Calling XI's with a Drop...are u happy with ride comfort???

Originally Posted by Kubica

MileHiXi-

Do you have experience with any other setups for the xi? If so, how do they compare to your Dinan setup?

Nope. I've never had any other setups. But before I purchased I had searched for threads on the topic and I remember one in particular where the guy had gone from stock, to slamming the car then to Dinan and had found Dinan less harsh than his previous aftermarket setup.

EDIT: here it is:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...light=dinan+xi

Originally Posted by bmwstephen

Dinan stage 1 suspension.

go Big! so you don't end up going back and spending more $$$.

I seriously went from bavauto springs (dont lower) --> HR springs (too stiff) --> Dinan springs + Dinan Shocks (just perfect)

if you get Dinan, make sure to get the koni shocks from them as they are custom dampened and differ from the shocks Koni sells for the XI seperately

looks like you and I participated in that thread!

I finally loving my setup with Koni struts / bavarian lowering springs. Ride comfort like or close to riding a stock M3.
I tried a few different suspension set up for my XI, bilstein HD with Bavarian springs, they are very stiff, you won't like it at least I don't because I am living in NYC, the road condition is increditable bad / rough...even on highway, I also try bilstein sport with bavarian srpings, same as HD there is no different when riding on it, only the piston on the strut is shorter.
Then I finally try with koni because I found a set in very good price lucky...
It's prefect for me..., ride very smooth when accelerating. Espeically when going on a bump, it's not bouncy at all plus it is very comfortable. I highly recommended it.
If you have more money for the springs, I think Koni with eibach pro kit might be even better because my friend's 330I are using this combination and they feel more like stock to me...very comfort as well.

Koni Sports adjusted to 20% stiffer with Eibach ProKit springs and new Conti tires. With the alignment I had the whole front end retorqued to factory tightness. Now I'd say the ride is perfect and very quiet.

Originally Posted by KYC

Here's my personal experience on different setups.

Bilstein shock with stock springs: Ya... this is only temporary because the undercarriage is rubbing when entering an indoor parking. Terrible ride so far, bad comfort, bad handling... I need to swap those out FAST.

Originally Posted by KYC

Bilstein Sport. I'm actually not too sure the difference between that and HD

Gotcha. I run Bilstein HD with stock springs and its a great setup. Bilstein Sport is definitely a no-go with stock springs.

Originally Posted by xi_ter

Koni Sports adjusted to 20% stiffer with Eibach ProKit springs and new Conti tires. With the alignment I had the whole front end retorqued to factory tightness. Now I'd say the ride is perfect and very quiet.

Nice.

I'm curious what the Eibach's would be like with Bilstein HD's now.

I thought about the Koni's (and almost got a slightly used set for next to nothing). But if you've been around for a while, you've no doubt heard the quality issues Koni had. They seem to have most of those problems solved recently, but the reason the used set was available to me was because the guy kept blowing them out in the rear. That said, everyone blows out bilsteins now, so who knows anymore. I'm pretty sure BavAuto had a bad batch of rear xi shocks too. EVERYBODY was blowing out rear bilsteins on their xi around here.

Originally Posted by Kubica

... you've been around for a while, you've no doubt heard the quality issues Koni had. They seem to have most of those problems solved recently, but the reason the used set was available to me was because the guy kept blowing them out in the rear. That said, everyone blows out bilsteins now, so who knows anymore. I'm pretty sure BavAuto had a bad batch of rear xi shocks too. EVERYBODY was blowing out rear bilsteins on their xi around here.

Bilstein claimed these failures were due to installers roughing the surface of the chromed piston with Vice-grips when torquing the top bolt. I'd say there is truth to this. I was very careful clamping the vice -grips only at the very top and mine are not failing.
This could have been happening on Koni installs as well. The shock mfrs should really put a flat surface on top so the installers clamp there instead of lower down.