[sajakh]

Originally Posted by gizmo335i

I know that spring rates play a part as well but I'm not going to be able to tell that much difference anyway if I were to test all these different setups (shocks/springs).

I think its not spring rates per se but whether they are linear vs progressive. The stock springs are linear as verified by KONI and the eibach pro/H&R are progressive. That is spring rate changes linearly or progressively to degree of compression. My feeling is that KONI developed FSD specifically for linear springs (stock) as they stated to me.


BTW, I got rid of the runflats the first chance I got

[YvesD]

Originally Posted by gizmo335i

Well, that's not what I was told by some others on here that have experience with the FSD's/sports. So like I said, we'll see if it's TOO bouncy then...don't have much of a choice now since that's what I spent my money on.....

For the UK's horribly surfaced roads at least, its TOO BOUNCY.

FSD's are optimised for standard springs, everything else is an obvious compromise.

Yves

[gizmo335i]

The roads in Germany are pretty good..at least where I live..

Look, Koni says that the FSD's are a perfect match to the eibach pro's...the sports are almost the same. I can't believe the difference will be that significant unless you have a lot of experience with every setup....

[YvesD]

Originally Posted by gizmo335i

The roads in Germany are pretty good..at least where I live..

Look, Koni says that the FSD's are a perfect match to the eibach pro's...the sports are almost the same. I can't believe the difference will be that significant unless you have a lot of experience with every setup....

Friend, I have this exact set up and be assured, they are not a perfect match as they are optimised for the standard spring which is longer and not as stiff. They are a 'Decent match', yes, the biggest compromise is with the rebound damping which isnt strong enough to control the spring on fast undualtions and crests. Hops and jiggles are what you will experience.

I have tested this back to back against a friends car with Eibach and Yellows. The difference even on the softest Yellow setting was striking.

Also, I have a lighter wheel and tyre set up than OEM, so less unsprung mass is actually helping the FSD's out too.

You have been warned !

Yves

[gizmo335i]

Alright man....you've got me all nervous now, lol...

So let me just ask this....

If I'm not going to be running my car "hard" hardly ever (which is the case), then you think I will not notice what you're talking about much?

I don't take my car out for hard runs hardly ever and I'm not looking for the perfect match anyway. As long as my car still rides good after the drop, my alignment is good and I don't experience really bad hopping, then I'll be satisfied. I'm not looking to get a tremendous amount of handling improvement out of this. I'm doing the drop more for looks. But I don't want to be experiencing an extremely rough ride after either. So it is about maintaining comfort at avg speeds for me. That's why I went with the FSD's. The vendors told me that they would offer me the best comfort level along with the H&R's vs. the yellows.

[YvesD]

[QUOTE=gizmo335i;6771647]Alright man....you've got me all nervous now, lol...

So let me just ask this....

If I'm not going to be running my car "hard" hardly ever (which is the case), then you think I will not notice what you're talking about much?

You will notice it beacause the floatyness at speed is not related to driving 'hard' necessarily. I notice it most going dead straight at 70mph which is a 'normal' as you can get really.

The ride is not rough, firmly damped yes, not crashy and rough. This aspect of the set up is actually very good and approaches stock levels of comfort on all but the most poorly surfaced roads ( of which most of ours are in the UK !)

Just have in mind that the H&R's are not as good a match for FSD as the Eibachs.....Again, there is respected Brother here in the UK that went that route and very quickly swapped for the Alpina standard set up due to the issues I have been describing, only worse.

I might revert to the standard springs again just to establish whether its purely a lowering issue or whether the FSD's are inherantly soft on rebound.


Yves

[gizmo335i]

Alright...well at least I'll know what I'm looking for when I get all this done and I'm driving around right after. I am getting it done this weekend but I'm also waiting on my wheels/tires to come in. I would have liked to have everything at once. But I can't wait to drop it...I'll let you know what I think....I wonder if there is anyone on here now that has this setup already...

[JM_Fernandez]

Hi Gizmo, how has the setup work so far?

Yves, I´m trying to decide between koni Yellow and FSDs i have already the H&R Sports on with OEM shocks on my E90 and for the streets in Mexico that setup is crap...

Any sugestions?

also, i´ve read that installing the fsd will lower the car a little more, is that true?


Best Regards
JM Fernandez

[HRC]

FSD's will not lower the car more than the H&R sport springs. Do your car a favor, get the yellows or put the OEM springs back on.

Danny

[GaryS]

Originally Posted by sajakh

I was told my the KONI rep that the FSDs for the 335i were specifically designed for the stock springs.

I think it's interesting how the same part # 2100 4036 FSDs that Koni designed specifically for the 3946 pound 335i convertible with 145 lb/in stock springs were also designed specifically for the 3252 pound 128i coupe with its 108 lb/in stock springs.

Adding: I don't think it should surprise anyone that some people like monotube shocks best, and some like Koni yellows best, and others (like me) like FSDs best. In the same way that I don't really love Koni Sports and don't like monotubes at all, there are people who just dislike FSDs. I really recommend try before you buy.

[gizmo335i]

I don't have any problems with them. But the roads are good where I live. I did take a trip this weekend and was driving around on some shitty roads a little..and that wasn't fun....so I wouldn't listen to my advice on them.....I'm happy with the ride around my area.....but I think no matter what, your ride is gonna suck on crappy roads no matter what if you drop the car.....just from my experience of riding in dropped cars over the years.....I'm probably gonna go with CO's eventually anyway...

[JM_Fernandez]

I think my biggest problem with my actual setup (H&R Sport w/OEM non ZSP shocks) is that where I live we have too many speed bumps, and I have to be extra careful for the car not to Scrape or bang against them, I think that my only solution is to go back to stock (not an option, I like the drop) or switch to the eibach springs (which lower the car a bit less); passing over potholes feels like the car will fall apart any moment, other than that the car does handle much better, but I think that my preference over anything would be to have more ride comfort since the streets over here don’t allow for much illegal driving anyway, BUT keeping a decent drop…

Any suggestions?

FSDs? Yellows?

[gizmo335i]

I see that you have an E90....search for pics of this car with eibachs....it lowers it pretty decent...much better than I've seen on the E92...and then you can go with the FSD's....but yeah..otherwise I guess go with the yellows...cause that's another thing....the E90's look like they go lower than the E92 on H&R sport as well...or just say screw it and get CO's...you could sell your H&R's on here...

[HRC]

Repost of picture:

Roads are not good here in the Bay Area. I travel to San Francisco (worese roads/driveways) alot and this h/r sport with yellow damper setup handles it all except real steep drivways (the crazy ones) and some of higher/sharper speedbumps with the car loaded. The only thing my car cannot handle is parking blocks, I back in to park with those otherwisw the mtech front would share paint. Those who have driven lowered cars will know how to drive it. Ride is great, even with my 3 year old baby, little firmer than OEM ZSP.

The only complaint from my wife is the snug ZSP seats...

Danny

[HRC]

BTW, I do not consider my ride with 19' rims/non-run-flat tires and aftermarket suspension ride to be crappy on bad roads at all, in fact it is so much better than the stock 18" run-flats and 18" rims. I only feel like that if the roads are like driving over train tracks and roads that are borderline rally tracks and 4x4 territory, and if I drove over those roads with the stock setup, it would be jarring to the point you could lose a tooth.

So this is WAYYY smother than the OEM.

Danny

[dbjb]

HRC,

Where did you get your Yellows? New or Used? Install them yourself or mechanic? I can't find a DIY for some reason. Maybe one is not available...

My H&R Sports should be here any day now. Getting that along with some 5/10mm spacers and 19" wheels. I think Yellows make the most sense. I'm guessing you'd agree.

Last question... Any other suspension tweaks coming? Sways, etc?

[HRC]

I got them new at Motorsports Direct back in 2006. Ask for Matt Wheeler.

I had them installed at Auto Innovations. There is a DIY, here is one of them. Although it is for a spring swap, it involves everything you need to remover, replace the dampers.

Most mass produced cars have under-steer built into the car on purpose, the masses need the safety that goes with under-steer.

As for other suspension mods, I have been flamed many times but I still suggest replacing the rear sway bar if you desire the car to be more tossable. Trade off is the car is more twitchy and turn in is more quick. Over steer is alot easier to induce, which could be scary for some. The rear end is more "loose". If you prefer, you can nullify some of that if you don't like that, you can install a front/rear sway bar set or leave the stock set up alone.

Danny

Originally Posted by dsbj

HRC,

Where did you get your Yellows? New or Used? Install them yourself or mechanic? I can't find a DIY for some reason. Maybe one is not available...

My H&R Sports should be here any day now. Getting that along with some 5/10mm spacers and 19" wheels. I think Yellows make the most sense. I'm guessing you'd agree.

Last question... Any other suspension tweaks coming? Sways, etc?

[dbjb]

Thanks Danny.

I really appreciate the guidance. I think I'll go without the sways for now. I'll see how it drives first and then decide. On occasion, my wife will drive the car. She's used to big SUV's that plow through corners. I'm a bit too scared to hand her the keys if it were 'twitchy' in any way.

[JM_Fernandez]

Thanks for the feedback, I think i´ll end up getting rid of the H&Rs and switching to the eibachs, maybe the 2 cm that will go up can help a little with the speed bumps, even though the city I live in has good highways, the residential areas have lots and lots of speed bumps, and are not regulated so some of them are really big and some of them are small and sharp so if you don’t go really slow the car will bang against them, I didn’t have that problem with OEM suspension, don’t know if the shocks will help with that problem, anyways the scraping is barely noticeable I think it’s a matter of about half an inch higher and it will clear just ok, the only concern i have is ride quality, **********s sell the Eibach, FSDs combo for about $849, but for what I can read from you guys its not recommended to use FSDs with lowering springs, Are the yellow with the softest setting comfortable?

Has anybody read anything about the TEIN Springs?

Thanks

[gizmo335i]

The FSD's are fine with the eibachs...I don't think anyone would disagree wtih that..every review I've read on that combo was extra positive....

[Turkeybaster115]

Just to warn everyone on here, it seems that Koni FSD's have a very high failure rate with the 5 series cars. M5board, and bimmerforums are filled with posts about blown shocks within a year of use. This leads me to conclude that Koni FSD's are probably good for replacement on the 3 series NON Sport package cars vehicles only!! Stock sport springs, or any other progressive spring rated lowering springs will lead to shock, rapid deterioration. :2cents:

[bgboost]

Figured since I have the Eibach/FSD setup, I should respond.

I now have about 1500-1800 miles on this setup about 1 month of driving.
The first 1200 miles or 3 weeks of this setup it felt great. Very smooth, well controlled and better overall ride quality than my stock non-sport setup.

Lately though, its beginning to change. It is still smooth on the highway, but now I can feel that I am driving a "lowered car" if you can relate. Random bumps in the road especially at higher speeds are now so much more pronounced than before. Higher speed freeway entries where the ramp is not so smooth does not inspire confidence. Granted, I've been running a tune on the car over the last week or so, I am pushing it harder though even freeway driving I notice bumps a lot more now than early on.

Overall its still a good setup, but I'm no longer completely satisfied with the setup. I hope the ride quality does not deteriorate anymore, otherwise I'll be searching for a new setup.