[NC335d]

Originally Posted by 335dFan

These pics are not as good, but here is a comparison shot of my setup with JRZ RS1 and AC Schnitzer springs, and the adjusters in the front shock tower and the trunk about the wheel well. Does the Ohlin setup have adjusting knobs you can do yourself?

The adjusters for the rears are $200 from HPA, I'm about to order mine. I believe the fronts are adjusted from the bottom on the Ohlins. I don't have the car right now, I will get it back from BPC tonight. Gandolf The Tuning Wizard a.k.a. Bob@BPC has been doing a little bit of R&D on my tune. I'll play around with the suspension this weekend and give you guys more feedback.

335dFan, since you are running AC Schnitzer M3 springs on the rear, are you utilizing M3 camber arms as well? I have E90 Non-M Ohlins on the front and E90 M3 dampers on the rears and had to swap out my e90 Non-M camber arms for the M3 ones.

[mob17]

Originally Posted by Chief Orman

quick update... MS Sonic in San Jose had me come back after driving with my Ohlins for a week to let the shocks settle and do the final alignment. per my post above I had them tighten the Ohlins and make the toe and camber more aggressive. Andrew who runs the shop in San Jose had his guy Barrett work on my car. Barrett has a ton of experience putting Ohlins on BMWs. This is the first time I've really had a tuning shop where I felt like they really knew what they were doing. The car is now unfuckingbelieveable. It handles three times as good as it did before. I didn't think life could get any better after I had the Ohlins installed. However now the handling is just ridiculously good. With the Ohlins dialed stiffer and the more aggressive setup dialed in by Barrett I practically want to burst into tears every time I go through a fast turn. The handling is now totally unbelievably perfect and magical. If you live in the Bay Area go down to MS Sonic and ask for Andrew. By far and away the best mod I have ever made to my car hands down. Thanks to Mob17 for encouraging me to tighten up the Ohlins.

No problem.

I remember the first time i had the dampers set firmer than the ohlins recommended daily of 10. I was amazed!

[mob17]

FWIW, for my UK Ohlins purchase, i got rear adjusters, similar to the pic linked earlier, with the Ohlins kit. I didn't have to purchase them from HPA. The fronts are adjusted underneath the damper, just got to bend down and turn the knob

[335dFan]

Originally Posted by NC335d

335dFan, since you are running AC Schnitzer M3 springs on the rear, are you utilizing M3 camber arms as well? I have E90 Non-M Ohlins on the front and E90 M3 dampers on the rears and had to swap out my e90 Non-M camber arms for the M3 ones.

I have never heard any of the pieces I installed described as Camber Arms. You can see the actual pieces I installed in my signature. All of my front and rear control arms were M3 OEM front and rear control arm kit items. The only kit item I did not get was the M3 strut tower brace because all the speed shop guys told me the chassis was stiff enough and it wasn't worth the money. I still am pondering that one along with the M3 cowling.

The only thing that caused me some difficulty with the new rear setup was the headlight level sensor. The geometry of the sensor arm that came with the stock base body didn't work with the new rear setup, and it took a couple of months for them to figure out how to modify the sensor arm so my headlights wouldn't blind everyone. Now all is well.

[Poosik]

Originally Posted by Chief Orman

The car is now unfuckingbelieveable. It handles three times as good as it did before. I didn't think life could get any better after I had the Ohlins installed. However now the handling is just ridiculously good. With the Ohlins dialed stiffer and the more aggressive setup dialed in by Barrett I practically want to burst into tears every time I go through a fast turn. The handling is now totally unbelievably perfect and magical.

Sounds great. I also puled the trigger on Ohlins R/T, should be coming next week!!
Do you know your newly adjusted alignment setting(toe,camber)? - it would be great if my installers could just plug those values in after the install.

[gtp900]

How are these compared to the KW's?

[Chief Orman]

Originally Posted by Poosik

Sounds great. I also puled the trigger on Ohlins R/T, should be coming next week!!
Do you know your newly adjusted alignment setting(toe,camber)? - it would be great if my installers could just plug those values in after the install.

Not sure but let me see if I can find out. Stand by.

[Poosik]

Here we goo! Getting these installed tomorrow- shop quoted me $450 for install. Hoping they get it right!!

[NC335d]

Originally Posted by Poosik

Here we goo! Getting these installed tomorrow- shop quoted me $450 for install. Hoping they get it right!!

$450 is a VERY good price for an install. I just hope they know what they are doing and do it right.

FYI, the factory recommended settings for both front and rear are 10 clicks from the softest setting.

Congrats on your purchase, I hope you are as happy as the rest of us are!

[Poosik]

Im taking a chance on the shop (although it specializes in bmws), just keep telling myself its an "easy" job and a professional mechanic with a lift & tools can be successful at it. Theres youtube vids of guys swapping coils/struts on jack stands.

Glad others guys on here have these and can chime in with trouble shooting issues.

Any input on dialing in alligment settings?

[mob17]

If you knock the alignment pin out you can get -1 camber, by using ohlins ride height recommendations. Front toe i have 0.05 but will go zero next time

[Chief Orman]

Originally Posted by mob17

If you knock the alignment pin out you can get -1 camber, by using ohlins ride height recommendations. Front toe i have 0.05 but will go zero next time

why zero mob?

[Poosik]

How does the circle area look to you? Is there a bushing/mount missing??



Pros
Initial impressions are good. The way this kit makes the car feel really made me understand the limitations of the stock suspension. No comparison in how car attacks corners now while maintaining composure. Taking tight familiar turns at 10-15mph faster was at first kinda unbelievable. After exiting one turn the car is completely composed to attack the next and the next and the next corner. My neck actually feels tight (from supporting my head) after 30min of spirited back roads cruising. To my surprise tires didn't break traction despite significant speed and load increases in corner entry/exit - which is also interesting...
my comfort level with pushing around corners has drastically increased as it simply became easier to carve corners more rapidly.

Cons
Even at softest setting i can hear and feel road imperfections. My expectations exceeded reality.
Compared to base suspension- the Ohlins are a little quieter and a little smoother at negotiating shitty roads. I imagined them to provide a lexus ls470 ride quality- they don't.

Final thought-
despite my quest for a smooth ride to complement this dirty diesel, i'm dialing dampers settings in the opposite direction to "5 front, 5 rear" (stiff).
Why?? - because the car just got really fun and satisfying to drive again despite the harsher ride.

[Chief Orman]

Originally Posted by Poosik

How does the circle area look to you? Is there a bushing/mount missing??



Pros
Initial impressions are good. The way this kit makes the car feel really made me understand the limitations of the stock suspension. No comparison in how car attacks corners now while maintaining composure. Taking tight familiar turns at 10-15mph faster was at first kinda unbelievable. After exiting one turn the car is completely composed to attack the next and the next and the next corner. My neck actually feels tight (from supporting my head) after 30min of spirited back roads cruising. To my surprise tires didn't break traction despite significant speed and load increases in corner entry/exit - which is also interesting...
my comfort level with pushing around corners has drastically increased as it simply became easier to carve corners more rapidly.

Cons
Even at softest setting i can hear and feel road imperfections. My expectations exceeded reality.
Compared to base suspension- the Ohlins are a little quieter and a little smoother at negotiating shitty roads. I imagined them to provide a lexus ls470 ride quality- they don't.

Final thought-
despite my quest for a smooth ride to complement this dirty diesel, i'm dialing dampers settings in the opposite direction to "5 front, 5 rear" (stiff).
Why?? - because the car just got really fun and satisfying to drive again despite the harsher ride.

Amen brother

[Poosik]

Anyone mind posting a closeup pic of their rear Ohlins springs??

I THINK there's more noise in the Rears- like a low deep non-metalic thump thump thump after hitting pronounced road services or small holes in road. Its difficult to isolate and im not certain its the rears only.
The sound is definately NOT louder now compared with base suspension, I was just expecting the thumps to significantly decrease with the Ohlins. Youtube videos/reviews describe road imperfections to be significantly decreased- however i dont find that to be true.

[CvilleBill]

Does anyone with Ohlin's know if the stock ride height of the M-sport can be maintained with this setup?

[NC335d]

Originally Posted by CvilleBill

Does anyone with Ohlin's know if the stock ride height of the M-sport can be maintained with this setup?

You will basically be right there, since when the ride height on the Ohlins is set to the tallest height it is roughly a 0.50" lower than stock on a base model.

[CvilleBill]

Thanks NC335d. It would seem that the younger crowd wants their car as low as possible. Too many opossums and skunks around here!

[remlemasi]

Originally Posted by CvilleBill

Thanks NC335d. It would seem that the younger crowd wants their car as low as possible. Too many opossums and skunks around here!

I'm on KW V3s and love them, but the car is way too low though. Rear is at highest setting and I still scrape on everything .

When the shocks are ready for a rebuild, I'll likely do the HPA swift spring conversion, which should allow me to raise the rear height a bit.

[Dirk Van Driver]

Originally Posted by Poosik

How does the circle area look to you? Is there a bushing/mount missing??



Pros
Initial impressions are good. The way this kit makes the car feel really made me understand the limitations of the stock suspension. No comparison in how car attacks corners now while maintaining composure. Taking tight familiar turns at 10-15mph faster was at first kinda unbelievable. After exiting one turn the car is completely composed to attack the next and the next and the next corner. My neck actually feels tight (from supporting my head) after 30min of spirited back roads cruising. To my surprise tires didn't break traction despite significant speed and load increases in corner entry/exit - which is also interesting...
my comfort level with pushing around corners has drastically increased as it simply became easier to carve corners more rapidly.

Cons
Even at softest setting i can hear and feel road imperfections. My expectations exceeded reality.
Compared to base suspension- the Ohlins are a little quieter and a little smoother at negotiating shitty roads. I imagined them to provide a lexus ls470 ride quality- they don't.

Final thought-
despite my quest for a smooth ride to complement this dirty diesel, i'm dialing dampers settings in the opposite direction to "5 front, 5 rear" (stiff).
Why?? - because the car just got really fun and satisfying to drive again despite the harsher ride.

Hmmm, was thinking of going with the Ohlins, but I wanted the Lexus LS 470 ride quality. Apologies for all the questions, but need some further info off you before I make a decision.

What size wheels are you running 17/18 or 19" ?

What tyres are you running run-flats or non run-flats ?

Tyre brand and model ? Tyre sizes ?

Many thanks in advance.

[Chief Orman]

Originally Posted by NC335d

You will basically be right there, since when the ride height on the Ohlins is set to the tallest height it is roughly a 0.50" lower than stock on a base model.

Ohlins definitely lowered my car by a very small and manageable amount

[Chief Orman]

Originally Posted by Poosik

Anyone mind posting a closeup pic of their rear Ohlins springs??

I THINK there's more noise in the Rears- like a low deep non-metalic thump thump thump after hitting pronounced road services or small holes in road. Its difficult to isolate and im not certain its the rears only.
The sound is definately NOT louder now compared with base suspension, I was just expecting the thumps to significantly decrease with the Ohlins. Youtube videos/reviews describe road imperfections to be significantly decreased- however i dont find that to be true.

check my earlier posts on this topic. I posted a bunch of pictures. for some god damn reason I can't repost them. I keep getting some 50 line error code Bimmerpost. sorry. find the earlier post and you'll see the pictures.