[I335]

Took me forever to pull the trigger because I was so skeptical. I didn't think it would be possible to make a 335 w/sport pkg. corner flatter and ride better than stock at the same time, especially with a little bit of a drop. I always thought I'd have to make a sacrifice in ride to get better handling. My fears have been completed unfounded...

I didn't go "all out" with all kinds of M3 components because I don't plan to track my car - ever. I simply wanted a better ride and flatter cornering and I didn't want to lower my car very much at all given that I have to drive it all year long in New England. In fact, I don't even drive it very hard - I just wanted better behavior in every day driving situations to increase my enjoyment level of the car. As such, I went with a set of KW Street Comfort Coilovers and a set of H&R sway bars. I have the KW's set at 4 clicks from soft in the front and 6 clicks from soft at the rear. The lowering was kept to a minimum at about 1/2 inch in the rear and about 3/4 of an inch in the front.

These modifications made the exact improvements that I was looking for. The ride comfort is noticeably better than the stock sport suspension and it takes pot holes and bumps quite a bit better than it did stock - no more hard banging and no "looseness" whatsoever. In fact, I think the overall ride is a bit quieter than the stock setup and the car just feels so much more composed. This setup, combined with Active Steering and an M steering wheel is just awesome. I'm also riding on 19" M6 reps with Goodyear Eagle F1s - 265 in back, 235 in front non-RFT (**********s). I've seen allot of print on the board saying that I'd get inside rear wheel spin on corners with the H&R sways and without an LSD but I haven't even see the traction control light yet and I did take a few fairly hard corners just to test it out a bit. Perhaps this might be the case on the track, but certainly not on the streets unless you're driving stupid. Needless to say, I'm very happy, and even a bit surprised, with the results. This IS indeed the way the car should behave from the factory. The car just feels incredibly solid and planted now with no weird behavior and corners and highway ramps are really enjoyable. I don't know how much under-steer this setup dialed out, but I'm certainly not feeling any unwanted over-steer - feels very neutral overall.

I also wanted to say thanks to **********s. After doing some research, they lived up to their word and gave me the best price I could find on both the KWs and the sways. Roger was very communicative and helpful during the entire process and I received the parts sooner that I had expected. I've spent a few thousand dollars at **********s over the past few years and I've always been very pleased with their prices and business acumen. They've been perfect and I like to stick with what works well. They've certainly earned my business.

I had the parts installed at Bavarian Performance Group in Winchester, MA. I've been bringing my cars to these folks for the past several years now and they are just awesome. They're certified BMW mechanics and they're very much into racing (they've even got a couple of BMW race cars in their little showroom). The work they do is fast and the quality is top-notch - I've never had an issue with any of the work they've done and I appreciate them allowing me to get under the car with them so they can show me everything they did. Before I left the shop, John walked me through both the height and damping adjustments and showed me how everything was set. I thought I might want to tweak it a bit after I drove it for a while, but after 300 miles I don't think I need to touch a thing. I told John exactly what I was looking for and that's exactly what he delivered. Oh, although I only have 13K miles on the car, I also had them change the tranny and diff fluids just because I didn't want to go for very long with the original fluids. I think of it as cheap preventative insurance (and the car seems to shift a bit smoother now too - 6mt) as I always like to change the original fluids out of the car earlier than the maintenance schedule calls for.

I'll post pics sometime in the next few days or when I get a chance to do a wash and wax. It's been raining off & on lately and I just haven't been able to find the time. For now, I just wanted to share my experience with this set up with you guys.