Coilover question

[kusee pee]

I'm modding an e36 m3 evo saloon for the track and need some good coilovers. Any suggestions on which to choose from: BC Racing, eibach pro-street, KW version 1, GAZ Gold, D2 Racing....or other? All seem to be around the same price. Only the BC and D2 seem to have adjustable damping which is a plus.

Also, will all of the above be a straightforward swap for the standard suspension? Cheers.

[jbaddeley]

HSD get good reviews. I'm currently having these fitted and will update when I've tried them.

[shim]

Bc, d2 and HSD are about as cheap as you can get. Good luck with then all, I hope they work half as well as OeM.

[Honestherbert]

From personal experience bc racing and hsd are a very capable units, d2 are cheap crap-although that may have changed as it was a fair few years ago I last used them (3+)

Driftworks cs2 are excellent although slightly up the scale price wise, any well set up coilover will help the car handle better on the limit than the awful understeery mess bmw set the standard alignment to! the standard shock and spring are great for wafting around but I really didn't like the way the car always wanted to understeer rather than oversteer when pushing on.

Best bet is probably to get onto m3cutters etc and read some recent reviews over there

HTH

[andye30m3]

I'd be temped to spend a little more and go for KW or bilstien.

[jbaddeley]

I was tempted by the bilstein b12 kit approximate£700 but in the end the overall adjustability and reviews on BMW owners.com definitive coiover guide persuaded me to go HSD.

[e46m3c]

Has anyone done any comparison on the BC coilovers? It seems they are some great specs, high quality technology and used with some time attack cars. Are they really crap?

[BullyB]

I'm running HSD's on my Evo.
Very good and loads of adjustment. The car is now transformed on the track.
I read loads of reviews and HSD seem to offer a very good package for the money.
Purchased from Driftworks.

[wheelsmith]

BullyB said:

I'm running HSD's on my Evo.
Very good and loads of adjustment. The car is now transformed on the track.
I read loads of reviews and HSD seem to offer a very good package for the money.
Purchased from Driftworks.

Do these add a lot more road noise in daily use?

[Darranu]

e46m3c said:

Has anyone done any comparison on the BC coilovers? It seems they are some great specs, high quality technology and used with some time attack cars. Are they really crap?

Ive got a BC kit on my E36 track car (can't remember which kit)
They've been spot on, great value for money and lots of adjustment. It's all to easy for people to say there "crap" with no real world experience of them.

I had a budget in mind that I wanted to try and stick to whilst preparing the car, with the money I saved over say a KW setup I bought a full set of poly bushes so for me it worked. If moneys no object...... at the end of the day it's a track car and I'm chasing smiles not lap times.

The only thing I would say is check the spring rates as the one's supplied are far to soft for serious track work so you need to request your prefered springs at time of ordering.

Hope this helps,
Darran

[robmarrs]

Whilst I have an E36 M3 Evo with B6 Bilstein suspension, I also have an E34 535i Racing Dynamics K38 with a BC Coilover kit fitted. I use my K38 as a track day weapon and for the money they are a very good set up, they are properly adjustable for ride height... this is not by lowering the spring seat like most, but by shortening the actual body length as the lower part is threaded as well. They are also adjustable on the top by a click wheel to stiffen the damping and most come with a castor adjustable front top mount generally, you can specify a spring rate of your choice if you want.

Once installed I had mine all set up on a KDS system for ride height and camber castor etc, not cheap but the end result has been well worth it. The car is now stiff for the road, and a much improved track car. Just make sure you poly bush the rest of suspension to get the max benefit, then upgrade the front brakes and invest in some slicks..... you will be amazed what it will do! I can't keep up with mates E46 M3 on the straights, but on the bends it is allover him.

[iguana]

I've run most stuff on e36s, Eibach coilies, H&R coilies, Bilstein Pss9 & also Bilstein pss coilies, Bilsten dampers & Eibach springs as well as BC on 2 dif cars & yes it is cheap but its pretty cheerful not rubbish.

On my old M3 they took a proper track pounding over a couple of yrs & only now are bit goosed damping wise & I've got another set of 'em on another of my e36 trackers & do rate them, as said above bit soft for hardcore tracking in the softest type, (but so are pretty much all the competition in non clubsport ranges as standard rates as most run v similar spring rates, its all about the damping I have run 8/8 on m3 & 328 & its ok, works a bit better on the lighter 328, but I think on m3 10/10 would be a better set up.

Something like the Clubsports from KW or Bilstein might be a good step better, but they are near 3x the cost so should be.



If buying BC or indeed HSD- which I have no experience of, I'd order from & indeed have twice-

http://www.h-dev.co.uk/index2.php?page=home

Honest bunch & good prices.

[kusee pee]

Thanks for all the help guys. I've gone for the BC Racing set up and should be fitting it this week, fingers crossed. I will report back on progress. Cheers all.

[BullyB]

wheelsmith said:

BullyB said:

I'm running HSD's on my Evo.
Very good and loads of adjustment. The car is now transformed on the track.
I read loads of reviews and HSD seem to offer a very good package for the money.
Purchased from Driftworks.

Do these add a lot more road noise in daily use?

I would say probably a bit louder on the road than before.
I have had them set really hard for the last few trips as I have been going to/from track.
It their softest setting, they are fine for road use in my oppinion

[wheelsmith]

kusee pee said:

Thanks for all the help guys. I've gone for the BC Racing set up and should be fitting it this week, fingers crossed. I will report back on progress. Cheers all.

Any update for us?