[andreu12qw]

Agree with the statements that you CAN adjust the camber with C/O's installed and it is NOT hard. Any shop worth their salt can handle this job.. If the shop you go to, says they can't do this, is trying to rip you off and do not know what they are doing. I suggest you never go back to them..

Secondly, I have finally completed the install of the F/A 500's.

Install went as smooth as was possible. The fronts went in nice and easy and there is plenty of length that allows me to set the ride height that I was after (and the reason why I went with FA). The rears gave me a little trouble only for the reason that the shock tubes I received were shorter that what I was looking for (I'm guessing I was sent the rear shocks that go with their super low spec coilover kits) so I sent those back for the longest shock I could get for the e90 chassis. They sent them out as soon as they could but it was about 4 weeks. Once I received them in I got the ride height set and this time I now had a lot of room for adjustments.

After getting the car balanced and aligned I was able to take it out to the track and mountain roads.

Road feel:
These coilovers had me worried at first. While driving around town/highways, they feel very soft to me, almost like a Lincoln town car... (I have had Bilstein’s and Koni's in the past and those felt stiffer).

I have read a handful of BMW forums, and other car brand forums, comment on their concerns that F/A set high spring rates as the "default" for their car. If you are one of those people, STOP WORRYING.


At the Track:
**I have not tested any other coilover kit** BUT these worked very well! The car was not bouncy, floaty, or soft. These Coilovers made me think of Two-Face the villain for how different they feel on the road vs. the track.

The car was quick to react and felt very BMW M'ish with a sharp nose and rear end I could steer with the throttle without feeling uncontrollable. Having camber plates is also a plus as the lack of negative camber is a weakness for weekend track goers.


A few coilover headaches:

1. The radial bearing included in the Gen. 7's is nice and for the first few hundred miles they were absolutely quiet. A day or two after the first track day they started to bind and make noise. I have come to accept this is a tradeoff to having the camber plates so, it is what it is...

2. the "hammer with a screwdriver" locking ring came loose on of the front coilovers. This caused the coilover to rotate down and shorten itself on my 50-mile commute and make some noise. I raised it back up and tightened the collar. So far so good. I marked the locking collar with a witness mark so I will know if it starts to loosen again.

3. Not F/A's fault but raw material lead times and finished part lead times have shot through the roof in the past couple of months. People are buying up all kinds of products now and it is causing prices as well as lead times to increase. Not something everyone may get right away but I am a buyer and am dealing with similar issues now. This is part of the reason why it took a month for me to get the replacement shock tubes in.


Overall I am happy with the coilovers. I do feel I am more of a cup-kit customer but none of the cup kits available offer a ride height that does not DESTROY the front end. when comparing other Coilover kits, F/A was the only one that A. gave me the time of day to thoroughly answer my questions regarding ride height before I purchased a kit. and B. actually knew how low/high I could set my car. I emailed BC-racing and those guys seemed to busy to care and not very knowledgeable. I did not get KW directly but from what I could read from vendors supplying KW, I would not be able to reach the ride height I was looking for.

I have seen posts where people seem to love or hate F/A. For the people that hate F/A, I am sorry if you legitimately had a bad experience. They have shown me great customer service. you would not be able to get this level of service from Koni, or Bilstein.. Not sure on KW's customer service or Ohlins, etc., but F/A's customer service was great. Will periodically provide updates and will post my ride height photos in my Sal-hoon post.