Anyone Running GAZ Gold Coilovers on E36 M3 Evo?

[scz4]

Hi guys,

If anyone out there is running GAZ Gold coilovers on a E36 M3 Evo I'd appreciate hearing your views.

The M3 is now a second car so I am looking for at set of coilovers as I won't mind the harsh ride now. The car will not be used for racing, just trackdays and road use, so the ultimate setup is not essential, just looking for a good all round setup. The other alternative is the Bilstein PSS9 kit, but they are £1300-£1400 compared to £850, budget is important since it's a second car.

I've already got Eibach anti roll bars, Powerflex bushes all round, Rogue rear mounts, front and rear strut braces, x-brace and eibach lowering springs.

So far I've been impressed with GAZ, looks like they have very good after-sales support, i.e can play around with spring rates, buy just one shock if necessary. The other advantage is I don't think I need to run spacers with this kit.

My only concern is I've heard the springs can move around and cause a knocking\crashing noise when the shock is uncompressed i.e. going over speed bumps or a bumpy road.

Look forward to your comments. And please no recommendations of Intrax etc, they are way over my skill level and budget.

G

Edited by scz4 on Thursday 18th December 12:09

[ryanm3evo]

Aye aye graham hows it going. Loads of the guys on the e36coupe forum rave about them. Says they are really good for track work. You get them wheels powdercoated yet?
Ryan

[scz4]

ryanm3evo said:

Aye aye graham hows it going. Loads of the guys on the e36coupe forum rave about them. Says they are really good for track work. You get them wheels powdercoated yet?
Ryan

Hi Ryan,

Yeah very tempted by the GAZ kit.

Not done the rims yet, taken the tyres off but that's it. Upgrade budget is gonna be tight this winter

What have you got planned?

G

[E36GUY]

I'll be fitting some in January time. The shock kit itself is 680.72 plus VAT then you'll need the new top mounts. If you get the camber adjustable ones they will be an additional £240. Then they will need your original mounts to build the new ones. All in it's £1071.80 inc VAT and carriage so good value.

[asbo]

I had heard that GAZ were crap to the point where they went into administration.

Have they been given a new lease of life?

[E30M3SE]

asbo said:

I had heard that GAZ were crap to the point where they went into administration.

Have they been given a new lease of life?

Don't know where you heard that, but don't think it is correct, the guy behind GAZ was the guy, or connected to, the guy behind Leda, Leda ceased trading, for whatever reason, a while ago. (This is all IIRC, and often don't).

[asbo]

E30M3SE said:

asbo said:

I had heard that GAZ were crap to the point where they went into administration.

Have they been given a new lease of life?

Don't know where you heard that, but don't think it is correct, the guy behind GAZ was the guy, or connected to, the guy behind Leda, Leda ceased trading, for whatever reason, a while ago. (This is all IIRC, and often don't).

Hmmm, I knew Leda went down the tubes, but I've oft heard reports as to the lack of integrity of GAZ products. Perhaps I put 2+2 together and got 43

I'd be interested to hear opinions. I know that Eibach do a VGMFM kit in the form of their 'street' offering, but according to the boys in the know, they are a little too under-developed for track work*.

I'm inclined to believe that the KW kit is the dog's trouser conkers, but obviously you pay the price for it.

*Source: bmwowner.com

[scz4]

I hear around 75% of people involved with the Kumho racing challenge seem to use GAZ, can't be all that bad.

[swtmerce]

I have GAZ GHA (not GOLD) on my 328 track car. I've had no problems with the units whatsoever. However, the best thing about using GAZ is the product support. I specified the required spring rates from the factory and the damper valving was made to suit. Also, with 36 points of adjustment on the rear dampers, I could raise the spring rate at the rear quite a lot before I would need the dampers revalved. To revalve would require me to send the units to GAZ and they would do the work in a fast turnaround for little money! The front units don't have as much adjustability which is a down side however, GOLD units do so wouldn't be a problem.

They've served me very well over the last year. Whereas the damper performance might not be as good as a monotube Bilstein or KW, the winning factor is the support and ability to customise. You won't get that with the major brands. Literally all coilovers on the market have insufficient spring rates for track work.

Many people doubt GAZ for some reason but I can't see why. I even went to visit the factory and spoke to the Gazzards personally and found them knowledgeable and helpful.

When I went to the Ring in August, our instructor had GAZ Gold on his E46 M3. He also races for a living so he's quite well positioned to give a good opinion. He rated his GAZ coilovers very highly and saw no need to spend any more.

[taffyracer]

scz4 said:

I hear around 75% of people involved with the Kumho racing challenge seem to use GAZ, can't be all that bad.

don't think that's correct, most i know run on Moton or Intrax or the older cars on Leda, alot of the production BM's might be on Gaz though, don't know anything about them but i'm told they're ok for the money if you're on a tight budget, any shock should be rebuildable so that's not a USP

Edited by taffyracer on Saturday 20th December 10:58