First time on the track with the M3 and the car handled fairly well with the stock suspension. I like the stiffness, but the body rolled a bit too much. I am seriously considering a set of coilovers. What are some of the better ones out there? I want something that is adjustable for track and street use, but still able to keep the stock ride height. Thanks.

Have you thought about just doing swaybars?

Upgrade the sway bars? Doesn't the M3 have front and rear sway bars already? I do have the tower brace and the x brace.

I was interested in the same question. I have stock sway bars already with a ton of body roll. Would something like the TMS set really make a big difference? If so, why?

if you want the stock ride height, but want to get rid of the body roll, swaybars..

TMS
GC
UUC
Rogue
IE
RD

are just a few that come to mind....

Browse through the suspension section here:

http://www.e36werkes.com/index.php?cPath=27

My first upgrade was TCKline's sport suspension--H&R sports and single adjustable dampers. With the xbrace, this combo was street comfortable, adjustable, and very competent on the track.

Hmmm... I would do stiffer springs first to control body roll and improve handling. And only add bigger swaybars at the end to spice up the handling. Let's not forget that swaybars make the independent suspension...less independent. Soft springs and stiff swaybars is a recipe for teared pick-up points.

If the goal is to reduce body roll, you may want to lower your roll center, either by widening the track, or lowering the car (ans using stiffer springs).

Hmmm... I would do stiffer springs first to control body roll and improve handling. And only add bigger swaybars at the end to spice up the handling. Let's not forget that swaybars make the independent suspension...less independent. Soft springs and stiff swaybars is a recipe for teared pick-up points.

If the goal is to reduce body roll, you may want to lower your roll center, either by widening the track, or lowering the car (ans using stiffer springs).

Exactly...get the car close to where you want it with springs and shocks, then add adjustable sways (if needed) to dial it in.

Let's not forget that swaybars make the independent suspension...less independent.
Well said.

There are 3 main players that offer coilovers for our cars.

1) Ground Control, offered thru Bimmerworld or direct from GC, both supporting vendors.

2) AST, offered thru Vorshlag, also a supporting vendor.

3) TC Kline.

I've used GC products for the past 5 years or so. Most of their suspension sets use Konis but they also sell Advance Design race shocks. I suspect you could maintain a stock ride height, or close to it, and could choose spring rates/lenghts to accomplish what you want. If you want help with setup and choosing the right components, I'd suggest contacting Bimmerworld. If you know what exactly what you want, you could also go direct to GC.

Jay

UUC swaybars for the E36 are now available in a number of configurations:

1) Full front and rear set with 25.4mm front, 23.8mm rear.

2) Full front and rear set with 27mm front, 23.8mm rear.

3) Front 25.4mm bar only.

4) Front 7mm bar only.

5) Rear 23.8mm bar only.

6) Your choice of spherical bearing endlinks (track/race) or urethane (street/track).

Details:

http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/html_product/sway_barbarian/index.htm

E36 options & ordering:

http://www.nexternal.com/uuc/?Target=products.asp&ProductID=52

As for suspension, we now offer the TC Kline racing suspension options... details and pricing here:

http://www.nexternal.com/uuc/Category260

be careful...

depends on what class you want to run.

from what i know in SCCA you can change the front sway bar to a larger diameter, but not the rear if you are in the super stock class.

you can also do quite a bit with shocks without getting bumped up.

bump.