Sammo

I've got good news and bad news https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2755802817?bof=9849D4pu

A stunning silver E30 and E39 - what a great combo ??

Nice - I came from a MK6 GTI to a Straight 6 E46 - VWs are 'Gateway Drugs' haha

This is a mirror site with different interface?

They broke it IMO. Mobile app still seems to work as before though.

Nice colour combo, and bet its beading like crazy with all that wax on it!

That's definately the plan!

Update: Thank you all for your advice - really appreciate all the feedback! I'm going to order some ST-XA coilovers - while I probably don't really need damping adjustment, for another $300, might as well throw it in. KW made, twin tube dampers and more friendly spring rates sold me here (as compared to the Taiwanese offerings). I'm looking to be around 330mm hub to arch in the front and 320mm rear which is well within the tested TUV range. While I do love the idea of having KWs, talking to their support, the ST-XA product is the otherwise the same as KW V2 and paying $500+ for stainless front strut housings isn't worthwhile in Auckland IMO. @leichtbau Looks like I do have several options for spring rates - either a 50 n/mm front linear spring with a 20n/mm tender or a 60 n/mm front linear spring with a 20 n/mm tender. Rears are same progressive at around 84 n/mm (must be an approximation, being progressive). The non damping adjustable ST-X also offer a progressive front spring, utilising the factory upper perch. My current AP springs are 27n/mm front and 49 n/mm rear, so the 50n/mm should be noticeably stiffer without being overkill (BC and XYZ are both 8-10kg!). Attached photoshop-lowered pic of my car haha

That's the one. I've not seen it but have met the seller before, nice lad, think he has two E36 and this is the 'minter' one.

There is a guy on Facebook selling a Daytona Violet 1996 with 157km - Cloth M Rain interior. NZ New, service history - looks tidy and stock on DS1's / Style 22.

Mine doesn't *for now*. Does drink it though ?

Yeah, I like it, a little meaty for super aggressive offsets but I would want to got much below ET30 on E46 anyway.

@///M The lure of shiny stuff is real haha

@///M Cheers - how long have you had your STs and presume they are holding up without any corrosion? Need to get my car on a flat surface and get my wheel to hub measurements and ensure my goals are comfortably within the range on the TUV / install guide. My wheels are 18x8.5 ET30, so would imagine I will have no clearance issues.

@leichtbau Cheers, that makes sense - essentially a dual rate spring system. The likes of BC, appears you are straight into the 8kg linear spring with a monotube damper which sounds harsh. I'll have a chat to KW support, I've found them helpful in the past and they seem more than happy to discuss both KW and ST products impartially

@Bandit Thanks mate! I had a bad experience earlier this year with Demon Tweeks (Parcel Force delayed, then lost package and Demon Tweeks support throughout was really poor) having said that, most of the issue was their carrier, Parcel Froce and to be fair, it was right in the middle of Covid's first wave. I've not used DC Performance, but they have been very responsive to email questions to date at least - prices seem comparable (product dependent). Definitely leaning towards either KW V1 or ST XA at this point (similar price - basically brand appeal vs rebound adjustment...) Car is driven in rain about 7000km a year but no salted roads up here so I imagine ST would be totally fine.

@leichtbau tender spring being that little 'helper' spring? I did see the KW V1's offer 2 types for the front axle - 2 piece race spring (helper and linear?) or one piece (progressive?)

@Gaz How is the ride and NVH on the BCs? I'm running 235/40/18 so have a little bit of sidewall.

Jeez, looks like 8 weeks lead times from KW at the minute... Although to be fair, even 'local' option BC was going to be 6 weeks...

@Matth5 Good feedback, and interesting point. I definitely like the 'idea' of damping adjustment but understand on the KW V1 its set up out of the box from chassis specific testing by much smarter people than me, so likely better than a lower quality kit with lots of things to adjust (i.e. mess up!).

@Herbmiester I bet they were ? $5k though ?

@///M Thanks mate - awesome, cheers for that. Yeah, it looks like most of the German coilovers have that design , compressing the spring. I'm not looking to slam, just have tyre just above the arch (probably 30mm from stock Msport height) so hopefully in the middle of the designed lowering range. Did you import the ST-X yourself? Any issues with certification without camber plates / ability to dial out the natural negative camber from lowering?

So, not being satisfied with my new lowering springs and shocks (height not where I want it / still a bit soft) means I'm looking to go for Coilovers. I want to get my car sitting exactly where I want it (although not going particularly low) and make the car a bit more go-kart like without wrecking the ride quality - don't mind it being stiffer and firmer but prefer not to be crashy and noisy. The fact I need to certify my cars manual swap anyway helps the 'justification'. Options I'm looking at are: BC Racing BR - $1600 - ubiquitous in NZ / support / value / can get supplied, installed, aligned and certed in one hit @Hyper which is very attractive if there are any issues. Also like their threaded shock body design which retains suspension travel at various heights (or just marketing, I'm not sure). Reservation is their image is more JDM drifter boi and heard the pillowball mounts can get a bit rough / noisy. XYZ - $1550 - Local source (Speedfactor) although would need to get end-links and install myself - not sure if they are meaningfully different quality-wise to BC either? They have a rubber base pillowball that apparently helps NVH. Or look at importing some German ones (better quality / damping and ride??) via DC Performance in the UK and try installing myself, using my existing new OEM shock / strut mounts: ST X - $1650 landed - no top mounts / no damping adjustment - these all appear to lower via compressing the spring (impacts ride quality as you go lower?) ST XA - $1950 landed - no top mounts but with adjustable dampers (potential happy middle ground) KW V1 - $2000 landed - ST X but better build quality KW V2 - $2550 landed - ST XA but better build quality Eibach Street Pro / Bilstein B14 - around $2000 landed but no damping adjustment and less reviews around The BC Racing and XYZ come with Camber pillowball mounts which I'm unsure I actually need to obtain cert (cert requires camber to be within 0.5 of factory specs?) but sound like they transmit a fair bit of NVH as well. Keen to hear your thoughts on what you've used and any experiences you've had. At this point I'm planning on owning the car a long time so spending a bit more on quality isn't an issue - only if it brings a real world benefit of course.

@qube cheaper too, I may get there on the LEDs eventually

Added LCI taillight inners for a different look. I'm not convinced I like the led 'bubble-look' lights on the full LCI Led taillights (or at least the aftermarket ones) so tried this as an in between step.