[TK310]

Hello, first major mod for me and I've been reading up on shocks/springs for couple months now. My main needs as a daily driver car that just wants to tighten up the floatyness of my 328xi. I dont track or autocross, but do enjoy some switchbacks once in a while. I've narrowed down to the koni special actives shocks and wanted to pair them with eibach pro springs but am confused because ECS tuning description mentions that the konis are only to be used with stock springs while I've read of people pairing the koni special active with various lowering springs. Did they recently change to new gens or change specs and requirements that they can only be with stock springs? Anyone have experience or advice before I pull the trigger and make a mistake with the shock/spring combo?

[mlev]

Just contact Koni directly and get their recommendation.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by TK310

Hello, first major mod for me and I've been reading up on shocks/springs for couple months now. My main needs as a daily driver car that just wants to tighten up the floatyness of my 328xi. I dont track or autocross, but do enjoy some switchbacks once in a while. I've narrowed down to the koni special actives shocks and wanted to pair them with eibach pro springs but am confused because ECS tuning description mentions that the konis are only to be used with stock springs while I've read of people pairing the koni special active with various lowering springs. Did they recently change to new gens or change specs and requirements that they can only be with stock springs? Anyone have experience or advice before I pull the trigger and make a mistake with the shock/spring combo?

Go for it! I've been running KoniSA's with Eibachs for 18 months. Awesome combination!

I spent a couple months talking with Koni North America about it and got one of the first F30 sets shipped to the US. Koni NA actually did a lot of testing with the Eibachs and it's a combination that they recommend.

What you read is what I call "Koni Speak". When Koni talks about stock height springs versus lowered springs, they include moderate lowering springs like the Eibachs in the stock spring height category. Most everyone else would read it differently, but I swear I've had many conversations with Koni and they consider the Eibachs too moderate of a drop (0.8" front, 0.6" rear) to be considered a lowered spring.

The Eibach part number we are talking about has a -06 in it. There are other Eibachs with a bigger drop that wouldn't be used with KoniSA's.

I also had several conversations with Koni about using the stock bump stops, or trimming them or using a different bump stop. They assured me to use the stock bump stops which they used in all of their testing. So that's what I did and they've been fine.

The Koni Special Actives perform as advertised. That special two valve technology that they developed with McLaren rides like a sport shock through the curves but it's not stiff on bad roads. Highway road seams used to be jarring with stock suspension- thump, thump, thump. But the KoniSA's really round the sharpness of it off. Same with potholes.

Later I learned that the other half of the jarring stock BMW ride comes from the stiff stock runflats. I switched from runflats in 225/45-18 to summer Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in 245/40-18. The difference is amazing, and this is the sportiest size for my stock BMW 400M 18"x8.0" wheels. (The comfort level would be even greater had I gone with 245/45-18) The combination of the KoniSA/Eibachs with the MPS4S soaks up potholes.

I use winter/snow Michelin X-ICE Xi3 in 225/45-18. I'm in the Philly area with about 20-25" of snow and 20+ snow driving days per winter season. Much greater snow areas might also want to consider Bridgestone Blizzak WS90's but they are also more noisy.

If you absolutely must have All Season tires (which is always a compromise over dedicated summer/winter tires) then I'd go with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S in one of the 245 sizes.

KoniSA's with Eibachs is a fantastic choice! Photos vs stock are attached.
Hope this helps!

[johnung]

Originally Posted by TK310

Hello, first major mod for me and I've been reading up on shocks/springs for couple months now. My main needs as a daily driver car that just wants to tighten up the floatyness of my 328xi. I dont track or autocross, but do enjoy some switchbacks once in a while. I've narrowed down to the koni special actives shocks and wanted to pair them with eibach pro springs but am confused because ECS tuning description mentions that the konis are only to be used with stock springs while I've read of people pairing the koni special active with various lowering springs. Did they recently change to new gens or change specs and requirements that they can only be with stock springs? Anyone have experience or advice before I pull the trigger and make a mistake with the shock/spring combo?

Here are the photos...

[TK310]

Originally Posted by johnung

Here are the photos...

Thanks for your perspective! im also in the northeast area so Im glad to hear the koni SA were able to round out the rough roads we have here while still handling better. I'll try to update soon once ive gotten them installed with the eibachs!

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by johnung

Go for it! I've been running KoniSA's with Eibachs for 18 months. Awesome combination!

I spent a couple months talking with Koni North America about it and got one of the first F30 sets shipped to the US. Koni NA actually did a lot of testing with the Eibachs and it's a combination that they recommend.

What you read is what I call "Koni Speak". When Koni talks about stock height springs versus lowered springs, they include moderate lowering springs like the Eibachs in the stock spring height category. Most everyone else would read it differently, but I swear I've had many conversations with Koni and they consider the Eibachs too moderate of a drop (0.8" front, 0.6" rear) to be considered a lowered spring.

The Eibach part number we are talking about has a -06 in it. There are other Eibachs with a bigger drop that wouldn't be used with KoniSA's.

I also had several conversations with Koni about using the stock bump stops, or trimming them or using a different bump stop. They assured me to use the stock bump stops which they used in all of their testing. So that's what I did and they've been fine.

The Koni Special Actives perform as advertised. That special two valve technology that they developed with McLaren rides like a sport shock through the curves but it's not stiff on bad roads. Highway road seams used to be jarring with stock suspension- thump, thump, thump. But the KoniSA's really round the sharpness of it off. Same with potholes.

Later I learned that the other half of the jarring stock BMW ride comes from the stiff stock runflats. I switched from runflats in 225/45-18 to summer Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in 245/40-18. The difference is amazing, and this is the sportiest size for my stock BMW 400M 18"x8.0" wheels. (The comfort level would be even greater had I gone with 245/45-18) The combination of the KoniSA/Eibachs with the MPS4S soaks up potholes.

I use winter/snow Michelin X-ICE Xi3 in 225/45-18. I'm in the Philly area with about 20-25" of snow and 20+ snow driving days per winter season. Much greater snow areas might also want to consider Bridgestone Blizzak WS90's but they are also more noisy.

If you absolutely must have All Season tires (which is always a compromise over dedicated summer/winter tires) then I'd go with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S in one of the 245 sizes.

KoniSA's with Eibachs is a fantastic choice! Photos vs stock are attached.
Hope this helps!

Do you have any side view photos of the car.? Can you post please.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Do you have any side view photos of the car.? Can you post please.

I'm assuming that you want to try to visualize tire gap. That's not always easy to see depending on lighting and camera angle. Also, my tire gap varies depending on which of three sets of tires are mounted. I have a square setup but the diameter of the tires varies.

FYI- I really don't care about tire gap. All my suspension mods were designed to have the best street handling, and also to handle rough roads and potholes. The best tire size to reduce tire gap would have been 245/45-18. Instead I chose the best handling size of 245/40-18.

Attached are the best photos that I could find of my Koni/Eibach suspension with stock Pirelli 225/45-18 runflats and with summer Michelin PS4S 245/40-18. I don't have a photo yet of the car with my recently installed winter Michelin X-ICE Xi3 in 225/45-18.

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by johnung

I'm assuming that you want to try to visualize tire gap. That's not always easy to see depending on lighting and camera angle. Also, my tire gap varies depending on which of three sets of tires are mounted. I have a square setup but the diameter of the tires varies.

FYI- I really don't care about tire gap. All my suspension mods were designed to have the best street handling, and also to handle rough roads and potholes. The best tire size to reduce tire gap would have been 245/45-18. Instead I chose the best handling size of 245/40-18.

Attached are the best photos that I could find of my Koni/Eibach suspension with stock Pirelli 225/45-18 runflats and with summer Michelin PS4S 245/40-18. I don't have a photo yet of the car with my recently installed winter Michelin X-ICE Xi3 in 225/45-18.

Thank you Sir.

I don't care about fender gap too... I ask because I don't want to drop the car to much that I have to worry about every road surface I drive into.... ie parking entrance, my house curb, parking structure. Too much lower means scrapping and possibility of cracking my front lip I'm about to install.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

Thank you Sir.

I don't care about fender gap too... I ask because I don't want to drop the car to much that I have to worry about every road surface I drive into.... ie parking entrance, my house curb, parking structure. Too much lower means scrapping and possibility of cracking my front lip I'm about to install.

HaHa, you're the first one who doesn't want their car sitting on their tires! I was able to test my lowered car in a new snowfall last winter and it still handled 6" of new snow with no problem. I've never been able to consider a lip because my car clears a curb where we park now, but a lip would never survive. The Eibach drop was exactly as advertised. I measured pretty much front 0.8" and rear 0.6". Good luck!

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by johnung

HaHa, you're the first one who doesn't want their car sitting on their tires! I was able to test my lowered car in a new snowfall last winter and it still handled 6" of new snow with no problem. I've never been able to consider a lip because my car clears a curb where we park now, but a lip would never survive. The Eibach drop was exactly as advertised. I measured pretty much front 0.8" and rear 0.6". Good luck!

I don't want to drive a Le Man Prototype on the street

I just want to make handle better. Less body roll and uneasiness on bumps(rear end)

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

I don't want to drive a Le Man Prototype on the street

I just want to make handle better. Less body roll and uneasiness on bumps(rear end)

Have you read Farkle! posts? He really has done a lot of research and testing. I would bet that he has some excellent suggestions based on the stock springs and shocks on your model and what to tweak to get the results that you seek.

[Gen13 F36]

Originally Posted by johnung

Have you read Farkle! posts? He really has done a lot of research and testing. I would bet that he has some excellent suggestions based on the stock springs and shocks on your model and what to tweak to get the results that you seek.

I read all farkle thread .... that was long and very informative reading.

Yup...I will take farkle up with his bump stop recommendations. I'm getting M3 bumpstop when I change my suspension next year...all this Christmas expenditure... my suspension have to wait.

[rphz]

I ended up getting both the Koni Reds and the Eibach Pro Kit for xDrive based on all of the research and posts by johnung and Farkle! (thanks guys!). I couldn't be happier with this setup, both for street and track. The only issue I've run into is being lower in the winter can suck, and I've bottomed out hard a couple of times. I'm just a bit more careful now

[johnung]

Originally Posted by rphz

I ended up getting both the Koni Reds and the Eibach Pro Kit for xDrive based on all of the research and posts by johnung and Farkle! (thanks guys!). I couldn't be happier with this setup, both for street and track. The only issue I've run into is being lower in the winter can suck, and I've bottomed out hard a couple of times. I'm just a bit more careful now

Congrats! Glad you're happy.
Bottomed out though? Steep driveway?

[rcaso26]

Has anyone tried the rwd eibach springs with koni special active struts? I have an xdrive car, but I heard the rwd eibach springs provide a slightly lower drop vs the xdrive springs.

[rphz]

Originally Posted by johnung

Congrats! Glad you're happy.
Bottomed out though? Steep driveway?

That too...any lower and I would scrape twice a day Mainly huge pot holes, roadwork, and the typical winter issues on the Colorado roads.

I have to say while the suspension overall is a bit stiffer, it feels so much better than stock. Even going over railroad crossings are smoother now, which really surprises me. And the high-speed float you get in the front going over rises in the payment on otherwise smooth highways is completely gone.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by rphz

That too...any lower and I would scrape twice a day Mainly huge pot holes, roadwork, and the typical winter issues on the Colorado roads.

I have to say while the suspension overall is a bit stiffer, it feels so much better than stock. Even going over railroad crossings are smoother now, which really surprises me. And the high-speed float you get in the front going over rises in the payment on otherwise smooth highways is completely gone.

Yes, it kinda feels like it rounds off the rough spots so they aren't sharp or jagged. Smooths them out.

Switching from runflats to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S was just as big of a change. Handling drastically improved as the tires grab the asphalt on turns plus what I didn't expect was they soak up rough roads and potholes unbelievably. Made the runflats seem like old wooden wagon wheels! Went from 225/45-18 to 245/40-18 MPS4S. Highly recommend!