A real upgrade Over OEM..

[REV1]

i have a 08 e92 M3 with 56k miles. Runs and drives like a champ.
Bought the car with 44k and couldn't be happier. It is a DCT , EDC, with ZCP wheels
And I put re-11 tires 245 and 265 on it also which are great so far.
It had Bridestone re760 on it when I bought which are crap compared to re-11.

Actually 2 questions I hope to get some advice on. Keep in mind I do DD
Drive the car a couple times a week and constantly use the EDC due to
Our jacked up roads out here in SF Bay Area. So I'm not looking to get coil over.
I have tracked the car and will continue too so I do realize coil over would be better for track but I need to maintain all around performance.

1. I'm getting close to shock replacement time.. Would the Bilstein kit with EDC
Be an upgrade over the oem shocks?

2. Would Dinan springs with those Bilsteins work well?

I honestly am not worried about lowering the car. I'm more concerned about
Good handling and not looks as much. I believe the Dinan springs are a really slight lowering which I'm thinking could be perfect.

Any thought or experience with these items?

Thanks

[Groundpilot]

If your car is a DD and an occasional track warrior, i would highly recommend Ohlins R&T. To answer your question, its a huge upgrade to stock. I have it and couldnt be happier. In soft settings, the ride is better than stock/zcp, when you set it to firm for track use, the handling is fantastic. Car feels planted and very stable in high speed transitions. However, its not a hard core coilover system to brake lap records, but for an occasional track days its more than enough imo. And on the street its fantastic as i said before. You can also lower your car with this system, but you can also leave it at stock hight. I would also recommend Ground control street camber plates, set front camber to -2.5 and leave it for street and track. You would need more negative camber up front for your car to handle really well, but -2.5 is a goog street/track setting without changing it all the time. Your tires will be fine, if toe in front set to 0. Hope it helps.

[E90M3velocity]

I have ohlins and driving around bay area roads with it corner balanced it does ride stiffer than stock for sure. In fact i have been getting interior rattles because of it. It is not set to the softest, but its close to it. I am also thinking about going back to stock edc shocks or bilstein edc shocks, go with swift springs, and keep my camber plates.

[REV1]

^^^

Thanks for your feedback guys.. I will be taking all things into consideration when
i do make a change..

Im wondering if anybody is running the non-edc Bilstein HD shocks with OEM springs
or Dinan springs? Anyone?

[Z K]

I have KW V3 coilovers and live and drive around SF all the time. It is stiffer than stock but rides good even on the streets that look like the surface of the moon. The set up works great on track as well.

I would not do lowering springs. They degrade the ride, wear out shocks faster and don't offer much in terms of performance. I had the KW sleeve kit over stock EDC shocks and got rid of them. Much happier with the V3 coilover.

[REV1]

^

Are you able to switch modes with the KW V3 setup? i have not researched any coil-overs
yet but you guys make a good case to ditch the EDC..

[Z K]

Originally Posted by E92M3SG08

^

Are you able to switch modes with the KW V3 setup? i have not researched any coil-overs
yet but you guys make a good case to ditch the EDC..

No, KW V3 can not switch modes. You set the dampening and rebound and unless you crawl under the car to change it, it'll stay. There are some KW coilovers that you can change the dampening settings via a controller or your phone.

I found EDC to not work very well. In comfort setting it has no feedback and is soft. In Sport, it becomes stiff in dampening but the rebound is lacking for performance. All you get is a stiff ride and a disconnected floating feeling over mid corner bumps when you want to feel connected. They set it up this way so the ride is comfortable but it isn't a great set up for performance.

[REV1]

^ I agree on the EDC it is limited.. I use normal mode most of the time for street.. Which for the most part feels right to me. On the really bad sections of road I will put it into comfort but I never leave it in comfort for long.. The car feels much too loose. I have used sport at track with good success but it is definitely too firm for the roads around here.
If I could find a quickly switchable coilover system that used the EDC button that would be perfect. I would do it in a heartbeat.

[REV1]

Would this system work as well as other Coilover systems?

Dinan® High Performance Adjustable Coil-Over Suspension System (EDC Only) for BMW M3

R190-9131

Info from Dinan site:
For the enthusiast that needs adjustable ride height the Dinan® Coil-Over Suspension is for you. Dinan's design keeps the factory Electronic Damper Control shocks in place and creates threaded collars to allow the user to change the ride height. Dinan’s provides Beehive shaped front springs and low profile camber plates with progressive bump stops that allow the car to be lowered up to an 1” and still maintain stock suspension travel. Dinan Quiet Design™ Camber plates make it the quietest coil-over suspension on the market. Suspension packers are included to fine tune handling and comfort by changing the clearance of the progressive bump-stops, something no respectable racecar is without. Camber is easy to adjust due to the slotted front mounts and is adjustable between -1.2 to -3.2 degrees. Strut mounts are machined from 6061-T6 aluminum, and are designed with heavy-duty rubber and barrel shaped Delran internal components for superior performance and quiet operation, compared to noisy spherical bearing style mounts. All components are compatible with 2.50" I.D. racing springs for convenient adjustment. .

Benefits of Dinan's Performance Coil-Over Suspension System:

+ Quietest Coil over kit on the market so you can live with it every day.
+ Beehive shaped front spring and low profile camber plates to maintain full suspension travel with up to one inch of lowering.
+ Threaded collars allow easy front & rear vehicle height adjustments.
+ Included suspension packers allow adjustment of bump-stop clearance to fine-tune handling and comfort.
+ Dinan-spec progressive bump stops improve ride quality at lowered ride heights.
+ System comes with adjustable camber plates allowing easy camber adjustment between -1.2° and -3.2°.
+ Camber plates are machined from 6061-T6 aluminum, and are designed with heavy-duty rubber and barrel shaped Delrin internal components for superior performance and quiet operation, compared to noisy spherical bearing mounts.
+ Front & rear Dinan components are compatible with 2.50” I.D. racing springs.
+ Compatible with BMW EDC and non EDC shocks.
+ RACING-ONLY PRODUCT

[lutfy]

Originally Posted by E92M3SG08

^^^

Thanks for your feedback guys.. I will be taking all things into consideration when
i do make a change..

Im wondering if anybody is running the non-edc Bilstein HD shocks with OEM springs
or Dinan springs? Anyone?

The difference between HD and Sport is that sport shock shaft is shortened. Valving is the same. You should consider Sport in non EDC as its available and use it with comparable springs.

It can handle slightly higher than stock, in that case, I went with Eibach (published rates). Altough a lot of folks are happy with Swift but I wanted to make sure damper was matched with springs (eibach stlightly stiffer like 10-15% over stock and I wanted to lower a tad since Bilstein does raise the ride height a bit). Currently unliked published specs of 1 inch front and 0.8 or whatever drop in the back, my car is ZCP ride height and just a tad lower.

Currently running EDC Bilstein with Eibach and front HR bar along with camber plates. Car is actually BETTER to drive than before in DC roads as I am not riding on bumptops and is PLENTY fast on the track too. Very happy with this setup. Reason I chose not to deal with coilovers was I didnt care for stiffer spring rates (takes the joy out of daily driving at least for 'me').

Enjoy

Lutfy

[MVEED3]

It sounds like you're content with the factory setup, want to retain EDC, but want a slight increase in performance. I'd suggest picking up a lightly used competition suspension setup. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to retrofit the active setting onto your '08 but I'd think someone has done it. 10mm lower is conservative for your concerns as well.

[REV1]

^^
^^
Lutfy.. thanks for your feedback. I have had good success with upgrading shocks
and springs in the past (on other vehicles) thats why im still leaning towards
going the Bilstein route. So are you saying if i went with the Bilstein EDC setup
and left the oem springs it would raise the car? Keep in mind mine is not ZCP.
And if thats the case to get the car back down to oem non-ZCP levels i would have to use lowering springs?

[REV1]

MVEED3..

Your right i think the comp package would work well for me. I love the way car handles
now. Im just looking for a slight drop and improved handling. At this point i think i can
achieve similar if not better with the Bilstein EDC and correct springs and probably cost
less than Comp PKG retrofit..

Thanks

[Hierlevelz]

Shock of your choice and swift springs?

[lutfy]

Originally Posted by E92M3SG08

^^
^^
Lutfy.. thanks for your feedback. I have had good success with upgrading shocks
and springs in the past (on other vehicles) thats why im still leaning towards
going the Bilstein route. So are you saying if i went with the Bilstein EDC setup
and left the oem springs it would raise the car? Keep in mind mine is not ZCP.
And if thats the case to get the car back down to oem non-ZCP levels i would have to use lowering springs?

Firstly, part of the reason why people modify the car is because, 'to check/test' things out. Then to justify their action, they say it makes it better.

Having gone the full route in smaller increments, my suggestion would be:

1) Get the Eibach springs first. Tons of them used on the forum so your acquisition cost stays static (sell for what you paid minus shipping).
2) Get the shorter E36 M3 bump stops for the current shocks you have.
3) Trim the front strut cover/guide (Dinan does it and there is a DIY on the forum somewhere: Dinan strut).
4) Eliminate the little camber pin you have to gain more camber.
5) (optional get HR front only bar, helps quite a bit with turn in and also turn in).

Now you have a slightly lower car not too much, enjoy the factory struts (which BTW are VERY very good. They are super light compared to steel Bilseteins with good valving. Only challenge I had was I needed more rebound for mid/faster sweepers).

The main difference on street with Bilsteins vs stock strut was more suspension travel which you can achieve with above mods. Now, on street it will hardly be noticeable, you get the added camber from slight lower and removing the pin (enough for street/track duty without burning the inside tires).

Saved you $2K in shocks yes they do raise the car a bit. Reason (partially) is because they are stiffer than stock. Then because the stock is old(er) they sag and the new shocks are more firm. With time car should settle.

Using a ZCP shock would require you to reprogram/code the car. Not worth the hassle in my opinion for the added dynamic only on the sport mode (vs static on non zcp)

Lutfy

[REV1]

^ Thanks for your input.

Great to hear from someone who has experience with Bilsteins and Eibach springs.

[midlifecrisis]

Thanks to the OP for posting the question.

I did the Dinan Stage 3 suspension in my car a year and a half ago and I've been happy with it, but on cars with EDC it retains the original shocks. At 67,000 miles I know I could use a new set of shocks and I've been thinking about the Bilsteins.

I'm happy with the Dinan setup. The ride is no less comfortable than the standard suspension, and turn-in is noticeably crisper turn-in.

My extended warranty expires in March, so I'll be working without a net after owning the car for 7 years. I'd replace the shocks in a heartbeat and enjoy the car for a few more years if I wasn't concerned about the rod bearing issues, but I'm wondering if I'd be better off with a new F80 as opposed to spending a ton on shocks and bearings.

At any rate, I'd also like to see any comments on the Dinan - Bilstein EDC replacement shock combination.

[WCM3]

Originally Posted by Groundpilot

If your car is a DD and an occasional track warrior, i would highly recommend Ohlins R&T. To answer your question, its a huge upgrade to stock. I have it and couldnt be happier. In soft settings, the ride is better than stock/zcp, when you set it to firm for track use, the handling is fantastic. Car feels planted and very stable in high speed transitions. However, its not a hard core coilover system to brake lap records, but for an occasional track days its more than enough imo. And on the street its fantastic as i said before. You can also lower your car with this system, but you can also leave it at stock hight. I would also recommend Ground control street camber plates, set front camber to -2.5 and leave it for street and track. You would need more negative camber up front for your car to handle really well, but -2.5 is a goog street/track setting without changing it all the time. Your tires will be fine, if toe in front set to 0. Hope it helps.

So are the Ohlins adjustable from inside the car? I put on some BC Racing ERs with Swift springs a few months ago and they just seem too bouncy for me. I would like something that you could easily adjust from comfortable to track.

[E90M3velocity]

Originally Posted by WCM3

So are the Ohlins adjustable from inside the car? I put on some BC Racing ERs with Swift springs a few months ago and they just seem too bouncy for me. I would like something that you could easily adjust from comfortable to track.

The fronts are adjusted from the bottom and the rears are adjusted from the top of the shocks

[admranger]

Originally Posted by WCM3

I put on some BC Racing ERs with Swift springs a few months ago and they just seem too bouncy for me.

Too bouncy? Add rebound to tame that down if your shocks are adjustable.

Lufty gives excellent advice. For street use only, the stock shocks are fine w/the mods he suggests.

Now I just need to follow his advice! LOL! I already have some street spec GC camber plates, just need to buy the springs and I'm good to go.

[flipm3]

Lutfy offers great advice and probably the only route I would ever take if I were to retain stock shocks. The OE shocks don't have the greatest amount of travel to begin with, so majority of the lowering springs out there will compromise my that. Lutfy's recommendation helps alleviate that issue.

Having owned so many popular dampers on the market, (KW, Ohlins, JRZ etc), the JRZ Suspension Engineering damper has been the most comfortable on the street. Mostly due to it's wide range of valving. If you do decide to consider a coilover, I'd suggest the JRZ RS1 with a street spring rate and using OE mounting hardware.

Happy Suspension Hunting It's one of my favorite hobbies, LOL.

[cmichaelo]

Read through this thread and wasn't able to resolve my unique situation.

I have an E92 M3 ZCP package. So have the EDC and already lowered by 10mm, I believe, from factory.

I like this stance and am def not looking to lower any further.

Secondly, I like the EDC with its soft and firm serttings which come in handy.

But i do want to have a little bit firmer springs to improve overall handling and steering crispness. (I've already done ball bearings in all the arms and swaybar bushings in the works.)

So my big question is.... Which specific springs should I get that will keep the ride height as is, or possibly even increase ride height by a mm or two?

Anyone done this?