[borinous]

nice job fella. I know u still have alignment to sort out but can you feel any difference

[mob17]

Nice job Raj. Really want to do this on mine too but will have to wait a few months i think.

Are you running OEM subframe bushes?

[RajB]

Originally Posted by borinous

nice job fella. I know u still have alignment to sort out but can you feel any difference

I'm sat here at Kwik Fit (only place open tbh) to get the alignment sorted.

First impressions are they are night and day difference (but my original arm balljoints were quite loose'ish). Front end is so much stiffer with adding these arms. It's way more weighted with the extra negative camber and you have feel more. Once alignment is done I'll take it out for a bit more of a drive and see.

[RajB]

Originally Posted by mob17

Nice job Raj. Really want to do this on mine too but will have to wait a few months i think.

Are you running OEM subframe bushes?

When the Birds treatment was done by Mike he did the subframe bushes at that point too. Not sure which were used though. Can find out from Bird's if you'd like to know which were used.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by RajB

This is the part number for the levelling arm: 37142283867

Loely thank you I think its the one I've got noted at work but will check tomorrowRaj thank you again

[borinous]

Originally Posted by RajB

I'm sat here at Kwik Fit (only place open tbh) to get the alignment sorted.

First impressions are they are night and day difference (but my original arm balljoints were quite loose'ish). Front end is so much stiffer with adding these arms. It's way more weighted with the extra negative camber and you have feel more. Once alignment is done I'll take it out for a bit more of a drive and see.

sounds good look forward for the review after some more sprited driving

[gaza01]

Great write up Raj and as usual great choice of mods that you do.

This is definitely on my list but really can't see me having time to do it at the moment. Its my biggest complaint of the e9s....the front end just feels unresponsive regardless of the spring/strut combo. I've tried both birds and bc coils and whilst they improve things it still does not give me the sharpness that I like. Seems like this mod cures that.

One question though...u mention alignment of the bolt holes being a pain. Would it be easier to remove and replace one arm at a time...so at least alignment of the holes doesn't get thrown out that much?

[RajB]

Originally Posted by borinous

sounds good look forward for the review after some more sprited driving

So after pushing it a little more and more when possible today I'm am pleased with the turn in and feedback now. There is definitely more front end grip with the additional camber that is dialled in with the arms. All in all a good upgrade for sure.

Originally Posted by gaza01

Great write up Raj and as usual great choice of mods that you do.

This is definitely on my list but really can't see me having time to do it at the moment. Its my biggest complaint of the e9s....the front end just feels unresponsive regardless of the spring/strut combo. I've tried both birds and bc coils and whilst they improve things it still does not give me the sharpness that I like. Seems like this mod cures that.

One question though...u mention alignment of the bolt holes being a pain. Would it be easier to remove and replace one arm at a time...so at least alignment of the holes doesn't get thrown out that much?

Cheers Shaun.

As for the alignment, tbh buddy it wouldn't make a difference I don't think. The issue is the fact that the ball joint widths are basically the same width as the space available and it's just too tight to be able to just line them up. So it's just a matter of hammering them into place and tapping them to get the final alignment to get the bolts in.

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Loely thank you I think its the one I've got noted at work but will check tomorrowRaj thank you again

It indeed was the same part numberI had listed at work, which along with the required nut has been ordered.

All I've got to do now is find a window to get'em fitted

[RajB]

Originally Posted by old grey steve

It indeed was the same part numberI had listed at work, which along with the required nut has been ordered.

All I've got to do now is find a window to get'em fitted

Excellent

[RajB]

So as has been highlighted by the sale of the Birds suspension I decided to go Ohlins R&T instead. Bought from Italy due to an excellent price from a friend over there, but with a worldwide warranty it was too good to pass up.

I'll give a review later but firstly onto the swap.

All I can say is every detail by Ohlins is spot on. Even the way they package it all up for delivery. I've modded all my cars (and there have been a fair few) so have bought a hell of a lot of bits and the attention to detail was duly noted with these compared to anything else purchased.

Collected a large box from DHL:


When you open it you see a tightly packaged and bubble wrapped Ohlins box:


2 different sized boxes but only by depth:




Everything is nicely packaged in the boxes with springs and rear spring perches in the smaller box and the shocks themselves in the larger:


So there it all is laid out to ensure everything was present:




The damping adjusters for the fronts are located on the bottom and the rears on the top:


And a lovely set of springs:



So then onto the removal of the Birds kit. Started with the fronts first as they tend to be the easiest. Heres the Birds front setup in situ:


To remove the front shock/spring setup I'd normally just compress the springs using the compressors and undo the bolt that holds the lower shock mount in place and slide it out but for some reason it was not playing ball so decided to just remove the hub instead. Here it removed with the hub:


I could have shown the breakdown of the kit as you need to re-use the top mount and bearing spacer for the Ohlins setup, but tbh I started the job at 5pm in the evening so didn't want to keep stopping to take pics (sorry). But here is the front Ohlins setup in place:




The nearside front was an easier affair without the need to remove the hub. So it was on to the rear. Rear setup is a separate damper and spring arrangement like pretty much all OE BMW applications:\


Remove the shock first which is just a nut at either end and compress to squeeze it out. Then it's easiest to actually remove the long bolt/nut that holds the lower spring arm in place to get the spring out. You need to re-use the shocker rubber bushes that hold the shock in place as it goes through the suspension turret into the boot. For the spring nothing is retained from the Birds kit as the Ohlins spring perches for both upper (adjustable) and lower (fixed) are provided.

So basically do the reverse to put the Ohlins kit in and here it is in place:




Once all bolted back in place I needed to drill out the hole in the side boot carpet panels to feed the adjuster through. Holiness provide full measurements and diagrams as to where to make the hole which is spot on. Adjuster in place:


And that's it. I finished at 4:30am due to wanting to get it all in place properly and neatly and tidying up the garage after lol.


Heres a before shot on the Birds setup which tbh I did love the stance:


I set the Ohlins to what they recommend on both height and damping:






Nicely it is only very marginally higher at the front but it's enough to not cause any issues with speed humps but the rear certainly looks higher than before.

Very pleased with it for sure.

Thanks,

Raj

[Phil325i]

Congrats. It will settle a little. Worth applying a bit of protection (even if it's only a spray with WD40) to those lovely stainless shock bodies. Because the UK winters/road salt do spoil the finish over time.

[AWBimmer]

Looking really good there Raj. Tastefully modded that's for sure.

[mob17]

Delicious

I spent about a week each on different damping setting to get a feel for it initially.

Its nice when you're taking family/kids out you can set it to max soft, and then dial it down whenever you want. To be honest even 10 clicks from hard is comfortable.

Set the clicks 3 click front and 4 rear, let us know what you think of that

[RajB]

Originally Posted by Phil325i

Congrats. It will settle a little. Worth applying a bit of protection (even if it's only a spray with WD40) to those lovely stainless shock bodies. Because the UK winters/road salt do spoil the finish over time.

Cheers Phil. Totally forgot about putting a layer of protection on them when they were off the car.

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

Looking really good there Raj. Tastefully modded that's for sure.

Mucho Gracias bro. It's certainly coming along.

Originally Posted by mob17

Delicious

I spent about a week each on different damping setting to get a feel for it initially.

Its nice when you're taking family/kids out you can set it to max soft, and then dial it down whenever you want. To be honest even 10 clicks from hard is comfortable.

Set the clicks 3 click front and 4 rear, let us know what you think of that

Yup agreed the adjustability is great. I'll be playing with the damping for sure to find what I like.

[makkan00]

Respect for doing it yourself.
How do you compare both setups?

[Jat]

Nothing like a bit of Ohlin goodness! Fair play for doing the setup yourself bud! Great job.

[gaza01]

wow! Compared to BCs these just look the business!!!
great write up!
How you find them compared to the birds?

[borinous]

they look great. hats off to you sir

[Wavey 335i]

I need to get me one of those highkick spoilers 😍

[RajB]

Originally Posted by makkan00

Respect for doing it yourself.
How do you compare both setups?

Thanks, I've always done my own suspension and other work myself. I've got the garage and space and enjoy it. Will write up my initial thoughts below.

Originally Posted by Jat

Nothing like a bit of Ohlin goodness! Fair play for doing the setup yourself bud! Great job.

Cheers, it's always good getting your hands dirty and doing it yourself.

Originally Posted by gaza01

wow! Compared to BCs these just look the business!!!
great write up!
How you find them compared to the birds?

Mucho gracias buddy. They are a lovely bit of kit for sure. Really wanted to get more pics but it's too much having to keep stopping to take pics lol.

Originally Posted by borinous

they look great. hats off to you sir

Thanks and appreciated.

Originally Posted by parves

I need to get me one of those highkick spoilers 😍

Lol. It does add a nice touch to the rear.

[RajB]

So onto an initial review of the Ohlins.

Now I am in the fortunate position to be able to compare both the Birds B3 suspension against the Ohlins on the exact same car.

Firstly I must say that in no way was I not pleased or impressed by the Bird's dynamics and feel when either on the daily commute or A/B road blast. The reason for the switch was simply that the stance (although sat so sweet) was just a little too low for my daily commute due to a few speed humps etc I have to deal with a few times a day. I've scrapped the front splitter and hit the centre section of the Akra so wanted to be able to raise the car up a touch and then alter the damping dynamics if needed.

I have owned plenty of cars with a lot of different suspension setups and tracked a few of them too. Some have been quite harsh for normal use but sublime on track, some have been too soft for both really. Others have been spot on all round.

Now the Bird's B3 is an excellent bit of kit. It's damping dynamics are notably well suited to our roads and the time and effort that has been spent by Kevin Bird and Bilstein/Eibach to get it to where it is, is evident in the way it handles and rides. I was impressed from my first drive right up to the time I removed it lol. There generally isn't any real harshness and it reacts to changing road conditions very well without jarring you from the seat. Throwing it into a corner you can still feel a little roll but not enough that it feels like it's going to lose it's traction/grip.
I generally like a planted, stiffer ride and I'me quite used to it so that maybe influences my opinions.

Then onto the Ohlins R&T's which straight away is a notch up over the B3 setup. I have had a play with the damping and a few clicks harder/softer is noticeable round town driving. The stance as suggested by Ohlins themselves is perfect for me. The height all round is approx. 10mm higher and is enough to make the daily commute more pleasant without detracting from the great stance I had previously with the Bird's kit. As for the damping characteristics, wow. The technology employed by Ohlins is a cut above. It reacts to bumps far better. It compresses and decompresses without fault and with speed so means that although you know you've hit a bump it keeps well composed and inspires confidence. It's comfort levels are far superior too and is more supple. I've tried a few WOT runs to see how she squats under load (as I've read plenty regarding the soft Ohlins springs) but with the damping set to 10 on the rear she doesn't feel soft at all and certainly doesn't squat to the extent that I feel I will be swapping out the springs. She sits flat when under load and pushing into bends the roll is a little reduced too. I need top play with the damping more to find exactly where I feel most at home for daily use and when I hit the track too.

All in all, I'm really glad I made the move. I love the new setup and it will work well with the other mods I am sorting at the mo.

Car goes in next week for the next mod....

Thanks for reading.

Raj