Suspension failed MOT, coilovers/ return to standard.

[Jollygiant]

So my Zed failed the MOT big time today with the MaxPedorods coilovers falling apart and I need to replace the whole lot including drop links. These were on the car when I bought 2 years ago.

So I'm debating whether to buy a better set of coilovers, if so which ones? My budget will be about £500-700 Or just stick another set of cheap coilovers on it for a 2-3 years.

Or replace it all with standard/ lowered stuff? Started to price they up and it got to £400 without everything!

I'll do the fitting myself apart from the final set up.

It also needs a tyre and front to rear brake pipes.

 

[Zedebee]

I guarantee your Z4 will ride so much better if you replace the Pedorods with standard (Sachs/suplex, although others are available) and you will feel more socially responsible.

Suspension overhauls are getting more expensive. I used to reckon on about £400 for all four corners, but I’ve just ordered enough to do the fronts on mine for £310.

 

[Cardiff99]

What's the car used for mostly? How important is the lowered look and having more control over suspension set-up? I am going through the same process and have talked myself into most of the different set-ups before changing my mind again. I'm waiting for MOT next week to get it through that before committing so interested to hear your thinking and which way you go.

 

[Jollygiant]

What's the car used for mostly? How important is the lowered look and having more control over suspension set-up? I am going through the same process and have talked myself into most of the different set-ups before changing my mind again. I'm waiting for MOT next week to get it through that before committing so interested to hear your thinking and which way you go.

It is my project car/ toy and I do have a 5 Series Touring as my daily and I've got used the lowered look and quite like it.

I'm not really planning on selling it anytime soon. So I could happily spend £700 on the set up when I can afford it. But the end of the day it is only worth 2-2.5k, so it's worth spending something on it.

 

[Mr Tidy]

When I bought my car it had recently been fitted with a set of H & R coil-overs that cost over £1,200 because the previous owner liked the slammed look. Which might have been fine in Rutland, but the first time I had to go over a speed hump in Surrey the floor grounded!

So it was soon wound up as high as possible, which was still an 18mm drop from standard. And to allow such a large drop the springs are inevitably very stiff to keep it off the bump stops, so the ride is on the stiff side of firm.

I had an MOT fail last month for rear brakes pipes and after it was fixed I got an advisory for a slight leak from one shock absorber so I'll be needing new suspension some time soon. I'll probably go for OE springs with non-original shocks, like Bilstein.

Coil-overs seem like a waste of time unless they have adjustable compression and rebound like KW V3s, but they're nearly £3K fitted! Coil-overs that only let you adjust the ride height seem pointless - I mean did you ever alter yours? Finding the right lowering springs, even M-Sport rather than SE, or Eibach, etc. seems like a better and probably cheaper option.

 

[Bolle]

Coil-overs seem like a waste of time unless they have adjustable compression and rebound like KW V3s, but they're nearly £3K fitted! Coil-overs that only let you adjust the ride height seem pointless - I mean did you ever alter yours? Finding the right lowering springs, even M-Sport rather than SE, or Eibach, etc. seems like a better and probably cheaper option.

I hope to give you my view on this soon!

My original 2003 M-sports suspension is pretty tired and needs a refresh. After debating forever a Bilstein/Eibach setup, in the end I just ordered an ST XA hight and rebound adjustable set-up.

Regarding the cheaper comment. Taking all new extra hardware (bumpstops, topmounts etc) for a full refresh into account, a Bilstein B4 / Eibach Pro-Kit set-up comes to about 1.175 Eur here in The Netherlands. That is about the same as the basic mimimum decent coilover set (imo) the ST X. The ST XA which adds rebound adjustment which I think is a must for street use comes to 1.435 Eur. In theory you could save some by re-using existing hardware on a Bilstein/Eibach set-up, but I think if you do this best to go for a full refresh.

KW v2 and v3 is nice, but I find the cost somewhat prohibitive compared to the value of the car.

For me the relative extra (and as run my car as business expense the VAT and costs can be deducted) it was worth the experiment. Very curious how it will turn out!

I’m probably going to set the coilovers very high close and to standard M-Sport ride height, as I don’t like the ‘slammed’ look and we have too many speed humps here. And I’m probably going to set the rebound once and then forget all about it...