thoughts on ST XTA (3-ways)

I like my ST XTAs, they've taken a TON of abuse and still work well. I hit a rock so big that it cracked my subframe and 359M, the strut came out fine. No stranger to whomping kerbs on track either. I live in california so no comment on corrosion resistance.

I put them on around 80k, I have about 30k on them and they were more than an improvement to the blown EDC dampers I had.

The camber plate was the biggest selling point for me, there is no point to upgrading dampers on stock camber. The KW / XTA style camber plate isn't the best but it gets to a little more than 3 degrees.

I think the rear might be oversprung but I couldn't say, it tends to bounce when rebound is maxed out. Fully soft, the car is very compliant, perhaps more comfortable than stock suspension.

I run full stiffness up front and 3/4ths in the rear, I find that it's livable and with fluid fade, it softens up a bit to a nice setting.

excellent value proposition, I can only imagine the 3 way is even better.

I'm curious what market these are aimed at. Odds are if you have the budget to get enough seat time/set up help to properly dial in a 3 way set up you could splurge on a known quantity as far as suspension goes (MCS, ohlins, jrz, etc...). If you don't have the budget to properly set up a 3 way set up (even hobby tracking a car is expensive) then a 3 way set up would be a nightmare. Likewise, if you're getting them for street use a 3 way set up is most likely overkill and not needed. I can't speak to the quality of the product or how it actually performs but often times you get what you pay for wether it's initial quality or longevity. I'm curious to see how these are for anyone running them. I can't wait to see the updates.

Has anyone been able to confirm the spring rates? I could not find any info on the site.

tdott wrote

Has anyone been able to confirm the spring rates? I could not find any info on the site.

I cannot comment about the 3ways, but the regular ST have the exact same springs as the clubsports

P1zzaboy wrote

I cannot comment about the 3ways, but the regular ST have the exact same springs as the clubsports

I'm fairly certain the spring rates are different but the spring design (linear + helper) is the same. Diff spring rates because the valving is from the V2. In my research I found something claiming they're lower, but I can't find that anymore.

I wouldn't mess with the springs, the rates seem to match the adjustability of the damper nicely.

KW CS is 625/685 (old version was 500/800)
ST XTA is 400/685
ST XTA 3 plus is the same as XTA

blackangel18 wrote

KW CS is 625/685 (old version was 500/800)
ST XTA is 400/685
ST XTA 3 plus is the same as XTA

I guess I was right to say the rear is probably oversprung ? It was just a guess, it does feel a little too lively in the rear.

Or the 800 spring was better suited for the subframe with solid bushings which GTS had. I guess when they developed the spring rates 500/800 and used them on the GTS they didnt bother developing other ones for a normal M3 right away. JUST A GUESS.

FULL TRANSPARENCY: KW/ST gave me these coilovers for free.

I installed a set of the XTA +3 a couple weeks ago and set the rebound/compression to the recommended settings from KW. I'm extremely happy with them! I need to raise the height up a little in the front and still get it in for corner balancing but overall the ride quality is excellent! I've put about 2k miles on them and my first impressions are they're very comfortable over bumps and expansion joints, respond well to turn in and the car has reduced understeer. I'm not noticing any bobble head feeling like I've felt in some overdamped/oversprung setups. It could be that I actually read the directions and my rebound is set at a very reasonable level per KW. I'm in love with these coilovers but where I struggle is the price point. At $2780 I'm not sure where these compete when a v3 is $50 more and the Ohlins R&T is less. I've ridden on Ohlins R&T in an e92 and they are great. I'd say these are on par with the R&T as far as ride and handling goes but they don't carry the same name so that's going to work against them.

Funny how life happens but...these are getting installed next Saturday on the car. Will report back.

Alright, got these installed yesterday and have driven the car a little bit since the install.

Initial impressions are these coilovers are fantastic. I'll report back next week after a trip to ACH and some more spirited driving.

I found that they're kinda scary on full soft. Very vague and floaty. 1/4-3/4 depending on use is the sweet spot.

any updates JBird.. patsbimmer1

chocstraw wrote

I found that they're kinda scary on full soft. Very vague and floaty. 1/4-3/4 depending on use is the sweet spot.

are you talking about compression or rebound setting?

s0ldats wrote

any updates JBird.. patsbimmer1

Sorry for the delay! Looks like I don't get notified when I get tagged. I've put about 6,000 miles on these coilovers and I absolutely love them!

I had the car corner balanced earlier this spring and after I got it back I did a little tweaking to the recommended low/high speed compression. I have it set on the lower end of the recommended height range and had some low speed compression scrub on my test road. Taking a mid-sweeping right turn there is a dip in the corner so with the left side loaded up I was getting the wheels hitting the fender liners for a brief moment. Adjusted my low speed compression a few clicks stiffer and fixed it! I also have the high speed set about 2-3 clicks stiffer. Rebound is at the recommended setting.

With all that I can say that these coilovers are phenomenal! My wife doesn't complain about the ride and I've convinced a few friends and co-workers to buy ST after going for a ride in my car. It's more comfortable than stock and gives me more confidence than stock/stock+H&R springs. Over the warmer months I'll frequently drive the car up to our offices in Appleton, WI which is about 230 miles round trip with a mix of highway, backroad and county highways and I couldn't say enough good things about the car. Expansion joints that have made me cringe in the past aren't even an issue.

We have some roundabouts near the house and the car corners flat through them with the tires (and public safety) being the only limiting factor to my confidence in handling.

Feel free to reach out directly if you've got any other questions!

Here's some rolling video with the coilovers on
And here's some photo's

thank you for the update, i ended up going w/ mcs 2wr but these sound like a cool option for less money!

s0ldats wrote

thank you for the update, i ended up going w/ mcs 2wr but these sound like a cool option for less money!

No problem! No comparison when it comes to the MCS 2WR vs the ST. I'm not sure what your use case is but the MCS is an excellent suspension.

I have a set of ST XTA on my E36 M3 and for sure buy another for my E90.
Love the ride, and for sure quality/price ratio is amazing.

Have since sold the car, but here is my feedback after many street miles and some track driving.

Street
These road better than stock without a doubt. For the dampening, I started with the recommended compression and rebound settings and it drove like a cloud. All you need to know on the street front is that these were better than stock (non-ZCP) by a long shot.

Track
Had two track days with these before I sold the car at Laguna Seca -- a track with lots of compression zones, high speed, low speed, etc. A great place to test suspension. After the first track day, I thought the car was a bit floaty, but really only on heaving braking zones (like T2 at Laguna) and in high speed sweepers. The suspension performed great, but I could tell that for this track specifically less dampening was needed. Went two clicks firmer on compression and rebound for the second day out and they performed perfectly. Between driver mods and the suspension I took off about 2 seconds the second time around. Only thing I would explore in the future would be higher spring rates, but that would only be if the car was more dedicated for the track.

Happy to give anyone much more detailed feedback, but the tl;dr is that these were the perfect suspension for someone who is aiming for 4 to 6 track days per year with mainly street driving.

JBird.. wrote

Have since sold the car, but here is my feedback after many street miles and some track driving.

Street
These road better than stock without a doubt. For the dampening, I started with the recommended compression and rebound settings and it drove like a cloud. All you need to know on the street front is that these were better than stock (non-ZCP) by a long shot.

Track
Had two track days with these before I sold the car at Laguna Seca -- a track with lots of compression zones, high speed, low speed, etc. A great place to test suspension. After the first track day, I thought the car was a bit floaty, but really only on heaving braking zones (like T2 at Laguna) and in high speed sweepers. The suspension performed great, but I could tell that for this track specifically less dampening was needed. Went two clicks firmer on compression and rebound for the second day out and they performed perfectly. Between driver mods and the suspension I took off about 2 seconds the second time around. Only thing I would explore in the future would be higher spring rates, but that would only be if the car was more dedicated for the track.

Happy to give anyone much more detailed feedback, but the tl;dr is that these were the perfect suspension for someone who is aiming for 4 to 6 track days per year with mainly street driving.

This is so good to hear, thanks for sharing your feedback! I've seriously been looking at getting this kit for my daily driver in Chicago. Don't plan to track, so need "cloud" like comfort.

This is where I usually bug people via PM about their take on comfort with their suspension setups, but for the benefit of the group, can you describe what type of roads you drove on and how these handled it. I mean specifically pot holes or bumps at slow speed, hard hits at high speeds, expansion joints etc?

Also how noisy were they, given they use camber plates and not OE Top Mounts? You're in California so probably can't comment much on their resistance (or lack thereof) to corrosion.

a5m wrote

This is so good to hear, thanks for sharing your feedback! I've seriously been looking at getting this kit for my daily driver in Chicago. Don't plan to track, so need "cloud" like comfort.

This is where I usually bug people via PM about their take on comfort with their suspension setups, but for the benefit of the group, can you describe what type of roads you drove on and how these handled it. I mean specifically pot holes or bumps at slow speed, hard hits at high speeds, expansion joints etc?

Also how noisy were they, given they use camber plates and not OE Top Mounts? You're in California so probably can't comment much on their resistance (or lack thereof) to corrosion.

ST dampers are more prone to rust. They are made from galvanized steel. Many other dampers (KWs etc.) are made from stainless/aluminum and thus are better against corrosion

911r wrote

ST dampers are more prone to rust. They are made from galvanized steel. Many other dampers (KWs etc.) are made from stainless/aluminum and thus are better against corrosion

Very important note ^^^