Ohlins R&T Spring/Sway Choice

[LSB4Me]

Cross-posting this here as well. Update and important points of note regarding a more comfortable Ohlins setup for the street (I'm calling it the Strohlins Kit):

First, the front spring on the E9x Ohlins RT kit is 60 n/mm (approx. 342lb) and is the same shape, length, and design as the 70 n/mm front spring on the E46M3 RT kit. I am investigating as to whether the E9x spring can be swapped onto the E46M3 strut to achieve a lower front rate without requiring different sized, aftermarket springs (and camber plates).

Second, the upper spring perch on the F80 Ohlins RT kit is made to accommodate a 65mm spring. I am investigating as to whether the F80 perch can be mounted to the E46M3 stock upper strut mount to allow us to change to aftermarket spring sizes without necessitating the addition of camber plates.

I hope to have confirmation on both points this time next week and will revert.

Update on the Strohlins Kit. Barry confirmed that the E9x Ohlins front springs are a very close fit to the E46M3 Ohlins front damper. It seems like the rubber upper spring mount on the E46M3 stock strut mount will require a little trimming to get the spring seated properly. I have agreed to be the guinea pig. Bet my shop is going to love me for this.

Attached are two photos: (i) one depicting the slight interference of the rubber mount; and (ii) one without the rubber mount confirming the spring will fit once the rubber is trimmed away slightly/properly.

I will try to make time to run this to ground in the coming weeks and will revert. In the meantime, any thoughts, suggestions or ideas regarding the rubber mount are welcome and appreciated.

[LSB4Me]

Photos of the car at 13.5”F and 13.0”R (left side 1/16 to 1/8” higher to account for 160ish lb driver). Springs are 336 lb/in 8” Swift springs up front and stock Ohlins 628 lb/in springs in the rear. I may end up raising the car 1/4” on all four corners.

Car looks great and sounds like it rides great as well. Let us know your thoughts and what damper settings you experiment with (and end up liking best).

[SQ13]

Photos of the car at 13.5”F and 13.0”R (left side 1/16 to 1/8” higher to account for 160ish lb driver). Springs are 336 lb/in 8” Swift springs up front and stock Ohlins 628 lb/in springs in the rear. I may end up raising the car 1/4” on all four corners.

As far as ride quality and comfort goes, it feels much better than my old MCS 2WNR setup on the street with 600/700 and 400/700 springs. While it does handle larger road imperfections well, don’t expect it to feel like an SUV. It does feel a tad more firm than my other M3 with PSS10s, but that car has 550 lb/in rear springs and OE RTABs and FCABs. The silver car has TMS spherical RTABs and FCABs. One issue I have is that at parking lot speeds, the front end is clunky going over road imperfections. This was also present when I had the MCS setup, so I suspect the noise is coming from the FCABs, which I will probably replace with OEM.

[LSB4Me]

Cross-posting this here as well. Update and important points of note regarding a more comfortable Ohlins setup for the street (I'm calling it the Strohlins Kit):

First, the front spring on the E9x Ohlins RT kit is 60 n/mm (approx. 342lb) and is the same shape, length, and design as the 70 n/mm front spring on the E46M3 RT kit. I am investigating as to whether the E9x spring can be swapped onto the E46M3 strut to achieve a lower front rate without requiring different sized, aftermarket springs (and camber plates).

Second, the upper spring perch on the F80 Ohlins RT kit is made to accommodate a 65mm spring. I am investigating as to whether the F80 perch can be mounted to the E46M3 stock upper strut mount to allow us to change to aftermarket spring sizes without necessitating the addition of camber plates.

I hope to have confirmation on both points this time next week and will revert.

[LSB4Me]

I’m installing 8” 336 lb/in Swift springs this weekend and will follow up, since the 7” 336 lb/in springs have me sitting too low.

Looking forward to your thoughts on the 6kg swift springs as this is my intended path. Any intel, comments or feedback on ride feel / comfort would be much appreciated.

[killa_e46]

Yes, spacers are necessary, otherwise your car will sit too low. A longer spring won’t help—your limiting factor here is the length of the strut.

If you have any interest in running a flat ride setup, you might as well go thru 3DM and spec custom spring rates at no extra charge. They also preassemble the kit, which saves you some time. They should be able to sell you the TrackDay kit with the Meyle RSMs and let you send in the GC camber plates…obviously in this case they’ll subtract the cost of the included Vorshlag camber plates from the kit. Also, if the Ohlins sale is still going on, he may be willing to price match the cost of the R&T kit.

I’m installing 8” 336 lb/in Swift springs this weekend and will follow up, since the 7” 336 lb/in springs have me sitting too low.

Would you be able to share pics of what the current setup looks like and then what it would look like with the 8in springs?

I'll talk to 3DM as well this week and see if I can send the parts to them since I already have the camber plates and rsm's in hand.

[SQ13]

Really?? Even with the perch moved up near the top. I'm surprised.

Yup, even with perches at the very top. Same experience and ride height as mrgizmo04 above. I thought it might be related to the camber plate, but he used GC Street plates which I believe have a longer stack height than my Vorshlag plates.

[Tbonem3]

I’m installing 8” 336 lb/in Swift springs this weekend and will follow up, since the 7” 336 lb/in springs have me sitting too low.

Really?? Even with the perch moved up near the top. I'm surprised.

[SQ13]

I wanted to get input from you all after reading through this thread (tons of helpful information!)

Are the Ohlins Strut Spacers necessary? I guess reading through this all has me second guessing whether I should just buy the kit from FCP (when back in stock) or get some diff springs specc'd.

My setup was/is going to be below:

• Ohlins R&T MI30S1
• Ground Control Street Camber Plates
• Meyle HD RSM
• Hotchkiss Front Sway Bar (will be set to the medium setting)
• Turner Front Adjustable End Links
• Bimmerworld adjustable camber arms (rear)

Also is this the spacer kit that's being referred to? https://3dmmotorsport.com/products/b...rut-spacer-kit

Yes, spacers are necessary, otherwise your car will sit too low. A longer spring won’t help—your limiting factor here is the length of the strut.

If you have any interest in running a flat ride setup, you might as well go thru 3DM and spec custom spring rates at no extra charge. They also preassemble the kit, which saves you some time. They should be able to sell you the TrackDay kit with the Meyle RSMs and let you send in the GC camber plates…obviously in this case they’ll subtract the cost of the included Vorshlag camber plates from the kit. Also, if the Ohlins sale is still going on, he may be willing to price match the cost of the R&T kit.

I’m installing 8” 336 lb/in Swift springs this weekend and will follow up, since the 7” 336 lb/in springs have me sitting too low.

[killa_e46]

I wanted to get input from you all after reading through this thread (tons of helpful information!)

Are the Ohlins Strut Spacers necessary? I guess reading through this all has me second guessing whether I should just buy the kit from FCP (when back in stock) or get some diff springs specc'd.

My setup was/is going to be below:

• Ohlins R&T MI30S1
• Ground Control Street Camber Plates
• Meyle HD RSM
• Hotchkiss Front Sway Bar (will be set to the medium setting)
• Turner Front Adjustable End Links
• Bimmerworld adjustable camber arms (rear)

Also is this the spacer kit that's being referred to? https://3dmmotorsport.com/products/b...rut-spacer-kit

[mrgizmo04]

I tried running 336# spring in 7" length with GC street plates and 3dm spacers and I did not get the car to 13.5, it was barely above 13.25 and on large bumps tire would rub the liner. 8" 325 or 336 spring would work.

I ended up running 350 7" front and I'm kinda "stuck" with this for now (absolutely don't mind it) because the car is corner balanced (i.e. $). I ended up getting GC adj swaybar links and running Vorshlag plates and RSM.

Between Turner and Hotchkis swaybar... when I switched to Hotchkis (hollow less resistant bar) from Turner (solid more resistant bar) with my setup and alignment made the car too tail happy. Turner on medium controlled xfer more than Hotchkis on stiff. So you can make alignment adjustments to account for that via toe or camber, assuming you don't want to keep hunting for spring rates.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[cobra]

Longer springs, if you can fit them, will always be the better option, since they will probably have more travel before coilbind. Use my calculator to estimate how close you are: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...845#post215845

If your springs are fine and you just ran out of preload adjuster, then put a 1/2" spacer in there. A helper spring is only needed if the spring is going to rattle around at full droop due to having 'negative' preload.

[SQ13]

They’re still on order, but I’ll follow up with you with an exact part number after I receive and install them. The springs are 178mm long, which I’m hoping will get me to 13.5” up front. Ohlins (Vorshlag) camber plates, 3DM spacers, and I think Barry also uses a spacer on the camber plates as well.

Swift PN: Z65-178-060 (7”, 65 mm, 336 lb/in). These do not get me to 13.5” with the lower spring perch on max height and the parts listed above (plus OE strut tower reinforcements). The car is sitting at about 13.25”. FYI, this is the Track Day kit that 3DM sells, with custom spec front Swift springs instead of the stock Ohlins 400 lb/in springs.

To get to at least 13.5”, I think I have two options:
1) Use a Hyperco CS100 helper spring to act as a 0.5” spacer and use the Swift springs that I currently have.
2) Swap to a 7.87”, 343 lb/in spring.

I’m leaning towards getting the 7.87” springs.

Slideways


Edit: Ordered 8” 336 lb/in Swift springs since the 7.87” Ohlins springs were out of stock. Will update with results soon.

[jvit27]

Anyone know what the PSS10 spring rates are?

.

PSS10 are progressive rates of 340/565

[SQ13]

Which camber plates are you using? If you could check the length, that would be great.

The Ohlins retain the stock endlink mounting height, so stock endlinks should be fine unless you want to dial out preload with a TMS endlink.

They’re still on order, but I’ll follow up with you with an exact part number after I receive and install them. The springs are 178mm long, which I’m hoping will get me to 13.5” up front. Ohlins (Vorshlag) camber plates, 3DM spacers, and I think Barry also uses a spacer on the camber plates as well.