H&R Springs w/ 19" CSL

[Carlo]

Ok I can't find authentic CSL wheels in the US

So I've decided to get the M3 Competition package wheels which look the same, the fronts are just .5" narrower...

Do they weigh the same as the CSL wheels? Is 1600$ a good price for a set of 4 brand new?

Anyone have a pic of the Competition wheels with 10mm H&R spacers up front and H&R springs?


TIA, carlo

 

[Caddyshk]

Ok I can't find authentic CSL wheels in the US

So I've decided to get the M3 Competition package wheels which look the same, the fronts are just .5" narrower...

Do they weigh the same as the CSL wheels? Is 1600$ a good price for a set of 4 brand new?

Anyone have a pic of the Competition wheels with 10mm H&R spacers up front and H&R springs?


TIA, carlo

I can't recall seeing pics with the Comp package wheels - plenty however with CSL's & H & R's. Curious on what the spacers are for?

 

[Carlo]

I've been told that the 10mm spacers up front would make the competition wheels fit like the csl wheels up front.

I remember seeing something about using the rear "something" in the front to make the H&R drop even out... I don't recall where I read it and was wondering if anyone knew what I am talking about...lol

 

[Caddyshk]

I've been told that the 10mm spacers up front would make the competition wheels fit like the csl wheels up front.

I remember seeing something about using the rear "something" in the front to make the H&R drop even out... I don't recall where I read it and was wondering if anyone knew what I am talking about...lol

Its an OE spring pad - we used them in the rear to even the drop.


http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/de ... 3531094754

 

[GP20]

I've been told that the 10mm spacers up front would make the competition wheels fit like the csl wheels up front.

I remember seeing something about using the rear "something" in the front to make the H&R drop even out... I don't recall where I read it and was wondering if anyone knew what I am talking about...lol

Its an OE spring pad - we used them in the rear to even the drop.


http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/de ... 3531094754

I'm not sure replacing the stock rear springs pad with thicker spring pads is a good idea though. Wouldn't the thicker rear spring pads mess with the balance of the car (shifting the weight forward)? They'd probably accomplish giving the front and the rear equal amount of wheel gaps aesthetically, but then the Z4 isn't set up from the factory to have equal front and rear wheel gaps. When my car was corner balanced a long time ago, the front definitely had a slightly wider wheel gap than the rear (about half a finger width of difference), and I was told that even a mere 3~4mm can make a lot of difference in trying to achieve a neutral weight distribution. Essentially raising the rear an extra 10mm might seem even more dramatic. I could be wrong. Just thought I'd bring up this for dicussion's sake.

 

[Carlo]

So I decided to get coilovers instead to avoid any future problems that surround the pairing of aftermarket springs with stock shocks.

H&R Street Perf. Coil over

Now I have to wait till I have enough courage to spend more money for the M3 Competition wheels.

 

[GP20]

Well, it's not my money and it's not my car. But seriously dude, don't waste your money on H&R coilovers. Those are one of the worst coilovers you can buy for a BMW. No dampening adjustability. Crappy ride comfort. You're better off spending more and buying a quality set of coilovers than wasting $1400 on those H&R's. In fact, you'd be better off having the H&R springs ride on stock struts/shocks. The H&R springs for the Z4M actually don't lower the car very much and don't match all that badly.

If you absolutely want a set of coilovers, look into the KW V3 or the TCKline. I've had both kits on my Z4M and both are very, very good coilovers. They cost more than the H&R coilovers, but trust me I've gone through 4 different sets of suspensions on my Z4M in the past 10 months and I went through 3 sets of suspensions on my last Z4 3.0i, do it right the first time, and it'll save you lots of money and headaches. Someone's selling the KW V3 in the For-Sale forum; you might wanna check it out.

Here you'll find a very good overview of some coilovers, including KW, TCK, and H&R.
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=180345

By the way, the TCK D/A rear shocks make clunking noises, but the S/A rear shocks don't.

 

[GP20]

Do they weigh the same as the CSL wheels? Is 1600$ a good price for a set of 4 brand new?

The ZCP and the CSL wheels share the rear wheels. The rear wheels are exactly the same so they should weigh the same. The front ZCP wheel is slightly lighter than the front CSL wheel since it's narrower.

For the ZCP's, front is about 24lbs (slightly less than 24lbs from my own measurement) and rear is about 25lbs. $1600 is the best price you can get for a brand new set of ZCP's - from a reliable source.

 

[Carlo]

Bimmerforums member "Moupe" has recently switched to this setup and he has nothing but praise for these coil overs. He switched from H&R Springs and said the ride was not up to his standards.

I know these don't have damper control. But they are height adjustable and thats really what I need.

It would be nice to have the KW V3 but those are way too much money, especially since there are no tracks around me so all that adjustability would go to waste. I did mention the Tein and EDFC but with all that it would still be under 1800$ and thats why I was considering it.

Once I get these installed, I'll give a better review. I can't imagine these performing worse than H&R Springs on stock shocks, that combo just makes me feel like I'm taking away from the M.

 

[Caddyshk]

Once I get these installed, I'll give a better review. I can't imagine these performing worse than H&R Springs on stock shocks, that combo just makes me feel like I'm taking away from the M.

To the contrary - IMO and many others the H & R's with the OE dampeners is a better setup than stock.

 

[danlauz]

i took back the H+R because it was NOT a good match with the oem shocks...

 

[Caddyshk]

i took back the H+R because it was NOT a good match with the oem shocks...

Then obviously you have not been on a track with the setup or you would not have this opinion - I agree that for cruising the OE setup is better - I just find the car more predictable in aggressive track driving with the H & R's...

 

[GP20]

i took back the H+R because it was NOT a good match with the oem shocks...

Caddshky is right. The H&R springs actually match up the OEM struts/shocks pretty well. And this is not just my comment or Caddyshk's comment. TCKline has agreed to this as well.

I seem to recall that you didn't like the H&R springs because you thought the ride quality was too stiff. That doesn't mean the springs didn't match up well with the dampers. If the springs didn't match up well with the dampers, you would feel the ride to be very floaty, and you'd feel like a bobble-head doll yourself every time you brake to a complete stop or every time you accelerate hard as the car literally bounces up and down. Personally, I thought the ride quality with the H&R springs was slightly stiffer than stock and still very bearable. I cannot say the same about the H&R coilovers when I rode along as a passenger in an E46 M3 and a regular Z4 - the ride comfort was simply terrible.

Of all the people that have put H&R springs on their Z4M's that I'm aware of, I can only recall one other person who thought the ride was too stiff with the H&R springs. (He used to be on the old Z4um. He had a black M-coupe with HRE rims and owns a tire-shop in Atlanta). But then he had faulty springs since day 1 which also had noise issues so the result might've been skewed.

 

[epbrown]

i took back the H+R because it was NOT a good match with the oem shocks...

Caddshky is right. The H&R springs actually match up the OEM struts/shocks pretty well. And this is not just my comment or Caddyshk's comment. TCKline has agreed to this as well.
[snip]
Of all the people that have put H&R springs on their Z4M's that I'm aware of, I can only recall one other person who thought the ride was too stiff with the H&R springs. (He used to be on the old Z4um. He had a black M-coupe with HRE rims and owns a tire-shop in Atlanta). But then he had faulty springs since day 1 which also had noise issues so the result might've been skewed.

That's the same person Carlo was referring to previously on Bimmerforums, with the username Moupe.