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      06-11-2012, 11:13 PM   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slicer View Post
RD Sport is the lowest spring option.
Thanks bud.
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      06-12-2012, 02:33 AM   #46
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Changed from Eibach, which was pretty comfortable but a bit bouncy, to RD Sports. No more bounciness and it hasn't affected ride quality at all. The car is still very comfortable and pretty close to stock. Keep in mind that at the time of spring change, I also went from a 20" wheel and tire setup to an 18" so maybe it made a difference.
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      06-12-2012, 04:52 AM   #47
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Originally Posted by mosx View Post
That looks good! Are you running stock tire sizes?
Just 10mm larger: 255/35-19 front, 275/35-19 rear Michelin Super Sports on OEM GTS wheels.
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      06-12-2012, 12:04 PM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maseroche View Post
Changed from Eibach, which was pretty comfortable but a bit bouncy, to RD Sports. No more bounciness and it hasn't affected ride quality at all. The car is still very comfortable and pretty close to stock. Keep in mind that at the time of spring change, I also went from a 20" wheel and tire setup to an 18" so maybe it made a difference.
The change from 20" to 18" wheels is very much the difference in what you felt. The OPs request is a bit unrealistic IMO. I have Eibachs and it definitely does not ride or handle like stock. The handling is slightly improved but the ride is noticeably stiffer. Not uncomfortable but to say it rides like stock is either a lie or the result of a loss of sensitivity in the butt

When lowering a car, be realistic and expect that you will lose some of the comfort level of the OEM ride. If not, you will be disappointed with anything you get. Finally, I think the closest you will get to OEM like ride comfort will be with the Dinan Stage I kit but it won't lower the car that much.
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      06-12-2012, 12:33 PM   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 808MGuy View Post
The change from 20" to 18" wheels is very much the difference in what you felt. The OPs request is a bit unrealistic IMO. I have Eibachs and it definitely does not ride or handle like stock. The handling is slightly improved but the ride is noticeably stiffer. Not uncomfortable but to say it rides like stock is either a lie or the result of a loss of sensitivity in the butt

When lowering a car, be realistic and expect that you will lose some of the comfort level of the OEM ride. If not, you will be disappointed with anything you get. Finally, I think the closest you will get to OEM like ride comfort will be with the Dinan Stage I kit but it won't lower the car that much.
+1
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      05-02-2013, 09:34 PM   #50
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Isnt B&G a lil lower than R&D?
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      07-31-2013, 09:46 PM   #51
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Thought I would bump this thread. I am looking for a suspension setup that will give me a mild cosmetic drop with the least impact on OEM ride quality. A little performance gain would be a bonus.

I am trying to decide between Dinan and KW Sleeve Kit. The Dinan approach -- changing the suspension components to achieve a drop without losing suspension travel -- seems ingenious. On the other hand, I like that the KW Sleeve allows one to dial the ride height.

I can't tell whether the KW Sleeve Kit also changes any components to preserve suspension travel. But if not, it seems to me that the ideal setup would combine the two: modified components as in the Dinan kit with the KW Sleeve Kit. Not sure if this is possible or economically viable, but it seems to me that it would be ideal.

Short of a way to combine the two, has any consensus emerged as to which is the preferred kit? (I realize there is a thread on this exact subject; I've read it, but it didn't seem to yield any firm conclusions.)
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      07-31-2013, 10:54 PM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hujan View Post
the ideal setup would combine the two: modified components as in the Dinan kit with the KW Sleeve Kit.
You have just described a coilover kit. There are a lot of different kits available.
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      07-31-2013, 10:57 PM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hujan View Post
Thought I would bump this thread. I am looking for a suspension setup that will give me a mild cosmetic drop with the least impact on OEM ride quality. A little performance gain would be a bonus.

I am trying to decide between Dinan and KW Sleeve Kit. The Dinan approach -- changing the suspension components to achieve a drop without losing suspension travel -- seems ingenious. On the other hand, I like that the KW Sleeve allows one to dial the ride height.

I can't tell whether the KW Sleeve Kit also changes any components to preserve suspension travel. But if not, it seems to me that the ideal setup would combine the two: modified components as in the Dinan kit with the KW Sleeve Kit. Not sure if this is possible or economically viable, but it seems to me that it would be ideal.

Short of a way to combine the two, has any consensus emerged as to which is the preferred kit? (I realize there is a thread on this exact subject; I've read it, but it didn't seem to yield any firm conclusions.)
KW Sleeve kit preserves travel by supplying shorter bump stops. The dinan kit provides shaved guide supports as well as shortened bump stops so I would think the dinan kit should have more travel. You could shave down your guide supports and use them with the KW sleeve kit but I don't think its necessary.

IMO the Dinan kit is not worth it since the drop is not really noticeable, about the same height as a stock ZCP.

Like you, I wanted an OEM ride, just lower so I ended up going with the Ohlins R&T coilovers which go for around $2950 but are a great value whereas IMO the KW sleeve and dinan kits are way overpriced.
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      07-31-2013, 11:13 PM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W Cole View Post
KW Sleeve kit preserves travel by supplying shorter bump stops. The dinan kit provides shaved guide supports as well as shortened bump stops so I would think the dinan kit should have more travel. You could shave down your guide supports and use them with the KW sleeve kit but I don't think its necessary.

IMO the Dinan kit is not worth it since the drop is not really noticeable, about the same height as a stock ZCP.

Like you, I wanted an OEM ride, just lower so I ended up going with the Ohlins R&T coilovers which go for around $2950 but are a great value whereas IMO the KW sleeve and dinan kits are way overpriced.
Thanks for the feedback. I should have specified: I have a ZCP car. I'm assuming that means I'd get lower still. Not sure if that changes your opinion. Is it possible to get shaved guide supports separately? Combining those with the KW Sleeve would seem to be exactly what I had in mind.

Ohlins R&T, huh? I'm not as familiar with Ohlins as I am with KW, other than knowing they have an awesome reputation. How are the Ohlins on the street?
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      08-01-2013, 01:29 AM   #55
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My biggest question about the Ohlins are how often do they need to be serviced or rebuilt?
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      08-01-2013, 05:00 PM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hujan View Post
Thanks for the feedback. I should have specified: I have a ZCP car. I'm assuming that means I'd get lower still. Not sure if that changes your opinion. Is it possible to get shaved guide supports separately? Combining those with the KW Sleeve would seem to be exactly what I had in mind.

Ohlins R&T, huh? I'm not as familiar with Ohlins as I am with KW, other than knowing they have an awesome reputation. How are the Ohlins on the street?
You will not go any lower than a non-ZCP car. In fact, this means you will have little, if any, noticeable drop with the Dinan over ZCP.

Yes, you can mill down the guide supports yourself, I am not familiar with the exact process. Malek from MRF engineering on the forums sells them I believe.

The Ohlins are a higher end dampener, better than the KWs.
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      08-01-2013, 05:02 PM   #57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 808MGuy View Post
My biggest question about the Ohlins are how often do they need to be serviced or rebuilt?
I believe Ohlins states 30k kilometers. I am not sure why this is so soon. When I spoke to the KW reps at bimmerfest they said they have dyno'd V3s with over 100k miles that were still fine. They said to only service them if they started to leak. I see no reason why the Ohlins would be any different - they are probably just being conservative. I would think that as long as they aren't leaking and the fluid hasn't worn out so much that you are underdampened then there would be no reason to service them.
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      08-01-2013, 05:23 PM   #58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W Cole View Post
I believe Ohlins states 30k kilometers. I am not sure why this is so soon. When I spoke to the KW reps at bimmerfest they said they have dyno'd V3s with over 100k miles that were still fine. They said to only service them if they started to leak. I see no reason why the Ohlins would be any different - they are probably just being conservative. I would think that as long as they aren't leaking and the fluid hasn't worn out so much that you are underdampened then there would be no reason to service them.
The reason I ask is that Stasis Engineering had some popular coilover kits for Audis that used Ohlin dampers many years ago and those kits had to get serviced pretty often. I think it was right around 2 years or so and then noise issues would start to pop up.
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      08-01-2013, 10:51 PM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W Cole View Post
You will not go any lower than a non-ZCP car. In fact, this means you will have little, if any, noticeable drop with the Dinan over ZCP.

Yes, you can mill down the guide supports yourself, I am not familiar with the exact process. Malek from MRF engineering on the forums sells them I believe.

The Ohlins are a higher end dampener, better than the KWs.
You definitely sound like you know what you're talking about, but if the Dinan setup doesn't lower a ZCP car, it does make me wonder why they sell a ZCP kit.

Thanks for the pointer on Malek. I'll have to give him a shout. I think a combination of shaved guide supports and a sleeve-over kit (KW or TC Kline) might be a good streetable setup.
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      08-01-2013, 11:01 PM   #60
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hujan View Post
You definitely sound like you know what you're talking about, but if the Dinan setup doesn't lower a ZCP car, it does make me wonder why they sell a ZCP kit.

Thanks for the pointer on Malek. I'll have to give him a shout. I think a combination of shaved guide supports and a sleeve-over kit (KW or TC Kline) might be a good streetable setup.
It lowers it but a very small amount. Like I said the Dinan drop will look the same on a ZCP vs non-ZCP car so just search the forums or google and look at some photos to see if Dinan is aggressive enough for you.
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      08-02-2013, 11:24 AM   #61
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CSanto View Post
I've read too many negative things about simple springs. I'm looking for something similar. Slight drop, stock performance/comfort.

I'm thinking it's either the KW sleeve or dinan Stage 1. If the stage 1 was more along the lines of 700. I would have bought it already.
these two things cannot co exist. the kw is a simple spring kit with an adjustable height perch on it. its the exact same thing as any other spring only kit

ANY kit where you drop the car a noticeable amount and do nothing to shorten the body of the struts to match the drop will compromise both handling and ride comfort on anything but glass smooth surfaces.
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      08-02-2013, 11:33 AM   #62
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W Cole View Post
KW Sleeve kit preserves travel by supplying shorter bump stops. The dinan kit provides shaved guide supports as well as shortened bump stops so I would think the dinan kit should have more travel. You could shave down your guide supports and use them with the KW sleeve kit but I don't think its necessary.

IMO the Dinan kit is not worth it since the drop is not really noticeable, about the same height as a stock ZCP.

Like you, I wanted an OEM ride, just lower so I ended up going with the Ohlins R&T coilovers which go for around $2950 but are a great value whereas IMO the KW sleeve and dinan kits are way overpriced.
that doesn't really help anything.

the KW kit will ride IDENTICALLY to any other spring only kit, outside of dinan. dinan rides better because the drop is extremely small (half that of eibach) and the guide supports

KW sleeve over kit is basically a cheap way to slam your car and that's it. other than being able to lower the hell out of the car, it has no benefit over any other spring kit, and is deficient to dinan.

I do agree that ohlins is a far superior setup to any of these kits. the DFV shocks are the key. they handle bumps and transitions with a precision the other kits and even OEM bmw shocks could only dream of
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      08-02-2013, 12:07 PM   #63
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KennyPowers View Post
these two things cannot co exist. the kw is a simple spring kit with an adjustable height perch on it. its the exact same thing as any other spring only kit

ANY kit where you drop the car a noticeable amount and do nothing to shorten the body of the struts to match the drop will compromise both handling and ride comfort on anything but glass smooth surfaces.
I've experimented with a few spring setups on all of my M3's. I've found nothing to top the stock suspension on the road. It's beautifully dialed in by the M Division. The power on grip and high speed composure over the rough stuff is where I see it shine over any spring setup I've had, including the Dinan. As far as appearance, I think stock looks fine in person, like a proper GT.
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      08-02-2013, 12:26 PM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tom @ eas View Post
B&G springs offer a considerable drop, and stock-like handling characteristics. We've installed a number of these and been happy each time.
+1 on this. Live them. The deal is the wife. She had no idea. Rides just like stock
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      08-02-2013, 03:23 PM   #65
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Denk View Post
I've experimented with a few spring setups on all of my M3's. I've found nothing to top the stock suspension on the road. It's beautifully dialed in by the M Division. The power on grip and high speed composure over the rough stuff is where I see it shine over any spring setup I've had, including the Dinan. As far as appearance, I think stock looks fine in person, like a proper GT.
After going to a several thousand dollar street oriented coilover setup I definitely have an appreciation for just how well BMW has done with the OEM suspension on these cars. There is definitely better out there, but they have a IMO marginal improvement over stock, except for aesthetics.
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      08-02-2013, 03:28 PM   #66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KennyPowers View Post
that doesn't really help anything.

the KW kit will ride IDENTICALLY to any other spring only kit, outside of dinan. dinan rides better because the drop is extremely small (half that of eibach) and the guide supports

KW sleeve over kit is basically a cheap way to slam your car and that's it. other than being able to lower the hell out of the car, it has no benefit over any other spring kit, and is deficient to dinan.

I do agree that ohlins is a far superior setup to any of these kits. the DFV shocks are the key. they handle bumps and transitions with a precision the other kits and even OEM bmw shocks could only dream of
Absolutely, the KW sleeve kit will ride/handle no differently than just springs with shorter bump stops. Thats why I don't think it is a very good value. If I didn't go with the Ohlins I would have gotten B&G springs because I like their raked/even fender gap drop paired with E36 bump stops and shaved guide supports.
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