[RandyL]

I had my PSS9 coilovers installed over the weekend and I could tell the handling characteristic had changed. Somewhat my car handles better but the car tends to have more oversteer than before. I was driving on some winding roads tonite to test the coilovers out and I could tell my car would spin out if I turned off the DSC on some fast corners. (The stock form tended to have a bit more understeer on the M3s'). Should I drop the height a bit more on the rears? The rears are now have appx 1.5 finger gap and the fronts have 1. (I know it's not accurate by using this measure method).

Anyway, I had heard that it's recommended that you should get the corners weighted after you get the coilovers installed.

http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com/cornerweight.html

Is that really necessary? I mean I don't track my car maybe once a year. However, I'm a bit picky and I want to get the most from my coilovers. Anyone has experience with this? If so any shop you guys recommend in LA area? Thanks.:dunno:

 

[vinnymac]

Getting your car coner weighted by a reputable shop is the way to go...however, there is a chance you may not be happy with the ride height after they are done.

If you are experiencing oversteer with you PSS9's...try softening the rear a little bit or make the front stiffer, or you could play with your tire pressures...

 

[ky]

RandyL - Checking out your sig, car looks tight. Gonna keep alook out when I'm in Rowland. I use to live in Walnut and my mother inlaw lives in Rowland. Spotted your old car in a West Covina parking lot while visiting a friend at some motorsport shop off Amar.

 

[Cabby]

RandyL, do you have more pics of the car with the Bilstein's and LM's, I have the exact same setup on order!! What settings are your PSS9's on?

Thanx!

 

[///ACS330Ci]

Do you have adjustable sways? You can also try different tires pressures front and rear.

 

[topazmania]

Corner weighting comes into play if you notice the car handles differently in left turns than it does in right turns. If this is not the case, then you'll have to play around with tire pressure, shock stiffness, and swaybar stiffness (if you've got adjustable sways) like the guy above suggested.

 

[RandyL]

RandyL - Checking out your sig, car looks tight. Gonna keep alook out when I'm in Rowland. I use to live in Walnut and my mother inlaw lives in Rowland. Spotted your old car in a West Covina parking lot while visiting a friend at some motorsport shop off Amar.

Thanks. I used to work at Amar accross from a motorsport shop. Maybe that was me. lol~ Your car looks good too! I was about to get the Blitz wheels for my old ride as well.

 

[RandyL]

RandyL, do you have more pics of the car with the Bilstein's and LM's, I have the exact same setup on order!! What settings are your PSS9's on?

Thanx!

Hey Cabby, I dont' have more pics since I just had them installed last week. The damper settings are 4 for both fronts and rears. Will try to post some more pictures later. Great choice you have I must say.

 

[RandyL]

Thanks guys for the advices. I'm gonig to play around with the height / damping and tire pressure a little bit so see if they work. No I don't have adjustable sway bars....

 

[Cabby]

Do you have sways on at all?

:tongue:

 

[RandyL]

Do you have sways on at all?

:tongue:

Of course, OEM sways. :tongue:

 

[Tommyboy]

I got my car weight balanced after i got my coils. i do suggest that only do this if you are currently happy with your ride height because if u want to lower it or raise it again you will have to weight balacne again and that of course cost $$$. I believe my cross weight is at 49%

 

[MarxM3]

RandyL,
I have a few things I'd like to add to all the suggestions made already. First off, unless you are living somewhere with near "perfect" roads, I would recommend you reduce the stiffness of your shocks. Set at 4 both front and rear is noticeably stiffer than stock. If the roads you drive on are not very very smooth, you might have made the handling worse by going that stiff. They'd work great at 4 and even better at 1, but only if you're on a track. In around town situations a little stiffer is good but too much can be very bad. That might be why you felt the car had less grip than before. If the roads are rough you will decrease handling by over-stiffening the suspension. I have my shocks set at 6 in front and 4 in the rear. The only reason why I have them set at 4 in back is to reduce some rubbing on big bumps. It is very obvious to me that the back is a bit too stiff, but I've gotten used to the "oversteer" tendency now. As for the tires, obviously they have to be inflated to the proper pressures for each axle, but that's pretty elementary. Sway bars are also a good investment because they help keep body roll under control, but I don't think they are necessary if you don't track your car at all, or often. Another thing, if the ride height wasn't set with any reference point in hand, then your cross weights could be very off. If each corner height was set randomly without taking into consideration the height of the opposite shock on the same axle, your ride could be way off. I'd hope that's not the case, because that would mean the shop that installed them is very incompetent. Well, that's about everything I can think of right now, but I think you have a good idea of what might need adjustment on your car. Only when everything is adjusted properly will you be able to take full advantage of the benefits of having coilovers.
Good Luck!

 

[RandyL]

RandyL,
I have a few things I'd like to add to all the suggestions made already. First off, unless you are living somewhere with near "perfect" roads, I would recommend you reduce the stiffness of your shocks. Set at 4 both front and rear is noticeably stiffer than stock. If the roads you drive on are not very very smooth, you might have made the handling worse by going that stiff. They'd work great at 4 and even better at 1, but only if you're on a track. In around town situations a little stiffer is good but too much can be very bad. That might be why you felt the car had less grip than before. If the roads are rough you will decrease handling by over-stiffening the suspension. I have my shocks set at 6 in front and 4 in the rear. The only reason why I have them set at 4 in back is to reduce some rubbing on big bumps. It is very obvious to me that the back is a bit too stiff, but I've gotten used to the "oversteer" tendency now. As for the tires, obviously they have to be inflated to the proper pressures for each axle, but that's pretty elementary. Sway bars are also a good investment because they help keep body roll under control, but I don't think they are necessary if you don't track your car at all, or often. Another thing, if the ride height wasn't set with any reference point in hand, then your cross weights could be very off. If each corner height was set randomly without taking into consideration the height of the opposite shock on the same axle, your ride could be way off. I'd hope that's not the case, because that would mean the shop that installed them is very incompetent. Well, that's about everything I can think of right now, but I think you have a good idea of what might need adjustment on your car. Only when everything is adjusted properly will you be able to take full advantage of the benefits of having coilovers.
Good Luck!

Thanks for the great post!! Very informative. So what's your height setting on yours? Maybe I can use it as a reference. Anyway I'm going to lower my rears a bit more this weekend and try to match the stock weight distribution. I know I had dropped my fronts all the way down and so now the rears tilt up a little bit. Maybe that's one of the reasons why my car tends to go oversteer. Where I live dont' have many potholes and the roads are pretty new, so I dont' feel that harsh at all. Again, thanks for your advice.

 

[Cabby]

I think most people are going 7 in the front, 4 in the rear for the street

 

[JawKnee]

My corner balancing results, along with alignment specs, can be found at http://www.coolpixpower.com/~jawknee

In terms of looks (i.e. gap, or lack of ), I did NOT notice any unwanted visual characteristics after having the car corner balanced. But then again, I had damn near perfect results IMHO for a street car...

 

[MarxM3]

RandyL,
I'll have some numbers for you tomorrow or better yet later today since it's 12AM already. :yikes:

 

[M3Inline6]

Can you guys do me a favor? Bilsteins are in my M3's very near future, and if you guys could email me the info on your settings I'd much appreciate it. This will be my first time working w/ coilovers for BMWs (previous experience w/ TEIN suspension on my DOHCVtec civic hatch), and I want to make sure I do it right the first time. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks fellas... [email protected]

Doesn't the G/F look lovely next to my M3? (I know, I know, you're gonna say she's short, but hey...she's 5'0" ....and still a cutie. ..I'm not too tall myself)

 

[[email protected]]

i got mine done. ef1motorsports :thumbup: .

 

[MarxM3]

M3Inline6,
this is off topic, but I can't help but wonder......did you intentionally attach that pic of your GF in her bathingsuit? Personally I could never post a pic of my GF in very little clothing on a message board with a 99% male audience. I guess I'm too jealous......