Front Uprights update

///Mobbin wrote

Testing the new suspension, OS Giken Spec S diff, and Strom Uprights at the track the next few days, pumped! Will get a report back on the uprights as soon as I can. Still feel excellent on the street with massively improved bump steer and manners in general. Oh and newly installed Powerflex engine mounts also. Culmination of a lot of work as I installed everything myself, glad to be past that stage and heading to the track, finally!

Interested to hear your opinion on the Giken diff.

spxxx wrote

Awesome setup, really hoping I can find a set of these used on the forums. I also had to grind away that sheet metal after some caster adjustments.

Would love any before/after data you have from events with and without the uprights.

Thanks, unfortunately I have changed a wealth of items along with the uprights and don't think I can give too meaningful of before/after comparison. Can certainly still share some feedback on tire wear down the road.

Redd wrote

Interested to hear your opinion on the Giken diff.

Giken diff is great, on track I can feel it lock up faster than my OE diff, then on the street it is completely silent and quite similar to OE. Perfection for a street/track car. A lot of other mods I would rank before the diff--such as suspension, bucket seats, safety stuff, even exhaust (I love the sound of the S65) but still think this is a good mod and I'm glad I did it while my car was down. I actually suspect changing the ring/pinion and final drive ratio would be more bang for your buck but also would just swap the diff at the same time if you were going to the trouble. I left mine 3.15 (DCT) for now since I haven't made a final decision on supercharging (or not) yet.

I should also note that for a track focused car, I would follow dogbone's advice and also do a Spec X customized OS Giken so that the locking behavior is optimized for the track.

For reference my OS Giken install thread is here - LINK

slcook54 wrote

Been wondering if 295/30 would fit with this setup. Contemplating upgrading to TTX down the road. Likely add flossman fenders to give some extra room.

I run 295/30-18 RE-71RS which run a bit wider than even the A052 of the same size and am able to clear with 12mm spacer on 10.5 ET22. This is with strom uprights and no other after market control arms up front. I'm debating adding SPL stuff to the front to add more camber (not that the car needs it, just to clear my stock fenders)

redpriest wrote

I run 295/30-18 RE-71RS which run a bit wider than even the A052 of the same size and am able to clear with 12mm spacer on 10.5 ET22. This is with strom uprights and no other after market control arms up front. I'm debating adding SPL stuff to the front to add more camber (not that the car needs it, just to clear my stock fenders)

Got it. I'm talking to Dominik at Flossman right now, going to see if that will help with fitment. Remind me your suspension? I'm on Ohlins and was not planning on ditching the helper or running a shorter spring to clear the perch.

slcook54 wrote

Got it. I'm talking to Dominik at Flossman right now, going to see if that will help with fitment. Remind me your suspension? I'm on Ohlins and was not planning on ditching the helper or running a shorter spring to clear the perch.

MCS 3 way

redpriest wrote

I run 295/30-18 RE-71RS which run a bit wider than even the A052 of the same size and am able to clear with 12mm spacer on 10.5 ET22. This is with strom uprights and no other after market control arms up front. I'm debating adding SPL stuff to the front to add more camber (not that the car needs it, just to clear my stock fenders)

In my experience with the SPL arms, they do not help in aiding clearance. Since the adjustment is at the bottom it just pushes the bottom of the tire outwards to achieve more negative camber, but the top of the tire stays in the same position (for the most part). Adding camber from the top is the only way to really help fender clearance. I ended up slotting my strut tower holes to help with this as adjusting my arms at the bottom did not help my clearance issues.

Why does no one make inverted dampers like attached

The top plate is a simple design. The pillow ball sits in a separate race held in by allen screws. Easy design with a lot of flexibility. You can modify it for more castor/camber. The damper top nut sits flush to the plate and slides under the strut tower.

So ///mobbin and tlrid3r have installed the Strom uprights.
What were the end results with these?
There seemed to be lots of talk about under steer being worse.
Anyone looked into some billet rear upright to correct roll centre the same as these fronts??

Chavey wrote

So ///mobbin and tlrid3r have installed the Strom uprights.
What were the end results with these?
There seemed to be lots of talk about under steer being worse.
Anyone looked into some billet rear upright to correct roll centre the same as these fronts??

So I don’t actually have enough track time on them to claim an end result but a few more comments.

Confirming again the massive bump steer correction at my much lowered ride height. This was one of my main motivators in going for this part.

Anecdotally I have also set PR’s at the two tracks I’ve visited, including COTA, but many many variables there. Maybe the point here is I don’t have any negative feedback yet, balance of the car was great on track.

The next test for me is going to be tire wear. Just installed a new set of Cup 2’s on my drive to the track set but not a ton of track days on the calendar so may be awhile before I provide more thoughts.

I have also considered a rear roll center correction kit and there is a company in Germany that makes one via solid offset bushings but as I feel balance is good I haven’t been motivated to make more changes. tlrid3r has this kit installed and may have more feedback.

I just ordered a Wisefab kit for the rear, well the drift kit is for the front, but they have a kinemtics revised grip kit for the rear. I believe the correction is for more than 20mm. If it works as they write, it would be the ultimate kit.

Chillig wrote

I just ordered a Wisefab kit for the rear, well the drift kit is for the front, but they have a kinemtics revised grip kit for the rear. I believe the correction is for more than 20mm. If it works as they write, it would be the ultimate kit.

https://usa.wisefab.com/bmw-e9x-m3-rear-suspension-kit

link for anyone interesting in seeing the RCC rear

I will be looking to have billet rear uprights to go with the Strom uprights to have the rear corrected in the same way.
All going well it should be about the same cost.

Chavey wrote

I will be looking to have billet rear uprights to go with the Strom uprights to have the rear corrected in the same way.
All going well it should be about the same cost.

Who is making them?

I have done front roll center correction with Strom uprights and rear roll center correction with MK offset bushing kit.

Car is balance and I believe it’s allowing me to use less spring and keep the car stable and happy even with mild aero.
Car is neutral. No excess understeer like I experienced at first with just upright. I did increase more front caster, that was cherry on top. I’m very happy with handling. Now the driver skill is lacking.

Just read through this…I picked up a set of the strom uprights; I also have the spl arms; did anyone figure out the rubbing issue with 18” (e88) wheels?

I put everything together and when tested fitted the wheels, realized that the inner barrel is hitting the TR bolt (head).

I am going to remove all the spacers tomorrow (except conical spacer) and try it again.

Let me know if anyone figured out the setup with spl arms. Thanks.

Lienrocs wrote

Another FYI (though it's a pretty niche problem), if you're trying to use these knuckles with SPL tie rod ends and 18 inch E88's you can't without swapping out some hardware on the TRE's. There's contact.

tsk94 wrote

Another member mentioned issues with fitment up front with one of his sets of wheels as well.

I would just grind the head of the bolt down on that corner by a mm to clearance it and you should be fine. If not I'll take the uprights off your hands

Lienrocs wrote

I just snagged some different hardware. Problem solved.

I've got another set sitting on the shelf I'll sell you.

Lienrocs wrote

Second update: if you have E88's, Strom knuckles and SPL TRE's the TRE will contact the barrel of the wheel so you either need to get different wheels, Oem TRE's or file down the edge of your shiny SPL part.

(My wheels are 18 by 10.5 et 18 for reference. I think a narrower E88 may not have an issue but don't quote me on that.)

what was the solve for this combination (strom upright + spl TR + e88 fitment)?

SOLD - SOLD - SOLD



If anyone is looking for a set, I have set for sale…never used.

Reason for sale, these are not compatible with SPL arms…so have decided to revert to OEM knuckle + spl arms.

$2750 + shipping (significant savings for a new set)

The strom knuckes are compatible with SPL parts. You just need to remove all the SPL spacers.

I would like to know who was the drunk who "invented" these knuckles.

Ninekrpm sell that garbage and buy m4 gts billet knuckles.
With these knuckles you can use 513m rims 10.5" et46 without spacer, and 763m 11" et30 without spacer.

These knuckles are authentic work of art of bmw.


With gt4 ball joints it looks spectacular:







On 18 rim:

Track/S wrote

I would like to know who was the drunk who "invented" these knuckles.

Ninekrpm sell that garbage and buy m4 gts billet knuckles.
With these knuckles you can use 513m rims 10.5" et46 without spacer, and 763m 11" et30 without spacer.

These knuckles are authentic work of art of bmw.


With gt4 ball joints it looks spectacular:

Good choice in suspension

Track/S wrote

I would like to know who was the drunk who "invented" these knuckles.

Ninekrpm sell that garbage and buy m4 gts billet knuckles.

M4 GTS knuckles are a direct bolt on? M4 GTS arms necessary? Have you measured the change in geometry?

tsk94 wrote

Good choice in suspension

911r wrote

M4 GTS knuckles are a direct bolt on? M4 GTS arms necessary? Have you measured the change in geometry?

Yes, direct bolt on, don't need gts arms.

For more than -3° of camber need some work on camber plates and adjustable arms.
I did not measure the geometry changes.