Another coilovers post

[jobrunelle]

Hi,

I own a 2019 Long range M3 which has 165 000 km. Suspension needs love right now and I’m wondering which path I should go. I’m not looking to improve the performance or the look of the car but every summer weekends, we use a bike rack platform loaded with 4 mountain bikes which is over 200 pounds total. All the coilvers thread I read here talks about lowering the car. So here are my questions:
1. Do coilovers would help to maintain the ground clearance to prevent the bike rack to scrap on every road bump or car entrance we drive on?
2. Is there a setup that would keep the original car height/ground clearance and improve the comfort and also help with the bike rack?

I already ordered all the control arms and rubber bushings so I would change everything at the same time. I just can’t deal with the knocking sounds, rolling sensations and squish squish noise anymore.

Thanks a lot

 

[Occhis]

I’d look into getting the new comfort suspension parts from Tesla. Noticeable improvement on the Model Y.
Why do you need to order bushings when they come installed on the new arms?

 

[jobrunelle]

I’d look into getting the new comfort suspension parts from Tesla. Noticeable improvement on the Model Y.
Why do you need to order bushings when they come installed on the new arms?

Thanks for your reply

With bushings, I meant control arms coming with the bushings. I didn’t order more bushings than the ones coming with the control arms.

For the comfort suspension parts, would it help with the ground clearance while using the bike rack?

Thanks again and Merry Christmas!

 

[Occhis]

Ride height should be same as stock.

 

[XPsionic]

What you want is something like Koni Yellow (adjustable) or Reds (frequency select damping). Not coil overs.

This way you get better comfort (especially when you tweak the Konis to soft) while keeping the original springs and ride height.

 

[Occhis]

Changing the dampers alone will not give a better ride on the original stiff springs. The rough ride on pre-comfort suspension is mostly due to the springs. I had a 2019 M3LR that I put Redwood coilovers on, and the ride, handling and comfort was so much better than stock. Others have tried to cheap out on either springs or shocks, but it’s just not as good as a matched coilover set.

 

[Lindenwood]

Changing the dampers alone will not give a better ride on the original stiff springs. The rough ride on pre-comfort suspension is mostly due to the springs. I had a 2019 M3LR that I put Redwood coilovers on, and the ride, handling and comfort was so much better than stock. Others have tried to cheap out on either springs or shocks, but it’s just not as good as a matched coilover set.

The bouncy ride on the 3 is explicitly from the poor damping. I don’t disagree with the benefits of matched sets, but one can get a much more controlled ride using setups with a range of spring weights, provided they have good dampers.

interestingly, I actually have Sport coils (slightly stiffer than stock) in the rear and Comforts
(Slightly softer than stock) up front, partially because I do regular road trips in my car and the stiffer rear springs help prevent bottoming out with a full trunk.

 

[blrt]

Any insight/prediction on the Koni yellow and UPP mild springs combo?

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope that Santa Elon will give us a 10s Highland M3P next year.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

There are only 2 possible solutions to your ground clearance concern: stiffer rear springs and/or elevated rear ride height. You can implement either/both by simply installing aftermarket rear springs with adjustable perches.

Mountain Pass Performance (and countless other brands) typically only sell these springs/perches as part of their coilover kits but might be willing to sell you just the springs & perches alone for a few hundred bucks.

Note MPP’s “comfort” set uses stock spring rates so you would need to increase the ride height, but they also have stiffer spring options which might let you keep the stock height.

And of course you can also do a whole coilover kit and just set the rear high. MPP’s comfort shocks are noticeably more comfortable than stock.

 

[Lindenwood]

There are only 2 possible solutions to your ground clearance concern: stiffer rear springs and/or elevated rear ride height. You can implement either/both by simply installing aftermarket rear springs with adjustable perches.

Mountain Pass Performance (and countless other brands) typically only sell these springs/perches as part of their coilover kits but might be willing to sell you just the springs & perches alone for a few hundred bucks.

Note MPP’s “comfort” set uses stock spring rates so you would need to increase the ride height, but they also have stiffer spring options which might let you keep the stock height.

And of course you can also do a whole coilover kit and just set the rear high. MPP’s comfort shocks are noticeably more comfortable than stock.

Am+1!

One note: I believe the Comfort coils are slightly softer than stock, and rely on the good dampers to minimize movement and body roll.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

MPP comfort rear springs are 8kgf/mm
Stock LR and P rear springs are 7.5kgf/mm