What have you done with or to your M3 today?

wyatth wrote

Oh, do share more. How old/worn were your OE EDC units before? How does comfort compare between the two, and how does sport? Curious if the added range is just in the sporty end, or a little in both directions.

My old OEM EDC non ZCP set had 48k miles on them. I think they were in decent shape other than the bump stops crumbling. The change between EDC modes was still noticable on them. I mostly ran them in sport plus and while I found they felt firm, there was still too much body roll even in street driving and on back roads they were not confidence inspiring.

I installed the B16s a few weeks ago and it really did transform the car. Even in comfort mode there's way less body roll than OEM on sport plus. I live in Philly and comfort mode on these coilovers is easily tolerable with the shitty roads we have here. I mainly keep it in sport and find this is the best all around setting. If I'm somewhere the roads are pretty good, I throw it in sport plus. The added range is definitely on both ends of the spectrum, but comfort now starts out stiffer than stock and sport plus is now MUCH stiffer than stock. IMO this is the perfect daily driver coilover suspension, and I change the EDC modes way more than I did with the stock setup.

The valving in these shocks is really what's amazing. I have a pretty short 5 mile commute to work and have memorized where every bump is in the road and how the car handled those bumps previously. Bumps that would make unsettling noises in the car or crash the stock struts are now silent, gobbled up and you barely feel it in the seat. The interior is much quieter now. One of the best things I've done with the car so far.

Buy Ohlins and dont look back. The damper is way higher quality than any EDC compatible set up so regardless of the settings it will not outperform the Ohlins damper.

last night at the shop working on the plumbing of this project. Got the final setup routed and is in perfect working order and fitment is spot on. (current bracket is just a quick 3d printed bracket for placement) Just waiting for the machine shop to finish the metal relocation bracket for validation. Have some ideas on other options but will wait to test before I come out with that. But so far super happy with the outcome so far.

nycplumber wrote

Buy Ohlins and dont look back. The damper is way higher quality than any EDC compatible set up so regardless of the settings it will not outperform the Ohlins damper.

I've heard this but curious how so? There's only one EDC compatible setup on the market, the B16s.

nah dude wrote

I've heard this but curious how so? There's only one EDC compatible setup on the market, the B16s.

I've found after running Ohlins that EDC is completely unnecessary. Ohlins is sportier then the highest EDC setting yet more compliant at the same time.

i really dont see the point at all with EDC if you're running a high quality coilover like Ohlins.

nah dude wrote

I've heard this but curious how so? There's only one EDC compatible setup on the market, the B16s.

Basically what neilum said.

nycplumber wrote

Basically what neilum said.

he's comparing Ohlins to stock EDC tho? Also Ohlins rebuild frequency is way higher than Bilstein despite not being a dedicated track setup.

neilum wrote

nah dude wrote

I've heard this but curious how so? There's only one EDC compatible setup on the market, the B16s.

I've found after running Ohlins that EDC is completely unnecessary. Ohlins is sportier then the highest EDC setting yet more compliant at the same time.

i really dont see the point at all with EDC if you're running a high quality coilover like Ohlins.

Can you speak to that a little more? I'm positioning to do a 100k mile suspension refresh and daily the car, no track time. I'm wondering if Ohlins or other 3k+ solutions are overkill given my use. E90

From what I have heard, the Ohlins servicing is if you want to keep it at 100% performance. You can do it less frequently (and who knows if we will notice that less than 100% just on the street).

I recently got the Ohlins R&T installed on my E90. I bought it through FCP Euro. When the coilovers are well past due for servicing, I am going to take advantage of FCP Euro's return policy and get a free replacement instead of getting them serviced.

The Ohlins are so much better than the stock suspension. I absolutely love them. I'm getting monoballs installed in September. I suspect I am going to love the steering feel even more.

CamasM3e93 wrote

Can you speak to that a little more? I'm positioning to do a 100k mile suspension refresh and daily the car, no track time. I'm wondering if Ohlins or other 3k+ solutions are overkill given my use. E90

Technically it is overkill but you don't seem like a layman and would appreciate a setup that is done right and feels great. It's a win-win with Ohlins as the drawback is cost, but isn't that the way it should be? If it was expensive and didn't deliver then we all have something to complain about.


When I was running the stock ZCP suspension on my zcp e90 or my "new" e92 zcp none of the stock settings were "right". Comfort was too soft, normal was also too soft, and sport was dampened horribly where it rode like complete shit all while not handling all that great.

The Ohlins has way better dampening, and the car doesn't float anymore. It is also a way tighter car now, all while riding better all around. I mean on horrible roads it is still a little rough but never unsettled. 99% of the time the car is just perfect.

I never appreciated or cared for EDC and really disliked using the buttons for what type of driving I was doing. There's a better way.

Got the two front wheels road force balanced at Hankook Tires in Lynnwood. The little shimmy I was feeling between 70-80 is completely gone even though he wasn't able to totally get the right front within RF spec. normal balancing at least got it so the wheel weights were in the right place. Previous shop had them on the inside of the rim instead of the outside near the spokes.

nah dude wrote

I've heard this but curious how so? There's only one EDC compatible setup on the market, the B16s.

Well there's these guys too: https://tractivesuspension.com/shop/automotive/bmw-automotive/e82-e92-1m-m3-2005-2011-bmw-automotive/touring-line-plug-play-electronically-adjustable-shocks-for-oe-fitment/

CamasM3e93 wrote

I'm wondering if Ohlins or other 3k+ solutions are overkill given my use. E90

Ohlins Dedicated Track is overkill IMO ($3590).
https://www.ohlinsusa.com/parts/2008-2013-bmw-e90-e92-m3-auto-dedicated-bmu-mu40s1?make=bmw&model=e90-e92-m3
.
Ohlins Road & Track is debatable, unless one actually plans to use the adjustability they offer at the Track ($2890).
https://www.ohlinsusa.com/parts/2008-2013-bmw-m3-e9x-auto-rt-bms-mi40s1?make=bmw&model=m3-e9x
.
See attached .pdf
.

chutak wrote

Well there's these guys too: https://tractivesuspension.com/shop/automotive/bmw-automotive/e82-e92-1m-m3-2005-2011-bmw-automotive/touring-line-plug-play-electronically-adjustable-shocks-for-oe-fitment/

I've almost convinced myself to try these Tractive suspension. I absolutely totally love my Ohlins R/T and I hope the Tractive are at least as good with in-car adjustability.

MAE90M3 wrote

From what I have heard, the Ohlins servicing is if you want to keep it at 100% performance. You can do it less frequently (and who knows if we will notice that less than 100% just on the street).

I recently got the Ohlins R&T installed on my E90. I bought it through FCP Euro. When the coilovers are well past due for servicing, I am going to take advantage of FCP Euro's return policy and get a free replacement instead of getting them serviced.

The Ohlins are so much better than the stock suspension. I absolutely love them. I'm getting monoballs installed in September. I suspect I am going to love the steering feel even more.

Everyone keeps saying Ohlins needs frequent rebuilds. They do not. I have 6 yrs and 50+k kms on mine and they are still great.

+1 on not needing frequent rebuillds. And a set of R&T even at 80k miles with no rebuild will still be a better damper than anything EDC thats new.

Loaded it up with gear for track day this weekend.

nycplumber wrote

+1 on not needing frequent rebuillds. And a set of R&T even at 80k miles with no rebuild will still be a better damper than anything EDC thats new.

LOL okay man

Have you driven a car with the B16s or the Tractives?

Redd wrote

I've almost convinced myself to try these Tractive suspension. I absolutely totally love my Ohlins R/T and I hope the Tractive are at least as good with in-car adjustability.

From what I hear these are pretty close to the B16s in terms of performance, and it seems like people are buying these over the Bilsteins just due to availability.

Ive had the b16s. 9 months in and they had an issue and leaked. It took over 1 year for me to source parts. The ohlins are way better, not a comparison. Search this site and youll find dozens of posts where people cant source parts for them. That alone is reason enough to avoid Billstein

Ah okay so you had a bad experience and went with another brand. Got it.

I'm shocked to hear people are having a hard time sourcing parts for stuff right now. In this day and age. Crazy to hear this. LOL.

Redd wrote

I've almost convinced myself to try these Tractive suspension. I absolutely totally love my Ohlins R/T and I hope the Tractive are at least as good with in-car adjustability.

Do it and report back! Not enough people have seat time with different setups like these.