ground control... best bang for buck?

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by Beedub

well GC answered this question for us... i contacted them via email, called and had no repsonse back, every other vendor got back to us within 1 day, GC??? nothing.... imo this speaks volumns....

In the end, he went with TCKline racing :-)
look forward to comparing to my Clubsports, are the clubsports the only race type setup that makes no noise......;-)????

Great guys at TCK. They are local to me, and they helped me get a swaybar from an E46M that would fit, and clarified the correct HP+ pads I needed to get.

My business is always going to them when possible. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Beedub

well GC answered this question for us... i contacted them via email, called and had no repsonse back, every other vendor got back to us within 1 day, GC??? nothing.... imo this speaks volumns....

In the end, he went with TCKline racing :-)
look forward to comparing to my Clubsports, are the clubsports the only race type setup that makes no noise......;-)????

Good luck on the TCK's, I was really close to picking those up. Ended up with AST 4100's, so far so good and not noisy at all.

[exdos]

Does anyone know if the H&R sway bars for the E46 M3 (front 30mm and rear 25mm) will fit the Z4M? The Z4M shares the same OEM rear sway bar with the E46 M3, so the H&R rear bar should fit, but the Z4M has a slightly bigger front sway bar than the E46 M3, so I need to find this out.

I live in the UK, so importing the GC sway bars will cost me nearly twice the price that I'd have to pay for the H&R kit for the E46 M3, if it will fit.

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by exdos

Does anyone know if the H&R sway bars for the E46 M3 (front 30mm and rear 25mm) will fit the Z4M? The Z4M shares the same OEM rear sway bar with the E46 M3, so the H&R rear bar should fit, but the Z4M has a slightly bigger front sway bar than the E46 M3, so I need to find this out.

I live in the UK, so importing the GC sway bars will cost me nearly twice the price that I'd have to pay for the H&R kit for the E46 M3, if it will fit.

See sig.

I run a front bar with no problems. It costed me $270 + tax (picked it up locally)

http://www.tcklineracing.com/webdocs.../Details96.cfm

TCK helped me figure out it was a guarantee fit. Rear bars do not help much on our cars. Don't waste your money. Erik at TCK said he'd love to sell me a rear bar, but he said no gains would be there...and advised me to stick with a front bar.

They are awesome. Turn away money for a good set-up? I rarely see that.

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by exdos

Does anyone know if the H&R sway bars for the E46 M3 (front 30mm and rear 25mm) will fit the Z4M? The Z4M shares the same OEM rear sway bar with the E46 M3, so the H&R rear bar should fit, but the Z4M has a slightly bigger front sway bar than the E46 M3, so I need to find this out.

I live in the UK, so importing the GC sway bars will cost me nearly twice the price that I'd have to pay for the H&R kit for the E46 M3, if it will fit.

john the GC bar is available in the uk :-)

[exdos]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

See sig.

I run a front bar with no problems. It costed me $270 + tax (picked it up locally)

http://www.tcklineracing.com/webdocs.../Details96.cfm

TCK helped me figure out it was a guarantee fit. Rear bars do not help much on our cars. Don't waste your money. Erik at TCK said he'd love to sell me a rear bar, but he said no gains would be there...and advised me to stick with a front bar.

They are awesome. Turn away money for a good set-up? I rarely see that.

Thanks for that. I can see the sense of uprating the front sway bar only. For my driving style I like the front end to have very fixed geometry with predictable steering and then I can manage the back end accordingly.

[exdos]

Originally Posted by Beedub

john the GC bar is available in the uk :-)

Bee,

Who is the UK supplier?

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by exdos

Bee,

Who is the UK supplier?

C A automotive.....give them a call and ask for ROY..he supplied this to 3 uk guys now.

[Kgolf31]

IMO, A Sway bar is a piece of metal.

There is ABSOLUTELY no difference between a $270 piece of metal and a $400 piece of metal.

Just IMO

[exdos]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

IMO, A Sway bar is a piece of metal.

There is ABSOLUTELY no difference between a $270 piece of metal and a $400 piece of metal.

Just IMO

Not necessarily true. It is a piece of metal with the qualities of a spring. But I agree that all else being equal, I would rather pay less than more for the same thing.

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by exdos

Not necessarily true. It is a piece of metal with the qualities of a spring. But I agree that all else being equal, I would rather pay less than more for the same thing.

I'd love for someone to show me that they can tell the difference between 30mm sway bar (A) and 30mm sway bar (B)

[exdos]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

I'd love for someone to show me that they can tell the difference between 30mm sway bar (A) and 30mm sway bar (B)

Using an online calculator I've previously calculated the effective stiffness increase of a 29mm sway bar if the holes are positioned at the following lever lengths:
8" = 100%
7.5" = 113.9%
7" = 130.7%
6.5" = 151.6%
6" = 177.8%
Since the H&R 30mm sway bar has 3 different drop-link positions, it looks to me that there will be at least 30% increase in stiffness from the lowest to highest settings on that bar if the holes are set at 1/2" apart. I'd like to think that you could tell the difference between any of those three setting positions at the least.

[GP20]

I've run the GC S/A coilovers on my M for about 10k miles. Aside from the initial mix-ups where GC shipped the wrong parts 2~3 times, the coilovers have worked fine and as advertised. No noise (certainly a lot quieter than the TCK kits I had). But I do think there's something special about the TCK D/A's; they really made the car feel a lot different; handling just felt smoother and comfort was noticibly better and the car felt lighter and more responsive. I just find myself keep going back to the TCK's. TCK is currently custom-building (in-house) new D/A struts for me that they gurantee will be completely noise-free. This is of course more costly and I'll see if they justify the costs.

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by exdos

Using an online calculator I've previously calculated the effective stiffness increase of a 29mm sway bar if the holes are positioned at the following lever lengths:
8" = 100%
7.5" = 113.9%
7" = 130.7%
6.5" = 151.6%
6" = 177.8%
Since the H&R 30mm sway bar has 3 different drop-link positions, it looks to me that there will be at least 30% increase in stiffness from the lowest to highest settings on that bar if the holes are set at 1/2" apart. I'd like to think that you could tell the difference between any of those three setting positions at the least.

You clearly didn't understand my comment.

Metal Bar A that is $400 and is 30mm

Metal Bar B that is $270 and is 30mm

You won't tell the difference.

[seank]

If they are the same. The GC bar is designed very differently and has infinite adjustments compared to HandR. It is also a hollow bar, and is probably 20lbs light than the Hand R bar.

The links are also different also.

[exdos]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

You clearly didn't understand my comment.

Metal Bar A that is $400 and is 30mm

Metal Bar B that is $270 and is 30mm

You won't tell the difference.

I did understand your comment. My reply was that although 2 pieces of 30mm diameter bar might have the same outward appearance, their spring qualities may well be different, and I merely used the scale as an example of the difference in spring effect from relatively small differences.

[Karacticus]

Originally Posted by GP20

I've run the GC S/A coilovers on my M for about 10k miles. Aside from the initial mix-ups where GC shipped the wrong parts 2~3 times, the coilovers have worked fine and as advertised. No noise (certainly a lot quieter than the TCK kits I had). But I do think there's something special about the TCK D/A's; they really made the car feel a lot different; handling just felt smoother and comfort was noticibly better and the car felt lighter and more responsive. I just find myself keep going back to the TCK's. TCK is currently custom-building (in-house) new D/A struts for me that they gurantee will be completely noise-free. This is of course more costly and I'll see if they justify the costs.

You too? I'm working through issues with GC having shipped me the wrong parts (ordered through bimmerworld) for the camber plates as well. Second set of hardware should arrive tomorrow.

They have been very responsive to the issue though...

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Karacticus

You too? I'm working through issues with GC having shipped me the wrong parts (ordered through bimmerworld) for the camber plates as well. Second set of hardware should arrive tomorrow.

They have been very responsive to the issue though...

Annoying but I'm used to it, the facelift non-m e85/86 is probably the least popular in terms of aftermarket parts. I've had vendors send me wrong parts on multiple occasions (suspension, brakes, etc).

Please post pics after your GC kit is installed, and before & after measurements from center of wheel to fender will be very helpful =)

[johanness]

Originally Posted by GP20

I've run the GC S/A coilovers on my M for about 10k miles. Aside from the initial mix-ups where GC shipped the wrong parts 2~3 times, the coilovers have worked fine and as advertised. No noise (certainly a lot quieter than the TCK kits I had). But I do think there's something special about the TCK D/A's; they really made the car feel a lot different; handling just felt smoother and comfort was noticibly better and the car felt lighter and more responsive. I just find myself keep going back to the TCK's. TCK is currently custom-building (in-house) new D/A struts for me that they gurantee will be completely noise-free. This is of course more costly and I'll see if they justify the costs.

Please keep us up to date on this. Sounds like a dream system if it works out

[Caddyshk]

My Single Adjustable Koni front and rear GC's with 500/600lb springs work just fine. Customer service when I purchased 19 months ago from Jay was outstanding! He called me and took the time to walk me through all the various setups and land on what would best suit my needs.

[Karacticus]

Originally Posted by Dubbedown

Annoying but I'm used to it, the facelift non-m e85/86 is probably the least popular in terms of aftermarket parts. I've had vendors send me wrong parts on multiple occasions (suspension, brakes, etc).

Please post pics after your GC kit is installed, and before & after measurements from center of wheel to fender will be very helpful =)

I'm just doing camber plates at this point-- I wanted to do something hopefully more durable than OEM to replace the sturt bearings that were going.

[GP20]

Originally Posted by Karacticus

I'm just doing camber plates at this point-- I wanted to do something hopefully more durable than OEM to replace the sturt bearings that were going.

If you're just doing the camber plates, go with Vorshlag. Much better than the GC plates in terms of ease of adjustments, quietness and maintenance.