Beetlegav said:
I was just meaning that a decent pair of coilovers for the e46 is much less than it is for the z4. Not due to lack of quality but popularity.
No it's not. spax coilovers are just as expensive for the e46 as for the e85.
Same goes for weitec, kw, vogtland, h&r etc etc. There is no single quality brand that has a range of shocks where the e46 ones are half the cost of the e85 ones.
The difference is that for the e46 some really cheap coilovers are available, but all of those are not of recommended brands, and of questionable quality.
You keep pointing at 200quid coilovers for the e46, but they are piece by piece crap.
They make these things because the e46 is 'just an old car' thus a giant market for persons on low money who think they can drive a fast premium car. Those types of persons are willing to cut corners. But as you go 'upmarket' the cornercutting gets less, so really cheap s**t becomes less interesting to produce. Nobody is going to make 200quid coilovers for a ferrari, because a ferrari owner only wants the best thing for his car. If you cant afford that, dont buy such a car.
Cheap coilovers generally have really bad valving, bad seals, and thin cheap chromium plating. They also are more likely to corrode (cheap non passified zinc coating), especially in that nice wet uk climate.
But most of all you risk the chance of crappy design (as I said totally wrong bump/rebound settings), so that will result in bad handling (e.g. loss of grip after every bump). That is not something you want in a sportscar. Buy something from a brand that knows how to build a proper handling shock, not some chinese no-name manufacturer with '3 years of experience'.
600quid is not much for coilovers; changing all 4 shocks and spring for the same OEM (sachs) bmw parts is probably more expensive.
If you want cheap stuff, buy an e46, or better buy a vw golf. You wouldn't believe what kind of cheap crap you can buy for those cars. Don't get mad if your shocks will be leaking after 5K miles..
Quality costs money because it requires more expensive materials and more intellectual attention, it's as simple as that.