[eforty6_m3]

Story goes something like this (disclaimer - all pics via iPhone 4S):

About a year back, I came upon an ad in a past issue of Roundel for a full E92 ZSP suspension (with only 5k miles) for an amazingly low price. The guy clearly had money and was just trying to firesale everything. After getting the price down a bit more, I decided to buy it, knowing that once it was in my possession, I had options:



(not pictured: control arms, front and rear sway bars, which were also included in the deal)

Option A: Use the suspension on my E90 (I did enough research where I know parts were interchangeable, but that spring rates would be off slightly) to get a stiffer ride, but minimal difference in ride height (roughly .6").

Option B: Sell suspension components individually and make money on my investment.

A few months later, I found myself at Cigar Masters in Providence with a few of my buddies, one of whom had just purchased an airride kit for his '08 Civic Si sedan. He'd been on coilovers for the past two years and was a huge proponent of coils and actually talked me out of swapping in the ZSP suspension. His reasoning made sense...all the work it would have taken (including compressing springs) wasn't worth it for the minimal lowered look. Knowing I could make money on the ZSP suspension, he suggested I sell off the parts and use that money towards some coilovers.

After a few weeks of going back and forth, I decided this was probably my best course of action. Living in New England, it would be nice to have the luxury of being able to raise the car in the winter and lower it in the summer, at will.

Thus, the next decision was to pick which coilovers I was going to go with. Knowing I was getting married fairly soon, I had to stick to a realistic budget. Well, turns out, I had a buddy over on e46fanatics who had installed BC Racing coilovers on his e46 M3 a few years back. Talking to him, and doing a TON of research on e90post, bimmerforums and other various sites, I decided BC was probably my best bet. Good warranty, very competitive pricing, and positive reviews were the deciding factor.

So, using the money I made from selling the ZSP parts (just springs and struts...I held onto the control arms and sway bars), I saved up for a few months and bought myself a nice pre-wedding gift. Ended up buying through Tristan at Circuit Motorsports (highly recommended...Tristan was super helpful) on a Wednesday and my package arrive at my house on Friday:



Called up my buddy (with the aforementioned Civic) and he got in touch with his buddy Fuzzy, who actually lives in my town, and Fuzzy agreed to install the coilovers for me. Fuzzy is a VW guy and a suspension guru....specializing in coilover and airride installs, he also rolls fenders and does just about anything else you'd need. When you have a lift in your "home" garage, you're doing something right. Following are photos from the install:



Removal of the trunk liner


Instructions?! I don't need no stinkin' instructions

































Damping extenders...no need to remove trunk liner when I want to adjust damping...CLUTCH! And they look clean installed this way


Rears installed



Swapped in the ZSP front sway bar, which is a slight upgrade on the non-sport sway bar (rears are identical)











looking like a hover car


fronts nearly installed



Straight off the lift, nicely tucked!



Straight off the lift, could use some settling


Love this angle/picture. Fresh off her first wash of the season...tell you what, Klasse is legit stuff...applied the AIO and the sealant right before the winter and you can totally tell








Me thinks the front needs to come down just a bit more, though it definitely did settle some and looks much better











So far, I'm loving my decision. I've probably driven between 500-600 miles (mix of city/highway) with the suspension installed and can attest that the ride is so much more firm and stable, with body roll just about eliminated. It obviously looks so much better (even my fiancee approves!) and enhances the otherwise unexciting style 159s (wheels are coming next year...wedding has taken all my money for the time being). Dampening was left, as is, right out of the box. Might play with it a bit to see the difference in ride quality, but so far, no complaints.

Actually ended up hanging out with some fellow BMW enthusiasts later that day and got a few shots...here are our cars on Federal Hill:

(Pictures were taken into the sun, so pardon the shitty quality)










One of my buddies had his daughters unicorn in his trunk. Naturally, this had to be incorporated into photos.
















And for shits and giggles...I saw this on my drive home:

[#Tee]

yes another happy BC user :P

[jm3as]

congrats on the stance and wedding. i'm tying the knot here in 5 months

[eforty6_m3]

Originally Posted by ~XxTeexX~

yes another happy BC user :P

Hell yeah!

Originally Posted by jm3as

congrats on the stance and wedding. i'm tying the knot here in 5 months

Awesome man...congrats! And thanks...my wedding is next month.

[playground]

Car needs some spacers... But congrats on coils, worlds difference.

[eforty6_m3]

Originally Posted by playground

Car needs some spacers... But congrats on coils, worlds difference.

Couldn't agree more. Funds are tapped for the time being. Hoping spacers come later this spring/summer...with wheels on tap for next year.

[playground]

Originally Posted by onebamf335i

Couldn't agree more. Funds are tapped for the time being. Hoping spacers come later this spring/summer...with wheels on tap for next year.

Weddings are expensive , congrats.

[2010MSPORT335i]

Originally Posted by onebamf335i

his buddy Fuzzy, who actually lives in my town, and Fuzzy agreed to install the coilovers for me. Fuzzy is a VW guy and a suspension guru....specializing in coilover and airride installs, he also rolls fenders and does just about anything else you'd need. When you have a lift in your "home" garage, you're doing something right. Following are photos from the install:

Fuzzy is a good guy. Know him from when I had my GTI

[eforty6_m3]

Originally Posted by idk alex

Fuzzy is a good guy. Know him from when I had my GTI

Yeah Fuzzy is the man...knows his shit, for sure.

[TitanLH8]

Awesome write-up and glad to see you're car is coming along nicely! Can't wait to see the new set of wheels installed!

[jm3as]

Originally Posted by playground

Weddings are expensive , congrats.

tell me about it. i'm going to sell this car for a fiat500. can't afford this lifestyle anymore. lol

[wdeerfield]

you need rear spacers, maybe a foot will do it.

car looks great at the height, just need wheels to come out some.

[Delusive]

Now to find some rims of your choice and your done for awhile!

[eforty6_m3]

Originally Posted by wdeerfield

you need rear spacers, maybe a foot will do it.

car looks great at the height, just need wheels to come out some.

You're telling me...found some on n54tech that I'm debating pulling the trigger on, but I hate to spend money with 5/24 looming large.

Originally Posted by JS-NA.E92

Now to find some rims of your choice and your done for awhile!

Exactly. Luckily for me, I've got time on my hands while I decide which direction to go in. Love the CSL look.

We'll see...

[wdeerfield]

spend it now while you dont have to ask her permission. good luck with the wedding!

i have those reps on my car in 18s finished in hyperblack.

[e'sbimmer]

Looks great! I say keep the wheels but I'm biased.

[eforty6_m3]

Originally Posted by e'sbimmer

Looks great! I say keep the wheels but I'm biased.

I assumed you said this because you yourself were rocking 159's...and after checking out your threads, my suspicions were confirmed. Haha...appreciate the input, bud!

[eforty6_m3]

Originally Posted by wdeerfield

spend it now while you dont have to ask her permission. good luck with the wedding!

i have those reps on my car in 18s finished in hyperblack.

Hahaha...why does everyone keep telling me that?!?! Thanks man...looking forward to it. That, and Hawaii!!

They look SICK. I'm leaning towards 18s when I eventually upgrade, myself. Thinking ride quality vs 19s.

[wdeerfield]

Originally Posted by onebamf335i

.looking forward to it. That, and Hawaii!!

go to kauai and do the open door helicopter tour. also check out the wailua kayak tour.

[eforty6_m3]

Originally Posted by wdeerfield

go to kauai and do the open door helicopter tour. also check out the wailua kayak tour.

We are actually going to Kauai and Maui...were definitely planning on doing the open door helicopter tour in Kauai, so thanks for the endorsement. Aside from having a traditional wedding registry, we also tried something which is getting a bit more popular, called a "honeyfund". Where you pick activities/excursions/dinners/etc. that you'd like to do on your honeymoon, and people can actually put money towards these things for you. After our shower, we ended up having everything we wanted to do during the honeymoon roughly 75% paid for, which is sick. So we'll cover the difference and then only have to spend money on food/drinks/gifts/souvenirs/etc.

Can't wait!

[project335i]

Nice another guy on BC.

The fronts need to go lower to match the rear, the car has no rake its to flat right now.

And definitely need spacers dude

[Game]

Originally Posted by project335i

Nice another guy on BC.

The fronts need to go lower to match the rear, the car has no rake its to flat right now.

And definitely need spacers dude

+1

Rear is much lower than the front.