above the wheels/tires.
Then something isn't right as my current wheels are only 2mm more inset than the stock ones and it is higher than it was with BMW performance suspension. Looks like I'll have to use spacers for now but can you send me options for shorter springs.
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      05-15-2013, 01:11 AM   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nugget View Post
Then something isn't right as my current wheels are only 2mm more inset than the stock ones and it is higher than it was with BMW performance suspension. Looks like I'll have to use spacers for now but can you send me options for shorter springs.
Emailed you!
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      05-15-2013, 01:17 AM   #50
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Ok be really concious of your wheel and spring selection when using this kit. My front wheels sit 2mm further inboard than the stock wheels and the tyres rub on the spring perch when set at stock height. A 5mm spacer is needed which is not what I wanted.

I got the following Swift springs
rear 9" 672lb/in - this is fine.
front 8" 400lb/in - needs to be wound right down to get a decent ride height. They took them out and installed the Ohlins springs and it is slightly better. I am not trying to slam the car but they needed to wind the front right down to get it similar to BMW performance height which is 10mm lower than stock.

If you are ordering I'd get a 9" rear spring and 7" front spring. This might let you set the rear at a decent height and locate the front spring perch above the tyres. But then I'm not sure if it's long enough to stay captive at full droop.

It has been a frustrating and expensive few days.
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      05-15-2013, 02:18 AM   #51
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With my stock rims and tires we went with a small (3mm) spacer in front just to have a little extra clearance. I'd imagine you'll want a little more space if your rims come in another 2mm tighter than stock. It shouldn't be too big a deal.

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      05-15-2013, 07:31 PM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nugget View Post
Ok be really concious of your wheel and spring selection when using this kit. My front wheels sit 2mm further inboard than the stock wheels and the tyres rub on the spring perch when set at stock height. A 5mm spacer is needed which is not what I wanted.

I got the following Swift springs
rear 9" 672lb/in - this is fine.
front 8" 400lb/in - needs to be wound right down to get a decent ride height. They took them out and installed the Ohlins springs and it is slightly better. I am not trying to slam the car but they needed to wind the front right down to get it similar to BMW performance height which is 10mm lower than stock.

If you are ordering I'd get a 9" rear spring and 7" front spring. This might let you set the rear at a decent height and locate the front spring perch above the tyres. But then I'm not sure if it's long enough to stay captive at full droop.

It has been a frustrating and expensive few days.
Aren't the kit springs 7"? If so, I'd definitely recommend going even shorter than that up front (at least on a 128i, which is a bit lighter, presumably mostly up front).

My car sits higher than I'd like on kit springs with the perches cranked all the way down (in front, rears still have a long way to go in either direction). It's a little frustrating, because I was coming from a Bilstein set up that had the car pretty slammed. Not that I'm all about that look, but it's hard to raise up your car when your used to it being so low for so long. I'd say I'm lower than stock, but not by a ton. Shorter Swift springs are definitely in my future.

In fact, now that I'm in SoCal again, I'm definitely planning on making the drive up to Santa Barbara one of these days to drop my car off at HPA for springs and some more M3 bits. Trouble is, I keep wanting more and more of the suspension components, so I'm going to be saving up for a little while! In any case, these Ohlins dampers are super sweet and I'd recommend them to anyone who can stomach the price. Awesome that Harold now sells them individually - I think it would've been cheaper to buy the Swift springs from the get go that way.

Oh, and incidentally if anyone wants my full set up for comparo: front wheel clearance is fine for me on OEM 18"ers with Dinan camber plates (-1.8°), but I'm running 12 mm spacers.
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      05-15-2013, 07:50 PM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob View Post
Aren't the kit springs 7"? If so, I'd definitely recommend going even shorter than that up front (at least on a 128i, which is a bit lighter, presumably mostly up front).

My car sits higher than I'd like on kit springs with the perches cranked all the way down (in front, rears still have a long way to go in either direction). It's a little frustrating, because I was coming from a Bilstein set up that had the car pretty slammed. Not that I'm all about that look, but it's hard to raise up your car when your used to it being so low for so long. I'd say I'm lower than stock, but not by a ton. Shorter Swift springs are definitely in my future.

In fact, now that I'm in SoCal again, I'm definitely planning on making the drive up to Santa Barbara one of these days to drop my car off at HPA for springs and some more M3 bits. Trouble is, I keep wanting more and more of the suspension components, so I'm going to be saving up for a little while! In any case, these Ohlins dampers are super sweet and I'd recommend them to anyone who can stomach the price. Awesome that Harold now sells them individually - I think it would've been cheaper to buy the Swift springs from the get go that way.

Oh, and incidentally if anyone wants my full set up for comparo: front wheel clearance is fine for me on OEM 18"ers with Dinan camber plates (-1.8°), but I'm running 12 mm spacers.

Ohlins R&T kit spring is 8" in length up front.
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      05-15-2013, 07:54 PM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HP Autowerks View Post
Ohlins R&T kit spring is 8" in length up front.
Ah, then I'd agree with above and say go with 7" springs...unless those are too short and limit suspension travel or something. What do you think?
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      05-15-2013, 09:38 PM   #55
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Harold says 7" should be fine. I'm going to get the car back on the road and drive it for a while before I decide if I want to change springs again.
My main concern is I'd prefer not to use spacers.
And full disclosure I bought the kit from an Australian shop (for shipping and warranty reasons) and the swift springs from Harold. Even though I didn't buy everything from him Harold has been quick to respond to my questions and to try and help.
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      05-16-2013, 06:37 AM   #56
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Ok not having good luck here. They are all on and they just clear the tyre with 5mm spacers. Now the adjustment knob for one of the front dampers appears to be spinning freely. The others all have very clear clicks, not this one
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      05-16-2013, 12:05 PM   #57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nugget View Post
Ok not having good luck here. They are all on and they just clear the tyre with 5mm spacers. Now the adjustment knob for one of the front dampers appears to be spinning freely. The others all have very clear clicks, not this one
Have you tried to turn it all the way in and back out again?
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      05-16-2013, 07:28 PM   #58
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Yeah, it won't move at all unless you pull it out a little bit then it spins freely. Unfortunately it wasn't noticed until it was installed. Time to see if they'll send me a replacement.
Haven't had a chance to properly drive it hard as it's been raining but the ride is definitely smoother than stock with it set to 10 clicks out of 30. It nearly completely irons out bumps that use to unsettle the car, especially the rear end despite the much higher spring rate.
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      05-16-2013, 08:53 PM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nugget View Post
Yeah, it won't move at all unless you pull it out a little bit then it spins freely. Unfortunately it wasn't noticed until it was installed. Time to see if they'll send me a replacement.
Haven't had a chance to properly drive it hard as it's been raining but the ride is definitely smoother than stock with it set to 10 clicks out of 30. It nearly completely irons out bumps that use to unsettle the car, especially the rear end despite the much higher spring rate.
The adjuster issue, which I have never seen in the 30+ sets of Ohlins sold, should be covered warranty.

Let me know if I can help you further on the springs.
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      05-17-2013, 02:33 AM   #60
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Thanks Harold, I've gone back to the Australian distributor to sort it out.
I'll think about the springs.
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      05-19-2013, 08:37 AM   #61
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I emailed the Australian distributor about the rebound adjuster not working and he figured it out

Quote:
Now the detent or "clicker" is actually in the main shaft, not in the external adjuster which is removed with 17mm spanner. I have learnt that the factory dyno run every damper before they are sent out, and this is done WITHOUT the external adjuster assembly fitted. So someone has run the shock on the dyno with the internal adjuster in the shaft wound right in (clockwise). This means that when the external adjuster (fitted with the 17mm spanner) is fitted to the damper at final assembly, the external adjuster shaft will not reach the internal adjuster (with allen head), so therefore the external adjuster will just keep turning as it has not connected with internal adjuster.

So, what you need to do is to remove the adjuster assembly with 17mm spanner, then use 3mm? allen key inside the end of the main shaft, and turn counter clockwise to move this part up closer to the end of the main shaft, so that the pin inside the external adjuster housing can then locate correctly with the rebound adjustment "clicker" inside the main shaft.
So I was able to fix it fairly easily and now have fully functioning coilovers!
Thought I'd put this up in case it can be of use to anyone in the future.
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      05-19-2013, 04:21 PM   #62
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Can you post picture?
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      05-19-2013, 07:34 PM   #63
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The car is at the exact same height as before, measurements are

Centre of wheel to guard
LF:330mm RF:325mm
LR:335mm RR:330mm

Bottom of wheel to Guard
LF:580mm RF:575mm
LR:585mm RR:580mm
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      06-03-2013, 08:54 PM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nugget View Post
The car is at the exact same height as before, measurements are

Centre of wheel to guard
LF:330mm RF:325mm
LR:335mm RR:330mm

Bottom of wheel to Guard
LF:580mm RF:575mm
LR:585mm RR:580mm
What springs are you using for these measurements? Is it the swift or the included Ohlins springs?
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      06-04-2013, 12:04 AM   #65
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What springs are you using for these measurements? Is it the swift or the included Ohlins springs?
Ohlins springs on front, 1" shorter swift springs on the rear. There is room to go lower but I'm happy with the height.
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      06-04-2013, 01:28 AM   #66
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Quote:
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Ohlins springs on front, 1" shorter swift springs on the rear. There is room to go lower but I'm happy with the height.
Oh so 8" front and rear ended up being ok?
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