[brocken]

After hours of struggling yesterday with help from my neighbor I got the KW Street Comfort coilovers fitted to my car. What I'm hoping is that somebody here who has these can offer advice on setting the spring height...

KW lists a max and min in their instructions but not sure at what point in between is a good setup for performance without compromising ride quality.
I set the dampers to 9 front and 9 rear from full stiffness but I'm sure the spring height has an effect on handling as well.
Also, does anybody know a way to adjust the rear height without removing the springs? seems like a HUGE pain to have to remove the rear suspension to be able to adjust the spring seat. Fronts are super easy, just a lot of wrenching.

thanks!

[I335]

Of course you don't need to remove the springs to adjust the height. Didn't your KW's come with spanner wrenches to adjust the height? Just jack up the car, take the wheel off, and adjust the height with the spanner wrench.

The max and min they list is for the damping adjustment, not for the height adjustment. They recommend not adjusting the damping to max hard or max soft, but you can max out the height either way without any consequences.

[iheartsole]

any pcis of your ride with them on?

[I335]

Originally Posted by iheartsole

any pcis of your ride with them on?

Check out this post...
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287182

[brocken]

Again, I'm looking for somebody who has KW Street Comfort to chime in, please.

I'm not concerned about damping, i have that figured out. KW also lists a max and minimum ride height which is what i need help with.

[rcusick]

First of all, try setting front a bit tighter (up to 3 clicks) than rear. I think you'll notice balance improve.

There were wrenches included with your kit. Adjusting height is very easy. I would recommend paying $350 to get a professional corner balance and alignment. During the corner balance, the technician will adjust heigh for you (and make sure weight distribution is right).

RC

[brocken]

The wrenches are pretty easy to figure out. The front was easy to adjust. The rear is a different story which is why i asked for advice. The collar that the top of the spring contacts has nothing to prevent it from moving. So if I try to use the wrench to adjust the height it just spins the collar because it's not bolted to anything.

Again, my real question is for somebody who has these exact coilovers and can tell me what they have the front and rear height set to. The measurements I'm looking for are from the center of the wheel hub to the bottom of the fender. KW lists a max an min but I'm wondering what the optimum settings are.

And thanks for the suggestion of spending hundreds of dollars on a professional corner balance... that's the reason I did the install myself was to save labor charges. I understand a shop theoretically can do a better job than I can. I would like the chance to do it myself and get it right. Just need help with some more info.

Thanks

[Gordon1080p]

I have KW Street Comforts on my E92. I did not install them myself. BavarianX installed them for me. I can't tell you what the settings are but I have a few pics of my ride height and the installed coilovers. Maybe the pics can help you out. My car is lowered to approx the same height as the BMW performance suspension (that's what the guys at BavarianX told me).

GL

[GhOsT_E90]

I have the V2 and the only way to adjust the rear is removing it. But to me its as simple as jacking up the rear of the car, putting another jack under the rear lower control arm on the side your adjusting. Removing the bolt from the lower control arm to spindle and removing the lower shock nut. Lower the control arm and remove the shock and adjuster.

[brocken]

Thanks guys! That's a good frame of reference from BavarianX. I think the performance BMW set drops another .5 in front from stock(sport susp) and less than that in the back. I noticed from Gordon's pictures that there's not the cup on the back spring but it wouldn't come out on mine so maybe that's a difference on the E90. There was a rubber grommet at the top that KW said to remove, which I did.

Thanks Ghost, I was looking for that confirmation on the rears. I'm guessing the springs of different KW setups use the same perch. You're right, it's not too bad, it's just extra work to adjust the height. I'm just being whiny because the front is so easy in comparison. That, and the fact that the first time I put the control arm bolt back in I was swearing under my car for a couple hours. Could have been that I was tired from the day already. When I did the other side the next morning it only took me 40 minutes start to finish to put in the new strut and spring. I found a trick for lining up that spindle ball joint with a screw driver. Took 2 minutes for that bolt instead of 2 hours.

[brocken]

Thanks again for the pictures Gordon. Made me realize I'd left the upper spring cup in and I wasn't supposed to. KW instructions said remove "washer" and I didn't realize it meant the cup. Now the springs sit properly against the underframe.
Feel a little better knowing they're in there properly now. I think I will let the suspension settle before trying to mess with height again though.

[mike-y]

Originally Posted by brocken

And thanks for the suggestion of spending hundreds of dollars on a professional corner balance... that's the reason I did the install myself was to save labor charges. I understand a shop theoretically can do a better job than I can. I would like the chance to do it myself and get it right. Just need help with some more info.

Thanks

I think you are misunderstanding what corner-balancing is. It's not installation or setting ride height, it's a completely separate adjustment using scales under each wheel of the car while you are sitting in the driver's seat. You can do it after you get your ride height where you want it, and after the springs have settled for a couple of weeks.

What corner balancing does, is shift the weight from corner to corner so the car's cross-weights are perfectly balanced with the driver inside, which allows for the most consistent handling possible. Imagine a 4 legged bar stool - If one corner is a bit longer (or shorter) than the others, it will rock and cause the weight to be mostly supported on just 2 or 3 legs instead of evenly on all 4. Coilovers on your car will behave the same way if not corner balanced.

Now, If you never track your car, it's really not that important, and leveling the car is probably "good enough" for 90% of the people with coil overs. but it's still good to understand what corner balancing does.

[brocken]

I understand very well what corner balancing is and if it was a track car I'd be all for it. But I don't see a purpose for spending time and money tuning the suspension optimally when I'll likely never appreciate it on the street.

[Haagen-Dazs]

I'm looking at differente suspension options to fit to my car (springs, KW V2, KW SC).

My two issues are ride quality and ride height. I would like it to be as low as M suspension, perhaps a little (very tiny) lower, and yet be a nice riding quality. I know it's going to be firmer then my stock (really high) suspension, but I don't wan't it to be all jerky on bad roads.

My car is an e92 20d (I think it's about the same ride height as the 328i stock, perhaps more).

Pictures of the SC in their maximum height would be apreciated.

Thanks!

[cvc 22349a]

Originally Posted by Haagen-Dazs

I'm looking at differente suspension options to fit to my car (springs, KW V2, KW SC).

My two issues are ride quality and ride height. I would like it to be as low as M suspension, perhaps a little (very tiny) lower, and yet be a nice riding quality. I know it's going to be firmer then my stock (really high) suspension, but I don't wan't it to be all jerky on bad roads.

My car is an e92 20d (I think it's about the same ride height as the 328i stock, perhaps more).

Pictures of the SC in their maximum height would be apreciated.

Thanks!

I just had the KW SC susp installed last week. I had the ride height set at my previous BMW Performance susp ride height and assume it will settle down a litter lower over the next 500 mi. It seems to be set in the middle of its ride height range, so it can go lower and probably all the way up to non-sport susp ride height.
I've had Koni FSD's with oe sport susp springs, Koni Sport dampers with oe sport springs and Koni Sport dampers with BMW PS springs. The KW SC offers more ride comfort than any of my previous set ups and handles as well or better than BMW PS+Koni's. The KW SC kit has more bump travel due to shorter shock bodies and longer front springs and superior damper valving than the Koni's. The KW SC is firmer than your oe susp but the ride quality is vastly improved since it absorbs bumps and surface irregularities as opposed to transmitting every little bump to your chassis as sport springs and dampers do.
Get this susp if ride quality is your primary concern and you want the car to handle better Ride quality might be better with the Ohlins R&T susp but their rear spring rates are too soft.

[Haagen-Dazs]

Originally Posted by cvc 22349a

I just had the KW SC susp installed last week. I had the ride height set at my previous BMW Performance susp ride height and assume it will settle down a litter lower over the next 500 mi. It seems to be set in the middle of its ride height range, so it can go lower and probably all the way up to non-sport susp ride height.
I've had Koni FSD's with oe sport susp springs, Koni Sport dampers with oe sport springs and Koni Sport dampers with BMW PS springs. The KW SC offers more ride comfort than any of my previous set ups and handles as well or better than BMW PS+Koni's. The KW SC kit has more bump travel due to shorter shock bodies and longer front springs and superior damper valving than the Koni's. The KW SC is firmer than your oe susp but the ride quality is vastly improved since it absorbs bumps and surface irregularities as opposed to transmitting every little bump to your chassis as sport springs and dampers do.
Get this susp if ride quality is your primary concern and you want the car to handle better Ride quality might be better with the Ohlins R&T susp but their rear spring rates are too soft.

Why thak you for your feedback! I've made my mind on the coilivers. Just the to start saving lol