[Sam12345]

Hey, a few nights ago i finally recieved my koni yellow sport shocks from Supremepower. That same day LongTran offered to install them for me, which was really cool.

Before i start, my cars set-up: General exclaim tires, 19" CSL reps, H&R race springs.

So recently my ride was BOUNCY like none-othere, i suppose my stock shocks were blown. So i go to LongTran and get these installed, ask him to set it to the stiffest settings. He sets the front to stiffest, but for the back the koni has a very bad design and has no actual limit of tightening. So I asked him if he could just spin it around once making it tighter.

Then the install was done and i was about to leave, first thing i noticed is that when i hold onto my car and try to shake it, it doesnt even move. Before when i would shake it, it would bounce side to side. I was very impressed.

The Road Test:
I left Longs and was on my 20 mile trip back home, i noticed on the streets it was much stiffer and was not bouncing to much. I hit up the freeway and i noticed the car was hardly bouncing at all compared to before, however there was still a bit to much bounce for my taste. So i keep going, and i notice while taking turns on the freeway, i hardly had to put any effort. I could have driven with my knees, compared to before when id need atleast 1 hand stiffly on the steering wheel.
I get off the freeway and go to canyon near my house, first thing i notice is the car feels MUCH more stable on turns. There was a series of 4 turns in a row, and i hit the 3rd one WAY to fast. To add to this there was a gentle/deep dip in the middle(just the type that gently goes into the dip, not a gapping hole). So i was thinking wtf do i do, however when it came time to make the turn it just went threw with ease...

The ride still bounces a little but the handling and stability of the car is fantastic compared to before.


I would suggest these shocks to anyone who is on springs alone.


My only disappointment is the fact that it still bounces a bit and is not as stiff as i would have liked it to be.

My questions:
1)Would better tires help make the car feel stiffer/less bouncy?
2)Would a rear sway bar help?
3)What else could i do to this suspension set-up to make it suit my needs more?

Thank you
-Sam

[Sam12345]

bump for me. i really would like to know.

I searched!!! i didnt find anything to answer question 1 or question 3. So dont even say "search".

As for the rear sway bar i know it helps i just wanted to see if it would calm the bouncing.

[loihisteve]

I had a set of Koni sports/yellows (struts & shocks) installed on 8/14 (in their factory, full-soft settings) ... about two weeks prior to that, I migrated from the stock RFTs that came with my car to Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s ... those are the only two changes I've made to my suspension ... Even with the Konis in their full-soft settings, the change in handling performance is almost unbelievable; the change from stock is simply remarkable ... It's a much bigger difference than I would have ever expected ... Every single car I've owned before this BMW has had aftermarket springs & anti-sway bars, and usually with Bilstein HD struts/shocks ... the PS2 tires with the stock (sport) suspension were NOT all that impressive ... as soon as the Konis were added to the mix, I had a car that had the best balance of handling performance & ride quality that I've ever owned, or even been in for that matter.

The car basically feels about 3x more secure to the road than with the stock suspension, but the ride quality is still somewhat high.

The only issue I'm unhappy with is that somehow the front of the car if now higher than before the Konis were installed ... I suspect the shop that did the work accidentally swapped the positions of some of the pads, and I am still working to investigate this & to try to resolve it as soon as possible ... the car handles great, the ride quality is much better than I expected, but the car looks terrible with the front so high! ... specifically, 0.75" higher now in the front than what I believe it was before, with the stock suspension.

[AV9]

hmm i was always considering getting the koni's! but i've always heard of the combo of koni's and eibach pro springs...

but wow! h&r and koni's...sounds good!
would you say this set up would be a reasonable combo for a daily driver?

[Sam12345]

bump!

[Sam12345]

Originally Posted by avzbmveh

hmm i was always considering getting the koni's! but i've always heard of the combo of koni's and eibach pro springs...

but wow! h&r and koni's...sounds good!
would you say this set up would be a reasonable combo for a daily driver?

Definatly it would be a great set-up for daily driver. !

[iheartsole]

nice how does it ride>?

[Ray]

If you are experiencing a floaty bounce, I recommend you increase the shock's stiffness.

A firm travel over road imperfections is what I consider normal for Koni shocks.

[Ron@Modbargains]

Nice review - Koni shocks work great with the H&R springs - been very popular for our customers too.

Anyway to further decrease the bounce.. hmm besides a different shock and spring combo that would have different rates which is the obvious way of handling it. Perhaps switching to a polyurethane bushings is my suggestion would increase stiffness.

or well add-on some more weight

[Sam12345]

Thanks everyone for comments


My shocks are set to max stiffness on front and 1 turn of stiffness on the back

I feel almost every road imperfection very clearly lol

My only upset is that on gradual bumps, not sudden...it bounces a bit.

Could it be because of my tires?

[AV9]

mmm bounce is bounce...but it sounds like you got a good set up going on...man i wish i could test them out or something, cuz i've actually never been in an e92 with aftermarket suspension...

[Sam12345]

Originally Posted by avzbmveh

mmm bounce is bounce...but it sounds like you got a good set up going on...man i wish i could test them out or something, cuz i've actually never been in an e92 with aftermarket suspension...

If you want ill give you a ride in mine at a meet or something

[Chowbow]

Bouncing has nothing to do with the tires. It's all in the shocks. Sounds like even the Koni Yellows don't have enough rebound to support your spring rates. Also, Koni typically recommends against setting them to the stiffest setting. In the past on every car I've done Konis on, the stiffest I would go is 1/2 turn from full stiff, and most of the time I can get away with a much softer setting.

Stiff doesn't equal better handling, and body roll doesn't necessarily equate to bad handling either. However, with springs that make your car really low, you have to run a stiff setup to keep the car off the bump stops as much as you can. It's pretty likely you're still riding on them on hard turns with bumps though...

To do it right, IMO, would be to change your springs out to something more performance oriented and go back closer to the stock ride height. Maybe regular H&R sport springs? And adjust the shocks from there. Also, on the rears, there should be limited adjustment. Pull the shock shaft all the way out and twist. I'm assuming LT knows all about this though and maybe they've changed something? Dunno...

[kenneth]

Originally Posted by loihisteve

I had a set of Koni sports/yellows (struts & shocks) installed on 8/14 (in their factory, full-soft settings) ... about two weeks prior to that, I migrated from the stock RFTs that came with my car to Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s ... those are the only two changes I've made to my suspension ... Even with the Konis in their full-soft settings, the change in handling performance is almost unbelievable; the change from stock is simply remarkable ... It's a much bigger difference than I would have ever expected ... Every single car I've owned before this BMW has had aftermarket springs & anti-sway bars, and usually with Bilstein HD struts/shocks ... the PS2 tires with the stock (sport) suspension were NOT all that impressive ... as soon as the Konis were added to the mix, I had a car that had the best balance of handling performance & ride quality that I've ever owned, or even been in for that matter.

The car basically feels about 3x more secure to the road than with the stock suspension, but the ride quality is still somewhat high.

The only issue I'm unhappy with is that somehow the front of the car if now higher than before the Konis were installed ... I suspect the shop that did the work accidentally swapped the positions of some of the pads, and I am still working to investigate this & to try to resolve it as soon as possible ... the car handles great, the ride quality is much better than I expected, but the car looks terrible with the front so high! ... specifically, 0.75" higher now in the front than what I believe it was before, with the stock suspension.

Originally Posted by Chowbow

Bouncing has nothing to do with the tires. It's all in the shocks. Sounds like even the Koni Yellows don't have enough rebound to support your spring rates. Also, Koni typically recommends against setting them to the stiffest setting. In the past on every car I've done Konis on, the stiffest I would go is 1/2 turn from full stiff, and most of the time I can get away with a much softer setting.

Stiff doesn't equal better handling, and body roll doesn't necessarily equate to bad handling either. However, with springs that make your car really low, you have to run a stiff setup to keep the car off the bump stops as much as you can. It's pretty likely you're still riding on them on hard turns with bumps though...

To do it right, IMO, would be to change your springs out to something more performance oriented and go back closer to the stock ride height. Maybe regular H&R sport springs? And adjust the shocks from there. Also, on the rears, there should be limited adjustment. Pull the shock shaft all the way out and twist. I'm assuming LT knows all about this though and maybe they've changed something? Dunno...

I have exactly that combo: H&R Sport (not race) + Koni yellows. Bump stops need to be slightly trimmed. The car now sits with the front and rear wheels slightly inside the wheel wells. Much smoother than OEM Sport suspension and less bouncy with dips/squats and rolls significantly reduced. I was afraid the ride would be stiffer than the sport suspension, but it was completely the opposite, and that even with the runfflats still on! Setting of the Konis is a little under 50% of full stiffness setting.

[camaross305]

I think your bouncyness that your feeling is because of the springs... the race spring rates are probly too aggressive for the shocks. The h and r sport springs pair perfect to the koni yellows from what i hear....