ST coilover not going low enough

Originally Posted by Kris@TSS

You can talk to Phil ext 142. He's pretty helpful.

I think this is what I'll end up doing.


Warranty replacement products should be free of any customs charges, as were my first set of repalcement springs. The second set of springs I was sent carried a $45 fee, which I had to pay out of pocket.

I sent Adam @ KW my FedEx bill, to which he replied asking for my credit card information to issue a refund. I asked if PayPal was okay, since I'd feel safer proceeding with the transaction that way, to which he said "KW doesn't deal with PayPal"

Fine, so today I ask him exactly what CC info fields he needs to issue the refund and I get "You must of misunderstood my last few emails, use my manager as your contact from here on out". Here's the catch, within the last 5-6 weeks that I've been dealing with KW to fix this issue, not once have I been contacted by, or been able to contact the "manager" (who's name is Bob by the way).

It baffles me the amount of manhours and money pissed away on a simple issue which took over a month to notice. We trust this company to offer quality suspension solutions, yet they were unable to simply notice I was sent the wrong springs twice? To me this is a little ridiculous..

Originally Posted by Kris@TSS

Don't remove the helper spring. If your springs are incorrect you should call over the KW/ST to get it resolved.

ok and i had sonic motorsport install them cause i have no idea how does this mean i have to use my pocket money for there mistake and on top of it re align the car

I am not sure how KW's runs their payment system but I know when we refund people we have to use the original payment method. I'd assume you didn't purchase directly from KW/ST so you would need a check issued you. Sounds like the manager needs to approve your refund. Sounds fair enough.

Originally Posted by blksab65

ok and i had sonic motorsport install them cause i have no idea how does this mean i have to use my pocket money for there mistake and on top of it re align the car

This is exactly what I've been saying to KW. If I didn't install the coilovers myself, who would be paying for 2 re-installations and another alignment?

Originally Posted by Kris@TSS

I am not sure how KW's runs their payment system but I know when we refund people we have to use the original payment method. I'd assume you didn't purchase directly from KW/ST so you would need a check issued you. Sounds like the manager needs to approve your refund. Sounds fair enough.

That's fine with me. My issue is Adam asked for credit card information in yesterday's email (probably because his manager was CC'd), now today he's pulling the rug from under me with "contact my manager, I can no longer help you out" as a response (manager not CC'd).

cant we all just get a group together and go to court lol, sooooo much easier then contacting back and forth i would think?

Still waiting for my customs refund cheque from KW..

Did those new springs work?

I'll update you guys this weekend.

The front spring rate is about 348...I am swapping my spring out to the 450.

I check the Part Number for the Front tomorrow.

so they gave me the wrong springs too... aka the xi just ****in great. going to contact them soon, my iphone is sorta totaled right now so waiting for the new one but ill contact them asap so they still remember all of your calls, and for the future people that do this remember to say "what springs should i have" rather then "i have so in so springs, are these correct", because the customer service guy might lie so he has to do less work

End result: Went a bit lower, wheel gap is gone. I'd call this the maximum practical drop. I'm satisfied, and installation took only about 2 hours.


As promised, some bad cell phone pics and a dirty car:

Originally Posted by blksab65

because the customer service guy might lie so he has to do less work

I doubt that.

Mine is lower at max drop. Almost Rim line in rear and front tire was tucked on 19's

I have 18's. Also added strut reinforcement plates, probably negligible in adding height but worth mentioning.

The front is maxed out, the rear is at about 2/3rds drop. Heavy sound system makes it lower.

AC, how much of a difference did the correct springs actually make? 1/2 inch? im curious cause im still stuck in the current situation, trying to get the correct springs to. Also did KW make the mistake of sending you different rear springs to? or just front?

Has everyone checked to make sure the coilover housing is seated correctly down? We had a similar issue with a customer. Just ended up not being down all the way in the hub.

Originally Posted by BMW2D4EVR

AC, how much of a difference did the correct springs actually make? 1/2 inch? im curious cause im still stuck in the current situation, trying to get the correct springs to. Also did KW make the mistake of sending you different rear springs to? or just front?

Not that much, but the car sits noticeably lower. The front/back are even now and going any lower just isn't practical for me anyways.
I'd say the new springs gave it just under half an inch.

As for the rears, I don't know if I have the right/wrong set.
I'm assuming there is only one set since every E46 uses the rear as drive wheels regardless of being i,ci,xi, etc.

Remember, I had stock non-sport suspension before this install, so my expectations for the drop were taken right off of TireRack.com's advertisement for my specific car and suspension package. The advertisement said 2.8 inches max drop up front if I remember right, but you can feel free to see for yourself.

EDIT: 2.8 up front, 2.0 in the back http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...1&autoModClar=

Yeah, MAYBE 2.8" without the helper springs. Idk if that figure isn't accurate or what, but its nowhere close to 2.8.
For the rears, yes 2.0" drop is achievable.




Also Kris, I jacked up the control arm with the strut installed before tightening the pinch bolt. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind everything is seated right.. after all this is the third reinstallation.

Another thing I might mention is some of these cars are creeping up on 10 years old. Springs do tend to sag after time. The lowering range specs are from a NEW car with little to no miles on it. Some cars might not measure out at the full 2.8" if there springs were sagging to begin with.

My car has 59k miles.. and used to have the stance of a 4x4. You want HD pictures of my installation to confirm?

There is no excuse for a poorly engineered product.
I now have the infamous low-speed rear clunk after raising the car a bit, and the front is still not within the drop range.

This is how it looked on the old springs, max drop front, 2/3 way rear: