tekygeek

Hey all,

I've about had it with BMW's crap-ass suspension on my '04 545i. Blech. The only saving grace is the active roll stabilization. That rocks (but mine makes poping noises, dealer can find anything wrong. They did re-torque the bolts and it's been better but not perfect).

So, who makes a good suspension kit for a good value? I know Dinan's system is great but pricey. I've driven some of TC Kline's cars and they're amazing. He can do a spring/Koni package. What else is out there?

Has anyone experimented with front negative camber plates? Seems like the car can benefit from a little more neg camber to help with turn in. Ground Control makes this bit but they claim it's for the M5...not sure if it fits the non-M cars.
http://www.ground-control-store.com/produc...p/II=753/CA=164

And who knows if the car has rear toe adjustment? I've only had my car for a few months and I haven't had time to go in for a full alignment yet. I find the back end hops to the right ever so slowly over uneven pavement. But the open diff is also sending all the power to the right rear (ever wonder why your right rear tire wears out first? There you go! Thank you BMW) so maybe that has something to do with it. And on 19-inch wheels with teeny sidewalls, I would expect a bit of this. But it sure is annoying.

Has anyone experimented with limited slip diffs? Quaiff? M5-retrofit? Other?

- Jeff

ModBargains

As far as suspension goes, the KW V2 would be your best bet. KW V2s are individually damp and height adjustable making it possible for customizing to your personal preferences. As you know the KW coilovers are the most popular among the BMW community, they might be a bit pricey however you get what you pay for and won't regret will not regret it, the best of the best out there. If you'd like information you can check out my thread HERE

Fell free to PM if you have any additonal questions or would like help on anything else.

Audi_Eatter

What is the diffrence between the V2's and the V3's?

Let us know how this pans out man.. I have the same ride you do and would like to 'twink' my suspention at some point.

JPJ

Coilovers would probably be best, but I'm pretty pleased with my H&R and Koni combo. Seems to work well with the active roll bars. Best price I found was shox.com, but others were not far off.

I've had this car on the track twice now and have been pleased with how well it has done. This past time there were 4 of us in my run group that were almost equal overall -- a 335i coupe, a track prep'd E36 M3 (don't think the driver was fully up to the car's potential) and a Dinan 545 (with a good driver). They could certainly gain a little on a staight, but it was a tight track and I was faster in several of the turns, so suspension seemed to hold its own. Different story with the race prepared Lotus Elise that came in on a trailer -- blew by all of us and I couldn't believe how fast he was.

I don't think rear toe is adjustable, but lowering certainly makes it more negitive.