E36 M3 EVO suspension ??

[evobob]

Think its time to treat the M3 with a suspension upgrade.. shes on about 80k miles now and gettin a squeaky..
im after some advice on what would be best...

Id like standard height.. with a tight road holding set-up.. with a good solid sports car feel.. what would be the best? how much? and anythin else that would need replacing?

thanks ...!

[dan101smith]

If keeping exactly standard ride height really matters, then you've got three options:

1) replace with OEM kit
2) get aftermarket dampers and custom made springs
3) coilovers

Uprated springs tend to also lower the car.

If you're only going to be using it on the road, then go for a full refresh with OEM kit, including all the rubber bushes, and uprate the rear top mounts at the same time.

[Cactussed]

I have to say, my polybushes are all squeaking now after driving in the rain. Every speed bump now sounds like shagging in an old bed!

[evobob]

hahaha oh no.. when they are not squeaking.. is it worth it havin it polybushed up??

Coilovers sound good.. are SPAX any good??

cheers...

[CRACKIE]

dan101smith said:

If keeping exactly standard ride height really matters, then you've got three options:

1) replace with OEM kit
2) get aftermarket dampers and custom made springs
3) coilovers

Uprated springs tend to also lower the car.

If you're only going to be using it on the road, then go for a full refresh with OEM kit, including all the rubber bushes, and uprate the rear top mounts at the same time.

+1

[Great Pretender]

evobob said:

hahaha oh no.. when they are not squeaking.. is it worth it havin it polybushed up??

Coilovers sound good.. are SPAX any good??

cheers...

Spax tend to be cheap IME. Make of that what you will.

[E36GUY]

best value quality coilovers for the M3evo are GAZ Gold. These are adjustable for ride and rebound/damping. Fitted them to mine and the handling is amazing - more so since getting it properly corner-weighted. The kit with should cost about £1100 if you have the hand made camber adjusters as well.

[Cactussed]

evobob said:

hahaha oh no.. when they are not squeaking.. is it worth it havin it polybushed up??

I'd say yes, it sharpens things up again as the old bushes were quite sloppy.

[evobob]

Great Pretender said:

evobob said:

hahaha oh no.. when they are not squeaking.. is it worth it havin it polybushed up??

Coilovers sound good.. are SPAX any good??

cheers...

Spax tend to be cheap IME. Make of that what you will.

what would you say are a set of decent adjustable coilovers for a fair price? i would have splashed out.. but just invested in a new set of spline gears for the vanos.. cost a fortune this year..! haha. worth every penny tho. ;o)

[evobob]

E36GUY said:

best value quality coilovers for the M3evo are GAZ Gold. These are adjustable for ride and rebound/damping. Fitted them to mine and the handling is amazing - more so since getting it properly corner-weighted. The kit with should cost about £1100 if you have the hand made camber adjusters as well.

awesome..! prob looking to spend around £500 on the suspension.. get all the bushes done, engine and gear box mounts too..

cheers..

Edited by evobob on Wednesday 7th October 16:45

[chris7676]

I would start with shocks+springs and then bushes unless they obviously need replacing.

[Great Pretender]

chris7676 said:

I would start with shocks+springs and then bushes unless they obviously need replacing.

Yes, but far better to do it all at once surely?

[iguana]

I think the standard set up is wallowy cack personally, if not tracking then Eibach springs & Koni adjustables are an ace upgrade, or even with new stock fixed rate shocks.


Bit of suspension banter here-


http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... lowering springs

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... M3 EVO Trackday Suspension

Edited by iguana on Wednesday 7th October 21:04

[Great Pretender]

iguana said:

I think the standard set up is wallowy cack personally, if not tracking then Eibach springs & Koni adjustables are an ace upgrade, or even with new stock fixed rate shocks.


Bit of suspension banter here-


http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... lowering springs

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... M3 EVO Trackday Suspension

Edited by iguana on Wednesday 7th October 21:04

Yes, but are you basing your expereince on a new car or one with possibly a hundred thousand miles + on the clock?

Dampers tend to loose their effectiveness after 60-70k IME.

[iguana]

Great Pretender said:

iguana said:

I think the standard set up is wallowy cack personally,

Yes, but are you basing your expereince on a new car or one with possibly a hundred thousand miles + on the clock?

Dampers tend to loose their effectiveness after 60-70k IME.

A fair pont & many dampers are buggered in far less miles than that, howver I drove 'em new & still wasnt that impressed & matey wants & I quote-

evobob said:

Id like a tight road holding set-up.. with a good solid sports car feel..
thanks ...!

& that is not IMHO what stock M3 suspension offers, it was always a fairly unfocused GT car on standard suspension, & not IMHO a sports car, change the suspension on e36s uprate the brakes & they are such a better car than they are/were as standard.

[evobob]

cheers fellas...!!

ive been offered some BC adjustable coil overs, and im making enquires about gettin it fully polybushered up and uprated rear top mounts..!

so hopefully she should be squeak free and solid as a rock in the next couple of weeks..!

what about engine and gearbox mounts?? is it worth doing them too??

[dan101smith]

I've heard of a few people fitting these BC coilovers recently.

Bearing in mind the low cost of them, I'd like to know how they compare to the bigger brand stuff (Gaz etc), but most people buying them are buying coilovers for the first time so can't compare.

I'm most likely wrong, but the price makes me very wary that they're likely to be a pile o'ste.

[chris7676]

I have got BC Racing ones (fronts are monotubes, so slightly more expensive but still not expensive) installed on mine and can't really complain, especially as they came with camber adjustable plates. Cannot personally compare with GAZ or Bilsteins but there was some test done by an American magazine comparing various coilovers and these seemed to offer quite good behaviour for the money (that made me go for these, esp as GAZ had a long waiting time). And you can specify the spring rates as well.

[iguana]

dan101smith said:

I've heard of a few people fitting these BC coilovers recently.

Bearing in mind the low cost of them, I'd like to know how they compare to the bigger brand stuff (Gaz etc), but most people buying them are buying coilovers for the first time so can't compare.

I'm most likely wrong, but the price makes me very wary that they're likely to be a pile o'ste.

Cos expensive is always better eh, best get some Intrax, 3k oh hang on well known that they break.........

Edited by iguana on Monday 12th October 09:22

Edited by iguana on Monday 12th October 09:23

[dan101smith]

Blimey! Was that just a stress fracture gone bad?

I'm not advocating any one brand over another, just that I wonder if the cheaper stuff has had enough R&D thrown at it. From what a few others have said, the BC stuff sounds reasonable.