OE Sports and Koni SAs installed

[///MZG]

So, I finally got to install my suspension this weekend and I thought that I would give some of impressions of both the install and the results.

First off, we did the X-Brace which without exaggeration was a 4 minute install because I already had the nutserts on my 10/94 M3. What a great looking piece, too bad nobody will ever see it.

The next step was tackling the front struts and springs. The bolts on the struts were a little bit of a PITA to get off, which really was not a surprise with 10 years of road grime to contend with. But really, they were no big deal. I knew that we had to cut the strut housings, but I made the mistake of not printing a detailed write up from bf.c and the instructions that come with the konis are not so great! So, in short it took a while to get them cut and drill out the bottoms because we did not have the very best tools for the job. We also took some time to go pick up a new wheel well liner for me at the dealer and take a look at the new 6 while we were there.

After getting the inserts into the housings we had no problems installing the springs on them and bolting it all up (yes, OE sports require 95 spring hats, not 96+ as I read earlier). Bolting them back up was easy and after all bolts were torqued properly we dropped the front back down and got ready for the rears.

The hardest part about the rears (on a 95) is pulling out your rear speakers so you can access the top of your shocks. We set the rear Konis at halfway before we installed them, popped the springs into place, bolted the shocks on and lowered her down.

Impressions:

After setting the fronts at about halfway we took it for a drive to see how everything fit together and to allow the suspension to settle-in a bit. Let me say one thing, the car drives totally different than it did before. Replacing the worn suspension (72,000 miles) was necessary and adding a stiffer rate and adjustable shocks was icing on the cake. The car turns in quicker, sticks more in the curves and feels much more solid overall. Also, the ride is really not any more harsh than before. I did dial the fronts in the next day to be at ¾ turn from full soft.

Ride Height: I knew that the OE sports would probably not drop the car the .75inches in the front as claimed, and it did not. With 72k on the clock I was experiencing some sag already with the original suspension. I think that I am riding about .25-.3 lower in the front and about .5 lower in the rear. I also think that I will likely experience a little more settling over the next month or two. I think that I am overall happy with this change, although a little more drop would be nice, I think the sports would have been too much for me.

Thanks again to Mike (Evo MIII).

Here are a couple of pix:


Rear


Front

[Ron17]

[12:03]

Looks great Z. We need to get together so I can check it out...

[Jkan2001]

Nice writeup and i think the drop looks perfect...i'm surprised to hear that the ride wasn't that much more stiff than stock. I drove my uncle's 98 m3/4 with bilsteins and DANG it feels like riding a horse, honestly i think my 97 m3/4 is already as stiff as i'd ever want it to be for daily driving.

[Ron17]

Nice writeup and i think the drop looks perfect...i'm surprised to hear that the ride wasn't that much more stiff than stock. I drove my uncle's 98 m3/4 with bilsteins and DANG it feels like riding a horse, honestly i think my 97 m3/4 is already as stiff as i'd ever want it to be for daily driving.

The difference between Bilsteins and Konis is the difference between blocks of wood and pillows.

[///MZG]

Yeah, we need to have a meet revision ( I like the new name ).

I think the pix make it look higher than it is as well. The flash illuminates the inside of the wheel wells a lot, it looks better in person.

I guess the ride is a little more bouncy on a bad road, but not bad at all.

[incubus]

I'm doing this exact same install (Konis, OE sports and an x-brace on Wednesday night). I'm also installing strut tower reinforcements and a motorsport strut brace. I have TCKline modified externally adjustable rears too, so I have to drill out the bushings on my GC RSMs. I have a leg up on the inserts though as I bought a donor set and already have the housings painted and the inserts bolted in.

Did you have the car aligned?

[////\/\ark]

Did you get the externally adjustable rear shocks? Also, in terms of cutting the strut housing... how tough is that? What sort of tools would be needed to most easily complete that part of the install?

[///MZG]

I have not gotten the allignment done yet, but it's going in on Saturday. No biggie since I don't always drive it. That is awesome that you got a set of donor strut housings, because I really hated cutting those mofos.

As far as I what I used vs. what is the right tool, well, I used a dremmel because we did not have a vice or a good cutting wheel (dremmel works fine, but takes a while). I think if you have a vice and a good hacksaw you will be fine, but remember to drill the hole in the bottom first to drain out the fluid. It is pretty important to get the hole in the middle of the strut base so that it will line up with the new insert threads.

[///MZG]

oh, I forgot, I did not get the external rears. I just set them at halfway.

[U1arunit]

I did the Koni SA install a little while ago on my used M3 suspension and I am very impressed that the car can handle 10 times better yet still maintain a very good ride.

I used a chain cutter normally used for cutting pipe etc and the tops were off in no time. The whole deal counting taking the parts off the car as well(no spare parts to get a head start) for both front and rears was 4 1/2 hours and I work slow. Measure twice, cut once.

[BimmerDawg]

Looks good, Zack! Why no sports?

[GGray]

I did mine a few months ago and it settled down, and is absolutly perfect any lower and it would be too much. Put some sway bas on it! I did and HOLY CRAP with the OE sports, GC upper rear mounts, RTAB inserts GC, X brace and Koni's, it handles like it is glued to the ground! It handles much better than my Tricked out Miata, and it handled like a Go Kart! I think the
Koni/OE sport is the best combo for a daily driver M3.

GGray

[EVOIIIM3]

The install went really well, except the front struts!

I had a hacksaw, and a dremal tool. The Dremal was a tool, it took some time, but cut threw ok.

I'm not to hot on having the shock secured on the bottom. If that bolt comes loose it will fall out quickly and the shock will come out of the housing and the front will HOP all over the place.

We did the RSM's like 3 weeks ago, so all that went smooth.

I do think it's a little soft, even compared to my E34 with the Sach sporting kit.

It will also drop a little more. The springs were shorter but higher rate. I did expect the rear to be lower, they were at least 1/2 in shorter then stock.

Zack, when are you going to get the wheel alignment done?

[coloboardin]

Thank you for the write up! I will be doing the same setup this summer.

Q: What is the difference between OE Sports and Sports???

[incubus]

Q: What is the difference between OE Sports and Sports???

The spring rates are allegedly the same, only the drop is a bit different. Less on the OE sports.

[Ron17]

Zach

[///MZG]

Thanks Ron. LOL, I am used to having my name spelled with a k, so I never really notice.

Mike, I have the allignment scheduled for Saturday, it was the soonest I could get. Luckily the car will only be driven a few miles due to several Mariners games . . .I won't pay 20 bucks park when I normally pay 3, so I ride the bus.