[scoobysmak]

It seems this thread doesn't have many responses in the past couple of years. I am now searching for coilovers. I do not have EDC so at least it will simplify things.


Has anyone made a chart/spreadsheet on each of the available brands?

Brand
Model
Height adjustment from stock
damper tuning
rebound tuning
Location of tuning adjustments
Ride quality - feel
Longevity - quality
Price (MSRP/Avg)
Other notes

There is a notable thread about one of these companies and it appears parts might be hard to get if you have a problem, then quality control might be an issue. Ease of maintenance might be another column to look at.

[E90lova]

To be honest right now I have Bilstein B14s on my Xdrive 335. Congrats on owning a 340. Wanna switch LOL . I ended up putting a 700lb spring on the rear and that made the rear more planted and believe it or now more comfortable than the supplied Bilstein spring. My problem is I want a more Clubsport track setup. So I am going to be selling my B14s for something stiffer. I have 245/40/19 Bridgestone RE71s tires all round and the car is very compliant over bumps. My Audi Q5 is actually more uncomfortable over rough roads.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by scoobysmak

It seems this thread doesn't have many responses in the past couple of years. I am now searching for coilovers. I do not have EDC so at least it will simplify things.


Has anyone made a chart/spreadsheet on each of the available brands?

Brand
Model
Height adjustment from stock
damper tuning
rebound tuning
Location of tuning adjustments
Ride quality - feel
Longevity - quality
Price (MSRP/Avg)
Other notes

There is a notable thread about one of these companies and it appears parts might be hard to get if you have a problem, then quality control might be an issue. Ease of maintenance might be another column to look at.

I collect a lot of data on many things. But I never found a need to do so on coilovers because with a handful of questions the options can be narrowed way down.

You already answered QUESTION #1:
Standard dampers or Adaptive/EDC?

QUESTION #2: RWD or XDrive?
With XDrive, the coilover drop ranges become a big limiting factor on which coilovers to choose.

F30 XDrive fronts shouldn’t be dropped more than about 1.5” to stay within XDrive geometry and not risk breaking front drive shafts. The XDrive rear drop becomes an aesthetic issue. The stock rear is already lower than the front, so dropping the front by about 1.5” means that dropping the rear by roughly 0.7”/0.8” will provide equal tire/fender gaps in front and rear. So dropping the rear more than that will make the car look like it’s squatting on top of its rear tires.

Requiring coilover adjustment ranges that include front 1.5” and rear 0.8” drops will eliminate many coilovers from consideration.

NOTE:: These numbers are from my F30 335i XDrive. Different models may be different especially 4-Series which may come lower from the factory.

BASELINE CHASSIS HEIGHT:
It’s very important to measure your stock chassis height at all four wheels. Tape measure from center of wheel cap straight up to fender lip. This number never changes regardless of wheels or tires. Only changing springs and/or struts/shocks will change this measurement.

QUESTION #3: Why are you interested in coilovers? Which apply to you? Things like… Chassis height fine tuning? I want to slam the car low? Better handling? Less body roll? More comfortable ride? Stiffer ride? Some tracking on weekends? Serious tracking on many weekends?

QUESTION #4: Budget?
People see low advertised prices for cheap junk coilovers and assume that there is a price overlap with the option to buy separate struts/shocks and springs. But as soon as you start narrowing down coilover options with the questions above, it becomes obvious that there is usually a big premium to be paid for coilovers that meet your needs.

Using myself as an example… Separate components that meet my needs, Koni SA dampers and Eibach -05 springs (shipped from Germany) including tax would be about $1,000. The coilovers that meet my needs, KW V2 Street Comfort including tax would be about $2,300. That $1,300 difference can be redirected to other handling components like sway bars, strut brace, control arms, wheels/tires that make the car handle better than coilovers alone. Just another option.

Hope this helps!

[casualDIYer]

Originally Posted by bunker

Has anyone here done a comparison of the Bilstein B16 damptronics vs. the KW variant 1 with EDC retain on an F36 x-drive?
I'm looking to lower the unicorn but keep the EDC functionality, and since I've never even considered this with a prior car, I literally have no clue what I'm doing.
The only thing I know so far is the KW setup is about half the price of the Bilstein.
If I've failed to , my apologies, and pls point a brother in the right direction.

Honestly, it seems the biggest problem with Bilstein has been product availability. I haven't looked into it, but I'd imagine it takes a while to get them repaired as well if it is already taking forever to get new product. Bilstein is an OE for some German makes so perhaps there is a supply issue related to that business? As far as I know, KW is mainly an aftermarket supplier. While there are fewer KW users, I have not heard of availability issues with them.

[casualDIYer]

Originally Posted by BeFitty8_F32

'17 440i xDrive on KW street comforts with EDC. Initial setting was in the middle for almost a month while I drove on Texas roads. Felt a little to cushy for me in sport mode. Clicked them one notch harder. Comfort is stiffer than before and I almost miss the cushy feel it used to offer, but sport is a ton better and worth the loss of comfort cushion.
Height is currently set to the highest they will go which ultimately dropped the car about an inch all around.
I think the xDrive weight is a lot to deal with so I may end up swapping out my sway bars in the future. I do have the front strut brace which does help, but not enough.

This is the real advantage of an adjustable suspension. You can pick your level of comfort, from plushy to miserable. Or, pick your level of precision, from track weapon to wallowy slumpo-mobile. Don't knock wallowy drive feel. You can keep from decorating your pants with ice coffee on pot holed roads in max wallow mode, which is what I set my suspension to when not doing long highway trips or a track weekend. Still better than the flacid street suspension that came with the car.

If you see your car as a luxo cruiser you can jump into and drive, you may want to consider ditching the adjustable and going fixed damper. Some have been happy with that choice. Then again, if you see your car as a gigantic Lego, and the words "righty, tighty, lefty, loosey" mean something to you, stick with adjustable. That lack of choice could be an annoyance.

Agree, the sway bar does need a swap on my F30 but it's the whole engine crushing me to death part I'm allergic to. Sounds like a job for the shop.

[ruinedst3]

ive been running silvers coilovers for 2 years, had 2 struts replaced under warranty last year, recently while replacing my head light, i noticed a third strut puked its guts out, with oil covering the lower portion of coil cover. they were great to deal with as far as customer service goes, sent them a few pictures and they sent me new struts pretty quick for the first 2 last year. now that im out of the warranty period, im expecting no help, but i havent contacted them yet, so fingers crossed.

as far as coilovers ride goes, they are good, nothing special bottom out quite frequently, i run the dampers very high in adjustment range around 20 in front and 22 out of 24 in rear to try and mitigate the bottoming out. ive had to abandon the low life all together, but even with them raised to almost stock heights i still bottom out in the rear almost daily, could be due to the extra weight of the wagon, i dunno.

i currently have a set of b14s sitting in a cart trying to decide to make the switch or not. does anyone on here with a wagon have experience with the b14 set? the progressive springs look like they will help avoid the crashing when going over dips in the road

[ruinedst3]

this height was nice to look at. hard on tires. the bottoming out didint change no matter the height i tried