From digest.v4.n843 Mon Jul 15 15:40:28 1996
From: "Carl Buckland" <buckland_at_xmission.com>
Date: Mon, 15 Jul 1996 14:22:46 +0000
Subject: H&R Coilovers-the real thing

Will Turner writes, in response to my letter about the H&R Coilovers that I just installed....

> Carl,
>

>      My comment about the H&R coil over set up was not negitive, I

>      sell a lot of H&R. Which 

> part of my comment did you find negitive?

(Carl said...)
> "In a word, INCREDIBLE, notwithstanding Will Turner's
> recent comments."
>
> -Will
> --

>      Will Turner

>      President, Turner Motorsport
>      508-463-2269
>      willt_at_turnermotorsport.com

>
> http://www.turnermotorsport.com

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Will, and all,

First, let me make it clear that I consider Will Turner a true friend to BMW enthusiasts, and by no means did I mean to offend him or demean him or his opinions. Will, if I have offended you in any way, I apologize.

What did you say about the H&R coilovers that I considered negative? This is a direct quote from what I read here on the Digest:

     The H&R coil over kit uses a hydraulic Koni  (made in Germany,
     not Holland as all the 

other Koni's are) Even the stock struts are at least low pressure gas. This H&R is old technology. I am not saying that the H&R set up is bad , It is a great street set up and you get a big "bang for the buck". The H&R coil over kit is not a race set up , the coil over design often misleads people.

This statement is attributed to you by another frequent writer on the Net, Richard Biscevic. If Richard got it wrong, that's one thing. If this IS what you said, how can you NOT consider this "negative?" "Old technology, hydraulic shock (as opposed to the newer, mono tube, high preassure gas shocks)," sounds pretty negative to me.

In any case, I think that I have gotten to the bottom of the whole dialogue. It started with a letter from David Kao, who apparently bought his original "H&R coilovers" from you. He had trouble, and sent them back. You took them apart, and thought that they were hydraulic shocks, and of shoddy construction. I have spoken to Roland Graef, of H&R Springs (who also, by the way, certainly considers Will to be a great friend of the BMW enthusiast ), who would like to see whatever it is that Will and Dave are talking about. Whatever it is, it certainly isn't a "current H&R shock or strut."

What I have to say below is based on detailed discussions with Roland Graef, special projects director for H&R springs, and on my own inspection of the H&R coilovers that I installed this weekend.

The H&R coilover system for the E36 M3 is a very new design, which was specifically made for the car. In fact, it is one of the ONLY front struts that are specifically made for the E36 M3! Even the Bilstein and Koni struts are made from donor stock parts. The front struts are adjustable coilovers. The struts and the rear shocks are designed after the de Carbon (not the brandname, but the de Carbon principle). They are a high preassure, monotube gas shock. SAME as the Bilsteins that Mr. Turner and almost all other tuners prefer, but not made by Bilstein OR Koni. Made my H&R. Period.

In fact, H&R makes the tubes with threads that Koni is using for ITS adjustable coilovers (Koni makes its own shocks).

H&R makes all their own struts and springs and shocks, in house, by Germans.

I will write about the installation, set up, and subjective impressions of my H&R's as soon as I can, but I will say this for now: The system, in conjunction with the RD swaybars, is more than I had ever hoped for! It is very firm, but SMOOOOTH. I can just FLY over very rough terrain. I feel every little undulation, but it is NOT harsh. No bouncing, jarring, or vibration. Just firm, supple feel. I like it MUCH more for the rough roads of Utah than I had expected, and on the track (in this case, an autocross), I don't know what more I could ask for. Neutral handling, quick turn in, smooth over rough transitions (where others were scraping), no body roll. I think that they are the perfect compromise. More to come.

Again, Will, I know that you were just passing on some first hand knowledge of what you saw. I can only say that what you saw must not have been demonstrative of what the H&R's usually are. Maybe an early prototype, maybe defective, maybe not even H&R's. I don't know. But MY H&R's are everything I wanted and more. You may want to order in another set and see what you think.

Regards to all,

Carl

Carl Buckland
1000 Boston Bldg
Nine Exchange Place
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
801-531-6686
Fax 531-6690
E Mail buckland_at_xmission.com