e46 M3 suspension setup, or how to not downgrade your car with suspension mods

[thegenius46m]

Absolutely. As with most mods, especially on a car that’s as good stock as the E46 M3. Wish this were more widely understood and appreciated.

Yup because most people don't have the chance to drive a stock e46 m3 on brand new suspension. Comparing 20 yr old worn out suspension is meaningless. Recently bought brand new oem dampers on my ZHP and did some bump stop modifications and swaybars and the car is incredible. I can blow through backroads and hit bumps at 80mph+ and the car just takes the bumps like it should and is still a lot of fun and predictable. These cars stock, M3 included, actually sit virtually on the bumpstop use it to control roll, grip, and oversteer/understeer characteristics so if you go lower on that setup without moving to a shorter bumpstop with similar characteristics (easily misunderstood by the average person) you are changing the handling dynamics negatively at an exponential rate the lower you go.

If you want to go lower, everything needs to be calculated and setup accordingly in the proper ride height ranges if you care about performance. Just going low for looks does not work. If you setup can't take bumps at 80mph without the car getting upset, your suspension is not able to properly do its job to control the chassis.

Ian is 100% right with this stuff and I have hundreds of hours testing this stuff on both my cars as well as guidance from a suspension engineer that this stuff is indeed true.

[IamFODI]

Pretty eye opening stuff, seems like a lot of work to really dial in this car and conversely mad easy to royally mess it up.

Absolutely. As with most mods, especially on a car that’s as good stock as the E46 M3. Wish this were more widely understood and appreciated.

[CrisSilberGrau]

Youtube link for those on PC (or android) and don't want that fat bastard called iTunes on their PC.

Pretty eye opening stuff, seems like a lot of work to really dial in this car and conversely mad easy to royally mess it up.

Obioban was there some doc whereby it stated that after the 13.5F/13R heights we then need to correct for revised suspension geometry?

Follow up question, how does the car behave under compression where it goes beneath that ride height factor? From this video, after the arms go beyond 90deg we gain positive camber and a host of other unwanted behaviours.

[oceansize]

Great podcast episode with Mike Kojima. Suspension guru extraordinaire. Highly recommend a listen:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tuned-in/id1579263731?i=1000577379915

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Youtube link for those on PC (or android) and don't want that fat bastard called iTunes on their PC.

[eacmen]

Great podcast episode with Mike Kojima. Suspension guru extraordinaire. Highly recommend a listen:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tuned-in/id1579263731?i=1000577379915

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Allnightlong]

I try not to think about them.

I take it your not a fan of the floaty uncontrollable feeling you get on the apex😐

[Obioban]

What are your thoughts on air suspensions?

I try not to think about them.

[Allnightlong]

Lol….

[Tbonem3]

No comment. Don't want to deflate the thread any further.

[Allnightlong]

You can run the b12 kit with stock mounts. It'll just be firm.

You're not Louis Hamilton; you don't need perfect suspension.

What are your thoughts on air suspensions?

[cobra]

I would be really curious to test a B12 kit and see how it stacks up against the competition. Try those and see how you like them.

[Icecream]

The b6 paired with lowering springs rides pleasantly in most all situations. There are certain times the limited travel will be evident, however. There are places I have learned to be careful, but these are few and far between.

I do not feel the need for camber plates. The roads by me are fairly good, and I do not daily it.

+1. I have the B12 kit and really appreciate it now after trying some other cars. No mods but the kit. Highly recommend against B4, had those when I was trying to save a few bucks.
B12 is not half as harsh or uncomfortable as all this camber plate/ bumpstop talk leads you to believe and I drive on third world level roads here in LA.

[Tbonem3]

You can run the b12 kit with stock mounts. It'll just be firm.

You're not Louis Hamilton; you don't need perfect suspension.

[Subfra///Me]

Poly is stiffer than rubber. It's not that bad, but it's there. Less than the solid bearings in the race style plates.

I guess I just have to decide if it's worth dealing with slightly more nvh over stock to run the B12 kit. Otherwise, it's Koni/Dinan. There just aren't many better options that aren't coilovers. I don't want to go down that road and I don't want to replace stock for stock.

[Tbonem3]

Am I off base? I thought the Turner street plates didn't really add significant NVH.

Poly is stiffer than rubber. It's not that bad, but it's there. Less than the solid bearings in the race style plates.