Personal review on e36 1.8(m) M40

[DanPromote]

This is my personal review on the suspension setups that I've gone through and currently going through. When I first got my ride, everything was stock, right down to the rims. The only thing that the owner changed was the clear indicator lights and re-painted the car to some metallic pearl blue. Stock shocks and absorbers______________________Ride is of course comfortable due to the soft and high suspension and I soon asked my racing kaki to test drive the car handling. For normal road conditions it handles decently but hard cornering at roundabouts soon revealed that there is massive body roll! At one point of a test around the roundabout I was almost thrown off my passenger chair and the car was dipping so much to one side I felt like I was going to fall out from my window. Acceleration wise, can't really expect much coz it's a 1.8 manual M40 with 14in rims but it does pull away a little when I put my foot down.Eibach upgrade - Prokit with stock absorbers____________________________________Pic :-

A few days after I got my ride I coudn't stand the 14in and high suspension coz it made the car looks like a lorry so I went to my fav Klang tyre shop and bought me a set of 17in AC replica rims, Falken tyres and Eibach prokit progressive sport springs. The makeover costed slightly less than RM5k including some repairs of worn bushes, tie rods etc.The verdict? Handling is much better when it came to corners and the car doesn't dip as much, but the absorbers felt too soft to handle the lowered car. I'd have to be careful at road humps since I've added an AC front bumper. Although handling has improved much, there is still some slight dip due to the soft absorber setup.The 17in rims + tyres also improved my cornering abilities but the lack of power became more evident. It is now harder to pull away with the bigger rims + tyres and petrol consumption also increased. On average a full tank only made 450km compared to 500km before, a loss of 50km. Am I dissapointed with the loss of fuel economy and power? Yes, but it made up with the car looking much better.Height-adjustable Coilover upgrade (soon)__________________________________Since my absorbers need replacement (I found that one rear absorber is high worn while one of the front has some slight leak), my next upgrade will be a full set of coilovers from RG. I'm looking forward to an improved handling over the current setup but a bit worried about its stiffness. Hopefully it's not too bad as I hope to have this done before the CNY break so that I can enjoy my long distance drive up north Will update once I've done some testing & hope that my layman's review has been some help to fellow e36 owners who's also going through some suspension setups. Comments and advises are much welcomed!

 

[affan66]

how much and where can you get it?? got warranty or not?

 

[ersalle]

Get koni sports+lowered springs, you'll be smiling when cornering hard. But be prepared for firm ride and it would be less comfortable for passengers riding in it. Coil overs!! Eh u want to use ur car on race track or what?

 

[DanPromote]

Originally posted by affan66@Jan 24 2006, 08:45 AM
how much and where can you get it?? got warranty or not?

rm2.2k, 2yrs wty, lifetime servicable. My co. is one of the reseller for it so I get it cheaper la.

I'm going for comfort setup so shoudn't be too hard, wait till I try it first then I'll post some feedback.

 

[ICEMAN 68]

good review .... any plans for 6 potter ??

mine is using koni's and yup it's a bit hard but handles well in corners....

comfort wise -- so so only

 

[DanPromote]

got power mods in mind but not sure which way to go yet... choice of turbo kits, supercharger or engine transplant. At the moment it's just a daily driven car so I'll drive it until the engine gives way.

 

[DanPromote]

Update since I got my coilover setup today!

The monotube coilover kit consists of

1. Front set of height adjustable coilovers (6kg spring rate)
2. Rear lowered progressive spring and absorbers

comes with 1 yr wty and lifetime servicible.

I encountered a bit of problem during setup, the rear spring was too low. Though it made the car looks damn canggih (it reached the top of the rim area till I can't see the tyres). So I had to swap the rear springs for a similar height one like my eibach to have a more comfortable ride.

The front, at the highest point is just slightly lower than stock suspension while the lowest setting is slightly lower than the Eibachs that I had.

I set it up at the lowest setting since it looks just nice ... overall setup just slightly lower than Eibachs. I was a bit concerned with the bumpiness associated with coilovers so I specially requested for a softer spring rate (standard was 7kg, I opted for 6kg).

My first impression when I drove my car with the new setup... it feels firmer. The ride is just slightly harder/bumpier than Eibachs + Bilsten black/stock rear that I had earlier. I immediately felt an aura of confidence since the bodyroll is almost eliminated compared to Eibachs which still had some minor body roll. The car goes where I want it to go and the response is more immediate. Fast sweeping corners also felt grippier and braking response also improved! Overall, I'm very satisfied!