» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | 1999 M3 Swap 09-07-2023 10:10 PM 05-02-2024 08:18 PM 6 Replies, 402,457 Views | | | | | | 10-17-2007, 01:55 AM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 402 | New suspension coming, anybody have this already? I have a brandy new set of these being delivered tomorrow. I can't wait to get in there and get things replaced. I got 500lb front springs and 600lb rear, with the height adjusters. It's the TC Kline SA True Match Coilover System. The H&R Sport (f) and Race (r), along with the Bilstein Sports I have in it are pretty much shot. I do a lot of "bump stop bashing" at local autocrosses, which seems to kick the tail out there pretty easily (S52 + LSD). Has anybody tried these yet? I see them mentioned only a few times here, but not installed on any cars, that I can see. Looking for track/autox settings. TC Kline said I should be doing 1/2 turn from full stiff in back, and about half-way on the front damper settings. I have an autocross on Saturday, so I'll post impressions. I'm sure I'll be tweaking things between runs. __________________ 1997 332ti - Don't even ask. 2006 330i - ZPP/ZSP/ZCW/6sp/Nav/BT/H&R Sport 2011 E92 M3 | | | 10-17-2007, 02:07 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 | I have a set of Kon adjustables and H&R Race Springs front and rear. Pete @ TC Kline told me to adjust them to full firm then back off 1/4. I guess YMMV. I'm happy with them. I'm no autocrosser, but am a track junkie. I still have more roll than I want. Next, sway bars. My rears did not come with the adjusting knob. __________________ ...steven BMW CCA #146825 1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i www.bmwcca.org | | | 10-17-2007, 02:14 AM | #3 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 402 | Thanks Steven. I think that with the much beefier springs than the H&Rs, I will greatly minimize body roll (at least they damned well better! ). I have an M3 front swaybar and stock ti in the rear. Pete helped me too. He's the one who told me the 1/2 turn in the rear and about 1/2 way between firm and soft in front. Is it me, or does Pete sound like a stoner (not that there's anything wrong with that)? Do you have the somewhat ugly compress & turn rear shocks, or the non-adjustable ones? __________________ 1997 332ti - Don't even ask. 2006 330i - ZPP/ZSP/ZCW/6sp/Nav/BT/H&R Sport 2011 E92 M3 | | | 10-17-2007, 02:26 AM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 | Quote: Originally Posted by larryn Thanks Steven. I think that with the much beefier springs than the H&Rs, I will greatly minimize body roll (at least they damned well better! ). I have an M3 front swaybar and stock ti in the rear. Pete helped me too. He's the one who told me the 1/2 turn in the rear and about 1/2 way between firm and soft in front. Is it me, or does Pete sound like a stoner (not that there's anything wrong with that)? Do you have the somewhat ugly compress & turn rear shocks, or the non-adjustable ones? | Pete told me to install the M3 sway also. He's no stoner. I've known him for a few years. He is very deliberate when he speaks and knows his ****. He loves talking cars and will give you all the time you need. Mine are single adjustables. The ti is nice when it comes to adjusting. Easily accessible. __________________ ...steven BMW CCA #146825 1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i www.bmwcca.org | | | 10-17-2007, 03:13 AM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 402 | Quote: Originally Posted by 1996 328ti Pete told me to install the M3 sway also. He's no stoner. I've known him for a few years. He is very deliberate when he speaks and knows his ****. He loves talking cars and will give you all the time you need. Mine are single adjustables. The ti is nice when it comes to adjusting. Easily accessible. | Nothing derogatory on Pete's behalf. He just kept yawning and talking slowly. Maybe I caught him on his tired day. He definitely knows his **** though. That was obvious. I'm not so sure how the knob adjustable shocks will work on the ti, since I think jacking up the rear of the car and undoing the lower shock bolt might be easier than taking the trim apart inside. I really don't want to cut an access hole in the trim for the knob inside (if that's even possible). __________________ 1997 332ti - Don't even ask. 2006 330i - ZPP/ZSP/ZCW/6sp/Nav/BT/H&R Sport 2011 E92 M3 | | | 10-17-2007, 04:21 AM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 2,525 | That must be their general recommendation for the koni shocks. I've got the double adjustable at a pretty similar spring rate and he told me to use the same general setting as a starting point. I've got a 28mm H&R bar up front on the softest setting. | | | 10-20-2007, 01:04 AM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 402 | Okay, installed the new suspension today. Remember, I had Bilstein Sports/H&R Sport(f) and H&R Race(r). I can officially say that: 1.) The old suspension now feels like it was pretty much shot 2.) If it wasn't shot, this suspension is incredibly better Really, I wish it wasn't drizzly most of the day. I didn't get any dry driving in, but I did find that I have almost no body roll and the steering feels so much more direct. I get to dial it in tomorrow at a Boston Chapter autocross, and I'll post my dry weather impressions. I'm really psyched to get out there and play with the car. It feels like a different sled now. __________________ 1997 332ti - Don't even ask. 2006 330i - ZPP/ZSP/ZCW/6sp/Nav/BT/H&R Sport 2011 E92 M3 | | | 10-20-2007, 01:09 AM | #8 | aka Stabby Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mead, CO Posts: 5,336 | i hope to some day have a TC Kline setup. your input and observations are appreciated! __________________ 1996 318ti, California package, 267k miles current mods: bilstein sports, bavauto springs, e30 m3 LCABs, solid metal ball joints, bavauto RSMs w/reinforcements, e30 3.73 LSD & halfshafts, supersprint cat-back exhaust, turner rear sway bar reinforcements, IE poly subframe & RTABs + camber/toe kits, powdercoated e36 32x front calipers, sport mirrors, H&R 28mmF/19mmR sway bars, x-brace, auto solutions SSK w/poly bushing upgrade, BMW CD43 head unit, DICE HD Radio w/iPod integration and "stealth" HD antenna, staggered style 68s, orange electronic TPMS, leather arm rest, JT Designs metal undertray acquired and awaiting install: heated seat kit, cali top switch relo, lumbar support kit, park distance control kit, heated washer nozzle kit, m-coupe rear subframe, trailing arms, differential, and halfshafts, m-coupe front/rear brakes with master cylinder, under hood light kit, mud flaps, rear sun blind, auto-dimming rear view mirror, tilt steering wheel retrofit, apexcone 5000K HIDs with 55W ballasts 2002 X5 4.4 Sport Package, 53.5k miles Current Mods: e46 m3 steering wheel | | | 10-20-2007, 03:05 AM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 2,525 | You know, I've pretty much left the initial setup on my DA's exactly where Pete told me to put them. The one thing I have played with a lot is tire pressures, and I changed my front sway bar from full stiff to full soft... I think I did increase the rebound just a little bit on the rear. You can even think about switching your springs front to back, and running without a rear bar.. That keeps the inside tire from lifting in tighter corners. I'm running 550# up front and 500# in the rear. I don't have a swap though. | | | 10-21-2007, 04:47 AM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,152 | Nice new set up larryn! Any inputs from today's BMW auto-x? | | | 10-21-2007, 02:55 PM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 402 | Quote: Originally Posted by StealthBimmer Nice new set up larryn! Any inputs from today's BMW auto-x? | Well, it was pretty night and day, but I still need to dial it in. TC Kline had suggested to me that I put it at near full stiff in the rear, and about 1/2 stiff in front, which I started out with. That's obvioulsy the WRONG setting, after driving it on an autocross course, as the rear behaved pretty badly, and felt like I was lifting a rear tire. The class I'm in (BMW CCA AS Class) doesn't allow me to have a stripped interior, so I had to put all the rear trim back in order. Because of the CD Changer, it takes probably 20+ minutes to give me access to the top of the dampers in order to adjust them, and another 20 mins to put it back together (since I have to have the trim back in to remain in AS). Basically, I had no time to be able to do that. That being said, the car was better than the old suspension, by probaby 1.5-2 seconds a run. If you've ever autocrossed, that's a whole lotta time. I was about 4.5 seconds off of fastest time of the day, which is unbelievable, since I'm running street tires. The FTD was set by a gutted e30 325i, with 285 hoosiers all around, driven by a national champ. I think I can shave another full second off of my times, by doing some changes. Next week I have a Test & Tune event, that will allow me to have a stripped interior and tweak the suspension. Before then, I need to source a much fatter front swaybar than the M3 one I have. I need to get the front stiffer, and the rear of the car softer. After that, I think corner weighting and I'm done for now. The car is pretty beastly now, and I know it can be tweaked to make it even moreso. One last thing, I need to get rid of some negative camber up front. After checking yesterday, I was at about -3.6 degrees, which I think is just too much by probably .75 of a degree. __________________ 1997 332ti - Don't even ask. 2006 330i - ZPP/ZSP/ZCW/6sp/Nav/BT/H&R Sport 2011 E92 M3 | | | 10-22-2007, 01:20 AM | #12 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 | The rears aren't easily adjustable. Don't you need to take them off to adjust? Mine do not adjust from the top. __________________ ...steven BMW CCA #146825 1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i www.bmwcca.org | | | 10-22-2007, 01:29 PM | #13 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 402 | Quote: Originally Posted by 1996 328ti The rears aren't easily adjustable. Don't you need to take them off to adjust? Mine do not adjust from the top. | Mine are like the fronts, adjustable from the top with the detachable knob. The non-coilover kit shocks they sell still have the kind you have though. I'm guessing you have the 'compress & twist to adjust' rear shocks. By the way, yesterday I was able to swap my road wheels/tires back on, raise the car on all 4 corners by an inch (I was a low-rider for the autocross) and adjust the damping to a more softer setting on all 4 corners, all in about 35 minutes. All I can say is Wow! It feels like I'm driving a car fresh from the factory. I'm amazed at the "daily drivebility" characteristics you can quickly set up. Even with the 500# and 600# springs, just seetting the shocks to 1/2 firm in back, and almost full soft in front makes the 'ti feel like my e90, comfort-wise, with almost no road noise. I doubt this car drove this nicely from the factory. __________________ 1997 332ti - Don't even ask. 2006 330i - ZPP/ZSP/ZCW/6sp/Nav/BT/H&R Sport 2011 E92 M3 | | | 10-31-2007, 05:31 PM | #14 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 2,525 | Larryn- Have any more feedback on what you think of the new suspension? I was at a DE over the past weekend and spent a good amount of time on a very wet track. I'm not sure if my tires are starting to fall off after a year of abuse or if my setup is not very wet friendly but I found that the ass end of my car was all over the place.. Once the track dried out a bit everything was right back to normal, but in the wet I was having some major issues... I may end up giving Pete a call to find out if there are any quick adjustments that can be made to get more wet grip on the rear. | | | 10-31-2007, 06:04 PM | #15 | doesn't care about you. Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 3,925 | Quote: Originally Posted by mohaughn Larryn- Have any more feedback on what you think of the new suspension? I was at a DE over the past weekend and spent a good amount of time on a very wet track. I'm not sure if my tires are starting to fall off after a year of abuse or if my setup is not very wet friendly but I found that the ass end of my car was all over the place.. Once the track dried out a bit everything was right back to normal, but in the wet I was having some major issues... I may end up giving Pete a call to find out if there are any quick adjustments that can be made to get more wet grip on the rear. | You'll probably want to run a soft rear in the wet. Are you running without a rear bar too? __________________ '99 Dinan M3 | | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |