[kimber_92663]

Hello friends! I just got a 2016 535i M Sport (Non Adaptive) and have been reading a lot on here. I like how the M Sport suspension rides and performs right now but I am curious if changing to the KW V2 and changing the rear and front sway bars will make a significant change.

I am pretty impressed with the M Sport suspension actually but I do want a lowered look. Just trying to sense if i will be blown away with the change. Purpose is just for spirited driving.

I am from Socal (Diamond Bar) so if there is anyone that can give me a ride so that I can just compare I would surely appreciate it. I am not new to coilover and suspension changes but I have no experience with the M Sport till now and just really want a real world comparison. I was expecting the car to feel like a boat but so far I am ok with its behavior taking the usual corners and sweepers I am familar with. Thanks and kindly let me know if you have a V2 and can help.

[ThaiBruin]

I have a 2014 535i and I replaced the m-sport suspension with the KW V2s within a few months. It's literally a night and day difference when it comes to handling (and DEFINITELY in appearance). If we weren't in the middle (or tail end of) a pandemic, I'd be happy to give you a ride, especially since I'm not super far from you.

[kimber_92663]

Originally Posted by ThaiBruin

I have a 2014 535i and I replaced the m-sport suspension with the KW V2s within a few months. It's literally a night and day difference when it comes to handling (and DEFINITELY in appearance). If we weren't in the middle (or tail end of) a pandemic, I'd be happy to give you a ride, especially since I'm not super far from you.

Thank you and I really appreciate the response. I do understand the situation we are in. Did you change your sway bars as well?

[ThaiBruin]

Originally Posted by kimber_92663

Thank you and I really appreciate the response. I do understand the situation we are in. Did you change your sway bars as well?

I thought about it, but considering I live in West LA where I spent most of my time in traffic, I didn't want to spend too much on additional suspension mods that I'll rarely ever put to use. Just having the coilovers has made general driving around street corners and onramps/offramps more engaging enough.

Here's a side pic of my car.

[ChiNorm]

Originally Posted by kimber_92663

Thank you and I really appreciate the response. I do understand the situation we are in. Did you change your sway bars as well?

I have V3s with the stock bars. No body roll whatsoever.

[xxpanipuri]

Another option depending on the condition of your suspension can be lowering springs and Dinan shockware.

at 15k miles i replaced my oem springs with AC Schnitzer springs and dinan Shockware, not only did it give me a better ride height but really took out a bunch of the body roll, while maintaining the stock ride quality...

They do have adjustable height springs..

just my $.02 as it can be a bit more cost effective...

[SWFLf10]

I have the stock M sport suspension and just swapped my front sway bar to H&R and swapped the lower front thrust arms to the aluminum mount Turner ones and it had made a significant difference to me. Might want to start with the sway bars first and go from there if you're more concerned with driving responsiveness vs looks. It's also a cheap way to start out if you plan on possibly doing both the bars and suspension eventually.

[paul223]

Go with coilovers and skip sway bars.

[Blue Angel]

Same situation here, new (to me) 2016 535 M Sport XDrive. I'd like it to sit a touch lower and would like to reduce body roll and brake dive.

Having lowered all of my previous daily drivers I'm leery of doing just springs since this often results in an under-damped suspension.

Coilovers are the best solution but harder on the budget, and really, this is a luxury car and shouldn't ride like a sport compact. My main concern with coilovers is they would ride too stiff.

Is the V1 or V2 an inappropriate level of stiffness for this car keeping in mind it's roots? I don't want my wife complaining.

[Surly73]

I (finally) put v3s on my X-Drive last year. My ride height is fairly "high" (2/3 of the way towards the top of the KW recommended range) at around 20-25mm dropped from factory. The fender gap looks good, and suitable for my age so to speak.

I'm finding the body and undercarriage might be a little low for an all season DD - still dealing with that. Ice chunks that aren't that big hit stuff undernearth all the way back, and part of the plastic under tray snagged on something on my way into a car wash I've been using for over 10 years. It seems like the F10 may be very highly fender-gapped from the factory but actually fairly low in terms of skirts and undercarriage. In attempting to get better "gap" I'm running into more issues than I'd like (pun intended). I still have a generous 1 finger gap and I'm getting clearance issues.

For ride, I went with KW recommendations and then backed compression off two clicks all around (an adjustment the V1s and V2s don't have, the v2s are only rebound adjustable). I don't find it harsh, but it is WAY more controlled than stock, especially in the rear. I have not attempted to refine it any further than that in compression or rebound and I really should.

The lockdowns greatly reduced my driving since installing and I feel like I haven't really figured it out. I think the wheelbase may simply be too long to ever feel really engaging. Higher speed stuff it seems unshakable but it still feels like it's plowing into tighter turns. e.g. trying to take a fast right it feels like I'll never hit the apex, but a larger roundabout or a 4 lane to 4 lane left I can place it and apex perfectly at pretty significant carried speed. Kind of weird actually.

I did KWs 95% for handling, not for looks. Stance-wise I was OK going with something that looked like an option 704 E46, E39 or E90. The F10 is so "jacked up" from the factory and even the rare 704 variant is only 10mm lower. Now maybe I know why... I might even consider raising it more in line with factory 704.

The "M Sport", unless a RWD option 704, has the same ride height as every other F10, even the non-sportiest all wheel drive.

EDIT: Oh, I said it in other threads and forgot to say it here.... There are a set of observations about the handling after KW that are "low frequency" - control of the rear end from sloshing over bumps, weight transfer in transitions, braking and turns etc... Then there's "high frequency" stuff like broken pavement. After months with the KWs I was mostly observing low frequency behaviour and body control. Once I was in a rush through an industrial area with cracked and broken pavement. Halfway through the trip I clued in to how much better it was. The KWs really shine here, keeping the rubber on the road and feeling unshakable. That's the kind of characteristics that improve lap times and have nothing to do with comfort, looks or body control. I couldn't believe the amount of improvement in this area. It really impressed me. With factory dampers, even if the body felt under control (low frequency) you could tell the rubber was not maintaining solid contact with the pavement over the cracks etc...

[lsturbointeg]

just wanted to chime in as i'm running KWv1's and not the 2 but having these on for the last 4 years i don't any complaints at all. the handling is perfect, the ride heights is exactly where i want it and i'm still running on stock sways. i will say adding the ebay strut tower bar has had a improvement with cornerning. i did not want to go with sways since i did not want the car to feel like a gokart. this is still a family sedan lol!

[airframer84]

I’m in the same boat, ever since I moved to Jacksonville my commute is all highway. Really shows the “boatiness” of the car, I’m debating between coil overs or the bilstein lowering kit.

[ThaiBruin]

Originally Posted by Blue Angel

Is the V1 or V2 an inappropriate level of stiffness for this car keeping in mind it's roots? I don't want my wife complaining.

I'm not sure about the V1, but V2 and V3 have adjustable dampers, so you can dial in how "stiff" you want the ride.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by ThaiBruin

I'm not sure about the V1, but V2 and V3 have adjustable dampers, so you can dial in how "stiff" you want the ride.

V1: Height adjustment only
V2: Height and rebound
V3: Height, rebound, and low speed compression
V4: Height, rebound, low and high speed compression (along with an external reservoir)

[spielnicht]

KWs are going to be night and day better than the stock M Sport suspension. I have the V3s and they're by far the best upgrade I made on my car.

With that said, if you don't have xDrive (doesn't sound like it), then I would definitely consider the Bilstein B12 kit. Slightly cheaper and monotube.

The first thing I'll do when in the market for a new car is check and see if Bilstein makes a B12 kit. Not making that mistake again.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by spielnicht

KWs are going to be night and day better than the stock M Sport suspension. I have the V3s and they're by far the best upgrade I made on my car.

With that said, if you don't have xDrive (doesn't sound like it), then I would definitely consider the Bilstein B12 kit. Slightly cheaper and monotube.

The first thing I'll do when in the market for a new car is check and see if Bilstein makes a B12 kit. Not making that mistake again.

I hate that for our xDrives, the only options are 1k decent coilovers, and eye wateringly expensive V3's. I'm going to be upgrading from my silvers to v3's come spring.



Run wallet, run.

[burro_blasta]

Originally Posted by Surly73

I'm finding the body and undercarriage might be a little low for an all season DD - still dealing with that. Ice chunks that aren't that big hit stuff undernearth all the way back, and part of the plastic under tray snagged on something on my way into a car wash I've been using for over 10 years. It seems like the F10 may be very highly fender-gapped from the factory but actually fairly low in terms of skirts and undercarriage. In attempting to get better "gap" I'm running into more issues than I'd like (pun intended). I still have a generous 1 finger gap and I'm getting clearance issues.

Thank you for posting this. Living in Denver and taking driving to the ski resorts in the winter, I've been weary of lowering it at all because of clearance issues. So far I'm really happy with my sways and strut bar so this convinces me to stick with the ignorance is bliss approach and never find out how much nicer it'd feel with the v3s.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by burro_blasta

Thank you for posting this. Living in Denver and taking driving to the ski resorts in the winter, I've been weary of lowering it at all because of clearance issues. So far I'm really happy with my sways and strut bar so this convinces me to stick with the ignorance is bliss approach and never find out how much nicer it'd feel with the v3s.

Well - you could also take what I've said and just build the v3s at the top of their recommended height range. It might be close to stock, or at least more like option 704.

If I had not paid for corner balancing as part of my alignment following the install, I might be more willing to just go out and try it sometime and see where the ride height settles. I might do something like that anyways. The corner balance may still be valid (or close enough) if I put the same number of turns at all four corners.

[Sylverlee]

Originally Posted by Unspec

I hate that for our xDrives, the only options are 1k decent coilovers, and eye wateringly expensive V3's. I'm going to be upgrading from my silvers to v3's come spring.



Run wallet, run.

You don't like your silvers? I run Megan's and was thinking of upgrading to Silver's or V2's one day.

[burro_blasta]

Originally Posted by Surly73

Well - you could also take what I've said and just build the v3s at the top of their recommended height range. It might be close to stock, or at least more like option 704.

If I had not paid for corner balancing as part of my alignment following the install, I might be more willing to just go out and try it sometime and see where the ride height settles. I might do something like that anyways. The corner balance may still be valid (or close enough) if I put the same number of turns at all four corners.

Expensive as they are, do you think riding at max height loses a lot of the benefit?

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by Sylverlee

You don't like your silvers? I run Megan's and was thinking of upgrading to Silver's or V2's one day.

They perform amazingly. When I'm on nice roads, the car is planted firmly and I get a ton of road feel. Their customer service is also pretty great, always quick to respond to my questions. The problem is, the roads aren't that nice around where I am (NYC) and my girlfriend has TMJ issues. She's been complaining that my car rides too rough and is putting her in pain.

I'm hoping that with the V3's, the extra adjustment will keep it compliant enough to not put my girlfriend in pain, but still sporty enough for when I'm on bear mountain

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by burro_blasta

Expensive as they are, do you think riding at max height loses a lot of the benefit?

Absolutely not. (Note I didn't say "max height", just talking about getting to 704 or maybe stock height)

Even if I put it at stock or option 704 ride height, the rear end of the car wouldn't be floating and bouncing all over the place like with stock suspension. I wouldn't need to make mid-corner corrections because of side-to-side oscillation when setting into a turn. Like I mentioned, the improvement in "plantedness" on less-than-perfect pavement is really remarkable. This "plantedness" will also be improving braking on imperfect surfaces. I could go on, but all of that stuff would still remain if I put it another 10mm higher.

The chassis is finally controlled and tight. I don't need to scrape along the ground to reap the benefits of that.

Now - KWs are designed such that the ride height and preload are tied together. To increase ride height you are also increasing pre-load. I would expect that to affect the effective spring rate and alter the progressive behaviour of the springs, although I have seen conflicting mathematical opinions on this. That could mean that the car would be softer when lower and stiffer when higher, which is a little weird. Whether 10mm is enough to notice I'm not sure. I asked and KW says as long as you're within their recommended build range "everything will be fine".

Raising it would also have the benefits of having the sway bar end links in the right place, some bushings which were not released during the installation won't be twisted anymore, I wouldn't have -1 camber in the front etc...