Re: ACS E36 M3 suspension on ebay

[XYOBGYN@xxxxxxx]

 <A 
HREF="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=561549

210">Click here: eBayMotors item 561549210 (Ends Feb-24-01 00:17:29 PST) - 
BMW E36 M3 AC Schnitzer Coilover Suspension</A>


I am trying to sell this.  Some quick Q/A about it below.  (from email sent 
to me)


Just wondering how long ago you purchased the set. Do you have original 
receipt to show purchase date?

No receipt, purchased from a car driven in England.  CEC sells these, Knaus 
in Lake Forest IL sells these.

How many miles did you put on the set?

Well, there can not be any more than 35K at most since that's the mileage on 
the motor I got from the instrument cluster that came with the car.  That 
assumes that the owner put them on the car from day one.... possible I 
suppose.  I am trying to track down the prior owner, but that may be 
difficult with just a VIN, and it being from Europe and all.

I ve got a 97 M3-4...

This set up was on a European EVO 3.2 M3.  

what model is yours, 

I have a US spec E36 M3 LTW and I'm coverting to Euro spec motor/trans for 
club racing and fun.   

and what did the susp. do for cornering/handling?

By adding rear adjustable perches one can corner balance the car.  Front 
height is easily adjustable of course, and stiffening the car at all four 
corners will improve braking, turning and accelerating.  Less shifting of the 
cars weight helps put the power down, and avoid upsetting the car at high 
speeds.   ACS might have better information on the set up, they call it their 
"race" coilover set up, but it was clearly on a street car.

 Are the front springs linear, progressive, or a linear+tender combination? 
There is no tender spring on the coilover.  Eibach supplies the springs for 
ACS, (I called and asked about this, Bilstein sources the shocks, they are 
stamped ACS and Bilstein) and I'm fairly sure that by looking at the spring 
there is no way to determine whether its linear or progressive.  All the 
coils are equidistant, but I'm not sure thats a guarantee of "linear".  I was 
very dissapointed when I called ACS and tried to determine the spring rates 
and shock rates for this set up.  I was going to consider using it on my Club 
Race car, but decided that I wanted adjustable shocks for the different 
tracks I go to.  ACS considers the spring rates (and probably linear vs 
progressive information I'd guess) to be proprietary information.  That is 
the "art" of tuning they say, and getting a perfectly matched set of springs 
to the shocks is the idea behind paying for an ACS set up.

Are the rear springs the same balloon shape as the regular BMW springs? 
A lot of us refer to that shape as the bee-hive shape.  Yes they are that 
shape.  H&R makes a very nice adjustable spring perch for this, BMP sells it 
in there current catalog.

Could you also please let me know why one of the rear shocks is new? 

Absolutely.  I bought this suspension off of a car in England, and it came as 
part of a package when I bought the Euro 3.2 Evo engine and Trans.  I was 
intrigued because they said the car had a "racing suspension" so I paid extra 
to have it included.  Shipping damaged one of the shocks enough that I felt 
most comfortable replacing it rather than selling it as is.  The new shock 
for the rear was $300 alone. 

Email me with other questions.

Alex Lipowich
M6 HWT, M3 LTW


Alex.

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