hey everybody,

I want to lower my car (R56 '09 MCS, 17x7.5 wheels) with a ride quality as
road trip friendly as possible and handling as MINI like as possible thinking in the range 1.5-2" all around.

i have narrowed down the selection to M7 and Cross coilvovers
the KW v2 are the 3rd choice mainly i am wondering about the differences
from M7 and Cross.

so here the main differences I have found (and please correct me if I'm wrong)

M7:
- easy to adj. soft/stiffness because adj. is on the bottom of the coil
- will go low 2"+
- no camber plate (how important are they at 2" lower?and how much $ ?)

Cross:
- ride height adj. independent from travel *
- camber plates incl.
- front swaybar endlinks incl.

*at how much lower does the travel affect the ride quality of the other coils and or can it be adjusted through the compression/rebound settings?

I have read about every thread i could find here and others too.
I know cross are more expensive but i think the offer some extra things too
which kind of eliminate the price discussion i see in other threads soo often.. would i like to save the extra?sure.Would i pay it if i get something better(4 me) out of it?sure.

The KW are in this selection because I am a German who happens to live in Florida (for now) and back home KW are one of the biggest brand names for coilovers and they have a TÜV Certificate which if i should ever go back helps i guess
but to be honest I hear very mixed things about them rides hard, is soo comfortable blablabla

How do they compare to the 2 above in terms of comfort and adjustablility.

I am thankful for everybody that can help even a little bit!

happy motoring

 

If money is no object.. Cross hands down. When you buy them you can choose the spring rates best suited for your application. For street you would want a softer rate and maintaining as much travel as you can is what you want street or track. Just my 2 cents.

 

No personal experience as far as performance but I would go with M7 simply because they have been above and beyond excellent support(even for a non customer). Talking to Peter at length was quite the eye opener.

 

When trying to decide on what coilover to go with, I found myself in a very similar situation as yours. Ultimately, I ended up going with what I wanted the most. Yes, the crosses are more money, but you get what you pay for. They offer good build quality, customer service, ride height independent of damper travel and the fact that they come with camber plates makes them a great bang for the buck IMO. Of course, I have nothing bad to say about KW or M7 as I have tried neither, but seriously considered both, until I found the crosses on sale right at 2k.

Ultimately it all depends on what you want out of the car. I took Ryephile's advice very seriously on this matter. If I wanted the ultimate in street comfort combined with the ablility to go as low as I want (aprox 2 inches) then I would have chosen the KW V1's. I was however willing to give up some comfort and noise in favor of superb handling. I love my Cross coilover, but it's a good thing that I'm not much of a talker when I'm driving

 

yes the car is my daily driver, street use only so far..but i do drive like i am on the track sometimes

Money is always an object but hey i could have bought a cheaper car too
and that just wouldn't be as much fun as ours nor as nice looking and good handling.
do i understand right that with the Cross coilovers you will start to have some more noises in your car then before???
And the KW v1 are comfortable even at 2" lowered and are we talking comfortable stock ride smoother/stiffer?

how low did you guys go?

 

If my understanding is correct, the KW's will offer a ride quality more along the lines of that of the sport suspension. Personally, I love the gocart like handling that I get with the combination of the PSRS bushing and the cross coilovers. It's nothing like stock! My complaint may actually be a combination of the coilovers and my tires being noisy. I have Goodyear Eagle F1 All seasons. On rougher road surfaces at highway speeds, it gets to be a bit noisy in the cabin. Definitely more so than stock. That's what I was getting at in my last post. I'm also lowered close to 2 inches.

 

I went with the Cross. Good build quality and rides amazingly close to stock if not better when lowered (I have regular tires.. ditch the run-flats)

btw.. get rear lower control arm and rear sways.. you will be done with suspension work.

 

I can't recommend one over the others, but my Crosses provide an amazing ride on the road. I personally liked the ride better than my sport suspension. I don't feel like there is any more noise than before, except when going over big bumps, which I generally tend to avoid anyway.

 

rear control arms are for adjusting neg. camber wich i will get more if i lower more is that right?(tires loose profile quicker on the inside?)

rear swaybars are so the the cars body doesn't twist is much, so the wheels stay on the ground in turns???(sorry for the cheap explanation)

know what you meen with the tires had some "loud'' tires on a different car before...
so how about the KW v2 then, because them you could set softer or stiffer right?!?

another question about you experiences with installing coilovers, did you need wheel spacers, cause i read some people needed them? I have 17x7.5 wheels with i think 37offset.

quite some Cross opinions not many others yet, come on there must be more people out there....
thanks for all your help guys it's much appreciated

keep on motoring

 

+5 on the crosses. Get 'em if you can afford 'em. You won't be disappointed.

 

where did you guys buy yours? best deals anything?

oh and rear control arms? which ones are good there? alta, txwerks...???


thanks guys

 

I too am trying to decide on coilovers and had planned on going with Eibach. Now I'm starting to lean toward Cross beuase of the camber plates are included. The more good thing I read about Cross the more I lean that way. And you do get waht you pay for so why not save a little more for the best

 

What about the megan racing coilovers? they have camber plates included.. also not a bad company either. Still debating on what to lower on =[

 

yeah i don't know about the Megans haven't included them here
because for some reason they haven't made it in my top 3 choices
and I don't want to offend anybody here that has them and is happy with them
or any other brands that I excluded from this thread by that matter.

i just found here on NAM that Alta is having a sale till the 20th of Jan.
so the Cross come down to 1957$ and the M7 to 1334$ that's not bad
haven't seen those coilovers any lower priced then that anywhere else yet.

keep on posting people come on not yet made a 100% decision but I might
just before that sale is over...

 

The crosses no longer come with the rear adjuster cables. So keep in mind that if you want them, you can expect to spend another 100 bucks. The Alta sale is likely the best deal you will find.

 

What are the rear adjuster cables? what for??

 

My conclusions;

KW: Comfort driven
M7: Compromise driven
Cross: Track performance driven

 

The cables are used to adjust the compression/rebound on the rear shocks since the adjustment **** is on top. With out the cables you will need to unmount the shock inorder to access the adjustment ****. The cables allow you to make the adjustments from inside the car at the top of each shock.

 

is that the same as the BC coils where you'd have to cut out a hole in order to have it like you discribe?

 

So are the Cross harder to adjust in the rear now?

 

Yes... For an extream amount of detail you can ref. this post by COR BLMY: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-feedback.html
However, you may not need a full 2" dia. hole as he used. If you are accurate enough, a 3/4" x 2" slot will work. Alot of test fitting involved here though.

No...

 

How about camber plates with M7 and or KW v1 or v2 do you need them when lowering 1.5"+ and rear adj control arms also does anybody know?

 

I'd say Cross are best of both worlds Izzy. Personally find them great on the street. I've heard the same thing from other Cross owners.

 

Even though 1.5" does not sound like much change, this is a rather significant change when it comes to your alignment. As you lower the car, the center of your wheel remains in a relatively fixed position, while the top of the wheel leans inward (towards the engine) and the lower moves outward. This is what is known as a change in the camber and will cause excessive tire wear to the inner portion of the tire tread if this is your daily driver. The increase in camber will also affect the handling of the car, not always in a positive way either. If this is a track only or even a weekend track car, the addition of adjustable rear control arm and front camber plates will allow you the adjustability needed to find that happy place between what you consider acceptable tire wear and a car that drives through the corners at a level you like. The front plates & adjustable rear control arms also give you the freedom to have one alignment setting marked for the track and another setting for optimal tire wear with daily driving.

 

Actually the few I've spoken to did mention that the cabin is noisier. Let's be honest, you cannot have the best of both worlds. Better handling equates to stiffer suspension, stiffer suspension equates harsher ride. Yes, other things come into play but that underlying issue cannot be negated.