Another spring question.

[ki__]

I don't feel like spending the money for KW's, but if i feel like I need to, I will.

I want to lower my car, not sacrifice the ride quality, and not worry about having to replace shocks or having to worry about blown shocks.

Anyone have issues with just having springs?

I also don't want to change out bump stops or shave mine.

Thanks in advance!

Kian

[alpina527]

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

I don't feel like spending the money for KW's, but if i feel like I need to, I will.

I want to lower my car, not sacrifice the ride quality, and not worry about having to replace shocks or having to worry about blown shocks.

Anyone have issues with just having springs?

I also don't want to change out bump stops or shave mine.

Thanks in advance!

Kian

That's just about impossible unless you have perfect smooth roads.

You are only 18mm off the bump stops as standard. Lower it 18mm and you will be riding on them.

Shaving the guide supports retrieves 9mm of travel and shorter bump stops allow another 9mm.

Some people just fit springs, but there is not enough data yet to see what the long term damage is to the shocks.

[ki__]

Originally Posted by alpina527

That's just about impossible unless you have perfect smooth roads.

You are only 18mm off the bump stops as standard. Lower it 18mm and you will be riding on them.

Shaving the guide supports retrieves 9mm of travel and shorter bump stops allow another 9mm.

Some people just fit springs, but there is not enough data yet to see what the long term damage is to the shocks.

Yeah, i know what your saying..

The thing is, I put Eibach springs on my 08 135i, after 2 years, my shocks were gone. I felt every single bump, dip, ding, lump...

I don't want that to happen with the M, so i was hoping to find a good solution for lowering the car without any headache.

I am hoping someone with a 2008 M3, that has had springs for 2+ years, can tell me how there springs and shocks are.

Kian

[alpina527]

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

Yeah, i know what your saying..

The thing is, I put Eibach springs on my 08 135i, after 2 years, my shocks were gone. I felt every single bump, dip, ding, lump...

I don't want that to happen with the M, so i was hoping to find a good solution for lowering the car without any headache.

I am hoping someone with a 2008 M3, that has had springs for 2+ years, can tell me how there springs and shocks are.

Kian

Yes, I know what you mean. I had them on my E46 M3 and absolutely hated them. Every bump went right through me. The e92 M3 springs are much better

[ki__]

Originally Posted by alpina527

Yes, I know what you mean. I had them on my E46 M3 and absolutely hated them. Every bump went right through me. The e92 M3 springs are much better

Have you lowered your 08 M3 at all?

[Wes Howell]

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

I don't feel like spending the money for KW's, but if i feel like I need to, I will.

I want to lower my car, not sacrifice the ride quality, and not worry about having to replace shocks or having to worry about blown shocks.

Anyone have issues with just having springs?

I also don't want to change out bump stops or shave mine.

Thanks in advance!

Kian

I did some research on this and while there are some happy with KW's...from all the research I did many felt that the damper was pretty mediocre and not track worthy. Street and appearance wise - you're probably ok...but I couldn't get excited to drop 3k on mediocre.

Personally, I went with the Ground Control kit. It gives you street camber plates (quieter than steel on steel) and Jay will work with you to get the spring rate that makes the most sense. You can end up with something catered to your needs / track / street. Also, it's adjustable F/R and it's under a grand.

Kind of a no brainer if you can swing 1k IMO.

[ki__]

Originally Posted by e60cs5

I did some research on this and while there are some happy with KW's...from all the research I did many felt that the damper was pretty mediocre and not track worthy. Street and appearance wise - you're probably ok...but I couldn't get excited to drop 3k on mediocre.

Personally, I went with the Ground Control kit. It gives you street camber plates (quieter than steel on steel) and Jay will work with you to get the spring rate that makes the most sense. You can end up with something catered to your needs / track / street. Also, it's adjustable F/R and it's under a grand.

Kind of a no brainer if you can swing 1k IMO.

Exactly why I don't want to spend 3k on them as well.

How are your shocks holding up with this setup?

That is my main concern.

Kian

[Wes Howell]

I don't think anyone is having shock problems (yet) I haven't seen any threads on this list in that regard (springs or otherwise)

The GC kit will give you more potential travel than springs and my hunch tells me that this equates to less abuse than springs. I'm no tech guru but this seems to make sense.

However, If you want a bulletproof guarantee that you'll have no problems and long term reliability of your OEM shocks - it's just not there.

I have EDC... but if my shocks go out in 2 years, I don't think it would kill me to track down a good coilover kit like the Moton SS (possibly with stiffer springs) or the AST 4200 with EDC delete. Would be a great excuse and a fun upgrade.

[alpina527]

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

Have you lowered your 08 M3 at all?

Yes, i have done my EDC e92 M3 with Eibachs, shaved mounts and e36 m3 bump stops. If you want it to look better and ride close to stock with very little extra load on the shocks, this is the route to go. I am more than happy with it.

If you are planning on regular track days, then you will probably do better by looking at the other options.

[PKL]

Someone on this forum needs to buy top mounts and shave them down, and then sell them. I would buy a set right now. ANYONE!?

[J08M3]

Eibach worked perfectly fine for me for two years. As far as I know it's ok to hit the bump stops on this car and in fact they are designed for it.

[persian54]

I want to find a kit that will look good, be great as a DD, and be great on the track

it seems the GC kit or Dinan are my only options...

[J08M3]

or Eibach

[Wes Howell]

Call Jay at GC - that's what I did. I did the initial research and then he answered any final questions and went out of his way to make sure the kit I got was perfect for my needs. The Dinan kit doesn't lower the car enough for my tastes and the GC kit is customizable. no brainer.

[JJM335]

I didn't want to mess with untried/untested options so I sprang for the Dinan stage 1 kit with camber plates. It is one of the most satisfying upgrades I have ever done to a car and worth every penny to me.

[ki__]

Originally Posted by persian54

I want to find a kit that will look good, be great as a DD, and be great on the track

it seems the GC kit or Dinan are my only options...

Im on the same boat, as i want to track my car once in a while too. Like maybe 3 times a year.

I know KW just came out with one, i do like the idea behind it.

I wish there was a perfect solution but there isn't

Originally Posted by J08M3

Eibach worked perfectly fine for me for two years. As far as I know it's ok to hit the bump stops on this car and in fact they are designed for it.

I just have had bad experience with an only springs setup, but at the same time, the price for springs versus a kit is about $700. So it's a hard decision. ZCP should have brought the car lower by 20mm, I'd be happy then.

Originally Posted by alpina527

Yes, i have done my EDC e92 M3 with Eibachs, shaved mounts and e36 m3 bump stops. If you want it to look better and ride close to stock with very little extra load on the shocks, this is the route to go. I am more than happy with it.

If you are planning on regular track days, then you will probably do better by looking at the other options.

Not regular, maybe 3 times a year. I don't know why, but trading bump stops or shaving sounds iffy to me... Didn't to you?

Originally Posted by e60cs5

I don't think anyone is having shock problems (yet) I haven't seen any threads on this list in that regard (springs or otherwise)

The GC kit will give you more potential travel than springs and my hunch tells me that this equates to less abuse than springs. I'm no tech guru but this seems to make sense.

However, If you want a bulletproof guarantee that you'll have no problems and long term reliability of your OEM shocks - it's just not there.

I have EDC... but if my shocks go out in 2 years, I don't think it would kill me to track down a good coilover kit like the Moton SS (possibly with stiffer springs) or the AST 4200 with EDC delete. Would be a great excuse and a fun upgrade.

I think you are right when it comes to less abuse, but for $700 more and by how many days/months.. I don't know which direction to go if I were to choose a kit since I have only heard good things about every kit.

Originally Posted by JJM335

I didn't want to mess with untried/untested options so I sprang for the Dinan stage 1 kit with camber plates. It is one of the most satisfying upgrades I have ever done to a car and worth every penny to me.

Yes, this was my original idea to do. But the drop is not satisfying enough.. I haven't seen it in person so maybe I will do that. But I wish the drop was more like an Eibach drop then I would probably pull the trigger.

[alpina527]

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

I
Not regular, maybe 3 times a year. I don't know why, but trading bump stops or shaving sounds iffy to me... Didn't to you?

That's exactly what Dinan do

Originally Posted by PKL

Someone on this forum needs to buy top mounts and shave them down, and then sell them. I would buy a set right now. ANYONE!?

I have a spare set right here, but I am in the UK.

[J08M3]

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

I just have had bad experience with an only springs setup, but at the same time, the price for springs versus a kit is about $700. So it's a hard decision. ZCP should have brought the car lower by 20mm, I'd be happy then.

They are actually about $225-250 brand new. I got a set for sale for $175.

I agree it would be nice if zcp was lower, 20mm would be max, but more than 10mm would be nice

[Chowster]

Originally Posted by BlacknRedi

I want to lower my car, not sacrifice the ride quality, and not worry about having to replace shocks or having to worry about blown shocks.

Kian

These are tough criteria to meet, especially with the first two being somewhat contradictory. I had the same criteria, but add on "not introduce warranty issues". So I ended up with Dinan stage 1, which best met the above criteria. The ride is very compliant, still works great with my EDC, and rides very similar to OEM. It may not be low enough for some, but it's just right for me on my DD. I think the only other options would be GC or KW (of which I have no experience, so I'll leave others to comment).

[persian54]

could you use the ZCP springs.....?

[kpneverdies]

a newbie question..... if u get the coilover kit, u don't need to worry about the bump stop?

[mact3333]

To the guys with the Ground control setup, are the bumpstops and spring perch OEM length or shorter???...ie-when you lower the car with their springs and camber plates, is the distance below the bumpstops maintained like the Dinan kit or are you losing some clearance??

I too would ike to drop the car 20mm front and 10mm rear but dont want to lose the clearance distance before hitting bumpstops.

Also, same question for the KW sleeve kit, is this clearance distance maintained with the KW kit???