e92 lop-sidded after BC Coils install

[chayes11]

So installed a set of BC BR coilovers about a month ago. They are all settled down and i rub in the front, but only on the left side, and i rub on the bumper bracket, as well as the liner. Right side... only the fender.. a litttttle bit. I am runnin 265s on a set of F14s SDC.

Besides the rubbing... i noticed the other day that one side was lower than the other. Put it back up in the air and raised the springs (they were full low) and reset the spring pre-load thinking that it would help. No dice... still a little lop- sided. I havent gotten an alignment yet so maybe that will help it?
was hoping to get some ideas...

If there is another thread that is resembles, lemme know, i searched a lot

attached is a picture of the fronts all the way down.
(TOP IS LEFT / BOTTOM I RIGHT)

[vsix]

An alignment could do wonders.
I would give it a chance and try it!

[chayes11]

Originally Posted by vsix

An alignment could do wonders.
I would give it a chance and try it!

Yah... Really hoping that's what the issue is! I kno a 265 up front is too wide to begin with, but it didn't run at all with the eibachs I had.

[Move Over]

Originally Posted by chayes11

Yah... Really hoping that's what the issue is! I kno a 265 up front is too wide to begin with, but it didn't run at all with the eibachs I had.

Eibach's did not have any camber adjustment. BC's do. you could have been running more or less camber up front with the springs. I would get an alignment asap, you'll be surprised how much the fitment changes, and the heights change.

[tdott]

Sometimes when making suspension changes one side settles faster than other. Have you had a lot of people in the passenger side? or is it mostly you driving alone?
Throw some heavy dudes in your car and go for a good drive making sure the suspension goes through a wide range of compression/rebound situations.

I would then even out the height before going for an alignment as changing the height after will alter the alignment specs. Then if the passenger side does settle lower, bring it back up to match the driver side height.

[Move Over]

I do know there is one side of our cars that are 1/4-1/2" lower, just not sure which. Lol

I would get all the ride heights the where you like them - measure from centercap to bottom of the fender, then go get an alignment. Me personally, I have to have them even to the MM...I'm OCD though. lol

[chayes11]

Originally Posted by Move Over

I do know there is one side of our cars that are 1/4-1/2" lower, just not sure which. Lol

I would get all the ride heights the where you like them - measure from centercap to bottom of the fender, then go get an alignment. Me personally, I have to have them even to the MM...I'm OCD though. lol

So turns out there is a way to set the preload on the rear spring as well? This is what the sent me.

"Thank you for contacting BC Racing NA. Bellow is a list entailing the initial steps we request you take in an effort to isolate the problem.

· Verify the top nut is secure and tight.
You can do this by removing the dampening adjustment knob located at the top of the shock shaft. To remove: Take a 14mm or 17mm wrench (depending on top nut size) and loosen the anodized brown part of the knob located directly under the black dial. After the knob is off, you can tighten the nut by either using an allen key to hold the shaft from spinning, and an open end 17mm or 21mm wrench (depending on top nut size). The other method would be to use a low powered impact wrench and tighten until the shock shaft begins to spin.

· Verify all mounting hardware is tight and secure. This includes, but is not limited to the lower mount bolt(s) top plate bolts, sway bar end links, control arm bolts, as well as the lock rings on the coilover itself.

· Verify that the pre-load is properly set at the

The front should be set at the 4mm we recommend. To do this, tight the lower spring perch by hand until you can no longer tighten it by hand, then you will run the lock ring up to the lower spring perch, from there you will tighten the spring perch with your spanner wrench until there is a 4mm gap between the lock ring and the lower spring perch (this should be just enough to fit the spanner wrench in) You can refer to this video as a reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlqOA35NmAw

The rear should be set in accordance with this video if it is a separate spring and shock. If not refer back to the front pre-load instructions.

http://youtu.be/tWgQ-BPd6ck

Verify that the suspension bushings are not binding. This will normally result in excessive squeaking, but it could also be the cause of a knocking noise.

To resolve this, put the car on either a drive on lift, or on jack stands.

If you use the jack stand method, you will need to jack up one corners suspension at a time to simulate the car being on the ground. You will then loosen and re-tighten all of the control arm bolts so that the bushings reset to a manner where they are at zero flex at static height, and can flex down with the suspension droops and up when it compresses."

Looks like I'll be re-adjusting the rear spring rates to see if maybe the spring is loose making the noise? And possibly offsetting the balance.

[IIAp3x]

I just installed the same coilovers and have zero issues and nothing but good things to say about the product...

Make sure someone else takes your measurements with you sitting in the car because the left side is usually sitting higher to compensate for the weight of the driver... Typically the left rear is more affected by the drivers weight over the front; once you have each corner's base height with you sitting in the car you can start from there in getting each side matched up in ride height..

My ride height is:

(bottom lip of rim to fender)
594mm in front
579mm in Rear

I am running factory tire sizes and each side matches down to the mm...

It took me about 3 times pulling off the wheels and making small adjustments to get it right... Set your ride heights, get alignment done, then revisit and make final ride height adjustment post-alignment...

Actually my local BMW Dealer did my alignment and they did an awesome job at setting everything up, even upper camber adjustments on the front...

[Move Over]

Originally Posted by chayes11

So turns out there is a way to set the preload on the rear spring as well? This is what the sent me.


Looks like I'll be re-adjusting the rear spring rates to see if maybe the spring is loose making the noise? And possibly offsetting the balance.

I had to BEG BC to get in their facility to take care of some crazy knocking from the rear of my old car (same setup as the M's). Still knocked after that. They blamed it on improper installation, and not loading up the preload correctly, which was a load.


I said to hell with them for my M, couldn't deal with their CS again lol.

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by Move Over

I had to BEG BC to get in their facility to take care of some crazy knocking from the rear of my old car (same setup as the M's). Still knocked after that. They blamed it on improper installation, and not loading up the preload correctly, which was a load.


I said to hell with them for my M, couldn't deal with their CS again lol.

Was the knocking in the right rear? I had the same thing, but I finally found out the reason was the lower pillowball shock mount bolt was not tight enough and it allowed the whole shock to move .5 mm's up and down causing a knocking sound... I tightened it super tight and had no noise after that...

This can happen with any coilover system, even the most expensive... typically knocking noises are caused by oversights in installation...

[Move Over]

Originally Posted by IIAp3x

Was the knocking in the right rear? I had the same thing, but I finally found out the reason was the lower pillowball shock mount bolt was not tight enough and it allowed the whole shock to move .5 mm's up and down causing a knocking sound... I tightened it super tight and had no noise after that...

This can happen with any coilover system, even the most expensive... typically knocking noises are caused by oversights in installation...

I'm not 100% sure what it was. They came with brand new pillow balls upper mounts, and they wound up reusing my OEM upper mounts to get it to shut up. Lol that was a year ago now on my old g37.

[IIAp3x]

My ride height is lower on the right side until I sit in the car and then each side is level at the same height, but I had to do a little math during the ride height adjustments in order to get each side matched up front and rear...

You should not have to adjust the preload! double check it and make sure it is indeed 4mm, but you should not have to increase or decrease preload... It has nothing to do with your ride height...

Hope this helps...

[IIAp3x]

Originally Posted by Move Over

I'm not 100% sure what it was. They came with brand new pillow balls upper mounts, and they wound up reusing my OEM upper mounts to get it to shut up. Lol that was a year ago now on my old g37.

Ahh yes.. I see... Yeah I reused my factory top nuts also because they have about 3/4 inch poly cushion on them... I also reused the factory rubber spring perch that fits into the control arm for the spring to sit in rather than the plastic perch that came with the kit... Those two items will really help to quiet down road noise and dampen vibrations...

[azndrunk74]

Originally Posted by vsix

An alignment could do wonders.
I would give it a chance and try it!

+1

after a proper alignment my ride height evened out. my rear left was slightly higher than the rear right but now it's completely even. just something to explore if you haven't done that yet.

[turbo_joe]

What spring rates are you guys running with your BC Coils?

[Powashiftin]

How do you guys like the BC's? Where are you purchasing ?

[chayes11]

I went ahead and re-adjusted the rear spring preload and evened out prefect. But, it did not stop the knocking. It's actually getting worse. I changed it to full stiff setting and not only was it knocking, it starting grinding... Like... Horribly. Lol. Emailed BC back and they are going to send me a new strut for the rear. But! For some reason! It's back ordered 2-3 week?! Wtf?! I won't recommend BC to anyone... Just drop the extra 1k for some KWs... I drive my e90 328 with V2s now more often because the ride is soooooooo much better.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by chayes11

I went ahead and re-adjusted the rear spring preload and evened out prefect. But, it did not stop the knocking. It's actually getting worse. I changed it to full stiff setting and not only was it knocking, it starting grinding... Like... Horribly. Lol. Emailed BC back and they are going to send me a new strut for the rear. But! For some reason! It's back ordered 2-3 week?! Wtf?! I won't recommend BC to anyone... Just drop the extra 1k for some KWs... I drive my e90 328 with V2s now more often because the ride is soooooooo much better.

Grinding? That doesn't sound like a suspension issue. Did you install these yourself or something?
If there is knocking, it is more likely an install issue than an internal strut issue, did you check all connections to make sure they are tight and torqued correctly?
Have you narrowed down what side its coming from?
Also check all your sway bar links, those typically make alot of noise if not tight or starting to go.

If you still think it's the shock take it out and move the shalf to see if it makes noise outside the car.

[chayes11]

Originally Posted by tdott

Grinding? That doesn't sound like a suspension issue. Did you install these yourself or something?
If there is knocking, it is more likely an install issue than an internal strut issue, did you check all connections to make sure they are tight and torqued correctly?
Have you narrowed down what side its coming from?
Also check all your sway bar links, those typically make alot of noise if not tight or starting to go.

If you still think it's the shock take it out and move the shalf to see if it makes noise outside the car.

Oh yah it's the strut. I have installed numerous coils on BMWs and have had no issues. The reason I kno its internal, is because it's a normal knock when the dampening is on the soft setting. But when it's the hardest setting it sounds even worse. its coming from the left side. And I have checked swaybar links and connections to every part of the rear suspension. Car only has 17k miles on it too.