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      12-17-2012, 10:19 AM   #72
sleet
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Drives: F30 328i
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Singapore

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KW F30 DDC Coilover Review

Hi all, this is my first ever review so I hope to be as informative as I can.

KW F30 DDC Coilover Review

Background: F30 328i Luxury Edition with Standard Suspension
Driver background: Just an average driver who has never been to the track
Installation time: Less than a day thanks to the guys at Extreme Autosports Singapore

Some impressions:

Being able to choose a range of settings for the dampeners is an incredible idea.

Comfort mode is extremely useful after a heavy meal, ferrying the folks, or when you simply don't want to feel the bumps on the road. I would say it's 20% harsher than the OEM Standard Suspension but still very comfortable;

I use Sports mode most of the time for daily driving to work. Much less body roll now when engaging corners. The OEM standard suspension (not sport/adaptive M suspension) used to give me terrible bodyroll so this was a great boon to my driving experience.

Sport+ is not much different from Sports mode, maybe 15% firmer but still nothing back breaking.

KW delivered the package with 2 coilovers suffering from a minor defect. The O-rings, that were there to prevent water seepage into the electronic controls, were not properly seated and were loosely covering the outside of the electronic valves (pardon my poor technical explanation). A week later they sent another 2 over and the mechanics said it was now ok.

At maximum height settings, the rear suspension leaves absolutely no wheel arch gap between my 19" rims and tyres. The front is still fine though, where you can tweak it to at least a 3 fingers gap. I will be installing a spacer behind to increase the rear height.

With regards to the iphone/ipad app, it works perfectly through the optional wireless LAN module. While toying around, I realised Comfort = 0% settings on front/rear axle and Sport+ = 100% on front/rear. I'm guessing the Sport setting lies somewhere in between 60-90% settings.

Personally, I would rather just use the physical button, rather than the app to switch the dampener modes. Highway cruising - switch to comfort. Getting off highway - switch to sport mode to negotiate the curves.

Overall, I'm still fairly pleased with this product - especially with the ability to change the car suspension on the fly. Unfortunately, I don't have the opportunity to test it on the track but I hope this review has helped. Thanks for reading!

Some pictures:





Electronic Module


Electronic Module recommended installation location at right rear suspension


Button to change modes (Blue - Comfort, Purple - Sport, Red - Sport+)


Or you can choose to control it from your Ipad/Iphone/Ipod
Appreciate 0