Suspension NM lowering springs = good stuff
Well, I have no idea why yours would be so different, but my wife drives half of her commute with my 170 lb son and his football gear (drops him off and picks him up at school) and still no complaints from her at all. Our whole family (2 adults, one 16yo and on 12yo) travels in the car on the weekends and again, we are totally happy with it.
I am in no way saying that your experience or opinion of the way your car rides is wrong, but our experience with ours is quite the opposite.
Just for comparison, my wife's previous car was a lowered 2001 BMW X5 and previous to that was a lowered 2004 3 series. The MINI rides the same as the lowered X5 and only sligtly different than the 3 series.
I am in no way saying that your experience or opinion of the way your car rides is wrong, but our experience with ours is quite the opposite.
Just for comparison, my wife's previous car was a lowered 2001 BMW X5 and previous to that was a lowered 2004 3 series. The MINI rides the same as the lowered X5 and only sligtly different than the 3 series.
Again, if I'm by myself in the car, it's not bad. And I love the way it looks and handles, but noone wants to ride in my mini these days :(
3rd Gear
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Indianapolis
installed mine on Sunday, no issues at all...filled the car with people, everyone was comfortable, frankly I think the road is SO much smoother now, and stock wasnt bad by any means, was nervous hearing trouble that others were having, and can thankfully say, i have no issues.
Left: My countryman on NM's Right: a buddy running stock
Left: My countryman on NM's Right: a buddy running stock
3rd Gear
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Indianapolis
Neither, I had the standard suspension but swapped out the springs for NM springs....mine (white) in the pictures are sitting on the NM's, and the blue on in the photo is standard springs (a buddy of mine that is gunna lower to NM)
3rd Gear
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 242
Likes: 3
From: Orange County, CA
Dark Grey...from what I can tell the blue are for the S...and the dark grey are for the All4's
Up to now, before you, the only person who said the rear suspension rode comfortably had the blue springs, while everyone else, with grey springs, said the rear rides bad on bumps.
3rd Gear
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Indianapolis
I put a set on our car, and another set on a friend's car... both cars were 2WD (not All4) and we both received the grey springs. So I've been trying to find out what exactly the difference is. It's hard to tell what you get because the label on the box has a dual part number with both the 2WD & 4WD numbers.
Up to now, before you, the only person who said the rear suspension rode comfortably had the blue springs, while everyone else, with grey springs, said the rear rides bad on bumps.
Up to now, before you, the only person who said the rear suspension rode comfortably had the blue springs, while everyone else, with grey springs, said the rear rides bad on bumps.
that's interesting...I haven't hit anything MAJOR, but normal road bumps and even a man hole cover (typically avoid it but forgot about this particular one) and was like a normal hit of a manhole...nothing too harsh, frankly I love the springs....did you shorten your bump stops like the directions recommended? Seems like that would be the only real reason why it would be too harsh
3rd Gear
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 242
Likes: 3
From: Orange County, CA
Yes, shortened the bump stops. If you read through this thread the common complaint is that if you hit a dip in the road the rear bottoms very hard. Here is a copy/paste of my post from a few days ago...
I just check the box mine came in and it has the same part number label that reads: 558860/61. Here are the part numbers from their website:
NM.558860 Front Wheel Drive
NM.558861 ALL - 4
So if all the boxes are sitting on their warehouse shelf with the same dual part number then I wonder how they tell which is which when it's time to ship a box out to a customer.
In my opinion it's not a real big mystery. I don't think the ever-so-slightly-stiffer shock from the sport pkg. makes a difference. The fact is that the soft part of the spring (the upper, tightly wound part) is too soft and as you can see in the photo it's completely used up the travel of that soft portion of the spring just by the weight of the car sitting there. They screwed up, that soft part is supposed to be to absorb little minor road irregularities and then the stiffer part of the spring (the bottom half, where the coils are spaced further apart) is for the bigger hits... if that soft/initial part of the spring is already fully collapsed just by the weight of the car sitting there with no occupants, then what good is it? So all you're left with is the other (bottom) half of the spring... and what's that going to give you, maybe two inches of travel before you get coil bind (spring fully compressed solid) and have no more travel... which bounces back seat passengers out of their seat.
They need to scrap that progressive rate spring. People have been trying that forever and they have never been worth a damn, especially when you have a lowered car with limited suspension travel to begin with. If you've got a truck or something with a lot of travel then you can afford a dual rate/progressive spring... but in our limited travel situation they need a straight rate/linear spring like they made for the front.
What I really want to know is what is the difference between the grey and blue springs. If you just got yours last week, and they're blue, and they ride nice in the rear... then what is different from the older, grey version of the springs?
NM.558860 Front Wheel Drive
NM.558861 ALL - 4
So if all the boxes are sitting on their warehouse shelf with the same dual part number then I wonder how they tell which is which when it's time to ship a box out to a customer.
In my opinion it's not a real big mystery. I don't think the ever-so-slightly-stiffer shock from the sport pkg. makes a difference. The fact is that the soft part of the spring (the upper, tightly wound part) is too soft and as you can see in the photo it's completely used up the travel of that soft portion of the spring just by the weight of the car sitting there. They screwed up, that soft part is supposed to be to absorb little minor road irregularities and then the stiffer part of the spring (the bottom half, where the coils are spaced further apart) is for the bigger hits... if that soft/initial part of the spring is already fully collapsed just by the weight of the car sitting there with no occupants, then what good is it? So all you're left with is the other (bottom) half of the spring... and what's that going to give you, maybe two inches of travel before you get coil bind (spring fully compressed solid) and have no more travel... which bounces back seat passengers out of their seat.
They need to scrap that progressive rate spring. People have been trying that forever and they have never been worth a damn, especially when you have a lowered car with limited suspension travel to begin with. If you've got a truck or something with a lot of travel then you can afford a dual rate/progressive spring... but in our limited travel situation they need a straight rate/linear spring like they made for the front.
What I really want to know is what is the difference between the grey and blue springs. If you just got yours last week, and they're blue, and they ride nice in the rear... then what is different from the older, grey version of the springs?
3rd Gear
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Indianapolis
Can't say i've noticed that....there is a stop light right by my house that if you blow through it, has a pretty good dip, one that most people slow down for, but i have blow right through it, car bounces, and I keep on...no problems thus far :fingerscrossed:
Spoke to NM today. They are actively working with Bilstein and hope to have a shock for the R60 to be available early next year (Jan/Feb). I won't hold my breath on the timing, as many things they say tend to overlap by quite a bit, but I'm glad that there will be a solution soon enough.
4th Gear
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 545
Likes: 0
From: Castle Rock, CO
Spoke to NM today. They are actively working with Bilstein and hope to have a shock for the R60 to be available early next year (Jan/Feb). I won't hold my breath on the timing, as many things they say tend to overlap by quite a bit, but I'm glad that there will be a solution soon enough.
I put a set on our car, and another set on a friend's car... both cars were 2WD (not All4) and we both received the grey springs. So I've been trying to find out what exactly the difference is. It's hard to tell what you get because the label on the box has a dual part number with both the 2WD & 4WD numbers.
Up to now, before you, the only person who said the rear suspension rode comfortably had the blue springs, while everyone else, with grey springs, said the rear rides bad on bumps.
Up to now, before you, the only person who said the rear suspension rode comfortably had the blue springs, while everyone else, with grey springs, said the rear rides bad on bumps.
Also, maybe next month they will start working with new shocks set for R60.
the shocks are going to be 1000+ dollars for the set, this is what I was told when I contacted NM some months back.
In my opinion the megan racing coilovers provide a MUCH better value for under 900 dollars, you get dampening, height and front camber adjustability.
There really is no reason to go with just plain shocks at a higher cost than it is to go with the adjustable coilovers for less money and more features.
Again this is JUST my opinion. I know there are those that dont need the adjustability but it's nice to have especially at a lower cost.
In my opinion the megan racing coilovers provide a MUCH better value for under 900 dollars, you get dampening, height and front camber adjustability.
There really is no reason to go with just plain shocks at a higher cost than it is to go with the adjustable coilovers for less money and more features.
Again this is JUST my opinion. I know there are those that dont need the adjustability but it's nice to have especially at a lower cost.
the shocks are going to be 1000+ dollars for the set, this is what I was told when I contacted NM some months back.
In my opinion the megan racing coilovers provide a MUCH better value for under 900 dollars, you get dampening, height and front camber adjustability.
There really is no reason to go with just plain shocks at a higher cost than it is to go with the adjustable coilovers for less money and more features.
Again this is JUST my opinion. I know there are those that dont need the adjustability but it's nice to have especially at a lower cost.
In my opinion the megan racing coilovers provide a MUCH better value for under 900 dollars, you get dampening, height and front camber adjustability.
There really is no reason to go with just plain shocks at a higher cost than it is to go with the adjustable coilovers for less money and more features.
Again this is JUST my opinion. I know there are those that dont need the adjustability but it's nice to have especially at a lower cost.
you _WILL NOT_ have any bottoming out issues in the rear with the megans.. The spring rate is considerably higher and I have my dampening set to half way between hard and soft and it rides almost perfectly
You will wonder how you ever dealt with the NM springs after upgrading to the megans. I think the biggest difference I felt was goign over speed bumps and a lower speed, with the NMs I felt the rear would bottom out and launch up. With the megans it just absorbs the bump, doesnt bounce and just keeps going. Much less dramatic.. in a good way.
I got my set from these guys out in CA. They were AWESOME both on pricing and service!
http://www.kspecracing.com/megan_rac.../i-582322.aspx
Dude I put the megans on 2 weeks ago, I swear I wish I did it right after I bought the car...
you _WILL NOT_ have any bottoming out issues in the rear with the megans.. The spring rate is considerably higher and I have my dampening set to half way between hard and soft and it rides almost perfectly
You will wonder how you ever dealt with the NM springs after upgrading to the megans. I think the biggest difference I felt was goign over speed bumps and a lower speed, with the NMs I felt the rear would bottom out and launch up. With the megans it just absorbs the bump, doesnt bounce and just keeps going. Much less dramatic.. in a good way.
I got my set from these guys out in CA. They were AWESOME both on pricing and service!
http://www.kspecracing.com/megan_rac.../i-582322.aspx
you _WILL NOT_ have any bottoming out issues in the rear with the megans.. The spring rate is considerably higher and I have my dampening set to half way between hard and soft and it rides almost perfectly
You will wonder how you ever dealt with the NM springs after upgrading to the megans. I think the biggest difference I felt was goign over speed bumps and a lower speed, with the NMs I felt the rear would bottom out and launch up. With the megans it just absorbs the bump, doesnt bounce and just keeps going. Much less dramatic.. in a good way.
I got my set from these guys out in CA. They were AWESOME both on pricing and service!
http://www.kspecracing.com/megan_rac.../i-582322.aspx
I only have one set installed. I don't know if with the coils I have to install another set for the upper ones.
Too bad, I'm selling mines. Only 1 month used.
1st Gear
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
From: SANTANDER.spain
I have bought these for my countryman
MINI COOPER TWO 2 REAR LOWER ADJUSTABLE CONTROL ARM
http://bit.ly/WVXb26
MINI COOPER TWO 2 REAR LOWER ADJUSTABLE CONTROL ARM
http://bit.ly/WVXb26
Anyone here running the Megan coilovers on an ALL4?
when you slect the ALL4 from their menu, the description still says FWD Only eben though you select ALL4.
http://www.kspecracing.com/megan_rac...?itemid=582322
when you slect the ALL4 from their menu, the description still says FWD Only eben though you select ALL4.
http://www.kspecracing.com/megan_rac...?itemid=582322
Anyone here running the Megan coilovers on an ALL4?
when you slect the ALL4 from their menu, the description still says FWD Only eben though you select ALL4.
http://www.kspecracing.com/megan_rac...?itemid=582322
when you slect the ALL4 from their menu, the description still says FWD Only eben though you select ALL4.
http://www.kspecracing.com/megan_rac...?itemid=582322