[roozie2001]

i want to order some KW Coilovers. I've searched so please dont give me the answer.

It seems like people are all over the board on this product. First i see alot of people have KW V3. Is this too tough of a ride for a daily driver and so many people say that it chirps that its kinda freaked me out on the V3.

Then theres the V2 vs the SC. Supposedly the V2 is suppose to be better performance and the SC is suppose to be a smoother ride. But in my searches people have said that the SC has a better spring rate and performs better and its more comfortable.

Can someone help me out that knows about this more than i do so i can get a better idea of whats what? Thanks in advance.

[cn555ic]

I would look into the problems of the KWs before you tread forward...alot of money for a system that seems to be troublesome!

[nick 55]

I can't really compare stock suspensions to mine, as my car had KWs installed at about 70 miles. I have KWv3s and while it is a little stiff(rides just like a CLK Black Series), I have had no problems. I had a professional race shop(track cars are 95% of their business) set up ride height, compression, dampening, and corner weighting all before they did a slightly aggressive street alignment. The car handles great on the autocross and road courses, but I need to adjust the compression and dampening for the drag strip, as the car doesn't transfer weight real well. It is set up pretty stiff as the front end is about 3.5 inches off the ground, so I don't stuff the nose on hard braking(which I fear doing with the Rotura big brake kits). I think the key is to have them set up by a true professional. It seems rediculious to me to spend $2000 on a suspension then not spend $500 for setup which takes 5-10 hours, depending on the adjustments needed. If the coilovers are just put together and installed, it may take a long time to get them to a drivable point. I see a lot of people who install coilovers and then set chassis level by eye and do an alignment. Then, they complain about the ride, noises, and off the wall handling. If you don't corner weight the car then you may have one corner carrying +-400lbs more than the opposite corner, as a quarter turn of the adjustment rings can dramatically change the weight without altering the ride height.

I guess you need to ask yourself why you want the coilovers in the first place. Is it to get an aggressive lowering job? Do you track the car? Do you honestly think you can benefit from tailoring the compression and dampening settings to your driving style? I truly believe that if you purchased a BMW you understand that the ride comfort might be sacrificed for handling and road holding ability, so I really don't know if you should be too concerned with how stiff it might be. I wouldn't discount KW coilovers as long as you have somebody who truly has experience with coilovers set them up.

Nick

[SV Concepts III]

If you are doing a street setup for your coils, I would do the KW V2s. We have these on our E92 335 and 135, both of which are daily drivers that see occasional track use. These are by far among the smoothest coilovers I have driven on and they have a nice range of adjustment for height and stiffness. They are certainly capable for track use and can be dialed in stiffer if you need the extra increase in handling.

[m-technik]

I've had my KW V2's in my car for a few days now and i've been playing around with the dampening adjustments and I’m actually very surprised by the amount of ride adjustment you can dial in.....

I started off with them adjusted to pretty much maximum stiffness and the handling is right up there with what you'd want for a track car; very little bodyroll, brake dive, acceleration squat, etc.. but the ride is probably too stiff for normal road use, that is unless you like the feeling of getting spanked by your car seats on every road imperfection.

Adjusting the dampening to full soft brings the car back to a similar to stock ride quality, but with much less body roll (and of course a little more harshness). I've settled with setting it a few clicks from full soft and the ride is a good mix between handling and ride comfort for a daily driver.

[roozie2001]

thanks guys. All this is really helping alot. So whats this that i read that the KW SC have better springs than the V2s? any truth to that?

[SV Concepts III]

What do you mean by "better"? That can be a relative term depending on what you are looking for in a suspension.

[roozie2001]

i mean better as far as performance. not comfort. sorry for being vague. I mean i've read that not only are they more comfortable. but performance wise they out do the V2s