Pandora's box of lowering. analysis paralysis *pic incl.*

[MMachines]

I've got 2 sets of wheels for my non-EDC E92 M3. The 19" Forgestar F14 SDC pictured, and 18" Volk TE37 which look ok. The current wheels look goofy, too tall in the front. I'm not overly aesthetically minded but this looks goofy, IMO.

Here's where I'm at unless I'm missing something.

1) KW HAS as I'm happy with my stock dampers. If I'm spending money I'd like to go a little stiffer. I'm not sure what I get here exactly. ~$700

2) BC Racing where I now have damping adjustment (handy for AutoX and helping to ensure I get the feel I'm after, not sure I'll do much more track time as I have other plans here) and a phone conversation to specify spring rates should I upgrade to Swift springs. ~$1300

I know BC isn't a fan favorite. I know they're not bespoke, but by letting me specify spring rate and damping they're able to just make sure they fit and let me do the rest. This sounds pretty sweet vs KW V1 for example (which are more money) where they make all my decisions other than height for me.

What do you guys think? I did search, and came up with almost nothing.

[MMachines]

[Iyzmi]

Honestly, I wouldn't say that looks goofy at all but I'm not someone who is bothered by wheel gap unless it is truly ridiculous. I've got the same wheels coming in July and plan on keeping the suspension stock. If it looks worse in person than your pics show, I'll probably get some Eibach springs and call it a day.

What offsets and tire sizes are you running?

[MMachines]

I'll see about another pic from horizontal, but also a little more spring firmness could be appreciated. It squats a little when I get on the gas hard. I'm not looking to drop the rear.

Forgestar doesn't give offsets but it's perfect. With a car full of people and biking gear I may rub in the back with these wheels. Fronts 19x10 265/30/19. Rears 19x11 295/30/19. I mean to measure offset when they're off the car and consistently forget.

[Iyzmi]

Those pics still look fine to me. I'm really not a stance queen though like I said, so YMMV.

I special ordered mine with specific offsets. Your fronts are most likely +20, that's the highest offset you can get on a 19x10 SDC wheel before it starts to hit the front brake calipers according to Forgestar. I'll be running a 275 up front to get a smidge more sidewall over a 265 which should also help reduce the wheel gap a bit. The rears are probably +25 or +27. I ordered +33 so I can run a 305 rear.

[SYT_Shadow]

I've always had good experiences with eibach springs and stock dampers. I would not run a different spring if keeping the stock dampers, it's a recipe for disaster

I've spent +$15k on coilovers in the past year. I don't believe anyone who says you can get a coilover to ride like the stock suspension.

After going and coming back, for the street I'll run either oem dampers or bilstein b12/6/8. That's it. No adjustable anything.

[MMachines]

SYT_Shadow, I don't want it to ride exactly like stock, a little stiffer is what I'm looking for. Figured, if adjustable damping is available for free, take it. 15k in coilovers is a lot of money, what are you looking for that you're not finding?

lyzmi, you've got me curious now about making a quick measurement, and to take a look at where tire would go if I had more offset and a wider tire.

[EricSMG]

Stock ride height always looks goofy with low offset wheels - makes the gap appear larger than it is. Conversely, high offset wheels look goofy when lowered, giving that sunken in look.

I would've ordered/bought much higher offset fronts so as to not get caught in this downward spiral of modding to 'fix' other mods, but that's just me.

Back on topic, in my experience KW V1s are mickey mouse and will make your car handle worse but allow you to dial in your ride height. If loosing the gap is your priority then cheap coils should do the trick. Every aftermarket suspension will ride firmer than stock - that's a fact. The difference will be in handling and harshness and quality.

[Montaver]

That ride height looks fine to me, but I have stock non-CP suspension. If you park in that spot regularly I'm not sure lowering much is possible, the front looks very close the to ground. Looks like you could get away with 1/2 an inch, DINAN springs would do the trick. I think about lowering my car all the time, but I worry about scraping enough as it is.

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by EricSMG

Stock ride height always looks goofy with low offset wheels - makes the gap appear larger than it is. Conversely, high offset wheels look goofy when lowered, giving that sunken in look.

I would've ordered/bought much higher offset fronts so as to not get caught in this downward spiral of modding to 'fix' other mods, but that's just me.

You cannot run a higher offset front with those wheels due to the concavity. +20 is the max unless you drop to a less concave profile.

[tdott]

Front tires are undersized which is why it looks like there is more gap.

A 275/30 might help. 265/35 (taller OD) seems to rub depending on the car, some say it does some say it didn’t.

If you have already ridden on BCs you know what you are getting, they aren’t the best dampers but they aren’t the worse either.

[MMachines]

Thanks guys. Regarding sizing, I bought the wheel and tire package used. I do HPDE's on my Volk's and never took them off last year so these just seem to last forever. That's my driveway so it passes that surface all the time.

[EricSMG]

Originally Posted by Iyzmi

You cannot run a higher offset front with those wheels due to the concavity. +20 is the max unless you drop to a less concave profile.

Obviously.

You want concave, so you get a wide wheel, which means a low offset, which means goofy looks at stock ride height, which means you need to lower it

Originally Posted by MMachines

Thanks guys. Regarding sizing, I bought the wheel and tire package used. I do HPDE's on my Volk's and never took them off last year so these just seem to last forever. That's my driveway so it passes that surface all the time.

Gotcha. But if you're doing performance driving then why aren't you looking at more serious suspension setups?

Trust my, V1s are not what you want. Neither are stiffer springs combined with your stock dampers. In other words, your priority seems to be looks rather than performance and with that mindset it will be easy to make the car handle worse.

[MMachines]

EricSMG, I can see why you'd evaluate my priorities as looks but it's not this black and white as it's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario. I like the way it handles (corners and cruising while being observant it's got 85k miles on OEM suspension) currently, but, if I were to be picky I could do with a little less squat in the back. I like how it looks, but if I were to be picky I could do with a little bit of a drop in the front. I'm not experienced in suspension setups, so when I set out to see what would give me flexibility without breaking the bank I came across the two options mentioned. I'm worried about lowering the back because without increasing spring rates or changing damping I suppose, I'll start rubbing regularly.

[admranger]

SYT_Shadow is spot on.

Get Eibach sport kit springs and call it a day. It'll give you the drop you want w/o sacrificing ride quality. They work.

I'll assume you're not comp package (hint: a signature with your car details helps), so you could go with a comp package suspension but that doesn't lower things as much as the Eibach sport kit.

[MMachines]

Thanks guys. Looks like Eibach only has pro kit springs at the moment. I'm not comp package. A friend was over Thursday night and I measured hub center to fender on my car and his (2013 comp pkg) and seemed to be the same which seemed odd actually.

I'm scared about lowering the rear, so I'll let this simmer a bit.

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by MMachines

Thanks guys. Looks like Eibach only has pro kit springs at the moment.

What other kind are there and what does that have to do with you not having comp package?

[MMachines]

Originally Posted by Iyzmi

What other kind are there and what does that have to do with you not having comp package?

my not having comp pkg is irrelevant I believe.

It was mentioned to get eibach sport, I only saw eibach pro. Maybe they've only got the one set for this car, that's fine. For now I'll hold off as I can't risk more rubbing in the rear.

Thanks all.

[EricSMG]

Yeah, you had about zero bump travel with the HRs... that thing was slammed up front. I'm sure it rode and handled like shit.

Did look good, though.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by MMachines

Thanks guys. Looks like Eibach only has pro kit springs at the moment. I'm not comp package. A friend was over Thursday night and I measured hub center to fender on my car and his (2013 comp pkg) and seemed to be the same which seemed odd actually.

I'm scared about lowering the rear, so I'll let this simmer a bit.

I mis-typed in my email. Eibach pro kit is what I have. They're fine for a daily driver as well as a part time track car when you want to stay on the stock shocks.