My suspension on my part time daily driver / DE e36 325is is getting old / tired (h+r race, bilsteins, turner sways)! Time for an upgrade, car / driver see up to 6 events per year and hope to add in some local bmw autocross. The car is a second car for me and I have retained the A/C, radio, and heat to make it pleasant for driving in the SE.

I have a line on Group G springs (600F / 700R) and have talked with Turner about re-valved / shortened bilsteins to complete the package. Wondering if anyone has a similar set-up in there car with similar goals. Thanks in advance, and if anyone has a similar set-up in ATL maybe I can go for a ride.

Not sure I would run Bilsteins with those rates on the street.

If your looking for a steetable combination for those rates I would look elsewhere, its going to be hella rough on the Bilsteins at those rates....

If your serious about running those rates, running autocross and maintaining streetability, your going to have to go with something like the ASTs.

I can tell you once you start tracking your going to want to upgrade to coilovers, bite the bullet and upgrade now....

My suspension on my part time daily driver / DE e36 325is is getting old / tired (h+r race, bilsteins, turner sways)! Time for an upgrade, car / driver see up to 6 events per year and hope to add in some local bmw autocross. The car is a second car for me and I have retained the A/C, radio, and heat to make it pleasant for driving in the SE.

I have a line on Group G springs (600F / 700R) and have talked with Turner about re-valved / shortened bilsteins to complete the package. Wondering if anyone has a similar set-up in there car with similar goals. Thanks in advance, and if anyone has a similar set-up in ATL maybe I can go for a ride.

Gruppe G's, which are part of the IStock suspension I believe (could very well be wrong here), are progressive. I ran 680/680 on the street with the IStock struts in my E36 M3 before taking them off recently. On the highway and A roads you are fine. On B&C roads it gets a little dicey to say the least. I live in Boston however, so it's a little worse for me than if you shack up in the 'burbs.

Cheers,

Will

I had mentioned the bilsteins (re-valve / shorten) because I was led to believe they are designed to work with the springs / rates. Are there other options out there for the shocks / struts to go with these rates?

If the shock / strut is properly valved, and the height combo is appropriate, what do I gain by going to a coilover?

While my jalopy was still "streetable" I ran anywhere from 550/650 to 600/700 on Koni DA's,
for the most part it was an acceptable ride around town/freeways. Not something I would
want to live with in a daily driver, that doesn't appear to be an issue for the OP. Do it.

...

man up, my friend dd's his 240 with 1100lb front 1300 lb rear, its not fun and hurts your balls, but hey why not

I think this depends on the person. Some people dont mind stiff rides. My car has 900/1000 and I would not want to DD it. Hit any bumps and its so stiff it hurts my face! haha. If you like that kind of stuff then sure why not. Only thing is ware and tare on the car. You hit a lip on a bridge or something and you might get airborn o.O

Now with your suggested spring rates, I dont see why not. I would drive that on the street no problem. Just make sure that those shocks are setup for those spring rates.

If they are to stiff for you, just get another set of springs to toss on for the street and swap out your others for track weekends.

Why not get the Spec E36 suspension (http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/suspension.jsp?&make=H%26R&model=Coil-Over+Race+Suspension&group=Coil-Over+Race+Suspension&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=BMWCCA+Spec+E36&autoYear=1995&autoModClar=&partNum=RSS-E36-SPEC&perfCode=A), just in case you decide to race some time down the road? I'm local as the the car stays at Butler Tire in Alpharetta and have the suspension 100% done (spec suspension, spec sways, urethane bushings, welded reinforcements throughout, etc.) and the ride isn't that bad, relatively speaking. SE36 is up-and-coming, with eight cars due to race at VIR next month and at least five other builds in progress that I know about. Mine should be 100% finished by the end of the year.

NM...just saw you swapped an S52. Obviously Spec E36 wouldn't be for you.

Obviously most of you didn't read the OP's question, he wasn't asking if the rates were stiff/streetible, he was asking IF the combination of Bilsteins and those rates are streetible..... Not sure why people are talking about rates and that shit....

My suspension on my part time daily driver / DE e36 325is is getting old / tired (h+r race, bilsteins, turner sways)! Time for an upgrade, car / driver see up to 6 events per year and hope to add in some local bmw autocross. The car is a second car for me and I have retained the A/C, radio, and heat to make it pleasant for driving in the SE.

I have a line on Group G springs (600F / 700R) and have talked with Turner about re-valved / shortened bilsteins to complete the package. Wondering if anyone has a similar set-up in there car with similar goals. Thanks in advance, and if anyone has a similar set-up in ATL maybe I can go for a ride.

IMO it would be streetable, those spring rates aren't too outrageous

Thanks for the responses. I've really been enjoying the car and mostly because I drive it regularly. The track days are in the minority, but that is where I would like to see the most improvement. To be perfectly honest, I could probably continue to expand my own capabilities with the current set-up and more track time. On the other hand, I have the bug to continually upgrade the car and have opened pandora's box by thinking about brakes, engine mods, differential ratios, etc. I also have (don't have) a budget in mind! This is just for fun, I don't see myself racing in the future (manual laborer - pilot) and think that I would be better suited with a suspension that will give me more capability on the track, but not deter me from driving the car on the street. I also liked, in some aspects, the idea of a known quantity which doesn't require a lot of fine tuning - but delivers that increase in capability.

The idea of the SE36 suspension does have some appeal, the next owner (or myself if I hit the jackpot) could certainly benefit with this upgrade. It would also kind of force me to stay with the e36 - non M brake set-up. In my previous track days I have yet to experience brake fade (carbotech pads, super blue fluid) and am planning on adding cooling to the front brakes to offset the lesser capability of the brakes (heat soak issues).

So once again thanks for the ideas, keep em coming if there are more out there. Hope to see you at the track!

I finally got a picture loaded and it is of a track day at Barber in Alabama, the body roll is pretty apparent.

Anyone else?

3 letters: AST
Based on your needs, I think you would be very happy with something like the 4100s or 4200s IMO.

AST = flavor of the year

AST = flavor of the year

No, they actually perform tremendously well. Have you driven an AST equipped car? Super "streetable" with 600/700 combo. They don't do anything weird on the street over undulations in the road while traveling straight or mid corner. Great suspension travel even lowered a little bit. Most every other after market suspension C/Os make me nervous mildly rallying on the street, chips teeth, rides the bump stops, and/or sucks all around. The ASTs are great on course and the street, very confidence inspiring. My ASTs (600/700) ride better than a stock spring/Bilstien combo E36 M3. Not to mention the support you get from Brian and Terry. I would very seriously consider AST/Vorshalg.

This is a car driven a few days a week, auto-x'ed in STU (driven to events around the nation), and maybe a track day here and there. It has and will retain a radio, A/C, and full interior even if I can't get to my back seats due to race buckets.

Rob

AST = flavor of the year

You should really not bother replying if you have no valuable input. You clearly don't know anything about the ASTs.


And +1 to everything Rob said. I drove 2400 miles round-trip out to San Diego on mine (625F/650R) and wouldn't have any problem doing it again. They're great on street and track.

And +1 to everything Rob said. I drove 2400 miles round-trip out to San Diego on mine (625F/650R) and wouldn't have any problem doing it again. They're great on street and track.

I concur. I drove RT from Houston to El Paso on GC Koni SAs with 600/700 springs and the drive was miserable. I then drove from Houston to Denver on AST 4200s with the exact same spring rate. The difference in ride was amazing. I run one click of rebound and compression is full soft. The ride is much better than with the Koni SAs.

I do not drive this car daily anymore, but I would not hesitate to do so and I find myself driving it to work more and more often.

I'll also add that the suspension is much more adjustable at auto-x and DEs giving me the ability to tune out most any unwanted characteristics. I realize that they are more money than other dampers on the market, but in this case I firmly beleive that they are a better buy.

Thanks for the input on the AST's. I've heard of them and looked at them briefly, I'll look in to there website (Vorshlag?). I'm running M3 hats - reversed and was able to achieve -3 degrees upfront. Will the 4100 / 4200's run with this set-up or will I need camber plates. Thanks again!

I think this depends on the person.

Ed Zachary