[johnung]

I'm curious about any experiences anyone has had with KW coilovers, especially with their KWv3.

I've upgraded my engine power and now I'm considering upgrading my suspension for a second time, if doing so might handle that extra power a little better.

I've got an F30 335i XDrive with standard non-Adaptive suspension currently with Koni Special Active struts/shocks, Eibach (XDrive -06) springs, H&R heavy duty sway bars (F28mm/R20mm), front strut brace and Kies/VAC Monoball Upper & Lower Control Arms. Also running square 245/40-18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires and a big brake upgrade with full floating front rotors.

My car is a performance daily driver that I share with my wife so it may never see a track, unless I buy her a helmet and driving gloves for Christmas.

I do not want to introduce any Noise Vibration or Harshness into the suspension. One of the big reasons that I installed the Koni Special Actives originally was because they handled rough roads and highway road seams better than any other option at the time.

Besides other KW features, I hear great things about the quality and the comfort level of KW coilovers. And the v3's appear to be the most adjustable model that KW makes.

Guys who have installed KW's, can you really dial them in to eliminate rough road harshness, and what settings have you used to do so?

I'm conscious that the spring specs of the KW springs vs my current Eibachs may cause the need for me to swap out one or both of my H&R sway bars. Curious if anyone is running aftermarket sway bars with KW's?

Any opinions/advice welcome. Thanks in advance!

[skier_du]

Well you saw my comments about the KW V3's in the other thread. They're a fantastic street cool over set. One of the things that sold me on them was their range of adjustability. I saw a chart somewhere from KW that showed the dampers could be tuned to be as soft as their Comfort coilovers, but also far more firm than the Ckmfort, V1 or V2 could be.I like that not being the super high gas pressure dampers (like Bilstein and others) that they smoothed out rough road well. I actually drove them around on pretty close to full stiff most of the time and liked that. Your mileage may very as everyone's tolerance is different. I like a stiff suspension, even on the street. But my wife didn't mind much because even at full stiff they absorb bumps well. I was able to hit pretty much any curb on track and it didn't unsettle the car. The downside was it was way to soft for track. Some of that was the progressive springs in the front start pretty soft. They do get firm, but you have to go pretty deep into their travel range to get to the firm part. Sway bars are definitely needed on track and probably aren't a bad thing on the street. I couldn't say what balance of bars will work with them for your driving style. The best thing was being able to independently dial in compression and rebound. So nice to have. Kinda don't like the B16 I have now adjusting booth at the same time. So now I'll need to get the Bilstein Clubsports sometime soon. I'm trying to hold off and do other things, but I fear the bug will bite me sooner than later. Lol
Bottom line, if you like the way Koni shocks feel, you'll most likely love the V3. They're similar damper design, but much better quality with much more adjustability.
PS Helmet and driving gloves are the best Christmas present! 🎄 🎁 🚗

[Logicoeur]

Interested to see if anyone who thought the v3 are too soft swapped in stiffer linear springs.

[alohasurftoad]

For kw v3 money, i'd start to consider Ohlins in the discussion. Not sure about ride, nvh and if they're comp/rebound adjustable, tho.

[Logicoeur]

Originally Posted by alohasurftoad

For kw v3 money, i'd start to consider Ohlins in the discussion. Not sure about ride, nvh and if they're comp/rebound adjustable, tho.

Ohlins are single adjustable iirc. I would opt tor those instead as well. However, I like a firmer ride. The new G2x part number fits F3x xdrive as well, finally.

[skier_du]

Originally Posted by Logicoeur

Interested to see if anyone who thought the v3 are too soft swapped in stiffer linear springs.

Thought about it for a while, just never got around to it. In my research found some f80's have swapped to linear springs in the v3's. But they never posted much info about it.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by alohasurftoad

For kw v3 money, i'd start to consider Ohlins in the discussion. Not sure about ride, nvh and if they're comp/rebound adjustable, tho.

Good point. I've always assumed that Ohlins are very track oriented but maybe I'm wrong. I'll have to read up on them.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Logicoeur

Interested to see if anyone who thought the v3 are too soft swapped in stiffer linear springs.

Actually this is the first time that I've heard anyone say that the KWv3's are too soft, but he also sounded like he's was heavy duty tracking.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by johnung

Good point. I've always assumed that Ohlins are very track oriented but maybe I'm wrong. I'll have to read up on them.

Ohlins aren't as street oriented, and I think they're a bit stiff.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Ohlins aren't as street oriented, and I think they're a bit stiff.

So it appears like KWv3's might be a good choice to replace the Koni Special Actives/Eibach Springs. I'm trying to gauge if they might provide better control along with the same or better comfort on rough roads. I've got the H&R Sways now- F28mm/Rear20mm. Wondering if they can stay or if one or both might need to be swapped out? I guess it depends how much spring rates change.

[Watsey]

I've been running Ohlins R&T on my F31 330d for 4.5 years. They are absolutely fine for street use, and the roads in my area are notorious for not being particularly smooth (understatement). Liver everything in life, this is subjective.

Compression and rebound is parallel adjustable (single control), and the dual-flow valves do exactly what they are supposed to : taking the edge off the secondary ride whilst controlling primary inputs very well.

You do need to consider spring rates and at low speeds any car is arguably only riding on the springs, i.e. if there's no significant differential movement between the chassis and the suspension the resistance through the dampers is of little effect. It's only once the speed increases and the suspension and the chassis start to move independently that the effect of the damper becomes noticeable. R&T springs are quite stiff, the rear units being >100% stiffer than OEM if my research was correct at the time. The front springs were shipped as 60N/mm units when I purchased and I found them to be too soft for the weight of the 30d motor, so I placed a special order with Ohlins for 80N units which I find suit the car much better.

I'm very happy with them and would certainly fit R&T again if/when I change cars.