Owner input wanted: Bilstein PSS10, ST-XTA and KW-V1 for weekend/track car

[SquashAZ]

Greetings all,

I have done extensive searches on this forum as well as others. I have read every review I could find and dug deep on every manufacture website and ended up with the following coil-over options.

Bilstein PSS10
ST-XTA
KW-V1

I have a 2008 135i with 43K miles and use the car as a weekend driver in Arizona and would like to get back to doing some track days as I have not done any since I had kids and sold my 2009 Z06.

I am willing to give up comfort for performance. I have the following upgrades as a fyi:
BMW Performance exhaust (was on car when I bought it)
Wagner Intercooler
Riss Racing Oil Catch Can
ESS Tune
M3 Sub frame bushings and Front Sway Bar
WaveTrac LSD
Bridgestone RE run flats (Came on car) will be Pilot sports soon.
Beyern 18” 1M Replicas

My goals are to get rid of the floating feeling on uneven roads at high speed and have better control of body roll in high speed turns. I am not convinced I need the dampening adjustment of the PSS10 and ST-XTA but at $1500 USD why not have it if I choose to use it for track days later.

I have a few questions for you all:

Bilstein PSS10 owners:
Is the front drop to extreme for public roads? How easy is it to get to damping adjustment, is a jack needed? Can you adjust with out a jack? Any issues front to rear regarding adjustment? Can you level the car removing the rack?

ST-XTA Owners:
Did you have to cut carpet out of the trunk to get access to dampening adjustment? Any comments on the linear front springs on public roads? Can to remove the front to rear rake leveling the car?

KW-V1 Owners:
So, you all who bought KW-v1’s, how does Unicorn blood taste? What do leprechauns really look like? OK, just kidding, but every one seems to love this set up with the exception of soft rear spring…thoughts?

Thanks for your input…I really don’t want to drop $1,500-$2,000 and not get what I was looking for.

Cheers.

[_Ryan_]

Bilstein PSS (B14) here- I ran around 330mm eyebrow height on mine. Have since swapped out the progressive springs for linear and run maybe 5mm lower? I drive 25k km per year on the street.

[slonik]

ST-XTA Owners:
Did you have to cut carpet out of the trunk to get access to dampening adjustment? Any comments on the linear front springs on public roads? Can to remove the front to rear rake leveling the car?

we didn't cut carpet, cause doesn't change it too much.
linear springs works excellent, but now we upgrading springs all around to stiffer numbers, cause we had 275 square setup and this time change hankook rs3 to semi slick z214.

but, on roads it works great on stock springs. if you are planning to use it on tracks, i think with usual tyre config it will works excellent, and even on square setup with usual performance tyres not bad


comparing xta with variant 1 is useless - xta used same absorbers as kw variant 2, but with linear springs (more expensive option) and with adjustable top mounts, same as kw clubsport. only front struts housings differs - they made from galvanized steel, not stainless, like kw.

ps xta cost 1.5k in usa?
may be you can buy them from europe
http://www.nh-tuning.de/Suspension-t...2::914902.html
they ship kits to as without vat and with usual postage (usps). in this way xta cost cheaper a lot, then 1.5k$. try to mail them. shipping from germany to me usually takes about 2-3 weeks.

[SquashAZ]

Originally Posted by _Ryan_

Bilstein PSS (B14) here- I ran around 330mm eyebrow height on mine. Have since swapped out the progressive springs for linear and run maybe 5mm lower? I drive 25k km per year on the street.

Did you keep the same spring rate when you changed to linear springs or did you you increase?

[SquashAZ]

Originally Posted by slonik

we didn't cut carpet, cause doesn't change it too much.

So are you saying the dampening adjustment does not really change performance?

[_Ryan_]

Originally Posted by SquashAZ

Did you keep the same spring rate when you changed to linear springs or did you you increase?

Close to it, there is a thread (search for threads created by me) which should have all the rates in a post.

[SquashAZ]

Originally Posted by _Ryan_

Close to it, there is a thread (search for threads created by me) which should have all the rates in a post.

Copy that...Thanks.

[_Ryan_]

Originally Posted by SquashAZ

Copy that...Thanks.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1063284