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      09-06-2012, 01:03 PM   #1
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PICTURE: KW Variant 2 on my 335i

So I installed my KW V2's over labor day weekend. I thought I had the height dialed in, but last night the springs settled. The front is way too low for me now. Even the rear is still a little low, but I don't think I can raise the rear anymore. The perch only has about an inch left on the coils. Anyways, here's a pic.

Even at this low of a height, it rides better than the H&R+Stock struts.
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      09-06-2012, 01:27 PM   #2
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very nice, now sell me those springs!... please =)
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      09-06-2012, 01:30 PM   #3
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Wow, your F30 looks very nice!
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      09-06-2012, 01:33 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kokopuffs405 View Post
very nice, now sell me those springs!... please =)
Hey kokopuffs! Sorry man! I sold them last night to ///KM locally. I didn't want to deal with paypal etc.
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      09-06-2012, 01:55 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tremolo View Post
Hey kokopuffs! Sorry man! I sold them last night to ///KM locally. I didn't want to deal with paypal etc.
Great meeting you Tremolo, thanks for the H&R's. I'll be installing them on Saturday

Your ride looks great!
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      09-06-2012, 02:14 PM   #6
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Looks good to me.
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      09-06-2012, 05:37 PM   #7
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Nice!!
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      09-06-2012, 09:00 PM   #8
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Nice ride bro!
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      09-06-2012, 09:48 PM   #9
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I like it although a tad bit low. what tint ? I'm guessing 20%?
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      09-06-2012, 11:39 PM   #10
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I like it although a tad bit low. what tint ? I'm guessing 20%?
Yeah, I'm definitely going to raise it about 3/4" in the front. The tint is deceiving in this picture. It is 35%. It looks darker than it is because the sun is shinning right on this side of the car.
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      09-07-2012, 10:38 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tremolo View Post
Yeah, I'm definitely going to raise it about 3/4" in the front. The tint is deceiving in this picture. It is 35%. It looks darker than it is because the sun is shinning right on this side of the car.
Very nice, I agree you should raise it a little in the front, but only 1/4" to 1/2".
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      09-09-2012, 02:54 PM   #12
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Looks great, and I agree with remmib; maybe a 1/4".
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      09-09-2012, 02:56 PM   #13
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very nice, we have been waiting to see who would make the jump and get some kws
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      09-09-2012, 10:57 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by remmib View Post
Very nice, I agree you should raise it a little in the front, but only 1/4" to 1/2".
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Originally Posted by Ermagerd View Post
Looks great, and I agree with remmib; maybe a 1/4".
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Originally Posted by VSmotorsports View Post
very nice, we have been waiting to see who would make the jump and get some kws
Thanks guys. I raised the front 1/2" and so the front has about a half finger gap. It should settle nicely over the next few days. The front is perfect now and the ride quality is so great.

Here's some more bad news though.

The rears... well, they are a problem. In fact, I think KW made some huge mistakes on the rears. They are as follows...

The rears go way too low. Believe it or not, the pic in my original post is at the absolute highest setting the rear coils will safely allow. Below is a pic of the coil and perch. I manage to turn it about an 1/8" more, but any more turns will make the perch unstable. It would be biting on only 3 coils or something. So this is the absolute furthest the rears will go and the tires are still tucking a tiny bit.
KW needs to make the spring rates stiffer, or provide spacers for the perches. It's useless to have height adjustability when the only settings are: SUPER LOW. SLAMMED. CAN'T MOVE SLAMMED.

The perch in the rears can't be turned without the black part spinning with it. Basically, you can't adjust the height without taking off the strut and control arm link. PITA. The black part supposed to have a hex screw insert that you can use to resist the spinning, but mine doesn't have it. Neither did the other set I saw. Even if it did, it would be useless because you can't get the allen key between the spring coils.

I emailed KW about my issue. I hope they get back to me about this tomorrow.
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      09-10-2012, 02:44 AM   #15
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Disappointing there's limited adjustability for the rears. I think this rules them out for me.
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      09-10-2012, 05:34 AM   #16
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Sounds like they tried to cut corners and mod coilovers that were already developed for another car; seems like they'll have to be soving this issue with a v2 perch. At least you emailed them, so we know whether the new ones will be fine or not.
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      09-12-2012, 11:06 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tremolo View Post
Thanks guys. I raised the front 1/2" and so the front has about a half finger gap. It should settle nicely over the next few days. The front is perfect now and the ride quality is so great.

Here's some more bad news though.

The rears... well, they are a problem. In fact, I think KW made some huge mistakes on the rears. They are as follows...

The rears go way too low. Believe it or not, the pic in my original post is at the absolute highest setting the rear coils will safely allow. Below is a pic of the coil and perch. I manage to turn it about an 1/8" more, but any more turns will make the perch unstable. It would be biting on only 3 coils or something. So this is the absolute furthest the rears will go and the tires are still tucking a tiny bit.
KW needs to make the spring rates stiffer, or provide spacers for the perches. It's useless to have height adjustability when the only settings are: SUPER LOW. SLAMMED. CAN'T MOVE SLAMMED.

The perch in the rears can't be turned without the black part spinning with it. Basically, you can't adjust the height without taking off the strut and control arm link. PITA. The black part supposed to have a hex screw insert that you can use to resist the spinning, but mine doesn't have it. Neither did the other set I saw. Even if it did, it would be useless because you can't get the allen key between the spring coils.

I emailed KW about my issue. I hope they get back to me about this tomorrow.
Damn

You should definitely have better height adjustability on the rear. Did KW get back to you yet? I'm curious to see their response.
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      09-12-2012, 11:16 AM   #18
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They do sell extenders for this. Look at the last image on row 2.
I think that is the right parts. I am sure they sell what you need though. Was the same with some Audi's I believe, so I read in that thread that KW sold them these distances (correct word?).

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      09-12-2012, 11:40 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rossifumi View Post
They do sell extenders for this. Look at the last image on row 2.
I think that is the right parts. I am sure they sell what you need though. Was the same with some Audi's I believe, so I read in that thread that KW sold them these distances (correct word?).

Yeah, I saw those. The Spring Distances. I am in dialog with KW about "fixing" my problem. Unfortunately, before they'll do anything, they need a barrage of measurements and photos and details on the springs etc. I won't be able to get all that info to them until a few weeks. Personally, I don't think they should SELL me anything. I think they should GIVE me taller springs. Advertising a product to have a min 1" drop to max 6" drop is false advertisement. In reality it is more like min 3" drop to max 6".
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      09-17-2012, 07:37 PM   #20
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A little update. Fronts and Rears "settled" again. Ride quality is back to being crappy. Can't believe this is the absolute highest you can set the car. I already hit the bottom of the car on the apex of a driveway.

I inquired about the BC coilovers. The price is about half of the KWs V2s. The damping adjustment for the rears are on the outside, so you can adjust it simply by jacking up the car. I'm just a bit wary about a product made in Taiwan. And I doubt KW would let me get a refund on these V2s anyways.
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      09-17-2012, 07:50 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tremolo View Post
A little update. Fronts and Rears "settled" again. Ride quality is back to being crappy. Can't believe this is the absolute highest you can set the car. I already hit the bottom of the car on the apex of a driveway.

I inquired about the BC coilovers. The price is about half of the KWs V2s. The damping adjustment for the rears are on the outside, so you can adjust it simply by jacking up the car. I'm just a bit wary about a product made in Taiwan. And I doubt KW would let me get a refund on these V2s anyways.
So was I but so far so good. Easy enough to adjust and no noises. I'm actually very impressed with them. Caught me completely off guard as I would have never expected this level of refinement from a Taiwan based setup. I've had KW, TC Kline, and AST's. For a pure street setup I'm happy with the BC's. Now if I was tracking I would be going with something else.
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      09-17-2012, 07:50 PM   #22
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Wow, really surprised about this, what a shame! Taiwan quality has risen tremendously from years ago. I would be fearful of products direct from China, though hesitant of shocks/dampers from TW.

Maybe Bilstein has something in the works?

If you're looking to sell the KW's shoot me a PM, might be fun to play with.
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