M3 Suspension Upgrades/Impressions

[MattBain@xxxxxxx]

I received many questions about the suspension upgrade I had done on my 98 M3 
Coupe.  I had enough that I thought I would post my response.

How's the ride quality, why did you do it, etc.

The ride quality is still great.  I use the car as a daily driver (about 100 
miles/day).  The reason why I did it was I had a 91 Porsche Carrera 4 until 
this may.  The thing was an absolute hoot to drive.  It even drove well in 
the snow (SLC, UT).  The thing I liked most about it was the incredibly quick 
turn in, with very little body roll.  I will admit it understeered a bit, but 
it felt like driving a race car compared to everything else I drove.  I loved 
it!

Well, it was getting close to 100,000 miles on it, so I determined it was 
time to sell.  As far as my wife was concerned, the M3 was the most practical 
sports car I could get (I have 3 kids and one on the way).  I knew the 
performance figures (acceration, handling, etc.) were right there with the 
911 and decided to switch "camps" (from Porsche to BMW).  I bought a 98 M3 
Coupe that had the Dinan chip, Remus Exhaust, and the Dinan Cold Air intake 
already installed...so the thing scooted and sounded great.  The only problem 
was, even though I knew the skid pad gradient numbers were about the same for 
both cars, the M3 felt (to me) a little sloppy because of the excess body 
roll and the slow (comparatively) turn in.

The springs, sway bars, and the shocks did wonders!  I also added the X-Brace 
and swapped the camber plates right to left, introducing another degree or so 
of negative camber (didn't want to pay another couple of hundred for 
adjustable camber plates).

The car now sticks better than the Carrera 4 ever thought about in its stock 
suspension status.  Taking corners now gives the feeling that I driving a 
vehicle in the supercar realm...forget that it can seat five and costs less 
than half what most supercars cost...IT RULES!!!  :-)  (and my golf clubs 
even fit in the trunk...just barely)

Matt
98 M3/Coupe

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