So I have a 2006 Cooper Non-S and I installed TSW V.3 springs, Koni Yellows, and IE Fixed Camber plates and now my car is lifted 1mm over stock.

I know 1mm isnt much, but I was expecting for my car to lower some. I have about 400 miles on my suspension since the install and the rear has lowered nicely, but the front is higher than stock.

The front springs look to be seated properly and everything feels fine, well actually the handling is amazing! Front grip is unbelievable, but it just doesn't look too "cool."

Anyways, anyone experience this same situation? Should I wait even longer in hopes that it will settle?

I read in older posts that TSW made "Low" front springs. What's that all about? Not sure if I have those or not, all I know is it said V.3.

 

Yeah this happened to me. I had TSW V3 springs on my JCW shocks and it almost looked higher in the front than my JCW springs.

I guess I thought they would be lower than what I expected.

Ended up seling the whole setup and going with Bilstein coilovers.

 

Give it a little more time to settle. Also, the IE fixed plates are thicker than the stock plates.

 

I've heard that the IE fixed plates are 3/16'' or so thicker then stock, so while the springs may have lowered it alittle this brought it back up some...

 

the IE plates add a little bit of ride height, but someone measured the Koni yellow fronts as lowering the car on their own a little bit as well. so in theory it should even out.

EDIT: the koni yellow ride height change is very very minor, less than a 1/4 inch. so i was wrong it shouldn't even out.

That said, I got a tiny bit less lowering than I was expecting with Konis, IE plates, and tein h-techs (which have a mild drop). Still works out well and I'm not at all disappointed with the result. Looks good to me.

- drew

 

Yes the IE plates are a little thicker so that is going to make a difference, but also remember you had old springs and mounts before so they had wear on them and would have the car lower than it should have been from the factory. I wouldn't worry to much about it. Especially since it's 1mm

 

^ agreed.

 

Forget about the 1mm and enjoy the handling I just broke the bank on tires, wheels and swaybar, but TSW springs are in the cards for me, heard nothing but great things.

 

Alright, will do. When I'm enjoying the car behind the wheel, I can't see the front gap anyways

 

andyroo,
How much lower did you get with the H-techs? And how do you like them? Do you know if they are stiffer than the TSW springs?

 

i haven't taken final measurements yet as the alignment has been an unfortunate adventure, but it is a pretty minor drop, maybe 10mm at most up front and 10 in the back.

i like them a lot with the Konis. they are a little firmer than the TSWs. I'll take a pic when i get my car back from the alignment and body shop. grr...

The Konis and IE plates on their own probably made the majority of the difference, but the springs definitely helped.

- andrew

 

Question to everybody in this thread. I too am running TSW v3 springs and Koni Yellows I bought from Way about 2 months ago. The problem I am having deals not with the lack of ride drop, but the lack of a CONSISTENT drop; The rears dropped nicely, but the front did not drop much at all. Now I have a reverse stance: the front is half an inch to three quarters of an inch HIGHER than the rear!

I can try to take some pictures tomorrow after work, but as it stands now the car just looks...funky. Any thoughts?

 

It should settle with more time. I have well over a 1000 miles now since my install and it seems to have settled more in the front. I haven't measured, so maybe its my eyes getting used to the wheel well gap haha. I'm running 195/55-15 tires so my gap will be more than most of you running stock sized 16s and 17s. I should have went with coilovers. Oh well, next time around haha.

 

Well, I have put over 2,000 miles on the car since I got the springs: it looks like very little to no settling has occurred on the front. I am really at a loss here. The only thing I can think is perhaps I put them together wrong? I will get a picture after work today. Maybe that will help.

 

The only thing that could be wrong is the springs are not seated properly in the upper and lower springs seats. Did you take any before or after measurements to see if it has lowered at all?

 

OK, after some more research I think I know the issue. I bought the car used and I think the top mount plate is NOT the stock hardware. This might explain all the issues I had putting the things together and why I broke two of the shocks. I am basing this conclusion based on what I see in the realoem database versus what is on my car. I am also using this website as a reference...

http://www.billswebspace.com/R53Spri...stallation.htm

So, in conclusion, I think the problem lies in the current part having a larger thickness due to its two piece design. It is most certainly not an adjustable camber plate, but it is made up of two parts like one. So, question is what is solution? If I decide to go the adjustable plate route, what works best with the Konis and won't RAISE the ride height and lead to the same problem? Way advises against the IE fixed plate/Koni/TSW route due to excessive front camber. What is everybody else running?

 

Take picture of what you have, and a side shot of your car how it sits.

I really like my IE fixed plates with Konis and springs. There is a slight raising of the car (maybe 5 mm). Camber is not excessive for me.

- Andrew

 

I also run the IE Fixed/Yellows/TSW setup and camber isnt excessive. Actually, I wouldn't mind a little more camber up front. My only complaint is the lack of drop in front and the springs being a little on the soft side when combined with the Koni Yellows. I'm interested to see how the Swift springs are going to turn out.

 

I think I've read that TSW springs lower the car more in the front than in the back. I have them with JCW dampers and it definitely looks that way to me. The look wouldn't be my first choice, but I love my suspension anyway.

 

Just had my TSW springs installed today. Rear lowered about an inch (bit more than I expected); Front didn't change at all staying at exactly the same height. Very strange. I hope it settles but I can't imagine settling to be more than 1/4". Stance does look a little odd.

 

Here's a picture that shows the difference between the front and rear

 

You're not running around with gold bars in the boot, are you? That will cause the rear to drop a bit.

 

Yeah that's excessive IMO. It's too bad the Tein H-techs aren't made anymore. They're a good mild spring that works well with Konis. For anything more aggressive the Swifts would be it but it's nice to have the mild option instead of just the spicy. Everything else seems like crap though.

 

haha if that was the case I would be discussing which coilovers I should get.