Tyler's 04 slicktop 6spd Silvergrey MCS/Brembo/CSL/Karbonius/Nogaros/Supersprint

[0-60motorsports]

I need to get a set of TMS plates too, probably when i get my PSS10's

[Tbonem3]

Did a canyon run a few days after the suspension changes, and really disliked the lifeless steering feel I was getting. It reminded me of when I tried the TMS monoball FCABs. I figured it was the spherical camber plates. I was very happy with the previous TMS plates (poly bush), so I bought another set ("street") and sold the Vorshlags to a friend.

You can see the much larger footprint of the TMS. Despite the disparity in size, the TMS are no heavier than the vorshlags, luckily. Gonna miss the vorshlags, they're really really nice and well made.



The TMS plates are quite a bit more expensive than other options. Worse still, they don't come with the necessary upper thrust bearing. Turner gives you the option of buying them, but they word it as "perches." Well, I didn't think I needed it because I didn't want stock perches - I'm using 60mm springs. Turns out the BMW part is a combo, it's the black metal spring perch WITH the yellow/black bearing.

So I ordered a new set of perches/bearing for $40



I hadn't gotten an alignment yet, so no biggie dropping the other plates and putting the TMS in



Not quite as pretty as the gold and red of the vorshalgs And the plates' studs are unnecessarily long.



All done. Hopefully, this is the only change I need to make to be all set and then get an alignment.



Happy to report, the car feels great again. I've got the spherical RSMs and bottom shock attachment, but they don't ruin any perception in "feel." I'm all about the feel and the sound aka the "experience"
____

My cubby door (under hvac) got a couple of scratches over the years, so I bought a new one, but I got the sun glasses holder with the lid that folds down. It's lined with soft felt inside which is nice as it quiets whatever is inside when it's moving around (my garage door opener or whatever).



New next to old. Honestly, the old one looks incredible for 18 years and 180k miles, but my steelgrey car's cubby is atrocious, so this one will refresh that car nicely. The standard for this car is higher.

[Tbonem3]

Ya damn inflation & materials/supply chain issues. I feel bad for people getting into the E46 and modding nowadays. Remember the good 'ol days of no online sales tax and $15k m3s?

[jet_dogg]

Those DMG rear braces look nice, but dang they are $855 today on eBay!

Different styles and finishes are less. Also the longer you wait the more the price keeps going up due to raw materials.

[fattycharged]

Those DMG rear braces look nice, but dang they are $855 today on eBay!

[loudspeaker69]

A little toe-in in the rear for stability.

I'll probably just do neutral up front. If I get (wider) 18s again, I'll dial camber in further which will cause some toe-out.

Just my 2cents:

Weekend Car:
- Front: Toe out
- Rear : Toe In

Daily Car:
- Front: Toe @ Zero for the Daily
- Rear: Toe @ Zero or A touch of Toe In
(I run this set up with Toe in @ the rear and have noticed very good tire wear on my Michelin Pilot 4S)

[Malloy]

The car just gets better and better!

[Tbonem3]

A little toe-in in the rear for stability.

I'll probably just do neutral up front. If I get (wider) 18s again, I'll dial camber in further which will cause some toe-out.

[loudspeaker69]

I believe (educated guess) that the toe-in in the front and double that amount of toe-in in the rear is for stability at high speed, as in autobahn speed.

So a touch of toe-out in the front for steering response and toe-in, in the rear for stability may not hurt ?

[D-O]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't want to spend the money on the muffler and end up being sorry. I guess that leaves stock or maybe SS Stradale.

Jesse

[Tbonem3]

Did you notice the faster on-center response in the steering from the toe out in the front ?

I guess you didn’t have specs as your doing it outside of an alignment machine, so it’s hard to tell degrees, etc.?

Yes, definitely. I'm tempted to keep toe out, but it looks a little silly on thin (8.5") 19" CSL wheels imo. Looks appropriate with 18x9.5"et22, tho.

Ya I don't what the alignment specs are. I should get that though (current vs new) when I do the alignment soon.

Tyler,

I am thinking of picking up an SGT SCZA, but there is a carbon intake in my future and I don't want the exhaust to be so loud I cannot hear the intake. Was your SGT SCZA muffler too loud for the carbon intake?

Thanks,
Jesse

Hi Jesse,

It was a little too much ya. That doesn't mean you won't hear the intake, you will for sure. But it did detract. I also wanted to go back to stock, and I was able to trade the scza for CSL wheels, so...

Awesome update Brother

Thanks Ejaz!

[0-60motorsports]

Awesome update Brother

[D-O]

Tyler,

I am thinking of picking up an SGT SCZA, but there is a carbon intake in my future and I don't want the exhaust to be so loud I cannot hear the intake. Was your SGT SCZA muffler too loud for the carbon intake?

Thanks,
Jesse

[loudspeaker69]

Did you notice the faster on-center response in the steering from the toe out in the front ?

I guess you didn’t have specs as your doing it outside of an alignment machine, so it’s hard to tell degrees, etc.?

[Tbonem3]

Part 3 of 3 Dampers/springs/mounts

I'd say suspension is my favorite thing to install/tune/mod. I did at first what most do, konis and lowering springs (Tein/H&R/Eibach), but was never satisfied. Bought a set of GC coils (Konis with linear springs [450/550lb] and camber plates), and that was a good improvement, but still never felt right no matter what rebound settings I used.

Started to dive deeper into why I was never happy. Came to the conclusion that I needed monotubes and better spring rate choices (more stock like aka flat ride). I tried to buy a set of Dinan JRZ shocks, but it never materialized. Decided to modify the GC kit to accept Bilstein B6s (HD), went down to 325lb front spring (longer travel - 7"), but stayed with the 550lb rears I really liked. Also got a hotchkis front bar (medium setting)

Wow, what an improvement. So much more stout and in control. A little harsher overall, but so worth it. Goodbye konis, never again. However, the billys seems to be about tapped out with these rates. The car was a little too bouncy (my car is lighter than most though, so that effectively increases spring rate, all else equal). I felt like 325lb fronts would still nose dive a little too much, not all the time, but when really pushing it. I would also just bottom out on big G outs (dips) at higher speeds.

So I was pretty sure I wanted to move up to like 375/400lb front and 600lb rear, but I knew the billys couldn't handle that properly. So what damper would? I toyed with buying a used set of PSS10s just to repurpose the dampers, I thought about TCK D/As, but really didn't want konis, really wanted to stay with a monotube. Thought about Ohlins, but preferred to just buy dampers alone since I had spring sets and hardware already.

For me, MCS made the most sense. I wanted a premium quality, monotube damper set that would easily control 400lb/600lb. I didn't want/need compression adjustment, I just wanted the best damper I could buy to be used with my existing hardware/setup.

So I got MCS 1WNR from harrisonmotorsports (best price, no tax, no shipping $), but I also decided to migrate my GC Bilstein/Eibach set to the newly acquired 2002 steelgrey car, so I also bought a few more things: Vorshlag race plates with 60mm seat to match MCS, TCK 400lb 60mm front springs, Eibach 2.5" extra travel 6" 600lb rear springs, AKG 12mm spherical RSMs.



The MCS do not come with bumps stops. I think almost everyone with MCS is running high enough springs rates that they'll never bottom out, but I thought I'd throw some in just to help protect the damper. After install, however, it seemed like a waste of time as my measurements showed that the springs will block before the dampers are fully compressed. Oh well. I also bought Whiteline adjustable endlinks. Stocks are like 11" iirc, but you need like 9.5" for MCS (shorter body, lower tabs).

The TCK springs are really nice because they're taller than 6". If using 60mm, you actually get some good metric spring choices and can get a 6.3" or 6.7" spring, but for 2.25 or 2.5", it's pretty much 6 or 7" Well, 7" is ok for a higher ride height and/or lighter springs, and 6" is enough travel if using higher rates like 500lb+, but I'm in a funny spot with rates in the 300-400lb range. The TCKs are advertised as 6.5" - perfect I thought. Well, they're actually 6.25," but it should be enough (block height/travel) at 400lbs. The rears are 6", but I got the barrel XT eibachs that have another .25" of travel as well (600lbs at the control arm midpoint acts more like 350lbs at the wheel).

If doing it again, I'd get the metric eibachs 170mm (6.7") 70nm (400lb), but I found the TCKs, used, on ebay for $60 when they retail for $200+ so I grabbed them.



The vorshalg plates are incredible! Massive bearing, quality fit and finish. Beautiful construction and anodized colors. They, like GC, use 2 separate bearings - the main ball joint, but also a radial ball bearing for rotation (MacPhe struts rotate slightly through the camber arc).

You might remember, I don't use a CSL dipstick, but a bent stock one that is now blocked by my new DMG brace:



While disassembling things, I decided to fix that:



Fronts out. I was able to just undo the plates and slips it all out, together, since I'll be installing them, as-is, in the steelgrey car.



Passenger side in. No idea where to put the adjustment collar - I'll adjust height at the end.



Endlinks secured at the strut. I do a mock install of the sway bar at full droop here, and then check the position of the bar once on the ground, then adjust again. I set both links to the same distance, and the second link still mated perfectly with the swaybar end. I guessed how far the bar would rotate, once the car was on the ground, and pre-rotated it, at full droop. You want the sway bar ends to be parallel to the ground, once loaded.



Halfway done with the front. I install the suspension without the strut bar, to make things easier (the DMG bar is a very tight fit) then I install the brace once the suspension is loaded.



Other side



DMG brace back on. Adjusters on. Just got camber to be equal (string method) left to right at about -2 degrees or so (after making ride height equal). Will visit JMP in Canoga Park soon for alignment. Remember, height first, castor before the plates are installed, then toe (if needed), then camber last. Can't adjust height without affecting camber and toe (dynamic).



Goddamn that red and gold and black theme 🤤 Deutschland ja!

Back to the rear. DMG brace already installed as you saw in the last post. RSMs installed so that I could secure the braces' ends to the strut tower. Went with the AKG 12mm spherical RMS - going all in here. Love how much of my suspension is made in the USA/Germany - Vorshlag, Hotchkis, AKG, MCS, Harrison motorports all USA, Eibach and Vogtland VVS (TCK) Germany.



I wasn't expecting it; it wasn't shown or mentioned online, but the RSMs came with hemispherical poly "dampers." Pretty cool! I was worried about an increase of NVH with all of these more hardcore parts, so I was happy to try/test these (see it right under the big fender washer?)



Springs and dampers secured. No need to preload the shock in this case and the joint is a heim versus the common rubber bushing. Used my old 2.5" GC adjusters. I didn't need them with the 6.5" 550lbs springs as those, set on the stock rubber pad, get the car to a perfect 13" ride height depending on vehicle weight. The 600lb spring, while slightly stiffer, is .5" shorter, so I needed the adjuster in there (it's .5" thick, perfect)



Rear is now done. Last thing back here I can think to do is a Hard Motorsports rear seat delete panel I bought for Christmas. Decided against installing it now since this was a big enough job.

I was able to just slightly notch the factory hardboard "shelf" where the feet of the DMG brace are. No, I don't run the carpet liners.



Did a little refreshing back here to top it all off. 303'd everything black (rubber/plastic). If you do it habitually, your shit eventually looks brand new:




Review:

No alignment yet, but holy shit! So firm, so tight, like your bride on wedding night. I'm really happy with the 400/600lb. I took it over some very familiar roads nearby with bumps and dips and wow, it's so composed!

There's definitely some more harshness, no noise or vibrations. It's very very stiff. I feel like, with the hotchkis bar on medium, 400lb is a little too much up front, but it's most welcome when pushing it, so I'm going to leave it alone since I don't drive the car that much, but aggressively, when I do.

For my light rear end, 600lb is perfect. Can't bottom out (13") and it's not annoyingly firm. The MCS are so smooth.

I think for a normal E46 weight, like 3300lbs, 400/650 or 700 would be great. I could have gone with 350/600 and it would have been great, but I'll live with 400lb for a while. When I had 450lbs years ago, my car was heavier. It was too much then, but that was on konis.

Looking forward to an alignment. Really wish I was on lightweight 18s still, oh well.

Here it is post-install at 13.5" front & 13" rear. I'm going to lower the front just a little more to 13.25" before my alignment next Tuesday. The goal is to take out some of the rear's toe-in so that I can put back the 10mm spacer (now 5mm) without rubbing (back of tire gets flared out from toe-in).

I also did enjoy the toe-out up front, but I think I'll go back to neutral toe up front. Still gotta decide.