[biz77]

Originally Posted by type-dRew

You're going to claim maintenance when you wreck your car? They going to reimburse you for half an oil change if you only have a couple thousand miles on it when you wreck? Lmao

Who cares if bright red shocks aren't conspicuous, the only reason suspension parts would matter to an insurance adjuster is if it was a bullshit setup and helped cause the accident. Otherwise you're just picking nits worrying about what insurance is aware of on your car.

Someone totaled my car in January. I told the adjuster the car had a turbo back exhaust, intake, intercooler and meth kit. They said they would pay me half what it cost new except the meth kit and to pull it off if I wanted. Before that they were unaware of any mods. Just not sure why you'd risk having your rates go up for a couple hundred dollars in maintenance parts. Want to insure an outrageous body kit, wheels, stereo, turbo kit? Okay I can somewhat see paying an elevated premium for that. But do you tell them when you switch from regular to synthetic oil or if you just did a coolant flush? 😂

Did you stop to think he's from the UK and perhaps things work differently over there?

If you make modifications to your car (IE: replace hard parts with non-factory or OEM-equivalent parts) you must declare them with your insurer or, as Tambohamilton already stated, the insurer may not cover you in the event of a loss. Just the way it is over there.

[biz77]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Can you direct me to someone who's had problems with the FSD? Somehow in my research I couldn't find anyone (directly) complaining, though heard mention of it from a couple of others.

Here is an example...

Originally Posted by cranelec

30K miles max on Northeastern PA roads 2007 328xi & 2011 335i xDrive. Fortunately, I somehow managed to get a lifetime warranty. Replaced the 335 with Bilstein and replaced the rears on the 2007 with the red ones. Thrilled with the Bilsteins, Koni "reds" meh.

[type-dRew]

Originally Posted by biz77

Did you stop to think he's from the UK and perhaps things work differently over there?

If you make modifications to your car (IE: replace hard parts with non-factory or OEM-equivalent parts) you must declare them with your insurer or, as Tambohamilton already stated, the insurer may not cover you in the event of a loss. Just the way it is over there.

Yeah I figured that, especially since it says UK right under his name. I just still wouldn't do it. They don't need to know when I use a new style oil filter.

Absolutely nuts.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by type-dRew

Yeah I figured that, especially since it says UK right under his name. I just still wouldn't do it. They don't need to know when I use a new style oil filter.

Absolutely nuts.

It's really not 'nuts'. I have no idea how your insurers work, but in the UK the insurer can refuse to pay out entirely if the car is not what they were told they were insuring. They rarely do, in reality, but why take the risk for the sake of potentially a few £$?

To give some perspective, I went to get Michelin PS4 fitted to the rear of my car last year. Thought nothing of it, other than getting some decent non-RFT tyres to replace the ones which were worn out. Turned up at the garage and they refused to fit them until I had cleared it with my insurance company that it was OK to run a mix of RFT and not. That wasn't an independent garage, and the fellow told me it was company policy.

I'd love to run water/meth injection, but........

[biz77]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

It's really not 'nuts'. I have no idea how your insurers work...

Basically if the VIN on the vehicle needing repairs or being paid out as a total loss matches the VIN on your policy then you are covered, but don't expect to be paid on aftermarket equipment unless you have a special policy to cover that equipment.

The nice thing about this is I can drive around a highly modified car and pay the same insurance premium as if it were stock. The bad thing is if I have $25,000 in upgrades on my car and it gets totaled, that $25,000 is essentially lost because my payout would only be what the stock car is worth.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by biz77

Basically if the VIN on the vehicle needing repairs or being paid out as a total loss matches the VIN on your policy then you are covered, but don't expect to be paid on aftermarket equipment unless you have a special policy to cover that equipment.

The nice thing about this is I can drive around a highly modified car and pay the same insurance premium as if it were stock. The bad thing is if I have $25,000 in upgrades on my car and it gets totaled, that $25,000 is essentially lost because my payout would only be what the stock car is worth.

Fook me, that's amazing! Over here they assume that BMW (or whatever maker) have made the car as safe and functional as possible, and therefore ANY deviation from that makes the car less safe in some way. Additionally they assume (probably correctly) that performance parts mean you'll be hooning more, and therefore more likely to have an expensive crash. Bottom line is that if you change anything, your insurance goes up. Technically, even factory options are classed as modifications (from the base spec), but all insurers actually overlook that. Same goes for non-performance replacement parts which aren't genuine OE parts. If you don't tell them exactly what you're driving, they have the right to refuse to pay out on your claim - the insurance contract is void.

That would be totally awesome to only pay a fixed amount for the car - wouldn't bother me if the upgrades weren't insured! Just pull the parts off the wrecked car, as said! You lot have got it GOOD!

Anyhow, that's enough OT insurance chat I guess... Still super happy with the Special Actives. Can feel their limitations (mid corner bumps on the outside wheel, for example), but overall they do a great job of being 'best of both worlds'. Stoked!

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Fook me, that's amazing! Over here they assume that BMW (or whatever maker) have made the car as safe and functional as possible, and therefore ANY deviation from that makes the car less safe in some way. Additionally they assume (probably correctly) that performance parts mean you'll be hooning more, and therefore more likely to have an expensive crash. Bottom line is that if you change anything, your insurance goes up. Technically, even factory options are classed as modifications (from the base spec), but all insurers actually overlook that. Same goes for non-performance replacement parts which aren't genuine OE parts. If you don't tell them exactly what you're driving, they have the right to refuse to pay out on your claim - the insurance contract is void.

That would be totally awesome to only pay a fixed amount for the car - wouldn't bother me if the upgrades weren't insured! Just pull the parts off the wrecked car, as said! You lot have got it GOOD!

Anyhow, that's enough OT insurance chat I guess... Still super happy with the Special Actives. Can feel their limitations (mid corner bumps on the outside wheel, for example), but overall they do a great job of being 'best of both worlds'. Stoked!

Did you get an alignment? Poor alignment can make your car upset during mid corner bumps if the suspension isn't too stiff.

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

Did you get an alignment? Poor alignment can make your car upset during mid corner bumps if the suspension isn't too stiff.

Yep, though it turned out my string and spirit level got the front pretty close! Was quite proud

It's not that it wanders off line or anything, it's just that the bump feels more harsh...which is a fact of life with this damping mechanism.

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

Yep, though it turned out my string and spirit level got the front pretty close! Was quite proud

It's not that it wanders off line or anything, it's just that the bump feels more harsh...which is a fact of life with this damping mechanism.

I haven't installed my koni kit yet but you'd be surprised at how crappy some shops can be. After installing my bilsteins my car would move so much during mid corner bumps and would hate one wheel bumps and undulations, the car was twitchy and I hated it. Turned out the alignment guy decided to put toe out. Once I got it properly realigned it drove like a charm. I'm just hoping I can make the koni kit perform just as good. Maybe the dampening rate being matched to the springs will help?

[Tambohamilton]

Don't be put off by my comments on the limitations - it's not a criticism, just an observation. The harshness
at its worst (in occasional, weird scenarios) is no worse than the standard dampers were all the time.

I did use a mechanic I trust for the alignment, and got all 4 wheels done. Fronts were not bad where I had set them, though they still tweaked it a little. But the rears were terrible; 2.5deg of neg camber, and 1.5deg toe out!

By the way, folks who track their e9x's actually agree that about 0.15deg of toe out is constructive... I can't say I really understand why, but folk who would know better also agree!

[cdgatti]

Originally Posted by type-dRew

Yeah I figured that, especially since it says UK right under his name. I just still wouldn't do it. They don't need to know when I use a new style oil filter.

Absolutely nuts.

Reminds of why we declared our Independence!

[MEN54]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

I haven't installed my koni kit yet but you'd be surprised at how crappy some shops can be. After installing my bilsteins my car would move so much during mid corner bumps and would hate one wheel bumps and undulations, the car was twitchy and I hated it. Turned out the alignment guy decided to put toe out. Once I got it properly realigned it drove like a charm. I'm just hoping I can make the koni kit perform just as good. Maybe the dampening rate being matched to the springs will help?

Hey Bro, did you get it installed?

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by MEN54

Hey Bro, did you get it installed?

Not yet. DIY a lot of my stuff. I decided to get stiffer but progressive and shorter speedthane bump stops. It seems as if the bump stops weren't enough for the FSD'S so I'm playing it safe with the active. I'm putting them on all 4 corners. So half an inch more travel in the rear and over half an inch in the front. It seems as if the original FSD's just needed proper bumpstops. I'm waiting for all the parts to come in.https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...mp+stop&page=3

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by MEN54

Hey Bro, did you get it installed?

The kit is amazing. It soaks up bumps well and the shocks are perfectly valved to the springs. Some dips or sunken manhole covers I can't even feel anymore. The body control is perfect, no excess bouncing or "jiggling" from improperly matched shocks. The car is still sporty but the edge was taken off of road imperfections. It's by no means a mercedes but a lot more comfortable now. My girl rated my ride as a 4 before now as an 8 out of 10. The m3 front and back with subframe bushings probably make my car stiffer than normal.

Also I don't seem to have the midcorner problems as Tambohamilton. I'll probably need more driving to be 100% sure

[MEN54]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

The kit is amazing. It soaks up bumps well and the shocks are perfectly valved to the springs. Some dips or sunken manhole covers I can't even feel anymore. The body control is perfect, no excess bouncing or "jiggling" from improperly matched shocks. The car is still sporty but the edge was taken off of road imperfections. It's by no means a mercedes but a lot more comfortable now. My girl rated my ride as a 4 before now as an 8 out of 10. The m3 front and back with subframe bushings probably make my car stiffer than normal.

Also I don't seem to have the midcorner problems as Tambohamilton. I'll probably need more driving to be 100% sure

Thanks for the review, are you lowered with eibach pro kit springs?

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by MEN54

Thanks for the review, are you lowered with eibach pro kit springs?

About the same height as the sport package maybe a little lower.

Also I think a big thing that these type of shocks need are upgraded bump stops. I think I already reached them but I haven't noticed because there hasn't been any loud crashes or bangs on big compressions.
Koni should really put upgraded bumpstops with their kits.

[MEN54]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

About the same height as the sport package maybe a little lower.

Also I think a big thing that these type of shocks need are upgraded bump stops. I think I already reached them but I haven't noticed because there hasn't been any loud crashes or bangs on big compressions.
Koni should really put upgraded bumpstops with their kits.

Does this kit came with bump stops? what bump stops did you use with these, if you matched these dampers with eibach pro kit springs them you might have to use z4 bump stops in rear or cut rear bump stop according to eibach tech support?

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by MEN54

Does this kit came with bump stops? what bump stops did you use with these, if you matched these dampers with eibach pro kit springs them you might have to use z4 bump stops in rear or cut rear bump stop according to eibach tech support?

I didn't match these dampers with eibach pro-kit. They were matched by Koni, they came as a kit with the eibach springs and were valved to match the springs. And from what I can tell they are perfectly matched.

I used the Blue speedthane bump stops that were mentioned in this thread. https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...mp+stop&page=3

Here is the speedthane on the left vs. A rear sport bump stop. I bought new dust boots in the rear to put them in.

The speedthane went on all 4 corners.

[6ixSpd]

You put the 58mm 40G (blue) stops on all four corners?

Hmmm, I might have to give these a shot. My Koni yellow easily run out of suspension travel right now, it's terrible over bumps and manhole covers. The front crashes so hard. I think my rears may be blown as well since they've all been on the car for 45k miles now and the back end skips laterally over bumps really badly to the point it's kind of scary on the highway... Tempted to buy FSDs as I would really like some comfort back.

[MEN54]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

You put the 58mm 40G (blue) stops on all four corners?

Hmmm, I might have to give these a shot. My Koni yellow easily run out of suspension travel right now, it's terrible over bumps and manhole covers. The front crashes so hard. I think my rears may be blown as well since they've all been on the car for 45k miles now and the back end skips laterally over bumps really badly to the point it's kind of scary on the highway... Tempted to buy FSDs as I would really like some comfort back.

They discontinued fed and replaced with koni special active dampers.

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by MEN54

They discontinued fed and replaced with koni special active dampers.

Right, I meant SA not FSD.

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

You put the 58mm 40G (blue) stops on all four corners?

Hmmm, I might have to give these a shot. My Koni yellow easily run out of suspension travel right now, it's terrible over bumps and manhole covers. The front crashes so hard. I think my rears may be blown as well since they've all been on the car for 45k miles now and the back end skips laterally over bumps really badly to the point it's kind of scary on the highway... Tempted to buy FSDs as I would really like some comfort back.

Yeah all 4 corners. The car hasn't crashed once yet, rides like a dream.
The front bump stop I had to make the hole bigger near the bottom half because it was to tight for some reason it's a smaller diameter. Took like 10 min using a serrated knife from a multi tool and added grease before putting it on. The back fit with ease, it holds well and stays where you want it to.

I think a lot of different setups on these cars would benefit from proper bumpstops. Forget about the front bilsteins though the shaft is way too big.