[left123]

Paralysis by analysis. That is my (and Im sure many others) condition regarding what suspension to get. I have read literally for hours on this site at pretty much every setup I could find and I still don't know what to do. I'd like the wisdom of the forum and get your feedback.

I am getting upgraded suspension. Here is my situation and dilemma:

Car: 2006 330i, zsp, 6spd, stock 162's w/non-rft PSS, 53k miles.

Needs: less roll with little compromise in comfort. I do autocross, perhaps 2-3x/year.

Budget: $1300 total (this is fairly stretched, so please no "save up for x" comments)

Choices I have considered:
1. BMW Performance, v2 ($1275 Tischer/local dealer). This is sitting in a box in my garage currently and can return locally if necessary.

2. Bilstein B12 Pro Kit ($790 @Turner currently)

3. Eibach/Koni yellow ($820 Tirerack)

4. M3 bits if going with the cheaper alternatives 2/3 above plus simple Dinan camber plates if necessary (simple, no clunking issues people report with regular plates).

5. Linear springs to go with Koni/Bilstein per some people's suggestions (Swift/TCK, etc?)

Fears:
1. BMW Performance: That I will spend almost $1300 and not be able to notice much difference. Im sure the comfort is there but I fear I will have serious buyer's remorse.

2. Bilstein/Koni's: crashing over bumps to the point where the wife (and new baby) will be very unhappy with me. I have read many state that the Koni sports (yellows) are very rough. Not much has been said about the B12 kit though.

The wife likes a sporty ride but likes "smooth" as she states. Also, I don't want a "rice-y" ride, as she puts it. Gotta make the wife happy. You know what they say about that and a happy life...

Things I would love but will not be able to afford:
1. Most coilovers (KW, AST, TCK, JRZ, GC, etc). I honestly don't know if I would love any of these as I don't know how much "crash" happens with them as I have limited exposure to them. Since this is my only car, I don't want to be bouncing around like some juvenile kid slammed to the ground. I know many on here swear by them and are not juvenile kids so apologies if I offended any of you.

I would really appreciate people's insight and thoughts on this. Again, I know "search" is the knee jerk response but I have literally looked for days and still can't decide. If you had $1300, wanted a good but sporty ride, how would you spend it?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Thorium]

I just lower my car with KW v1. Love it , it night and day different from stock. I pay 1375. I read some where on here that ppl pay 1200.

[left123]

Originally Posted by Kygiabao

I just lower my car with KW v1. Love it , it night and day different from stock. I pay 1375. I read some where on here that ppl pay 1200.

Thanks for the response.

Can I ask what was your setup before (sport/non sport) and any other setups you've tried if any? What is the ride "quality" like compared to stock?


Thanks.

[Thorium]

I had non sport. KW ride comfort is the same if not better imo. Handling is a lot stiffer, with less body roll vs stock. I could use sway bars , but i don't track so it a waste. My second choice before this was eibach pro s. Hope this help

[romanonj]

I have bmw performance and its huge improvement over m sport suspension in my IS. Bmw goofed up e92 msport by making the rear too floaty. PS kit solved that without making the ride too uncomfortable. Haven't installed rear sway bar yet, but seems about same size as stock m sport. I will be doing rear m3 bushings once subframe is down. Perhaps will upgrade rear sway bar to m3 spec, which is double the thickness from stock or PS kit.

Very happy with it, rear floatyness is almost gone, new bushings and thick sway bar should address that.

Best part about PS kit that it comes with everything you need and fits perfectly. Bump stops, hardware, shock/strut covers are included. Seems like perfectly tuned kit!

[poldim]

Same boat as you with a nearly identical car with an extra 35K miles. Normally my car rarely sees more than 2 people, but last week I had family in town. Riding around with 4 folks all weekend had me scraping a lot more than it ever has. So I've spent the last week reading various thread and find myself in a similar situation.

I'd like to keep a similar ride height & comfort to stock ZSP or maybe 10-20% stiffer or .5" lower. I dont think the wider profile on the 19s will like it any more than that. The best OEM parts I've found are from Tirscher but they are still $861 delivered. But I think these are similar to something like the Bilstein Touring Class that are are ~$350 @ Tirerack.

So I'm trying to figure out which stuts I should get and if I might as well replace the springs since it will be all disassembled at that point. Also waiting for other's opinions on their respective purchasing decisions and most importantly, would you do it again?

[thegrinchboy]

I just installed the Koni Yellow/Eibach Pro last month, and they are not rough. Given that you can adjust the Koni Yellow, the combination rides great (Fiancee approved ) and corners flatly. However the Eibach Pro are too low for the New England roads up here IMO, therefore I am actually changing over to ZSP springs. BTW, my understanding is that BMW PS springs has about the same drop as Eibach pro and H&R, but not sure.

May also want to consider KW Street Comfort. Read some good things about them. Good luck!

[poldim]

Originally Posted by thegrinchboy

I just installed the Koni Yellow/Eibach Pro last month, and they are not rough. Given that you can adjust the Koni Yellow, the combination rides great (Fiancee approved ) and corners flatly. However the Eibach Pro are too low for the New England roads up here IMO, therefore I am actually changing over to ZSP springs. BTW, my understanding is that BMW PS springs has about the same drop as Eibach pro and H&R, but not sure.

May also want to consider KW Street Comfort. Read some good things about them. Good luck!

That's one of my worries are my 275/30/19's...thats 10.8" wide where the OEMs are 10".

What's the drop from ZSP springs when upgrading to OEM performance springs?

[left123]

Originally Posted by thegrinchboy

I just installed the Koni Yellow/Eibach Pro last month, and they are not rough. Given that you can adjust the Koni Yellow, the combination rides great (Fiancee approved ) and corners flatly. However the Eibach Pro are too low for the New England roads up here IMO, therefore I am actually changing over to ZSP springs. BTW, my understanding is that BMW PS springs has about the same drop as Eibach pro and H&R, but not sure.

May also want to consider KW Street Comfort. Read some good things about them. Good luck!

I am very interested in the KW Street Comfort as that sounds like what I would want, but at $1800+, its out of my reach.

[left123]

Originally Posted by Kygiabao

I just lower my car with KW v1. Love it , it night and day different from stock. I pay 1375. I read some where on here that ppl pay 1200.

Also Kygiabao, where'd you get yours for $1375 and any idea where people are getting them for $1200?

Thanks.

[thegrinchboy]

Originally Posted by left123

I am very interested in the KW Street Comfort as that sounds like what I would want, but at $1800+, its out of my reach.

PM some of the forum sponsors. I got a quote of $1440 for the KW SC and $1280 for KW V1 shipped recently for my 335xi, which got me thinking as well...

[jjellyneck]

Originally Posted by poldim

That's one of my worries are my 275/30/19's...thats 10.8" wide where the OEMs are 10".

What's the drop from ZSP springs when upgrading to OEM performance springs?

I believe the BMW Perf Susp Kit has springs that drop it maybe .25 to .5 lower than zsp. It has linear springs too,which I like. For me it will be a tossup between the BMW Perf Susp and KW Street Comfort. Hmmmm.

[left123]

Originally Posted by jjellyneck

I believe the BMW Perf Susp Kit has springs that drop it maybe .25 to .5 lower than zsp. It has linear springs too,which I like. For me it will be a tossup between the BMW Perf Susp and KW Street Comfort. Hmmmm.

I didnt know they BMWP kit was linear springs. That's good to know if true.

Ok, so now the question is, BMWP or KW street comfort? While the price is $140 more, I still would like to see if people with either (or ideally, both at some point) kit can chime in and give their thoughts.

Thanks.

[jjellyneck]

Originally Posted by left123

I didnt know they BMWP kit was linear springs. That's good to know if true.

Ok, so now the question is, BMWP or KW street comfort? While the price is $140 more, I still would like to see if people with either (or ideally, both at some point) kit can chime in and give their thoughts.

Thanks.

Here's a good link to check out:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ighlight=bmwps

BUT...keep in mind that this guy installed the older V1 Performance Suspension dampers on stock springs. He has great detailed info (and the discussion keeps things rolling). You have the entire kit, so you can ignore most of the part# questions that people had.
I am told by many that the newer V2 Performance Suspension kit is slightly stiffer (called "more aggressive") than the V1. People seem to like the V2 quite a bit.

A few people have installed the KW Street Comfort coilovers (linear springs also) and prefer that for even slightly more aggressive handling characterstics, and have said that the ride is more comfortable than the ZSP and at least very similar to the Performance Suspension.

[romanonj]

Thats most likely true for sedans. In my case PS kit lowered fron 3/8 and raised rear 1/4.. I really like the stance change, I always thought that IS rear was sagging a little low..

Originally Posted by jjellyneck

I believe the BMW Perf Susp Kit has springs that drop it maybe .25 to .5 lower than zsp. It has linear springs too,which I like. For me it will be a tossup between the BMW Perf Susp and KW Street Comfort. Hmmmm.

[left123]

It seems like keeping the BMW Performance suspension kit is the most logical choice for me.

My fear about it was that a few people on here got it, and then moved on to coilovers as it didn't completely satisfy their needs (smooth_330i, for instance). I'm pretty sure most of them track their car and, while I do hope to track it, I haven't yet and probably will not be able to for a while.

BMW Performance kit it is.

Thanks.

[BoogeyMan'sBMW]

kw v1s. there are a few decently used pairs on the boards. i picked mine up for a little under 800. gl!

[Daily_Driver]

To the OP.
I have been going through the same process of review, analysis, ponder, paralysis, ponder (again), more paralysis, etc.

I have come down to 2 options; Yellow Koni's on my stock (sport) suspension on my E92 (17" rims/square setup/RFT) --OR-- BMW Performance Suspension. I go back and forth between these 2 options.

The Koni's make sense as mine is a daily driver with a 60 mile commute each day. Any harshness is simply not OK, and so I am staying away from some of the spring options that drop the car 1" or more.

The BMW Performance Suspension makes sense because the springs/shocks/sway bars are a matched system. BMW must spend thousands of hours testing various setups for the 3 series (it is their largest selling model) and the 'Performance Suspension' is the next level up in terms of performance from the 'sport' suspension. I have read several comments that say that in Europe there are 3 suspensions; base/sport/performance, and the North American kit is simply getting the Europe 'performance' setup. Makes sense to me. I wonder if it is true.

I would be interested in your experience with putting in the BMW PS system, especially from the perspective of how 'livable' it is.

[benjlv]

does anyone know what the spring rates are for the suggested kits? Comparing those to stock can give us an idea of how much they might help roll.

On my tracked and streeted e36 m3 i have bilstein sports, vogtland club spec springs and a stiffer front sway bar. The springs are fair amount stiffer than stock and are a good match for the valving in the bilsteins. The car actually rides better with these stiffer springs than it did with stock or H&R sport springs with the bilsteins because the spring rates match the damper valving. When i go to the track (or autocross) i just jack the car up in the front, stiffen up the front sway bar and move the camber plates in for more camber and i'm ready to rock. The car corners pretty flat and when i loosen up the sway bar it rides pretty well.

I am just learning about whats available for the e90 chassis, but from my experiences with the e36, you probably do want to avoid race inspired coilovers. They tend to be less durable. They wont run a low enough spring rate that is all that tolerable on the street. You can go slightly stiffer than stock with better dampers if the dampers are matched well to the springs. Beyond that if you want to reduce roll without sacrificing a lot of ride quality you might consider sway bars.

[jjellyneck]

The "sticky" section at the top of this Suspension forum contains springs rates of some of the fairly common springs and coilovers. Give it a quick look...I believe it's accurate.

[cvc 22349a]

Originally Posted by jjellyneck

I believe the BMW Perf Susp Kit has springs that drop it maybe .25 to .5 lower than zsp. It has linear springs too,which I like. For me it will be a tossup between the BMW Perf Susp and KW Street Comfort. Hmmmm.

I've had both on my car. KW street comfort will definitely give you better handling and ride quality!

[Mwishlist]

Originally Posted by cvc 22349a

I've had both on my car. KW street comfort will definitely give you better handling and ride quality!

It's good to hear from someone who has had both. So did you start off with the normal sport package then performance then kw sc?