[Bimmer325]

just curious to find out the average lifespan of all aftermarket coilovers/shocks of various brands.

as you know, they cost a lot more than the OEM shocks but how well do they hold up against the OEM ones? same? 2-3 years? or 20-30K km? assuming that they are not abused in any way, no tracking, no running over of potholes most of the time?

thanks for any input.

[Fraggy]

Ive wondered this myself. My stock ZSP on my E46 was VERY shot after about 50k miles. I probably should have changed it at no more than 40k.

[roller84]

Originally Posted by Bimmer325

just curious to find out the average lifespan of all aftermarket coilovers/shocks of various brands.

as you know, they cost a lot more than the OEM shocks but how well do they hold up against the OEM ones? same? 2-3 years? or 20-30K km? assuming that they are not abused in any way, no tracking, no running over of potholes most of the time?

thanks for any input.

Not sure what others have experienced but I have been running a set of KW V3's on my 2001 E46 330i for about 65k miles through NYC roads and they still feel pretty damn good. I only feel a slightly marginal decrease in handling compared to when they nere new, which is incredible considering their age. BTW, I dropped the front and rear ~1.75" and have been running the rebound and compression settings on the stiffer side of things.

Putting aside the issues I had in the beginning due to a bad production run, I love the KW's.

[Bimmer325]

thank you for the valuable feedback guys.

roller84, since you are more Pro in coilovers, may i ask if i can get some comfort out of the KW V2? lots of ppl say no matter what the settings on your coilover, they are generally stiffer than the aftermarket lowering springs like H&R, Eibach...etc..
what's your view?
thanks

[roller84]

Originally Posted by Bimmer325

thank you for the valuable feedback guys.

roller84, since you are more Pro in coilovers, may i ask if i can get some comfort out of the KW V2? lots of ppl say no matter what the settings on your coilover, they are generally stiffer than the aftermarket lowering springs like H&R, Eibach...etc..
what's your view?
thanks

I had the V3's which allowed for compression adjustment in addition to the rebound and height. The rebound setting is accessed from the top of the front struts, or shocks for the rear, using the supplied knob. Adjusting the rebound setting to its softest position(1/4" turn from the "-" position) yielded a more comfortable ride. However, adjusting the compression setting yielded the most difference in ride comfort for my 330i. This setting is adjusted from the bottom of the strut/shock using an allen key. To do the rear, the shock had to be removed from the perch.

Overall, the KW's allow for a very broad adjustment range in comfort. Having messed around with both the rebound and comfort settings many times I can tell you that you can go from a "teeth shattering ride" to a ride that was just about the same as the stock sport suspension. On this softer setting though, VERY hard bumps or potholes were more pronounced than the stock sport suspension. I think this was attributed to the fact that the springs are progressive rate and because I always had my car lowered heavily, more like 2" now that I think about it. My fronts were about 3/8" away from the max lowered position and the rears were about 1/4" away. You can't defy physics. Having my car lowered so much decreased the distance that the spring was allowed to travel. That explains why riding through the worst pothole infested streets were harsher because I was pushing the suspension to the limits.

BTW, I also had poly bushings all around, aftermarket swaybars and a strut tower brace(which was probably more show than anything). Between, the swaybars and coilovers it took a few tries to achieve, what I accepted as the perfect balance between handling and comfort.

Keep in mind that the means of adjusting were for the E46 system. Not sure if it is the same in the E90.

Though I can't personally comment on the V2's, others seem to be happy with them in terms of ride comfort.

Hope this helps,
Paul

[mikeokimster]

In would recommend in lookint the select coilovers that have lifetime warranties for original buyers.