BC Coilover Review
 

So I installed a set of BC Type BR Coils this weekend and have to say I am very impressed. These replaced stock suspension on my '12 CMS All4 that had about 92k on it.

-Out of the box everything was neatly and well packed, included wrenches, adjustment knobs for compression and an allen key for the camber plates. Installation was straight forward in the front, remove old assemblies and slap these in (wasn't as easy as that but its not the coilovers fault). In the rear, after you remove the assemblies you must compress the spring and remove the upper mount and install it on the coilover (don't set your coil preload before doing this). I measured everything beforehand to get a rough idea for ride height and worked out pretty well. Plenty of room to go down and still about 2 inches I can go up. I actually had to raise the fronts because I was rubbing the fender on larger bumps.
-Ride impressions are very positive! I am running both front and rear at 5 clicks off the softest and can say it is a very enjoyable ride. Smoother than stock, not bouncy and sticks like glue in the corners now. I haven't had an alignment yet as I'm letting them settle but handling is on point already. You will know it when you hit bigger bumps but I feel the car handles small and medium bumps better than stock. My fiance actually commented on the smoother ride, which is saying something haha. Highly recommend, can be installed in a day with hand tools and ride really well. I've also seen great reviews for the $300 Swift spring upgrade which supposedly rides even better. Unless you have really bumpy roads I think stock springs are just fine. Note I am also still on runflats so I am anticipating further improvement in the ride once I replace those.

Front coils vs rear stock
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Final stance

thats awesome, me next!

Did you buy these from me?

yes I did 😁

Nice!

Thought I'd update this after things settled down a bit. Ride has softened up a bit and is now very, very comfortable for a coilover. I am now at 7 clicks off softest and drive it daily with full comfort and grip. No bottoming out or rubbing. The grip is well beyond what I am comfortable testing on public roads. With Continental RF's I've taken some tight 180* on ramps at 60mph without a squeal or hint of body roll (I have a rear sway as well). Hardest part is staying in the seat haha. Very happy with purchase and now doubting I need any more than the 205 size tires I have on now.

thanks for the update, i'm teetering on whether to do coilovers/lca/rsb first or Mariokarts's manic stage 2 first.....

Depends on what matters to you more. I really enjoyed the increased drive-ability from the Mario Manic tune, that's probably what kept me going with the mods. It was good timing for me to do that stage 2 even though I wasn't "ready" for it. I was vacationing and happen to be staying about 2 miles from where Mario lives, made most sense and caused me zero down time for my daily driver.

ive got my BCs this week and am going to complete this task this weekend. im a little disappointed that the rears didnt come with top hats, but...still pretty excited
any tips to make the job go smoother? ive got the rear swaybar and adjustable LCAs also

Fronts -
Removal - Sway bar first, both wheels should be unloaded or there will be tension on the bar so lift the entire front end and use jack stands. Toughest part was getting the original shock out of their "collar". Spray some penetrating oil at the top of where they insert and also around the pinch bolt. I would first remove the pinch bolt and then the shock from the knuckle. I needed a hammer to get mine out, very stubborn. With a block of wood placed you can go HAM, took me a good 10-20 whacks to get them to separate. Then just 3 nuts on top and they drop out. No parts reused from the front except the pinch bolt.

Install - Try to set your ride height, preload and damping before installing, its easier to make the coils equal length as its easier to measure off the car. Make sure to change sockets to smaller size with new nuts up top provided by BC. They are close in size to stock but enough difference that I almost stripped not realizing.
**** try to insert the lower portion of coil into the knuckle first, if it goes easily, lucky you, i had to go a different route as mine was not cooperating****
I mounted the top loosely first. It then took some coordination of a floor jack on the knuckle and aligning the knuckle to get the lower end of coil in place. Mine were particularly difficult and took quite a few attempts to get them in correctly.There is a tab in the back of the coil that has to slide down into place. I could get about 1/4' to sit in the knuckle and then I shook, rattled and cried until it dropped in 10 attempts later. Install new end links provided with coils, sway bar, drop the front and go to the rears.

Rears -
Removal - Pretty straight forward, go for the sway bar then lower bolt first, its a tough one, on there very tight! I had to brace myself against a few things to get enough leverage with my 12" long ratchet. Leaving the top bolted gives better leverage as the arms wont flop around unsupported by the shock. Once your done looking at the veins in your arms from the mighty effort you just gave, just take the 2 upper bolts out with a 13mm?? socket and small extension. Repeat on other side. Once both shocks are out you have to remove the top mounts. A spring compressor from Autozone did the job for me painlessly. There's good tension on the springs, be sure to compress them almost fully to avoid issues. You can get the nut off most of the way and then you have to insert an allen key in the top to get the final turns.

Install - **Do not set ride height or preload of the rears until you install the top mounts from the old shocks.** Once you install the top mounts, feel free to set the height, preload AND COMPRESSION/REBOUND!!!! I installed mine and forgot to set and had to drop coils again after installing. I'd also suggest leaving the adjustment knobs in the coil for future adjustments (they come in a separate baggy). They aren't the easiest to get in and out once everything is bolted together. These knuckles are notorious for being stripped easily as they are a soft cast so I decided to mount the lower bolt first. I did not tighten fully until I got the upper bolts in, which required my floor jack to lift everything into place. Once the tops were fully tightened I released the jack and finished tightening the lower. Reassemble

the fronts sound just like the one i did on my r53, lots of crying...

thank you for your time writing this, i can get mentally prepared for this weekend!

did you mess with preload at all? if so, how much?

I snugged by hand then gave at least a full turn with the wrenches. I just didn't want any rattles from the coil. No rhyme or reason other than that haha

i installed the front struts, there was crying, but out of nowhere they droped in.

the Lca on the rear required alot of work, some covers and crap slowed things down

the rear swaybar was a super pain, maybe cuz it a 23mm bar, but jeez did that suck

i got one rear shock in before i lost daylight.

do you have and torque specs or a referance for all those bolts? strut/shock/LCA and such?

what is your floor to mid arch height? i've got mine at 25 1/2 at all corners

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im trying hard to copy you exactly...

i love the stance of the coilovers, but they squeak alot, in the front. they are a few things left to try. i guess i need to rethink the preload...i have already checked the top nut on the struts, they are very snug.

I don't know what im doing wrong, but it rides like a bobble head on coke, right now. the knob is set to 15 clicks on all 4 corners

Did you compress the spring to get the height? (Preload). Or did you thread the shock down into the bottom mount like you are supposed to?

Just checking. BCs are sort of unique in this way. I messed up installing them once on my old R56


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15 clicks is a lot too. Would be pretty harsh I would imagine.

i did adjust the lower collar, not the preload. yeah 15 clicks is pretty harsh, but 5 clicks off full soft wasnt much different. i just dont have a frame of reference to know if something is really wrong.

Gotcha. It just sounds like you somehow still have too much preload.

Sounds like how my old Mini drove on those crappy VMaxx coils all preloaded out.

Could it somehow be too low...enough to sit on bumpstops or something?....I have no idea if or where these even have bumpstops,...just throwing ideas.

i appeciate the input, its not rubbing on the tires at all. right now its sitting at 26" at the wheel well arch. they do recommend 4mm of preload. i did back them down till the lower spring perch was able to move by hand, then tightened by hand, then tightened 4mm.

hum. well then id be at a loss to why it would be so bouncy really.

If you loosened any control arms (without poly bushings), did you tighten them with the car at ride height? Most OE bushings must be tightened with the load on them or else they will not work right...might be acting like torsion bar springs if you tightened them at droop.