[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

Has anyone tried these springs alone with the Adaptive M Dampers.

They may fit but they won't be optimally matched.

[chenry]

is getbmwparts the best place to source the MPS kit? By best I guess I mean the most economical

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by chenry

is getbmwparts the best place to source the MPS kit? By best I guess I mean the most economical

Not necessarily, but it is the most economical for me since I have my girlfriend pick up my parts from there since she works about 15 mins away.

[Polo08816]

Originally in this thread: http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1366843


We finally installed the M Performance Suspension kit on our 2nd attempt.

Our 1st attempted ended in a failure because we applied the M10 (steel bolt) torque spec to the top hat to strut tower M8 (aluminum) bolts about 2 weeks ago. It sheared the M8 aluminum bolts inside the top hat which we were able to extract after disassembling the spring strut assembly due to the taper direction.


Here are some pictures and comments in *rough* (not exact) order... This is not meant to be comprehensive. It is meant to supplement the official procedures found in either ISTAD and/or Bentley Service Manual. I have posted the ISTAD PDFs earlier in this thread.


Front Suspension


Do not re-use any bolts/nuts that the manual (PDF or Bentley Service Manual) states to replace.


Make sure when you position your car on a lift, you account for the fact that your car may sit lower once you replace the suspension.


Unclip your ride height sensor.


Remove the brake hose clips.




Remove all the lines/cables/wires.






Remove the nut securing the tie rod links to strut. I used a 3/8 electric impact to remove, but I used go-thru sockets and an alley key for the re-install.




Remove bolt securing steering knuckle to strut. You'll need a 16mm and 18mm socket.


This will allow you to remove that bracket which previously secured a lot of your wires.


Support the weight of the front hub assembly using a jack.




Remove the top hat to strut tower bolts along with the strut brace to top hat/strut tower Torx bolt. The Torx bolt removal can be done with a standard hex socket but we ended buying inverted Torx sockets just to be safe. I believe it was either an E18 or E20 socket (more likely E20 socket) that worked.




Using the knuckle spreader tool so that the knuckle isn't clamping to the bottom of the strut.


Make sure you have protected the paint around the edges of the front quarter panel.
Push the entire hub assembly as far downwards as possible. This will probably require 2 people: 1 to push the hub assembly down and 1 to guide the spring strut assembly out of the hub/knuckle.


Remove the spring strut assembly out. You may need to rotate either the top hat or the assembly to avoid scratching the paint.


Re-install in reverse order. Follow the torque specifications in the PDFs I have posted earlier.


The install should look somewhat like this:









Rear Suspension

The install of the rear suspension is much easier.


Remove your rear control arm covers.


Unclip all your wires/hoses to allow for move vertical movement of the control arm.


Place a jack underneath the rear control arm and apply slight force upwards on the control arm. This will help you remove the strut to control arm bolt. Remember to counter hold the other side of this bolt during removal.




Remove the strut by using inverted Torx sockets on the three Torx bolts connecting the top hat to the strut tower.




Now it's time to remove the spring. Take your jack and apply significant pressure on the bottom of the control arm. Make sure you're not placing the pad directly underneath the rear hub because that will not allow the control arm to clear the rear hub. Position your jack pad the way I have done two pictures above.


Now remove the bolt connecting the rear control arm to rear hub. If I remember correctly, you needed a 20mm or 22mm socket for this. Remember to counter hold the other side of the bolt/nut while you do this.


This part was challenging. Everytime we were in the process of removing this bolt, it would clear one side of the control arm and then the bolt would be forced at a weird angle that prevented a clean removal. You'll have to play with the jack to get the alignment right. An impact wrench will definitely make this part a lot easier.


Once you remove the bolt, allow the control arm to drop. You may have to pull it down a bit and then you'll be able to remove the original springs.


Re-install is in reverse order. As you jack up the control arm back into position with the new spring seated properly, you may need to either push or pull the control arm forward/backwards to get the hole lined up for the control arm to rear hub bolt. A bolt alignment tool may help you do this quicker.


Don't torque these bolts to spec yet. We'll do this once we have the shock installed and used the jack to apply enough force that the spring is compressed to what it might look like once the car is back on the ground.


Install the strut by hand compressing it so you can insert it back into position. Seat the top hats and secure those Torx bolts into the strut tower. Align the bottom of the strut to the holes in the control arm. This will probably require you to rotate the strut a bit. Now use the jack to position the control arm in such a way that the strut to control arm bolt will slide right through. Torque the Torx bolts at the top hat.


Compress the control arm a bit more with the jack and now torque down all your bolts.


It should look like this:







Review of BMW M Performance Suspension Kit (vs. original 704 passive Sport Suspension with 77,000 miles)

It's a huge improvement!

Body roll is significantly reduced. The floaty feeling of the original Sport suspension is gone. There's significantly more cornering grip and much better control through successive corners like S-corners.

Traction is also increased. There's almost no DSC intervention when exiting out of corners hard. Having the M Performance Limited Slip Differential is a contributing factor as well.

Braking is slightly improved. When you apply the brakes, the front end dips less which means that weight transfer is being applied more efficiently.

The noise and vibration has increased but it's not significant. The bright side is that the engineers at BMW have determined the optimal point where handling is significantly improved but noise/vibration/harshness is only slightly increased as far as a spring/strut combination. You'll be hard pressed to find a better spring/strut combo. High end coilovers such as Ohlins Road and Track and AST 5200 will still be better.

I'm headed out to a HPDE at Summit Point in a few weeks and will report back.

Here's a video after the install for your viewing pleasure:

[Gen13 F36]

Hi guys,

I think this is the best thread to ask about m performance suspension kit.

Anyway my question is what does really come on this kit. I am confused. I have an M-Sport suspension non EDC. I heard very confusing information as to what comes with the kit.

Shocks?
Spring?
Sway bars?

What else? Is there a difference with spring rate on 428i vs 435i?

And last question is can I just get the springs and pair with koniSA shocks?

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Hi guys,

I think this is the best thread to ask about m performance suspension kit.

Anyway my question is what does really come on this kit. I am confused. I have an M-Sport suspension non EDC. I heard very confusing information as to what comes with the kit.

Shocks?
Spring?
Sway bars?

What else? Is there a difference with spring rate on 428i vs 435i?

And last question is can I just get the springs and pair with koniSA shocks?

The whole M-Perf kit consists of new springs, shocks, and M-Sport sway bars. You can order each of those individually. They're not the same for 4cyl and 6cyl cars.

You can buy the springs alone and pair them with whatever shocks you want, but I don't know how well the damping matches those springs. If you get the spring rates and sprung weight of your vehicle you can get a rough idea from the Koni SA data in my thread.

[msbihli]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Hi guys,

I think this is the best thread to ask about m performance suspension kit.

Anyway my question is what does really come on this kit. I am confused. I have an M-Sport suspension non EDC. I heard very confusing information as to what comes with the kit.

Shocks?
Spring?
Sway bars?

What else? Is there a difference with spring rate on 428i vs 435i?

And last question is can I just get the springs and pair with koniSA shocks?

Did you end up buying this kit and confirming it comes with these items? I’m just as confused about it as others. I have an F32 with m-sport suspension. The price for my M Performance Suspension kit is around $600. This is much cheaper than I’ve seen for other types of F car kits. I can’t reason what comes in it because it says it needs springs, and surely you can’t get a set of performance struts/shocks for $600... that seems too low for OEM parts. Just to replace the struts and shocks on my f32 is about $900.

So far, what I think I have figured out is the kit comes with unspecified new hardware. And maybe that is all it is. Perhaps it uses the same struts and shocks already on my car, and the springs that have to be purchased separately are what the real upgrade with this kit is.

If this is the case, then why not go with a Dinan kit or another aftermarket spring kit?

Also, I see somebody earlier gave the part numbers for their F30, but does anybody know what part number springs are needed for the F32?

I appreciate any help. Thanks!!!

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by msbihli

Did you end up buying this kit and confirming it comes with these items? I’m just as confused about it as others. I have an F32 with m-sport suspension. The price for my M Performance Suspension kit is around $600. This is much cheaper than I’ve seen for other types of F car kits. I can’t reason what comes in it because it says it needs springs, and surely you can’t get a set of performance struts/shocks for $600... that seems too low for OEM parts. Just to replace the struts and shocks on my f32 is about $900.

So far, what I think I have figured out is the kit comes with unspecified new hardware. And maybe that is all it is. Perhaps it uses the same struts and shocks already on my car, and the springs that have to be purchased separately are what the real upgrade with this kit is.

If this is the case, then why not go with a Dinan kit or another aftermarket spring kit?

Also, I see somebody earlier gave the part numbers for their F30, but does anybody know what part number springs are needed for the F32?

I appreciate any help. Thanks!!!

Sorry no... I haven't bought it. I'm still on the debating stage.

My choices now are as follows
1. Eibach/ koniSA
2. ST XA coilovers
3. Tein Flex Z...... this one I just found out this month so I'm doing research but no one seems to add some JDM coils on a BMW maybe I should do it and make a review..i have to dig up some old contact to get a hook up on this coil... will see if they pic up my call

The M-performance suspension kit... kinda expensive for $1700.

[msbihli]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Sorry no... I haven't bought it. I'm still on the debating stage.

My choices now are as follows
1. Eibach/ koniSA
2. ST XA coilovers
3. Tein Flex Z...... this one I just found out this month so I'm doing research but no one seems to add some JDM coils on a BMW maybe I should do it and make a review..i have to dig up some old contact to get a hook up on this coil... will see if they pic up my call

The M-performance suspension kit... kinda expensive for $1700.

Thanks for the response!

So I finally got a few answers by calling several BMW dealers. The $600 kit for my F32 with sport suspension does include new dampers and hardware but no springs. Also, the springs that go with it are the same as OEM according to the dealer. I’m not sure where the idea of red springs comes from then(other than the picture on the website) unless they told me wrong. I’m also not sure why there is a kit for $1700 or whatever and this cheaper one.

Why do they make this so confusing???

[alohasurftoad]

Originally Posted by msbihli

Thanks for the response!

So I finally got a few answers by calling several BMW dealers. The $600 kit for my F32 with sport suspension does include new dampers and hardware but no springs. Also, the springs that go with it are the same as OEM according to the dealer. I’m not sure where the idea of red springs comes from then(other than the picture on the website) unless they told me wrong. I’m also not sure why there is a kit for $1700 or whatever and this cheaper one.

Why do they make this so confusing???

i already responded to you in the other thread. they told you wrong. i know, because i have an M-Perf suspension on my car and I did all this research back in 2015.

full M-performance kit is dampers, springs, strut mounts(top hats), dust caps and nuts and bolts.

$600 is for dampers only. the price is low because our platform(esp pre-lci) is older and they will sell stuff at reduced price periodically to reduce inventory, especially since the new G series is out. if you give them your VIN you can find corresponding M-Performance(Red) springs to go with your car, IF they have them. message GetBMWParts here they can tell you what "red" m-perf springs you need to go along with the dampers. make sure the dampers are the correct one for you car as well.

[msbihli]

Originally Posted by alohasurftoad

i already responded to you in the other thread. they told you wrong. i know, because i have an M-Perf suspension on my car and I did all this research back in 2015.

full M-performance kit is dampers, springs, strut mounts(top hats), dust caps and nuts and bolts.

$600 is for dampers only. the price is low because our platform(esp pre-lci) is older and they will sell stuff at reduced price periodically to reduce inventory, especially since the new G series is out. if you give them your VIN you can find corresponding M-Performance(Red) springs to go with your car, IF they have them. message GetBMWParts here they can tell you what "red" m-perf springs you need to go along with the dampers. make sure the dampers are the correct one for you car as well.

Ok, I appreciate the explanation. I’ll check it out.

[msbihli]

So, I ordered the damper kit but am still not having any luck with finding the springs. Sounds like they may not be available anymore. The guy who told me that also is saying the damper kit may not be available either, but some sites still take orders and end up canceling them. We’ll see. I hope they are still exhausting their stock.

If the damper do get shipped, I’ll probably order the Dinan springs and bump stops and call it a day.

If anybody is interested, I’ll post my impressions of the setup.

[msbihli]

So the damper kit is received and it is just as alohasurftoad said - it came with the dampers, springs, strut mounts(top hats), dust caps and nuts and bolts.

On a side note - I contacted getbmwparts.com and asked them why the kit was discontinued, and they said that was an error and it wasn’t actually discontinued. Also, they were able to identify the springs that I needed, again, as alohasurftoad said, so I ordered them from them. They are taking a little longer to get because they don’t have them in stock here and they had to be shipped from Germany.

I should mention that I called several places and was told several different things regarding this kit. Especially by the dealerships, which was really surprising. I called 3 different dealers and none of them could tell me what came in the kit or knew what springs to order for the kit. Kind of sad.

Anyway, will hopefully have the springs on Monday and will install during the weekend...

[Jvac]

Originally Posted by msbihli

So the damper kit is received and it is just as alohasurftoad said - it came with the dampers, springs, strut mounts(top hats), dust caps and nuts and bolts.

On a side note - I contacted getbmwparts.com and asked them why the kit was discontinued, and they said that was an error and it wasn't actually discontinued. Also, they were able to identify the springs that I needed, again, as alohasurftoad said, so I ordered them from them. They are taking a little longer to get because they don't have them in stock here and they had to be shipped from Germany.

I should mention that I called several places and was told several different things regarding this kit. Especially by the dealerships, which was really surprising. I called 3 different dealers and none of them could tell me what came in the kit or knew what springs to order for the kit. Kind of sad.

Anyway, will hopefully have the springs on Monday and will install during the weekend...

Good luck and post back when you get it all installed and have a chance to drive with your new setup. It's really not surprising about the dealers though, most of the advisors or people who take phone calls have no clue about the various performance parts. It ends up falling to us to find out exactly what we need and why we want it on our cars.

[msbihli]

Originally Posted by Jvac

Good luck and post back when you get it all installed and have a chance to drive with your new setup. It's really not surprising about the dealers though, most of the advisors or people who take phone calls have no clue about the various performance parts. It ends up falling to us to find out exactly what we need and why we want it on our cars.

Ok, so all parts received and kit installed last weekend. Some notes on the install:
- The nice thing about getting the kit is that everything can be assembled before hand because no parts are re-used from your existing setup (except maybe hardware)
- The hardware I received in the kit were different sizes than the hardware installed on the car, which caused me to re-use what was already there. Oh well.
- Strut assembly was a bit of a pain. The number of coils in the front spring are lower than other springs, so having enough coils to grab onto with the spring compressor in order to compress the spring enough to get the top cap onto the strut tower was a problem for me. I ended up doing a shade tree mechanic setup where the bottom of the tool was holding onto the spring and the top of the spring compressor tool pulled down on the top cap which was used to compress the spring until the nut could be installed. A pretty dangerous method method, but drastic times call for drastic measures (?).
- Once everything was assembled, the install was straight forward. I watched and read a lot of the DIY’s that are out there and they were extremely helpful.

I had the M-Sport suspension from the factory. Below are the ride heights before and after install measured from the bottom of the wheel to the top of the fender arches:

FL: 619 before - 615 after
FR: 615 before - 612 after
RL: 609 before - 605 after
RR: 604 before - 610 after

Not a significant difference but I expect that once the rubber end pads compress a bit from being loaded, the heights will end up being lower overall than the stock suspension. Visually there is no difference to me right now.

Ride Impressions:
The ride is a bit firmer overall, but barely, and definitely very livable as a daily driver. I wonder why this wasn’t the setup they went with from the factory instead of the M-sport. Rebound is faster, but not significantly from what I can tell. Body roll might be improved as well, but I wasn’t really dissatisfied with it to begin with.

The biggest improvement over the M-sport setup that I notice (and love) is the lack of rear end squat under acceleration. I didn’t realize how much faster the car would feel with a stiffer rear end. I would liken it to feeling like instead of slumping back while accelerating, it feels like you are surging forward.

I’ll caveat all of this with the following - my suspension was probably ready to be changed. I have 76,000 miles on the car now, and when I did the “compression test” for the rear shocks after removing them, they barely tried to return to the extended position indicating the nitrogen charge was low. So I think the largest portion of the differences I’m noticing may be due to just getting a new suspension swapped with a worn out suspension that I had gotten used to.

Anyway, overall I’m very happy with the way the car feels now, which is definitely sportier than it was before. Could it feel even sportier than this? Yes, but maybe at the expense of daily driving comfort. And honestly, if this kit wasn’t available, I probably would’ve gone with the Bilstein B12 setup, which I’m guessing is a sportier setup than this, and I think I would be fine with it. Maybe in another 75,000 miles that’ll be what I go with...

[mholder]

Originally Posted by msbihli

Ok, so all parts received and kit installed last weekend. Some notes on the install:
- The nice thing about getting the kit is that everything can be assembled before hand because no parts are re-used from your existing setup (except maybe hardware)
- The hardware I received in the kit were different sizes than the hardware installed on the car, which caused me to re-use what was already there. Oh well.
- Strut assembly was a bit of a pain. The number of coils in the front spring are lower than other springs, so having enough coils to grab onto with the spring compressor in order to compress the spring enough to get the top cap onto the strut tower was a problem for me. I ended up doing a shade tree mechanic setup where the bottom of the tool was holding onto the spring and the top of the spring compressor tool pulled down on the top cap which was used to compress the spring until the nut could be installed. A pretty dangerous method method, but drastic times call for drastic measures (?).



- Once everything was assembled, the install was straight forward. I watched and read a lot of the DIY’s that are out there and they were extremely helpful.

I had the M-Sport suspension from the factory. Below are the ride heights before and after install measured from the bottom of the wheel to the top of the fender



arches:

FL: 619 before - 615 after
FR: 615 before - 612 after
RL: 609 before - 605 after
RR: 604 before - 610 after

Not a significant difference but I expect that once the rubber end pads compress a bit from being loaded, the heights will end up being lower overall than the stock suspension. Visually there is no difference to me right now.

Ride Impressions:
The ride is a bit firmer overall, but barely, and definitely very livable as a daily driver. I wonder why this wasn’t the setup they went with from the factory instead of the M-sport. Rebound is faster, but not significantly from what I can tell. Body roll might be improved as well, but I wasn’t really dissatisfied with it to begin with.

The biggest improvement over the M-sport setup that I notice (and love) is the lack of rear end squat under acceleration. I didn’t realize how much faster the car would feel with a stiffer rear end. I would liken it to feeling like instead of slumping back while accelerating, it feels like you are surging forward.

I’ll caveat all of this with the following - my suspension was probably ready to be changed. I have 76,000 miles on the car now, and when I did the “compression test” for the rear shocks after removing them, they barely tried to return to the extended position indicating the nitrogen charge was low. So I think the largest portion of the differences I’m noticing may be due to just getting a new suspension swapped with a worn out suspension that I had gotten used to.

Anyway, overall I’m very happy with the way the car feels now, which is definitely sportier than it was before. Could it feel even sportier than this? Yes, but maybe at the expense of daily driving comfort. And honestly, if this kit wasn’t available, I probably would’ve gone with the Bilstein B12 setup, which I’m guessing is a sportier setup than this, and I think I would be fine with it. Maybe in another 75,000 miles that’ll be what I go with...

I had the m performance suspension installed on my 2017 340i Msport about 2 months ago and love it. If you really want to get the most out of your cars handling, add the M performance Limited Slip Differential. I had that done 3 weeks ago and now my car fially drives like a BMW should, fast with tight, precise handling. The fast part comes from my MPPSK and a Dinan Cold Air Intake. Have fun with it!

[oranga]

Originally Posted by msbihli

- Strut assembly was a bit of a pain. The number of coils in the front spring are lower than other springs, so having enough coils to grab onto with the spring compressor in order to compress the spring enough to get the top cap onto the strut tower was a problem for me.

msbihli I just got my suspension in and am looking to tackle the install soon. What kind of spring compressor were you using?

One like this?:

[msbihli]

Originally Posted by oranga

msbihli I just got my suspension in and am looking to tackle the install soon. What kind of spring compressor were you using?

One like this?:

Yes, exactly like those.

[oranga]

I'm still noodling around with the loose components until I have the time to install the suspension, but I just wanted to check a few things. Take a look at the picture below (excuse the messy garage and my hand in the picture).

Two questions: 1) is it normal that the spring looks so crooked? and 2) the spring looks much longer than the damper, am I really supposed to compress the spring THAT much?

and yes, I've got the rubber support in the strut with the locating nub and tab lined up, and the spring lined up with the stop in the rubber support.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by oranga

Two questions: 1) is it normal that the spring looks so crooked? and 2) the spring looks much longer than the damper, am I really supposed to compress the spring THAT much?

and yes, I've got the rubber support in the strut with the locating nub and tab lined up, and the spring lined up with the stop in the rubber support.

Yes, it's not uncommon for it to look skewed like that unloaded. Make sure you have the spring right side up. The tag says which side is up (oben/up, unten/ down)

[msbihli]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Yes, it's not uncommon for it to look skewed like that unloaded. Make sure you have the spring right side up. The tag says which side is up (oben/up, unten/ down)

Agreed. Yes to both questions. It’s a bit of a pain and is exacerbated by those spring compressors.

[oranga]

Thanks for the quick responses! Since it seems like the loaner spring compressors won't work on these springs, I went ahead and ordered the different, more expensive , style shown in farkle's youtube tutorial (thanks for making that btw!).

Hoping to tackle this soon!