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Old 07-17-2012, 07:23 AM   #1
jiggerjosh
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Default BC Racing Coilover Review, Very Impressed (pics)!!!

I know I do not post too much, but I felt the need to let everyone know of my findings! I could not be happier with the setup I got. After many months of searching for a decent set of coilovers for a decent price I decided on BC racing. I read a lot of reviews almost all were positive, so I figured I would give them a shot. For $999.00 shipped the coilovers came with 30 way adjustable struts, camber plates, new endlinks and some of other goodies. It would cost two to three times that much from KW, GC or TC Kline for the same setup.

One thing you should know is my 318Ti is far from stock. It has a worked m52 2.8, full exhaust, supercharger, 3.73 LSD and countless other mods to the motor that I can not remember right now. Last time it was dynamo I was at 300hp to the wheels and about the same for torque. The car is gutted has two really light race seats, and urethane mounts everywhere. I have been doing autoX and doing HDPE's for about 10 years now. So I have had quite a few suspension setups in this and other cars.

BC Racing does not make a specific setup for "swapped Ti's", so I put together a setup that I thought would work well. Thanks to http://www.circuitmotorsports.net specifically Circuit MS (found him on bimmerforums) they we able to put together exactly what I wanted. My order contained front m3 struts with 600lb springs and z3 rear shocks with 700lb springs and perches. He went the full 10 yards for me and less than a month later I had a completely custom set for the same price that they normally charge.

I am a BMW tech so install was a breeze, but I also a have a degree in industrial deign/engineering and I must say the quality of these is superb. Before these coilovers I had H&R sports with Bilstiens and then later switched to H&R Race springs with stiffer 6 cylinder Bilsteins up front. H&R's and Bilstein combo for the road was a great setup but on the track they are pretty horrible. Since my Ti is becoming a dedicated track car I really needed something more responsive and stiffer. I have not tracked the car yet with my new setup, but I have a very good feeling they will do great, I will post an update as soon as i do!

This is where I got them:
BC Racing coilovers from Circuit Motorsports

I know most of you want to see pics so check them out below.

Even the packaging was really nice






On to the install, this is not a how to just some comparisons I made along the way.

The front struts with unsprung weight used to sit here:
And now sits here:

Same thing in the rear. Before:
After:
Comparison:

Front m3 struts/coils with 328i swaybar and m3 end links that came in the kit:

Rear shock lower mount comparison, Bc Racing uses a solid pillow ball insert rather than rubber, me like:
In order to use my Rouge RSM i had to remove two bolts from the BC upper shock mount, But It was a simple procedure, Before:
Used a deep socket, vice and a hammer to remove they are just press fitted:
All done:

Couple shots after It was completed. I left the front at stock settings and adjusted the rear a hair. I could probably drop it on the ground with all the adjustments these coilovers offers:


This last picture shows my co-workers m3 on ground control coilovers. He was actually jealous on how well my car handled especially after I told him the price. I have since aligned the Ti and Easily got 3.25 degree camber running m3 front spindles. I also have loads of caster, just enough room to clear the front bumper.


I will update with some better pics/track results soon! Can't wait...

Last edited by jiggerjosh; 07-17-2012 at 07:33 AM. Reason: spelling
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Old 07-17-2012, 07:24 AM   #2
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Oh and here is what my H&R/Bilstein setup use to look like through the corners:

Last edited by jiggerjosh; 07-17-2012 at 07:38 AM.
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Old 07-18-2012, 06:21 AM   #3
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I love it....Clean simple lines...Height is nice....Very well done....
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Old 07-18-2012, 12:22 PM   #4
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Default BC's are pretty good...

Josh:

When I had my MINI shop, Minspeed, we started using the BC kits after a bad experience with Spax early on. The BC's proved very reliable and durable, for street or racing applications. We had only one leak down out of about 52 kits used-not a bad failure rate in my book, and they covered it. The only thing I would do is keep an eye on the rubber boots. In a couple of cases, they tore a bit early. Ask BC for a few to have on hand just in case. As soon as I have some time, I'll get with you on those other things...I'm trying to get my wayward son's car ready to sell.
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Old 07-24-2012, 03:23 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by campione View Post
Josh:

When I had my MINI shop, Minspeed, we started using the BC kits after a bad experience with Spax early on. The BC's proved very reliable and durable, for street or racing applications. We had only one leak down out of about 52 kits used-not a bad failure rate in my book, and they covered it. The only thing I would do is keep an eye on the rubber boots. In a couple of cases, they tore a bit early. Ask BC for a few to have on hand just in case. As soon as I have some time, I'll get with you on those other things...I'm trying to get my wayward son's car ready to sell.
You owned Minispeed! Never saw the shop, but I was very impressed with the business cards. Haha, You must know Greg then, I work with him over at Vista BMW/MINI. He used to say great things about your shop. I did not even know that you guys closed down. My wife had a Mini and she misses it everyday, we got a new 328i (F30) due to a new arrival in the family. The mini is the only car that feels more like a go-cart than the 318ti.

Let me know when you want to get together. The wife is working Sunday, so I'm on kid duty, we could get together than if you'd like. Let me know...
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Old 07-24-2012, 04:30 AM   #6
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I have the exact same setup (spring rates) on my Z3 drift race car. I bought them at the time for my 97 318i, and when i wrecked that I switched them straight over to the Z3.

I bought mine a few years back from a professional drifter that is sponsored by them for his E36..very impressed with thier quality and performance, especially for the $$ involved.
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Old 07-24-2012, 04:37 AM   #7
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Who Chelsea Denofa? Hahah^
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Im guessing im the youngest member on here with a S52 power'ed Ti at 16 years old!
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Old 07-24-2012, 04:07 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by projekt EPiK View Post
I have the exact same setup (spring rates) on my Z3 drift race car. I bought them at the time for my 97 318i, and when i wrecked that I switched them straight over to the Z3.

I bought mine a few years back from a professional drifter that is sponsored by them for his E36..very impressed with thier quality and performance, especially for the $$ involved.
So you are running the e36 coupe/seden specific setup on your z3? I found that the regular e36 rear struts are much too long for the TI so i would imagine they would be for the z3.

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Who Chelsea Denofa? Hahah^
Probably?!?
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Old 07-24-2012, 05:26 PM   #9
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Yes Chelsea. the old style bc rear shock look different than yours. it is threaded at the bottom into the shock body. i pulled the eyelid bolt out and trimmed it to be able to bottom out the eyelt in the shock body...gave me over 1" more drop
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Old 07-24-2012, 08:38 PM   #10
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Lol. I'm pissed e36 is gone. But his e46 is pretty dope. And he's driving the RX-8 now
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Old 07-24-2012, 10:42 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slow_ti View Post
Lol. I'm pissed e36 is gone. But his e46 is pretty dope. And he's driving the RX-8 now
Yes e46 looks okay, the 36 sedan was just brute looking tho lol. Joon's old car at least has power and similar angle abilities..hopefully it will serve him well in the points.

I have a bunch of old skool parts on my car..Chelsea's old BC suspension setup (same specs), Sean Love's (SLR) actual original knuckles from his personal 328i from competing years ago...

here is a shot of my BCs and the mods..from 2 years ago





the whole thread if you want to read
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1475760
another one
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1564369
and the last one for the Z3 install
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1589428

sorry for the thread jack..but it's all relevant BMW info

Last edited by projekt EPiK; 07-24-2012 at 11:10 PM.
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Old 07-26-2012, 06:50 PM   #12
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what type of wheels are those and specs?
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Old 07-26-2012, 09:55 PM   #13
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Got BC here as well, can't be happier.
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Old 07-27-2012, 01:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by projekt EPiK View Post
Yes Chelsea. the old style bc rear shock look different than yours. it is threaded at the bottom into the shock body. i pulled the eyelid bolt out and trimmed it to be able to bottom out the eyelt in the shock body...gave me over 1" more drop
Yeah I have heard they made various improvements to the newer ones, I can not adjust caster though, but I could not get anymore if I wanted to without cutting the bumper. So win/win there. I could do the same thing you did except the adjuster is now on the top. The shock body is basically threaded into an insert, which can go down maybe 1.5 inches. The only issue is that would mess with the physics of the strut. If you can help it you should really lower it with the sprigs/adjuster. I'm running the back about 1/2 inch up on the adjuster and its as low as I would ever want to go. If i removed the adjusting nuts and some of the extra spring pad i have under the perch I could go another 2" lower easily.

Quote:
Originally Posted by eurohb View Post
what type of wheels are those and specs?
Those are just some Ebay replicas of the e46 m sport wheels that came on the later models. They have a deeper dish than the factory BMW ones though and are not a true two piece. They are 8.5s and I run 225/40/18 in the frot and 255/35/18 in the rear. I only paid $400.00 for them brand new, and picked them up in Sarasota,FL (not sure if the company is still in business. The build quality is excellent though, I have had them for over 5 years and if i would have maintained them properly they would still look like new. They are basically just my to and from track wheels now as I have some BBS RK's with R-compounds.

Last edited by jiggerjosh; 07-27-2012 at 01:51 AM.
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Old 07-27-2012, 02:07 AM   #15
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You didn't need spacers for the front or anything to avoid hitting the shock?
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