E86 - Best suspension for a softer ride?

[JasonZ4]

Hello! First post on here so hi!

Bought a lovely Z4 Coupe (E86) 2 years ago, love it. Have done a couple of Long road trips and would like to do more but found the ride pretty hard. And to make matters worse I’ve now fitted 19” MV4 wheels which look awesome but have made it even worse.
Yes I know I should expect that but I’d like to get a softer ride and keep the wheels if possible!
There’s lots floating around about which suspension kits give a softer ride and I’d like to go down the suspension route, so.. can anyone fill me in on the best shocks and springs to get a softer ride?

Thanks for your help!

 

[scootr]

Stock 17s with Michelin Pilot 4s - rides a dream and corners sharp on snot.

 

[jack07]

Hi,Jason,
Welcome first post,and must start by admiring your colour choice
5 years into my ownership,with a constantly evolving car can tell you that she has many powerflex bushes,Eibach progressive rate springs and Koni dampers which now give a controlled more compliant ride.Still loving this car for tours of Wales and Scotland,have added 43,000 miles with no plans to change anything else,save an LSD.Good luck with your mods

 

[mr wilks]

Nice choice on car & the MV4s , first thing you could do is fit some "proper" sized tyres those rears look like they are painted on
245 35 19 or 255 35 19 on the rears , 225 35 19 fronts , obviously not runflats & consider a tyre like the Dunlop SportMaxx RT2

 

[jack07]

Yes,thumbs up on the Dunlop's,super grip,and quiet running too,Pirellis pleasant ride but more noise and less grip,will try for Michelin's next time

 

[JasonZ4]

Welcome first post,and must start by admiring your colour choice
5 years into my ownership,with a constantly evolving car can tell you that she has many powerflex bushes,Eibach progressive rate springs and Koni dampers which now give a controlled more compliant ride.Still loving this car for tours of Wales and Scotland,have added 43,000 miles with no plans to change anything else,save an LSD.Good luck with your mods

Thanks for this! Do you know which model of springs and dampers they are exactly?

 

[JasonZ4]

Nice choice on car & the MV4s , first thing you could do is fit some "proper" sized tyres those rears look like they are painted on
245 35 19 or 255 35 19 on the rears , 225 35 19 fronts , obviously not runflats & consider a tyre like the Dunlop SportMaxx RT2

Thanks man, would I have any speedo issues? I read if the wheel is to far away from original it can mess with it? Also - switching away from RFTs, does that not make you nervous with not having a spare? This forum is a handy place!

 

[z4pilot]

Agree with both Mr Wilks and Jack07 - I'm running eibachs with Koni Yellow Sports dampers on 19 inch wheels fitted with 245/35 tyres. The ride quality is definitely improved over the original, tired MSport dampers. Never tried a car with the often recommended Bilstein shocks, but you won't go wrong with the Konis - plus if you want to firm things up, they are adjustable. Personally I'm happy to leave them on the softest setting- must be getting old....

 

[mr wilks]

Nice choice on car & the MV4s , first thing you could do is fit some "proper" sized tyres those rears look like they are painted on
245 35 19 or 255 35 19 on the rears , 225 35 19 fronts , obviously not runflats & consider a tyre like the Dunlop SportMaxx RT2

Thanks man, would I have any speedo issues? I read if the wheel is to far away from original it can mess with it? Also - switching away from RFTs, does that not make you nervous with not having a spare? This forum is a handy place!

Speedo will actually read more accurate upsizing the profile so worth checking against live GPS to know exact accuracy if you do change .
Whether you do upsize or not a massive step up in comfort will be had from swapping out the runflats , a simple gunk kit with inflator is the way to go for most who do switch to non runflat tyres .
The ride on a Z is always going to be a compromise , you virtually ride over the back wheels & on the MV4 19s with a 255 30 tyre there is little comfort for the driver & even less protection for the wheel the upping of the rear tyre size also reduces arch gap which is another bonus
Here is my Si Zc on 19s / 9.5 rears with 255 35 19 tyres

 

[JasonZ4]

eibachs with Koni Yellow Sports dampers on 19 inch wheels fitted with 245/35 tyres. The ride quality is definitely improved over the original, tired MSport dampers. Never tried a car with the often recommended Bilstein shocks, but you won't go wrong with the Konis - plus if you want to firm things up, they are adjustable. Personally I'm happy to leave them on the softest setting- must be getting old....

Great colour! Sorry for the stupid questions but is that the name of the Koni shocks? And what specific eibach springs do you have? Just so I don’t buy the wrong ones! Thanks so much to everyone, this forum is very useful!!

 

[jack07]

Hi Jason,yes Koni sport yellow on the softest setting,with Eibach Pro kit springs.Advertised widely for the E86.The car will still be a Stiff car,but not the crashing hard ride with the old m sport suspension.Where the original setup is excellent when north of 100 mph,but harsh in day to day road driving,the progressive springs give a more compliant ride on roads,but still capable of suspending the car at very high speed.The Konis damp out any ossilation perfectly.Both companies have been at this for many years and really know what they are doing.When I test drove my car before purchase,I remember thinking she would benefit from a set of Konis.

 

[JasonZ4]

Hi Jason,yes Koni sport yellow on the softest setting,with Eibach Pro kit springs.Advertised widely for the E86.The car will still be a Stiff car,but not the crashing hard ride with the old m sport suspension.Where the original setup is excellent when north of 100 mph,but harsh in day to day road driving,the progressive springs give a more compliant ride on roads,but still capable of suspending the car at very high speed.The Konis damp out any ossilation perfectly.Both companies have been at this for many years and really know what they are doing.When I test drove my car before purchase,I remember thinking she would benefit from a set of Konis.

Thanks man!

 

[z4pilot]

eibachs with Koni Yellow Sports dampers on 19 inch wheels fitted with 245/35 tyres. The ride quality is definitely improved over the original, tired MSport dampers. Never tried a car with the often recommended Bilstein shocks, but you won't go wrong with the Konis - plus if you want to firm things up, they are adjustable. Personally I'm happy to leave them on the softest setting- must be getting old....

Great colour! Sorry for the stupid questions but is that the name of the Koni shocks? And what specific eibach springs do you have? Just so I don’t buy the wrong ones! Thanks so much to everyone, this forum is very useful!!

Part numbers you want for the Koni shocks on an E86 are;
Front 8741-1450LSPORT
Front 8741-1450RSPORT
Rear 8240-1208SPORT

Only one part number for the rears as they are the same on both sides.

Haven't got the numbers for the Eibach springs, but make sure you get the correct E86 springs - they are a different spec to those for the E85

 

[MrPT]

What’s the mileage? Anything over 50k and I’d be tempted to just refresh the dampers with OE equivalents.

Ditching the runflats and moving to a /35 rear profile (on 19s) are sensible things to do, but I think the secondary ride on a fresh set of factory dampers is going to be softer than most aftermarket shocks. If you want to improve body control, that’s a different matter, but that is quite hard to do without sacrificing a little bit of ride comfort.

 

[C8H18]

Swapping out the M-Sport springs for SE springs will soften the ride for you. That and some Bilstein B4 dampers would be a nice compliant set up.