Comparison of aftermarket suspension

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climbernyc

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Hi guys,

Can anyone tell me what spring and shock combos they prefer? Korman, H&B, Carl from La Jolla, etc? Does anyone valve their shocks as digressive? Any progressive springs?
73 E9 with 16 7&8. Would like to lower slightly. Car will be fast road use no track.

Many thanks!


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The safe and proven route is springs and camber plates from LaJolla. To that you add Bilstein shocks/struts and sport sway bar set (I have bars from ST, which should be the same as what LR sells).

I have this setup and it's a great road package. I would also trust anything from Ray Korman.
 
my own experience for a stock 3.0 CS

Carl Nelson Springs
bilsteins B6 (european denomination)
no camber plates
sway bars: front 23mm rear 18mm

i drive hard, performs well
 
Great thread... can I also chime in and ask of those running Carl Nelsons how firm they are? I would like the 1" drop, but don't want the ride to be too harsh. I have just tried the car on 16" rims and still like how it absorbs bumps at stock ride height with recent Bilsteins in the car. While I would like the aesthetic drop, I am wary of a setup that becomes too firm. I don't mean to hijack the thread but feel these questions aim to answer the same type of questions that climbernyc is asking.
 
i really wish we could get progressive springs for the coupe - adds a softer ride in straight-line and tightens up in the curves. Eric, did your research come up with what the H+B setup comes with? you enjoying the new coupe?
 
Many years ago Boyd Fechner had a proven and tested design he configured.
I would like to say first that he was a amazing inventor of coupe assemblies.
i was there when he did Carl Nelsons 2000CS .
He had rebuilt the whole door jamb to accept the newer door latch we have.
ask carl about it.
Anyway, back to the point, I asked him to lower my car.
He took the 3.0S springs and cut them about a half of one loop.
then ground it flat and mounted them.
What happened is the car is exactly 1" lower and level and the ride is extremely responsive in stability, and doesnt sway at all.
and i drive extremely hard.
Also it has a nice supple ride.
He mentioned the bavaria springs were made a lot stronger, hence the opportunity to trim them.
Im not sure anyone would still try this, but i would guess it would be a fairly inexpensive task.
i just know how amazing my unique ride is.
Maybe Carl got his idea from Boyd, Q"uen Sabe
 
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This might not be directly relevant to this thread, but I just wanted to share the information.
I've been in contact with Gaz Shocks in the UK about a coilover setup for our coupes, and they can manufacture a set if you ship them a pair of front struts.
I would be surprised if they couldn't offer progressive springs for the setup if the customer would want that.

I understand that this might not be for everyone but for those interested, here is what they answered:

Good Morning Robert,

Yes we can manufacture a Gaz Gold kit for the BMW E9 we will need some donor front struts sent in for the new kit as we re-use the cast stub axles for the new front dampers.

The kit comes complete with springs and height adjusters for the rear and costs £850 + carriage & VAT, we can supply top mounts as well if requested these are an additional £100 per pair + VAT.

Should you wish to place an order I will need your full details for invoicing, once ordered and paid for your new kit will take 3-4 weeks to manufacture.

Kind Regards,
Gaz Shocks
Click to expand...

A picture of the front coilovers:



Cheers,
 
Bilstein HDs all around, front sport springs lower front 7/16ths rear springs are stock, ST anti-sway bars F-28mm, R- 22mm. Negative camber plates and rolled front fenders.

Running BBS RS 16 x 7s ET 11 with 205 55ZR 16s all around.

This setup is a tremendous improvement from the stock setup the car came with. Athena handles as well or better than my 2010 3.0 X3 6-speed manual transmission.
 
I don't know how you can cut half of a front coil, the perch is fixed and requires a whole coil to be cut which creates a harsh ride. I bought B&G progressive springs for an e12, can't use the rears though, different setup.
 
Scott, H&B says their springs are about 10% stiffer than stock, CN says his are 15%. Where could we find CSL springs? Are they lower than stock?


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68eb865559113e7e8cf2b67a11f289fe.jpg


Yes enjoying!
616fdd2d6244c50fec2dc0a461cc2d59.jpg



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Springs can be professionally compressed too, learnt that a few days ago whilst trying to figure out how to lower my Pagode. There is an active (BMW) Motorsport company called Reuter in Germany that has a special method developed to compress them, for sure upto 2cm, possibly even more depending on the springs. 49€ per spring with a 48hr turnover. I recon if it's being done here then it's possibly being done in the US too? Keshav
 
teahead said:
2-way adjustable? 3-way? Both F & R?
Click to expand...

Disclaimer, I don't race cars and know nothing about shock tuning. Just trying to progress the conversation. Perhaps the racers will chime in...

The image is of two coilovers with 1-way adjustable rebound from Koni shocks. The term that you are referring to is associated with the shock, not the rest of the coilover. Three way adjustable shocks typically have low and high speed compression as well as rebound control. I wouldn't even want to think about setting that stuff up myself. Quite overkill for a street car IMO. I think coilovers are for the most part also since you will set the ride height once and be done with it. They do have the advantage of smaller springs, which gives you a bit more room in the wheel well.

In general, coilovers themselves have adjustability that isn't included in the "three way adjustable" lingo. The spring height adjustment which is par for the course for any threaded coilover. The toe/camber stuff is just from the adjustable campber plates, which you can put on factory struts also. Other adjustments on coilovers can come from a setup that actually lets you adjust the shock/spring height, which can adjust ride height without changing the compression rate of the spring (these don't have that). There are no coilovers in the rear of this setup. I see rebound adjustable shocks with adjustable coil spacers, which do not go over the shock. The e9 already has weak rear upper shock mounts, so it's probably not a good idea to stick a coilover in the rear without reinforcement. You probably have to mount it upside down also since the spring may not fit in there.

Looks like a great setup to me!
 
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