As far as I know I should not be able to push down on my front strut(s), without the springs on of course and removed from the car, with ease. They compress with ease with only about 30-40 lbs of pressure.

 

pushing on the shocks isn't a test of anything.

 

That is pretty normal. If they aren't leaking any fluid, you are probably okay.

 

What is the 'test'?
I'm checking these out because I am now bottoming out like crazy. So much so that one of the H-sport bump stops is now missing.
I can collapse these struts with ease and they spring back rather fast. It almost seems to me that they would have no dampening effect what so ever at this point.
I've tracked the car pretty hard for three track days. The bottoming out is new.

 

Sounds like they're toast Were these stock struts? They don't last very long with lowered springs. Get proper struts like Koni Yellows PM me if you're interested.

 

I'm not a racer, but if you bottom on a bump and the front keeps bouncing after the bump is past I would think the struts are bad. If it bottoms and has a quick dampened recovery without bouncing I would think the springs are too weak. Assuming the bump has not been a problem in the past.

 

Bit the bullet, .... PSS9s are on there way. Now to get a set of scales.

The front struts are absolutely shot. I gather it IS because the car was lowered with H-Sports and then tracked. Maybe the lowering would have been OK for normal street driving, but it seems that two track days, and a little bit of aggressive street driving killed them. It also seems that the H-Sport springs did not hold up. On the rears just about four of the top spirals are touching when the car is at rest. It used to be two, then three, but now it's closer to four.
With all this failing the car still handled great. Can't wait to really tune things up and see how she goes then.

 

For future reference, to test your shocks/struts in the driveway or garage find a good sturdy spot on the bodywork that you can push on with a good amount of force without breaking anything. Push down hard enough to compress that corner at least a few inches (more is better cause you'll have more travel time to watch) and release quickly. You don't want to be in contact with the car at all during the rebound stroke. Depending on the shock/spring combo the car should either come back up to normal ride hieght and stop moving or go just a little past normal ride height then settle back down. If it bounces up and down more than that, time for new shocks.

 

Greg, check with your BMWCCA chapters about the scales. Some chapters have a "tool box" and have scales for loan to the members. Unless you must have your own......

 

If I were able to do that to my car I would need both springs and struts. I was never able to depress any corner of my car 12/02 build with SS+, now has PSS9s, so if 30lb to 40lb of pressure is all that is needed to depress a corner then you decision to go to PSS9s is a good one.

 

Yea, I might be able to get a half inch or so sitting on a corner. When we first sat in it at the dealer, there was no movement at all. Looks like you have a good excuse to upgrade.

 

onasled,When I installed my PSS9s I adjusted each of them to the center of the recommened adjustment range for ride height. This was done prior to installing the units on the car.

There is a diagram in the manual that comes with the coilovers. They recommend a 20mm wide window for adjustment, and I chose to set each of mine dead center in that adjustment range when measured as shown in the book. FYI, it's quite low for a street car, and I can't imagine lowering it the last 10mm. I am using 215/45-16 tires, so that hurts ground clearance a bit too. I've got 2 1/8" between the ground and the bottom edge of the air dam under the bumper.

Once I got the cars on a scale the cornerweights were surprisingly close, to the point that we didn't mess with any further adjustments.

I'm not saying that weighing the car is a waste of time, but that if you are careful about getting each corner set you'll be pretty darn close.

For street driving on rough roads, I'd suggest setting it to 8 in front and 9 in the rear. 9 is full soft.

Scott
90SM

 

Scott,

Very much appreciate your input

 

Scott I will be installing the PSS9 in a week or so, do you have anyother tips for the install? Do you use some type of lube on the threads of the shock body?
thanks J

 

Pushing down would = compression damping. This is always much lower resistance than rebound damping. I am not suprised that you can compress them quite easily. Try extending them. Is it more difficult?

Chances are they are fine.

 

It's a little more difficult, but still much too easy to pull out. The inner spring (I'm guessing there is one) pushes it out pretty quickly also.
In the years I've been playing with cars, I feel that the struts are really shot. Not to mention the current new problem of continually bottoming out.
I think it only logical that the struts were not happy being used with lowering springs.

 

The shocks are most likely gas charged shocks. What you are feeling is the nitrogen gas charge. There are actually no springs inside the shock, other than some minor springs that control the valving that controls the flow of the oil in the shock.

The shorter spring certainly could have had some effect, especially if the rubber bumpers have been removed or been replaced with shorter bumpers. This might allow the stock shocks to bottom out internally. This might damage the valving without causing an external leak.

The sagging H&R spring certainly didn't help any.

Good reason to make sure you get high quality replacement springs.

 

Just took a short test ride with the new PSS9s. So far I am very happy with them. I realize now how long my original struts have been failing. Ride is now firmer but much smoother with no more jaring. Set on 9 now which is the softest setting. Look forward to some track day testing with these which will be a week from tomorrow

 

After your week of street driving followed by a weekend of on-track driving, please favor us with a review of the PSS9's. I'm very interested in your impressions. Thanks.

 

How about a comparison with the H-sport..

I am planning to get the PSS9 but can only afford H-sport springs right now. With the new wheels, My car needs to be lowered asap.. Looks like an SUV right now.

 

Well, the H-sports did me good, but as I have stated, it was short lived.

I always highly recommended the H-sports, but now I feel guilty doing so being that they screwed up my shocks after 10K. This certainly may not happen with everyone, but as I hear it now it's more common then I realized. This is not just an H-sport issue, but rather any aftermarket lowering spring.



So, you want to get them? Well, it was my first move and I did like them. Just be warned that it may be a short lived high.

 

Just got back from track day. The PSS9s performed GREAT! Set the fronts to 3 and rears to 4. No unpredictability what-so-ever. Car just stuck like glue.


Here's a quick video. http://members.tripod.com/rcsail/_0001.wmv
I just could use a lot more experience, and a touch more power would be nice

Let me know it this video takes too long to load as I'm new to posting them

 

After about 5 minutes, I'm almost done downloading it! No need to PM me Glad to hear that all went well...

EDIT/ADD - Just saw the vid, and I want to see more . Very nice!