Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 11:56:24 -0400
From: "Wayne Miller" <m3_at_waynemiller.com>
Subject: Suspension Version 3.0 Review

Last night, I drove my car with suspension Version 3.0. As a reminder, Version 3.0 consists of:
Euro springs
stock shocks
UUC Sway Barbarians
TC Kline adjustable camber plates
Ground Control rear shock mounts.

The first thing that I noticed is the car is noticeably higher than it used to be (with the H&R/Bilstein setup it used to be very low). It looks about the same height as stock but I will take some measurements in a few days. I then drove it and there is a tremendous difference. It rides like a normal car now without the bone-jarring thumps at every bump in the road. My girlfriend commented that is now a pleasure to be in my car and she fell asleep (which she was never able to do in my car before). The steering feels much different with the 2 degrees of negative camber dialed in and if you even think about turning, it does. It is kind of odd at first but I really like it. As for the handling, I played on a few highway ramps and didn't notice any difference in overall cornering ability but I will have to wait for an autocross or drivers school for the final judgment there. Overall, I am very happy with the results and anyone in the NYC area is welcome to try it out if they are considering something similar.

One comment that I have heard before that I concur with is concerning the "adjustable" camber plates. It isn't as easy as one would think to adjust them. You can just loosen 3 bolts and adjust the camber but then your alignment will be off (because your tie-rods will move). You can adjust the caster but the strut has to be lowered completely to do this so it is more of a set it and forget it deal. I conferenced in my mechanic with Brian from TC Kline to confirm this and he agreed. This doesn't mean that I am unsatisfied with the part in any way - they are very well made and look really cool, but I just wanted to point this out.

The part numbers of the springs that I used, for those of you that are interested are:

Fronts: 31-33-2-228-171 (even though I do have a/c, sunroof, etc) - $166.80 (for both) from Nick Alexander
Rears: 33-53-9-069-132 - $168.60 from Nick Alexander I did have to wait an extra week for the springs to be shipped from Germany but it was worth it.

-Wayne

'99 M3/2 with just about everything except for forced induction and my Blinder M-10 that I still yet have to install.