New suspension coming, anybody have this already?

[larryn]

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.

[1996 328ti]

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.

[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?

[1996 328ti]

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.

[larryn]

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).

[mohaughn]

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.

[larryn]

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.

[cali-ti]

i hope to some day have a TC Kline setup. your input and observations are appreciated!

[mohaughn]

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.

[StealthBimmer]

Nice new set up larryn! Any inputs from today's BMW auto-x?

[larryn]

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.

[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.

[larryn]

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.

[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.

[DustenT]

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?