[wazzap]

Hi,
So a few weeks back, I finally decided to bite the bullet and order a set of coilovers, as I had had enough of the ridiculous arch gap on my 2015 F30 MSport. I’d done a fair bit of forum searching and had initially narrowed it down to Bilstein B14’s @ £800 and ST X @ £700. But, in the end I opted for Vogtland! Why I hear you ask, well my reasoning was 2-fold. Firstly, I had them fitted to a previous Audi and with a 40mm drop and the ride was very comfortable, and Secondly price. I was able to get them shipped direct from Vogtland for under for £500, including new Bilstein top mounts.
Well today they finally arrived. Now I know looks are everything, but these look good. The built quality appears to be very good the gold and burgundy colour scheme looks pretty nice. I’m planning to fit them these weekend and will post some pics once installed, as I’ve seen quite a few posts looking for Before and after pics, but for now here are some pics of the kit and my car with the std M Sport stance.

[Ennoch]

The bodies look like they've been gold chromate zinc plated but even so, I'd recommend dousing them in Bilt Hamber Dynax UC wax to ensure they stay corrosion free and can be adjusted in the future. I did this on the BC's fitted to my Impreza and it worked great, until one year when adjusting the height for winter I forgot to spray more back on the uncoated threads I'd just exposed and they corroded up in the space of 4 months (a good test of whether the UC was worth it I suppose!).

[wazzap]

Quick update. Test fitted one of the fronts today and am a bit disappointed. Firstly the top mounts that where supplied are 3 whole and not 5 whole like the OEM ones, and as result require larger bolts that are not supplied. Thankfully i had a few spare lying about that I was able to use for mock up purposes. Secondly, when lowered more that 30mm, the springs are slack on full droop, and the kit is not supplied with helper springs.
Maybe I should have gone with a tried and tested setup like the Bilstein B14 or ST X as originally planned!

[Watsey]

The collars on the front damper bodies should be set to a level of preload as specified by the suspension manufacturer prior to installation.

Ride height is then set by adjusting the damper bodies relative to the wheel hub carrier. More expensive kits, such as Ohlins Road & Track, have separate threaded collars for the front dampers exactly for this purpose ands it makes the process far easier.

If the front springs have zero preload when the suspension is in full droop, i.e. they are loose, it may be that the installation has not been done correctly.

I see that the rotating collars are held in position by a grub screw. I'd far rather have a second locking collar rather than have to tighten a screw into the threaded body of the damper. That said, manufacturers have little choice but to 'value engineer' (i.e. remove components and use lower quality materials) when the price point is so low.