E46 M3 Maintenance & Improvement Diary

moranor@axis

///Member
Official Advertiser
quite often there is no seating time needed for seals :)

I hope you not finding the polly pushes too hard?
 

slotcars1

///Member
Not finding them too hard at ALL...

Everything feels so Precise... drove Ou Kapps now at a reasonable pace getting a feel again and it is amazing...

AND... Fuel consumption was at 9.1l/100Km when I got home now...

so chuffed




And the stance post coilovers

 

slotcars1

///Member
Quick Review on the BC's after a week or so of use:

I have done every type of driving now, through town, Highway, long distance (to Mcgreggor) on some not so great roads, a little bit of gravel and in the wet.

I have changed damping, camber and height (once). I don't have much to complain about to be honest.

Bear in mind the following from the review:

1) My previous dampers were shot and the only thing keeping the car on the road were the decent H&R springs. When I say shot, I mean SHOT.
2) I have done poly bushes, and decent tyres around the same time which obviously helps overall.
3) I am not comparing to any other brands as this is my first set.

Now with the disclaimer out of the way let us move on.

They are 30 way damping adjustable, I have settled on 8 clicks from the hardest up front and 10 clicks from hard at the rear.

It is on around 30 mil drop from standard ride height. you could theoretically slam it to the ground if you were so inclined with the amount of height adjustability and raise it to neer stock height as well.

The ride is firm, but on the softer settings you can get them to around stock suspension in terms of hardness. On the current setup it is slightly firmer than with the H&R springs I had. The first thing I noted was the lack of body roll, which makes turn in more direct as well as inspire far more confidence in my driving.

Around town over speedbumps etc. if you are too agressive you will need some sort of spinal surgery but taken with caution I would not call it uncomfortable. On really uneven roads it does seem to increase the tram lining characteristics of the Yoki AD08'S but nothing too drastic. What you have to bear in mind, is that these cars were not designed for revolting roads anyway. Where you will notice distinct advantages is on an awesome road such as Chapman's, Roads drive etc. where I used to find the car going from understeer so a snap oversteer very easily, this setup seems to compliment the tyres and bushes to really balance the car nicely (I have not yet had corner weights done, so can only imagine how this will improve the overall feel of the car).

From an installation point of view it was difficult only because it was just my pair of hands, if one had two people assisting it would be a piece of piss. If you have never worked on a car before you may find it tricky as the installation instructions are a direct translation from Chinese :) but if you can wield a spanner, the kit comes with everything you need and is really quite straight forward to install.

Overall, I am very happy with the performance, and by no means feel that I have bought a budget kit, so for the money I can highly recommend them and that they are worth what you will pay for them.

But most of all, if you are someone who likes fiddling and adjusting, Coilovers of any type are for you, as there is just so much to play with :)

My biggest gripe, is that because of the eccentric nature and offsett of the front mount, it is very difficult to get to the one side of the screws for adjusting camber but can be done. Someone else with other coilovers could comment here on what other brands have done?

If anyone has any questions, please ask but like i said, i cannot complain about them.
 

Theo D

Active member
Thanks for the review, I've heard nothing but good remarks about these coilies. Have you tried them on their full soft setting ?
 

slotcars1

///Member
Theo D said:
Thanks for the review, I've heard nothing but good remarks about these coilies. Have you tried them on their full soft setting ?

I did, wasn't a fan... felt "wollowy" if you know what I mean... still not much body roll etc. but just didn't feel right.
 
I've considering saving up for these, i was just worried about making the ride too uncomfortable but I guess if the dampening is adjustable, you can reduce the harshness a bit.
 

slotcars1

///Member
Un-related but related :fencelook:

further progress has been slowed by Tokai Mountain... where I decided to stop myself with a tree and a rock on DH1 (for those of you who know the mountain - Nice fast section)

The outcome was an AC dislocation



And thank goodness for helmets that our heads don't get crushed:



The remaining bushes etc. will only be going in in about 6 weeks now...
 

Peter@AEW

BMWFanatics Advertiser
Official Advertiser
The remaining bushes will be going in next week .........as in the suspension bushes will be going into the car and NOT you into the remaining bushes of Tokai mountain....

Get well soon :)
 

Crash_Nemesis

///Member
My rear shock mounts just exploded last weekend. Bloody noisy and driving me nuts. Moranor has since sent me new Meyle Heavy Duty Shock mounts. :thumbs:
 

Tehwalleth

Banned
Yep mine also let go. Paid through my nose for the BMW stuff and waited a week and a bit, also got the spring upper and lower pads since if there is a single squeak from the rear i'm burning the bitch to the ground.
 

slotcars1

///Member
So I haven't updated for a while... not much to report other than she is going like a dream...

Took a drive with a friend up Chappies On Sunday and snapped a few quick camera pics





 

Andy1GP

///Member
Those CSL's on a black car are simply to die for. Love the look and thank you for the review, one day I'll get some as well...
 
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