KW Variant 2 coilovers
02-08-2009, 07:27 PM
#1
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My Ride: 5series
Model Year: 2004
Alright, I have been searching and looking around for the "right" suspension upgrade since my stock shocks slowly began to deteriorate. Right now my car is on h&r sport springs and I am satisfied with the drop, it's just that the non-sport OEM shocks are not giving me a comfortable ride. I was originally planning to just upgrade the shocks to KONI yellow sport shocks, however, I've decide instead to go with KW Variant 2 coilovers, after extensive research I believe these would be a better investment in the long-run. I have a few questions that I would like any KW owners to chime in on. I am curious as to how these affect the comfort and handling aspects of the E60, how easily adjustable are these, can I adjust the height/rebound by myself or should I leave it to the pros. Is there any other additional parts/hardware pieces that are recommended that do not come with the kit that I should order beforehand. Lastly, what is a reasonable rebound setting to adjust the KW coilovers too, I want a comfortable but sporty ride, not too soft "bouncy" or firm "harsh", and by lowering the height about 2.0" all around will I have rubbing issues (F:245/35/20, R:275/30/20) and will this affect comfort, I am going for a flat stance as I prefer this over the raked look on my current h&r sport setup. Thank you all for your help.
02-08-2009, 07:38 PM
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I haven't tested these on an E60 but based on our setups on our E92 335 and E82 135, I can attest to how happy we are with the setups. Both vehicles are daily driven and we have not had issues as far as comfort or smoothness with daily use- both street and highway driving. They significantly improve handling without sacrificing the smooth yet firm feeling you expect out of the car. We have them set at 3/4 stiffness so there is still some room to go if we want. Adjusting the stiffness is a bit of a pain because you have to remove the rear shocks but it can be done in about 30 minutes. The height is a standard coilover setup that can be done by jacking the car up and using the included adjustment tools.
Overall, we have been really happy with the quality, feel and performance of these coils. KW has really made a kit that significantly improves the handling of the car while maintaining its street worthiness- I would not hesitate to recommend these again.
Overall, we have been really happy with the quality, feel and performance of these coils. KW has really made a kit that significantly improves the handling of the car while maintaining its street worthiness- I would not hesitate to recommend these again.
02-08-2009, 09:05 PM
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My Ride: F13 M6
setup will be completely up to you. in addition to konis, another option for shocks are bilstein sports. either way shocks or coilovers, I can help 
02-08-2009, 09:34 PM
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i've been on v2' for the past few months and i couldn't be happier! for those that know me personally, they'll tell you i never intended to lower my car cuz' of the stigma associated with it - stiff and/or bouncy ride. v2's gave me exactly what i was looking for. just like you, i wanted a lower even stance w/o the hassle of rubbing. i can honestly tell you that my ride right now is set up BETTER than the stock ride!
in regards to adjusting, i'd suggest getting the shop that installed it to do it for you. shops down here will allow you several adjustments until you find your perfect height/rebound/stiffness set up. fyi - once you've found your ideal set up, you'll want to get an alignment. i went a step further and got a four corner balancing in addition.....and it made such a huge difference in ride and handling!
when you're ready, come get me and we'll take care of you!
in regards to adjusting, i'd suggest getting the shop that installed it to do it for you. shops down here will allow you several adjustments until you find your perfect height/rebound/stiffness set up. fyi - once you've found your ideal set up, you'll want to get an alignment. i went a step further and got a four corner balancing in addition.....and it made such a huge difference in ride and handling!
when you're ready, come get me and we'll take care of you!
02-09-2009, 08:36 AM
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Assuming you get proper spring rates and adjust the shocks properly it may even ride BETTER than before and when you want to go fast it will handle better as well. There is a stigma to coilovers that they are noisy and the car will bounce and be extremely stiff. It simply is not true if they are done up properly.
08-20-2009, 09:05 AM
#8
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I just installed KW coilovers on my 2007 550i Sport with ARS (Active Roll Stabilization). Some of this may be common-sense, but hopefully this post will be of use to someone.
Don't forget to inspect the clearance between your wheel/tire and the coilovers before you drive off:
I dropped the car about an inch lower than the factory sport settings...just enough to see a small gap between the fender and the top of the tire on both the front and back (I can take measurements if somebody wants- just PM me). I didn't know enough at the time to check for clearance between the spring and wheel/tire (factory 18" 124's) after installation, so after a short test drive and inspection I found that the tire rubbed away some of the purple spring retainer and took paint off a chunk of the yellow spring. Not sure if I exceeded the Min/Max height settings in the KW manual or not. To fix this, I adjusted the ride height to keep the purple spring retainer above the point on the tire where it was rubbing and drove carefully the car for 2 days until I found some 10mm H&R spacers. I installed the spacers all around (front and rear), and haven't had any issues since. No fender clearance issues either and the wider wheel stance looks great too.
On removing rear brake calipers:
No need to remove the rear brake assembly/caliper. I followed some really well documented tutorial on this forum when I did the installation of my KW's. It mentioned the removal of the rear brake calipers. I skipped this step and the installation/removal of the coilovers worked out just fine.
On disconnecting sway bar links with ARS:
No need to disconnect the sway bar links (on at least the rear) at any point during the installation/removal of the coilovers. This could be the same for the front, though I went ahead and disconnected the fronts anyways without knowing it might not be required before I noticed this was the case on the rears. Additionally, the same tutorial I mentioned above claimed that the arm may jump up upon removal of the existing coilover, and that bracing the arm was needed...this was not the case during my attempt. Cars with ARS allow the sway bars to move freely and independently when the car is turned off- and with enough freedom to remove the rear coilovers without disconnecting the sway bar links to these systems.
While you've got your wheels off, check the tread and wheel for damage as well as other suspension components:
During my coilover installation, I was able to find a cracked wheel and a damaged tire (I probably would have been able to identify the damaged tire without pulling it off, but hey).
Other misc notes:
- Drilling out a small hole in the center of the front plastic bearing covers (found at each strut tower) will allow a 2mm hex key in for stiffness adjustments. Make or find some plugs to keep dirt from entering this small hole though or perhaps just put some tape over it till you find something better...
- Not re-installed the chunk of foam which sits above the two rear struts (between the rear deck and the top of the strut tower) will allow you to easily get in and adjust the stiffness for each coilover without having to remove the entire coilover. Re-installing them might make sense after you figure out the perfect ride settings.
Don't forget to inspect the clearance between your wheel/tire and the coilovers before you drive off:
I dropped the car about an inch lower than the factory sport settings...just enough to see a small gap between the fender and the top of the tire on both the front and back (I can take measurements if somebody wants- just PM me). I didn't know enough at the time to check for clearance between the spring and wheel/tire (factory 18" 124's) after installation, so after a short test drive and inspection I found that the tire rubbed away some of the purple spring retainer and took paint off a chunk of the yellow spring. Not sure if I exceeded the Min/Max height settings in the KW manual or not. To fix this, I adjusted the ride height to keep the purple spring retainer above the point on the tire where it was rubbing and drove carefully the car for 2 days until I found some 10mm H&R spacers. I installed the spacers all around (front and rear), and haven't had any issues since. No fender clearance issues either and the wider wheel stance looks great too.
On removing rear brake calipers:
No need to remove the rear brake assembly/caliper. I followed some really well documented tutorial on this forum when I did the installation of my KW's. It mentioned the removal of the rear brake calipers. I skipped this step and the installation/removal of the coilovers worked out just fine.
On disconnecting sway bar links with ARS:
No need to disconnect the sway bar links (on at least the rear) at any point during the installation/removal of the coilovers. This could be the same for the front, though I went ahead and disconnected the fronts anyways without knowing it might not be required before I noticed this was the case on the rears. Additionally, the same tutorial I mentioned above claimed that the arm may jump up upon removal of the existing coilover, and that bracing the arm was needed...this was not the case during my attempt. Cars with ARS allow the sway bars to move freely and independently when the car is turned off- and with enough freedom to remove the rear coilovers without disconnecting the sway bar links to these systems.
While you've got your wheels off, check the tread and wheel for damage as well as other suspension components:
During my coilover installation, I was able to find a cracked wheel and a damaged tire (I probably would have been able to identify the damaged tire without pulling it off, but hey).
Other misc notes:
- Drilling out a small hole in the center of the front plastic bearing covers (found at each strut tower) will allow a 2mm hex key in for stiffness adjustments. Make or find some plugs to keep dirt from entering this small hole though or perhaps just put some tape over it till you find something better...
- Not re-installed the chunk of foam which sits above the two rear struts (between the rear deck and the top of the strut tower) will allow you to easily get in and adjust the stiffness for each coilover without having to remove the entire coilover. Re-installing them might make sense after you figure out the perfect ride settings.
08-20-2009, 09:35 AM
#9
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Very thorough West!
But my 2cents....I think its been mentioned, since you have H&R you can simply go with koni which are adjustable. But if you have a little bit more $$$ to play with. Go with KW. You will not regret it. I always love slamming my cars, but was hesitant with the E60 b/c it is a luxury car and I don't want to be bouncing all over the place. The KW are simply great. No other way to put it. I am tucked in the front and less than a finger gap in the rear and the ride is still great!
As for adjustability. I have mine half way which are about 9 clicks I think that is the closest setting to stock. You can adjust the fronts quite easily but the rears may be a pain. Good luck and keep us posted.
But my 2cents....I think its been mentioned, since you have H&R you can simply go with koni which are adjustable. But if you have a little bit more $$$ to play with. Go with KW. You will not regret it. I always love slamming my cars, but was hesitant with the E60 b/c it is a luxury car and I don't want to be bouncing all over the place. The KW are simply great. No other way to put it. I am tucked in the front and less than a finger gap in the rear and the ride is still great!
As for adjustability. I have mine half way which are about 9 clicks I think that is the closest setting to stock. You can adjust the fronts quite easily but the rears may be a pain. Good luck and keep us posted.
08-20-2009, 10:33 AM
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It's good that you have so many options to choose.
However if you go with the V2 Coilover option I can say that you won't be disapointed at all.
With the adjustment options you have on the V2's, you can tune them to your personal comfort.
I've got the v2's on my '04 545 for a few months now and I couldn't be happier.
Let us know what you squeez the trigger on.
AE
However if you go with the V2 Coilover option I can say that you won't be disapointed at all.
With the adjustment options you have on the V2's, you can tune them to your personal comfort.
I've got the v2's on my '04 545 for a few months now and I couldn't be happier.
Let us know what you squeez the trigger on.
AE