From owner-e36m3_at_Mailing-List.net Tue Aug 31 12:13:12 1999
From: John Robison <johnr_at_yahoo-inc.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 12:12:41 -0700
To: e36m3_at_Mailing-List.net
CC: P3t3s_at_aol.com
Subject: [E36M3] Re: suspension choice

My *opinion* - not facts... ;-)

> I'll be in the bay area next week for couple of days, and I'm planning to
> stop by at Dinan. For a while now, I've been considering their stage 1
> suspension package (spring/shock)
>
Not any better than the stock M3 setup, IMHO. Possibly worse.

> So, I'm wondering if anyone in the list have/familiar with this setup, and
> could give me some impression about it? Is it actually worth the money?
>
What do you want out of it? Personally, unless you are going stage 3+, I wouldn't spend a dime on M3 suspension, other than $150.00 for the X Brace.

> I'm using the car as my dailly driver, and maybe once in a
> while, a driver school/local auto-x event.
>
If your car is a daily, why mod the suspension? Spend the money on a set of track tires, get sharked, and start practicing. The money is much better spent on DE events. You'll hardly notice a difference in daily driving (or on the track) at stage 1, so the "bang for buck" is just not there when upgrading suspension on the M3. The M3 is almost perfect out of the box, don't mess w/ it unless you *really* know what you are doing.

I can't remember the posting, but I think the consensus on "bang for buck" puts driver training pretty much at the top. You'll get a LOT faster (yes, a LOT!) by just practicing w/ the stock suspension.

I've spend my money in roughly this order:

1. DE (track) and autox events w/ local clubs
2. Track Tires (save $$ in the long run)
3. X-Brace and sharking (chip) [High bang, relatively low buck]
4. Even more DE and autox events w/ not so local clubs ;-)
5. Suspension mods. [Low bang, high buck.]

Of course, if you just want to look cool, chop the springs... ;-) [Oh yeah, we already covered that Boy Racer thread... ;-)]

JohnR - 98 M3.4
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