skya

Mods are: JB4 w/ Bluetooth - DCI - BB Pump Gas Flash - SAT Flash - LED Side Markers - Kickdown Delete - KW V3 - 10mm front / 15mm rear wheel spacers

Lotus99

Nice ride, and mods!

How much did you lower your ride with the V3? Doesn't look like a lot from the pic, but hard to tell due to the angle.

PS What's the BB pump gas flash do / what's the point of it? I have read quite a few seem to pair it up with a JB4, but wouldn't having a Cobb achieve the same thing?

skya

Thanks. The V3's have totally worked to extend the love affair! The way i look at it they saved me big money vs. buying a new car. I'm not sure exactly how much I lowered it, but the xi wagon sits up pretty high stock so it's more than you think. Basically if you look at the car from the side you can just see a little separation btwn the tires and fender. I definitely did not want the slammed look (I don't even want tinted windows).

As far as I understand it, the BB Flash adds AFR and timing control to the boost control of the JB4. The difference compared to just JB4 is big, at least at the low end, based on my butt dyno test. The pump gas BB tune probably isn't that much different than Cobb, but for a lot of guys that want to run meth or ethanol it maintains the customization of the JB4. You can also still use the JB4 mobile bluetooth APP for monitoring / adjusting which is super slick. One thing to note is that my fuel economy drops quite a bit with the BB Flash. I'm guessing a custom tune might help in that area.

vanos

looks good. Did you have the sports pack before installing the V3?

skya

If by the sports pack you mean the sport package, yes the car is equipped with the sport package, but in the wagon I believe all you get with the sport package is an upgraded steering wheel and the sport seats, you do not get the sport suspension or the sport button. Doing the SAT flash was a big improvement in shifting when you are in sport mode (moving the shifter to the left).

Lotus99

2010 was the only year the M Sport package was available, with which you would have gotten the side sills, front and rear M tech bumper too, as well as a few other things. In other years, there was the regular Sport Package. In both the M and regular Sport Package, you'd also get the Comfort Seats. With none of them though the suspension changes. And you could only get it with the 416 Carbon Black Metallic paint colour.

Below are the 2010 ordering guide and the pages of the brochure talking about it (the whole thing seems too big for this site to upload alas), vs. the 2009 ordering guide, where you see the M package is not available.

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Sorry to go OT on you, but about your V3's... I'm considering getting some coilovers for my 3 series (E93), and I've heard the KW's are adjustable from the bottom, not the top like the Bilsteins. I track it a few days a year. So with V2's and V3's, you have to raise the car to adjust the rebound and compression (V3)?

At first, I was going to get the V1's, as this would be my first ever set of coilovers, and figured I don't know anything about adjusting them front/rear, etc. so keep it simple and just get whatever KW thought would be best. Was also the advice of my local tuning shop.

But now, I'm leaning towards the V2's, as quite a few on forums told me the V1's I'd regret for lack of adjustment. Any comments? You've gone all the way with the V3's of course!

Do you do the adjustments yourself also, or go into your shop every time?
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skya

M sport package in stick shift would be the bomb.


The rebound is on the top so pretty easy to get to provided you have access in your trunk/hatch area to the top of the rear shocks, the fronts are in the engine bay so should be no problem. Bump (compression) is on the bottom of the shock so getting the car raised up a bit is gonna make it a lot easier to get to. To adjust the height in the front I just turn my wheels, reach in and spin the height adjuster. On the rear the wagon maintains the air springs (KW only provides shocks), and height adjustment is made by changing the length of some custom linkages that KW provides to use in place of the stock fixed length linkages (basically fools the height sensor to make it think it is higher than it is). You can also directly adjust the wagon height through INPA but I think this is a more risky approach. I personally just set the bump and rebound as per KW recommendation and have found no reason to change it. For the height I messed around with it at home for a few days to get it where I wanted.


The main reason I got the V3's is that KW does not offer V1 or V2 versions for the wagon. I think there are a few other options (H&R, Bilstein?), but reviews have not been great on ride performance. I think if you are going to be paying for labour you might as well get something that you know you are going to be happy with out of the gate. I reduced the labour cost as much as I could by prebuilding the assemblies myself and taking all the upholstery out of my trunk so the install was really plug and play.

Lotus99

Hmmm.... Dang, if that's true (that you adjust rebound on the V2's from the top), then that messes up all my plans for my E93... The trunk has got a bunch of stuff in it and liners, which I was hoping not to cut a hole into for adjustment (I've seen one guy go that route). I'll have to look into it more I guess.

PS For height adjustments, don't you need to get an alignment done each time you change things?