2016 Clubman S, have had AST springs for a little over 2 years. When I originally got them, it was a good deal and a quick way to reduce my wheel gap. After they were installed, I was disappointed to see that there was still a considerable amount of wheel gap left, not so much, but more than I would have liked.

Now that I am a bit older, LOL, I don't care so much for a more aggressive drop. Especially since I really don't have to worry about scraping on driveways, although speed bumps still bottom out sometimes - this might be bc of my CS Big Pair. The one thing that bothers me now is that the ride is super stiff.

A few months back, I needed to get new tires, and with some thought and research I ended up sizing my tires up from 225/40R18 to 245/40R18. This helped a bit with the wheel gap, and also smoothed out the ride a bit. With some additional GPS testing, this size up also corrected the speedo, that was reading too fast before. It is still reading a bit fast, but much more accurate than before.

Stock tire size - speedo was ~83mph while GPS was showing 79-80mph.
New tire size - speedo at 81mph and GPS at 80mph

Anyways, back to the subject at hand - I am thinking about getting coilovers; somewhat for more drop, but I really want better comfort. I am not too familiar with all the different brands and their offerings, but I did some research on KW coilovers. I see that they offer a Street Comfort kit, which they are claiming has better adjustability and more comfort than OEM. And the V2 is supposed to be like the SC kit, but offers more adjustability, maybe.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Any other recommendations?

 

I have had Eibach springs on an older model and didn't like the feel...perhaps the stock shocks were unhappy. I then tried H&R coilovers on the R53 and then went to KW V1's on my F54 JCW and have ordered a set for my new JCW F54. I don't track the F54 as it is a daily driver but I find that KW's are more comfortable than the stock suspension. I went with the KW's as I wanted a good drop in ride height...and wanted them to stand the test of time. I did not go for the DDC on either model and I am sticking with the 18 inch run flats...I honestly find the biggest change for a softer ride is to ditch the run flats.

 

I already have my BC Racing Coilovers. They haven't been installed just yet as I'm waiting for winter to be over with. If you haven't purchased them yet and want feedback, I'll be installing them in March.

 

I’m thinking about the KW Street Comforts too

 

Since I have the DDC suspension, I believe they are supposed to be softer than the "standard" sport suspension; bc of course when you change into sport mode, that's when it stiffens up. It's still interesting that you mention the KW is more comfortable than stock, you're starting to get my hopes up. This is my daily - and as much as I want to believe this is a racecar, I have never been to a track.

Just reading on the KW website, I think the SC are supposed to be even softer than the V1.

 

I'm not in a rush to drop a couple grand, so I'll definitely be waiting to hear your experience.

What made you choose BC coils over anything else?

 

Just to clarify, I find the daily driving and handling bumps improved for sure in terms of comfort...in terms of handling and taking corners etc is is definitely improved with less body roll and of course, lowering the center of gravity really helps. I also ordered a NM 25mm rear sway bar which will help stiffen up the rear end and improve rotation a fair bit with aggressive cornering. I am doing this when I install the KW's so I can get it all done and get the alignment and then I am good to go.

 

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When do you think you are going to get them?

 

Probably a few months at the earliest. Like Masada, I have an NM Engineering 25mm rear sway bar in the garage waiting install. I’m going to reevaluate after that.

Still pondering doing AST springs plus Bilstein B8s, or keep the stock springs and install Bilstein B6s. I had Bilstein HDs (B6 equivalent?) on my E36 and loved them.

My R56 had Koni FSDs on stock sport springs and I think the ride quality of the R56 was better than my F54. I’m not impressed with the DDC at all.

I like the drop amount of the KW SC vs.
the 35/25mm drop with the ASTs. I have heavy snow to get through occasionally. Less drop would help.

 

One of my friends has KW coilovers and raises his ride height for the winter and then lowers it again in the spring but that seems like a lot of trouble and is costly. I told him just to get an air suspension. I like my KW V1's as I can get it to a height I like (I finger width of wheel gap) but yeah, I am not setup well for winter but we don't my get too much snow on the west coast at least.

 

I got my BC Racing Coilovers installed yesterday. This is when I took it out for the first drive. Rubbed like crazy from the preset settings. I adjusted the rear springs up 0.75 inches and the front up 0.50 inches. I also adjusted the dampening in the rear. They drive and handle very well. Install was also super simple. Just make sure you have all of the tools you need before you start. Torx bits and sockets for the rear suspension and torx bits and normal sockets for the front. The rear bolt that holds the bottom of the rear strut on needed a three foot breaker bar to break loose. Unfortunately, I didn't actually have a breaker bar, so I slid a pipe over the ratchet. The teeth broke inside the ratchet and when it gave free the pipe cracked me in the nose, luckily just in the nostril area. If it hit the bridge I would have broken my nose for sure, or at least bloodied it.

​Don't forget jackstands. Not only for safety reasons, but so you can manipulate the suspension with the floor jack.

If you have any questions during your install just reach out to me.

 

Cost and range of adjustability. They come. With new front sway bar end links too which is always a plus. The bang for the buck is great.

 

Those BLQ's look good, they are 18's I assume. The offset must be around 40? I have et 45 on the rears and 42 up front and I had to have the camber closer.to -2.0 degrees in the rear so I would have no rubbing issues when the car is under load.

 

Thanks, I appreciate that. They're 18"x8.5" et45 front and rear. I've never actually dealt with adjusting camber before. What all goes into adjusting the rears? Do I need additional components, or is this something a shop could do?

 

So I was just lookin through the stats for the Street Comforts and the V1, and I saw a few interesting things. First, I initially thought that the SC < V1 < V2, V3, etc. But I guess the V1 is the "base" model, which does not have any dampening adjustability, while the Street Comforts do have it. But the V1 has greater ride height adjustment.


KW V1 vs KW SC

 

Up front you would require camber plates to adjust camber but for et 44 you shouldn't need them (did you run up front?), on the rear you probably don't need adjustable control arms as you can get to about -2.0 degrees with stock arms when lowered. If you want more aggressive camber you need lower control arms.

 

If you have camber plates up front that is how you adjust it, in the rear I'm not sure what our cars use for camber adjustment but I believe adjustable control arms would be needed.

Curious to know if the BC's have front camber plates as I'm most likely going to be getting those for mine.

 

The BC's do not have front camber plates.