Merry Christmas to me

[BMW'73]

My Ceika coilovers arrived the other day. Had some time to unbox it today....cant wait to install it.

[bmw_e30]

you bought some chinese shocks for a 50 year old german car? i'm curious to how well they will work

[Mike G]

20 minutes ago, bmw_e30 said:

you bought some chinese shocks for a 50 year old german car? i'm curious to how well they will work

I think they’re actually made in Taiwan with Japanese parts. 

[BMW'73]

I'm curious too... I want to experience them for myself. And give an honest opinion. I have read some good things on other car forums. I have also read some bad stuff but most of the bad stuff was written by people that dont have them or wouldn't buy them. 

[JsnPpp]

Bolt them in, try them out - if you don't like them, easy enough to just take them out!

 

Jason

[Mike Self]

A little clarification--those springs look awfully short when compared to stock springs; old traditionalist me would think they'd bottom out (stack) under heavy cornering or extreme compression.  Do the stiff(er) shocks make up for the shorter springs or ???  

 

Since McPherson strut suspension (at least to me) are in effect coilovers already (shock inside the coil spring--just like Renault Dauphine rear suspension, BTW), what's the advantage?  Just curious; need some education here.

 

mike

[Oldtimerfahrer]

I am also curious, but I suppose you need a quality coilover/shock as your reference mark....what are you comparing? Ability to adjust height, appropriateness of the spring rates to the shocks? Kind of difficult to say...only can say if it works at all out of the box. My son has an Audi with the sportsline suspension, yes it works but the ride is very hard for the incremental Increase in control...Difficult to say if the same could be achieved without the harshness. How harsh will it bet?

Andrew

 

[BMW'73]

25 minutes ago, Oldtimerfahrer said:

I am also curious, but I suppose you need a quality coilover/shock as your reference mark....what are you comparing? Ability to adjust height, appropriateness of the spring rates to the shocks? Kind of difficult to say...only can say if it works at all out of the box. My son has an Audi with the sportsline suspension, yes it works but the ride is very hard for the incremental Increase in control...Difficult to say if the same could be achieved without the harshness. How harsh will it bet?

Andrew

 

 

Yea you're right. All I have for comparison is the stock ride vs. The coilovers. I'll also compare it to the drive of my daily driver, the 63 nova and the slammed s10 I had just for fun. I dont think it will be any harsher then the s10 that was a rough ride.

 

I just like this car. It wont see the track it wont be driven hard I wont be pushing the envelope. I'll be driving this car around town on nice sunday mornings lol. So if the coilovers perform like their suppose to, meaning they wont break down and fail apart on me then I'm good. I had mentioned in an earlier post my priority is I want the stance I'm looking for .....flame away lol

[roadhog0]

So... I'm presuming you have to weld these on? These definitely aren't bolt in.

[BMW'73]

Yea you have to weld the spindals on

[COOP]

For an “around town, Sunday driver,” you’d be better off with a conventional suspension set-up on the softer side, instead of short, harsh-riding coil overs. You could still get the car lower for the look you want with such an approach. Just my opinion but...

 

...I know I know I know this much is true...

 

- “Spindal” Ballet
 

PS: Merry Christmas!

Edited December 29, 2019 by COOP

[Oldtimerfahrer]

The man wants to try out a set of coilovers and he will decide whether they suit him...Its not about good or bad or easy vs difficult...its just a set of springs and shocks to try out on a mass produced vehicle we all love where the manufacturer opened the door to all kinds of changes....so why not....the struts are replaceable....he can decide whether its comfortable enough. I regret going to poly bushings ...we all (ok, not the purest of the purists) have our crosses to bear...

Happy New Year!

Andrew

[gary32]

I am going to un bite my tongue...

 

The 2002 you own is an amazing car even today.

Some of the upgrades I see here and sold here just aren't.

In your case a nice tight suspension rebuild with the spring/shock/sway bar of your choice would give you the best results.

There are a bunch of really knowledgeable 02 guys here not selling anything just ask and filter the results to your taste.

Save some money, end up with a better use proven height adjustable product using more original parts.

That's what 2002's are all about.

 

(I have a really powerful wankel in mine but I used every stock part I could)