BC Racing BR-Type Coilovers Preliminary Review

[bennyfizzle]

Per a recommendation from member "ienjoydrifting", a top 16 drifter in the D1 series, I purchased a made-to-order set of BC Racing's BR-Type coilovers.

These coilovers offer:
-"Pillow Ball" front camber plates and rear shock mounts
-32-way damping adjustment (rebound/compression are NOT individually adjusted)
-A threaded shock body for preload independent ride height adjustment
-The ability to order ANY spring and matched damper combo (lots of choices here)
-Custom length sway-bar endlinks
-They look pretty damn cool:

More information can be found here:

North American distributor- http://www.bcracing-na.com/

Now, I'm no expert in suspension design/quality. But I have owned a few different brands of coilovers and am basing this comparison solely on that and information I've come across on the internet, mainly this very forum.

To begin I'll give you a rundown of my specs. I decided to mimic Chelsea's (ienjoydrifting) setup as the usage of his car and mine seemed reasonably close, and new springs and matched dampers can be had for cheap with little downtime if I choose to go a different route in the future. My spring specs are as follows:

Front:
160mm length
10kg (~550lb/in) linear rate.

Rear:
180mm length
10kg progressive rate

Now here they are fresh out of the packaging:



A shot of the front brackets, which look and feel pretty beefy:



Front camber plates/damping adjuster:



Rear shock mount/damping adjuster:



Part number/markings on springs:



Endlinks:



Spanners and an allen key for the endlinks:



Now, I took a shot for comparison with my last set of coilovers (H&R Street) next to the BC's:



From this pic a few different things are noticed. Firstly, the overall length of the shock and struts, fresh out of the box, are a good bit shorter than even the lowest setting of the H&Rs. Looks like this car's going to be a good .5" lower right off the bat if I'm happy with the ride height out of the box.

Next, the diameter of the shock body seems thinner on the BC's next to the H&Rs. I don't have specs on actual piston diameter of the H&Rs, but the BC's use a large 44mm piston in a 53mm body, yet again, the H&R's LOOK even larger.

Lastly you can see how much farther down the shock body the sway bar tabs are located on the BC's. I believe this is because the H&Rs are designed to be used with a stock swaybar endlink. Whereas the threaded full length shock body on the BC's would not allow the use of stock length endlinks, hence the custom length links being included.

For those concerned with shock dynos, I was under the impression that each damper comes with it's own printout from a shock dyno. They did not, but I did stumble across these on NASIOC:





No clue how to interpret that. I should probably read a book or something.

They were $1k shipped to my door, apparently the price has recently went up to $1,250 shipped to the 48.

Sorry to be a tease, but that's all I have for now, I will be updating this thread during installation and after I have a good impression of dricing them both on the street and drift/autox events, and hopefully an HPDE by the end of the year.

So far I'm happy with my purchase, everything seems manufactured at a high quality level. We'll see how they play out over the rest of the season.

[Serious]

they looks alot like tein ss-p's to me. not to say thats a bad thing because ss-p's are like $1700.

[bennyfizzle]

up for a buddy

[Hova]

Pretty sure this is the coil over im going to be using on my DD... Havent seen any negative review on BC racing anywhere, and they seem like a straight up company.


when i called, they said re-valving is free for any spring rate you choose, and that it is a complete kit with camber plates, RSM`s, endlinks, everything you need for an E36 m3. Seems like a quality kit, cant wait for some driving reviews from you Benny

[kawi008]

Can you please post up pics and a full review when you have installed them? I look forward to the write up!!!

[bennyfizzle]

Will do!

[cpcalkins]

Good write up... I will be interested to see how they hold up and your opinion of them as time goes on... Do you have the hight adjustment range you can run with this setup...

[bmw_e30]

Congrats.

You just bought cheap Chinese made crap.

These are what we call "disposable coilovers".

They're not the worst. But far from anything to brag about.

[Hova]

get these damn things installed already!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats.

You just bought cheap Chinese made crap.

These are what we call "disposable coilovers".

They're not the worst. But far from anything to brag about.

[bmw_e30]

get these damn things installed already!!!!!!!!!!

Are you following me around BFC lol??

[HafaAdaiM3]

BMW_E30 is not far from the truth, unfortunately, no matter how "pretty" they look, they're manufactured in China with the same low standards and cheap parts, this time, BC-Racing had their name stamped on these which costs them a bit more.

Remember, one manufacturer in China making all these coilovers with different branding, this has been done to death in the Aerodynamics (Bodykit) industry, now China has latched on, and are now making cheap performance/suspension components.

Bottom line, if you enjoy them, great! But don't get on Bimmerforums and brag about these, there is no difference between these and all the other no-namers. What I would like, is for you to actually "open" up the coilover, then start comparing the internals, I bet you'll re-install your Bilsteins.

[bennyfizzle]

Bragging?

Gee, and here I thought I was just giving my observations of a set of coilovers that are new to our market.

I love all of you DTM racers thinking your ground control/konis on full slam are any better than these "Chinese" coilovers for your purposes. Only those who have 30k+ invested into their RACE CARS, and years of experience behind the wheel of said RACE CARS, would be able to tell ANY performance difference between my Taiwanese coilovers and your Swedish made AST's.

That is not to say that the AST's/TRM's/GC coilovers don't have MUCH more development and engineering into them...but we're not exactly reinventing the wheel. A damper is a damper, a spring is a spring, a bearing is a bearing. FOR MY PURPOSES it doesn't make sense to go out and drop $1500+ on a set of coilovers that will no doubt see many dirt drops, harsh landings off of ledges, etc. The only thing that I need out of these coilovers is the ability to swap out to different spring rates, damping adjustability, some tough brackets, and front camber adjustment. They provide all of that without the $2k+ price tag, and the customer service so far (they came to me with a very minor defect) both from the vendor I purchased them from and BC Racing NA has been great.

You guys love running your mouths because you spend 1/3 the value of your car on your suspension for your street cars just to say you bought that suspension. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the baller factor, but you're lying to yourself if even 25% of those of you who've purchased the 'baller brands' taking advantage of the extra $1k in engineering per set of coilovers that goes into your setups.

They're cheap, they're Taiwanese, they provide everything I need for my little drift/track rat, and they're seemingly quite robust.

oh, and just FYI...both the front 'vert strut mount reinforcements and the rear z3 shock mount reinforcements fit perfectly with these camber plates/mounts....several other E36 camber plates require modification of the reinforcement plates to get them to work.

[cpcalkins]

If they work out, great... Not really seeing the point in people coming in and slamming this thread... If this is in fact a decent setup for the budget consious, it gives them other options... I have spent $1500. for a GC Street/Track kit and have broken 3 front shock housings and blew out 2 rear shocks... Dont knock the quality unless you have first hand experience...

[bmw_e30]

Bragging?

Gee, and here I thought I was just giving my observations of a set of coilovers that are new to our market.

I love all of you DTM racers thinking your ground control/konis on full slam are any better than these "Chinese" coilovers for your purposes. Only those who have 30k+ invested into their RACE CARS, and years of experience behind the wheel of said RACE CARS, would be able to tell ANY performance difference between my Taiwanese coilovers and your Swedish made AST's.

That is not to say that the AST's/TRM's/GC coilovers don't have MUCH more development and engineering into them...but we're not exactly reinventing the wheel. A damper is a damper, a spring is a spring, a bearing is a bearing. FOR MY PURPOSES it doesn't make sense to go out and drop $1500+ on a set of coilovers that will no doubt see many dirt drops, harsh landings off of ledges, etc. The only thing that I need out of these coilovers is the ability to swap out to different spring rates, damping adjustability, some tough brackets, and front camber adjustment. They provide all of that without the $2k+ price tag, and the customer service so far (they came to me with a very minor defect) both from the vendor I purchased them from and BC Racing NA has been great.

You guys love running your mouths because you spend 1/3 the value of your car on your suspension for your street cars just to say you bought that suspension. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the baller factor, but you're lying to yourself if even 25% of those of you who've purchased the 'baller brands' taking advantage of the extra $1k in engineering per set of coilovers that goes into your setups.

They're cheap, they're Taiwanese, they provide everything I need for my little drift/track rat, and they're seemingly quite robust.

oh, and just FYI...both the front 'vert strut mount reinforcements and the rear z3 shock mount reinforcements fit perfectly with these camber plates/mounts....several other E36 camber plates require modification of the reinforcement plates to get them to work.

Are you off-roading your M3? That's what it sounds like to me lol.

Plus my TC Kline's have no baller status to me. What is baller is that TC KLINE himself installed them on my car and setup my suspension for track duty.

Baller would be Matt Bell (TMS E46 M3 driver in KONI Challenge) driving my car at Laguna Seca and commenting on the fact that my car short of a dedicated race car was one of the best setup cars he has ever driven.

I track my car 10-20 times a year. I would buy the best suspension that I could afford. I know a bunch of noobs that bought these various Chinese made CO's only to have them leak after a few weeks or make strange noises or even recalled back for safety issues lol. Be safe out there and YMMV of course.

[bennyfizzle]

It will probably see some offroading, yes

Yeah I mean, if you're looking to get every last tenth out of a road course these are PROBABLY not for you.

No argument there.

[Bimmerman535i]

Just an fyi, those shock dynos prove that while they are marketed as rebound and compression being simultaneously adjusted, only compression actually is changed with each twist of the knob. There is some rebound adjustment, but not enough to really influence much.

[ilikeit]

Any updates benny?

[bennyfizzle]

Got alot of stuff to do before I can bolt them on to the car, I will update though. They may be receiving a trial by fire next Friday, the last drift event of the season. The first for these and my car.

[TH3 Shifty]

what do these cost???

[ilikeit]

http://www.importimageracing.com/p/BC-BR-master.html
You can get them there for 999 shipped.
But not sure if they will do custom rates for you.


http://www.importimageracing.com/p/388exts2.html
They also make these rear damper adjuster extensions so you dont have to
tear out your carpeting or cut large holes in them to adjust the damping.

[joon]

I've had the BC coilovers for coming to 2 years.. they are dirt cheap in this part of Asia..

1. The swaybar endlink tab ripped off in 2 months.. I don't think it's a problem with the welding, but with the metal used to make the tab itself.. I converted the endlinks to use the control arm mounts and left it as that

2. Not enough droop travel on the rear shock.. they seem to have copied the general configuration for the FWD cars, extremely short stroke

3. Other than that.. they are OK for the price.. I find that certain road conditions cause the suspension to oscillate, overall not very satisfying

They are fantastic on my Civic, but I was disappointed with them on my E36

[Rennmeister M3]

Just an fyi, those shock dynos prove that while they are marketed as rebound and compression being simultaneously adjusted, only compression actually is changed with each twist of the knob. There is some rebound adjustment, but not enough to really influence much.

You got it backwards. The rebound is what is adjustable, and because of the shock design, the compression is altered slightly as well.

We've done independent shock dyno testing, as well as friends of mine, on the run of the mill Chinese shocks. They aren't horrible, but they are far from ideal.

For the money I'd rather go with H&R, but I personally run TCK's.

I'm kinda with Benny on one thing though, most people are just looking to slam their car and not run on 100 lb. spring rates. The cheap Chinese junk coilovers like the BC, Stance, Megan Racing, etc. etc. are all going to be fine. I've seen a number of quality control issues from the various companies, and initially they were offered as D2 Racing, at the steep price of $275 - 325 a kit, yes... a kit. That should give you an idea of the quality alot of these kits have.

These are popular in the drifting community because 99% of the drifting community are uninformed kids that just want the following:

- Slammed Ride Height (Read: No Shock Travel)
- 19x19J -32 on Murdered Fenders w/ 205/35/19 Tires
- 7 Degrees of Camber, and Enough Bumpsteer to Derail a Train.

If you fit that category (and alot of Bf.c does) then go for it. Chinese coilovers are for you.

[MIMI1]

OP's new suspension > DDM

[ienjoydrifting]

I've had the BC coilovers for coming to 2 years.. they are dirt cheap in this part of Asia..

1. The swaybar endlink tab ripped off in 2 months.. I don't think it's a problem with the welding, but with the metal used to make the tab itself.. I converted the endlinks to use the control arm mounts and left it as that

2. Not enough droop travel on the rear shock.. they seem to have copied the general configuration for the FWD cars, extremely short stroke

3. Other than that.. they are OK for the price.. I find that certain road conditions cause the suspension to oscillate, overall not very satisfying

They are fantastic on my Civic, but I was disappointed with them on my E36

Just a heads up, there is a newer version that is out now. Both of those problems have been addressed.

Benny, you have an update yet?

[Mr.///M]

Bump?