Picked up the D2 coilover set for the AWD M35. Arrived today.

I thought it was as the stock suspension rear but in fact it's a true coilover. The finish is fine and looks cool. The mounts are standard mount no camber plate, which makes sense. The springs have some writing on them and I have no idea what they mean. The rears say 12-205 and the fronts 13-160.

Installation will happen this weekend. I measured the wheel gap on my car is 2.5". Hoping to close down 2 of those.

EDIT: The front springs have 13-160 stamped on them but they are 16kg springs and the rears have 12-205 stamped but they are 8.7 kg springs.

Good luck with the install

You should also measure from fender lip to ground.

Thanks for the tip. Any ideas what the writing on the spring means? Is the first number spring rate? If so isn't it supposed to be 16 f 8 rear?

It may be a stock number, I'm not sure

I did some pre-adjustments.

I don't know baseline settings in terms of height so I just started by adjusting the rear bottom of spring collar to top of base collar at 4" and damping 16 clicks towards h from full s. the fronts I set at 3" and 18 clicks towards the h from full s. anyone have their lowered measurements?

Writing on the springs is the spring rates. Mark at RavSpec explained it to me but I forget what he said lol.

msvara
you're doing this yourself, right?
I know Ilya recently did a DIY for BC coilovers--not sure if you're using his DIY to guide your install
Plus, are you going at alone or are you enlisting/bribing/begging for another set of hands?

could you please take some pics or at least comment on the differences when you tackle this (little) project for these?

I'm a little hesitant about trying this, but it doesn't look too difficult--just time consuming.
I just want to get a better idea of what I might be getting myself into if I try this.

pedsemdoc wrote:msvara
you're doing this yourself, right?
I know Ilya recently did a DIY for BC coilovers--not sure if you're using his DIY to guide your install
Plus, are you going at alone or are you enlisting/bribing/begging for another set of hands?

could you please take some pics or at least comment on the differences when you tackle this (little) project for these?

I'm a little hesitant about trying this, but it doesn't look too difficult--just time consuming.
I just want to get a better idea of what I might be getting myself into if I try this.

Here is my HowTo: howto-install-a-suspension-t572911.html#p6458255

It seemed daunting going in as well but now having done it, it's actually pretty straight forward. The hardest part is breaking loose some of the bolts. I had to cut one and replace it completely.

Basically...the front is held on by three bolts on the bottom (one for the strut perch and two for a protective piece of metal that if you remove will give you more room to work with), one bolt in the middle (holding the strut in it's 'perch') and three top nuts holding the mount to the wheel well. The rears are just one bolt on the bottom and two nuts on top holding the shock to the wheel well. But, you also need to remove the OEM spring in the rear which means you have to jack up the rear perch and undo that bolt as well. Since you are going D2, you will not be using that perch anymore...it'll just be an empty space.

I suggest SOAKING everything in PB Blaster the day before and make sure you have breaker bars, etc.

Another tip, make sure you properly set your preload when the coilovers are OFF the car. It'll save you work later (not that much, but still). I didn't and had what seemed like strut bearing noise when turning all the way left and right.

Here is a video BC sent me on how to do that:

http://vimeo.com/28427984

Awesome. Thanks for all the tips. Yes I will be doing this completely alone. I have an electric impact drill which should help with the initial loosening but should I need to break I also have a 2' breaker bar with 1/2" drive. Where did you guys jack the front from underneath? I don't want the sway bar to interfere so have to jack the front/rear up together.

When doing the front couldn't you just remove the bolt at the top of the yolk and the three in the engine bay to remove the front strut/spring? I'ld rather not remove the two bottom bolts if I don't have to.

I've set the preload on the springs by loosening the lock collar then lower spring perch then hand tightening the lower perch and using the provided tool one full turn after contact. Then fully tighten the lock collar using both provided tools at once. This is just to have it ready to install. I have a drift and hammer for final tightening.

I'm actually glad the rears are full coilovers because the kit where they are separate looks difficult to adjust height.

I will take photos using my phone and do a complete write up for all who are interested. These ran me a bit over 1k with ups shipping from JM auto racing. This place was recommended by Jim at D2 America.

make sure your gas tank is full

use only 6-point sockets

start with the rear spring bucket and then the struts

if you don't have any problems this job should take you about 5hrs on the ground with no air tools.

I can get the D2's thru my cuz for $980 (with shipping & paypal fees)

Full Gas tank (Check). Thanks for that as well!

I have multipoint sockets as my standard sockets then 6 point hardened steel (similar to these http://www.globalindustrial.ca/p/tools/ ... Mgody2QAdw) for my impact drill. I did some other work a while ago and using the multipoint with the impact drill rounded the bolts nicely and quickly They're okay for lighter wrenching but I agree 6 point for the tight stuff!

$980 is a steal for sure, but JM Auto Racing did something else which saved me over $200 shipping them to Canada.

Good luck with the install.

I've been itching for coils lately, it's taking everything in me to fight not buying a set.

Don you have a few more options out there with an M45. If you have a bit of disposable income then do it. I am putting money away now for either another set or the OEM just in case if these coils fail after a year or so. The warranty is only for 1 year on these btw.

My responses in red.

msvara wrote:Awesome. Thanks for all the tips. Yes I will be doing this completely alone. I have an electric impact drill which should help with the initial loosening but should I need to break I also have a 2' breaker bar with 1/2" drive. Where did you guys jack the front from underneath? I don't want the sway bar to interfere so have to jack the front/rear up together.

I have a lift so I use the rocker panel or what not.

When doing the front couldn't you just remove the bolt at the top of the yolk and the three in the engine bay to remove the front strut/spring? I'ld rather not remove the two bottom bolts if I don't have to.

Yes, but I tried that and didn't have enough movement to get the bottom of the strut out of the brace/yolk. If you can figure out how to do it, we can update the HowTo document. That was my initial idea too.

I've set the preload on the springs by loosening the lock collar then lower spring perch then hand tightening the lower perch and using the provided tool one full turn after contact. Then fully tighten the lock collar using both provided tools at once. This is just to have it ready to install. I have a drift and hammer for final tightening.

Good.

I'm actually glad the rears are full coilovers because the kit where they are separate looks difficult to adjust height.

Yes, I had to call Freddy when doing my BC's and he helped me out but it was taking forever so I got frustrated and paid a local shop $100 to get all four corners adjusted to where I wanted them.

I will take photos using my phone and do a complete write up for all who are interested. These ran me a bit over 1k with ups shipping from JM auto racing. This place was recommended by Jim at D2 America.

msvara wrote:Don you have a few more options out there with an M45. If you have a bit of disposable income then do it. I am putting money away now for either another set or the OEM just in case if these coils fail after a year or so. The warranty is only for 1 year on these btw.

I believe most places (at least BC does this) send you a new strut/shock and charge you for it until you return the bad one. So technically, there isn't much downtime. I wouldn't have bought coilovers if that wasn't the case.

msvara wrote:Full Gas tank (Check). Thanks for that as well!

I have multipoint sockets as my standard sockets then 6 point hardened steel (similar to these http://www.globalindustrial.ca/p/tools/ ... Mgody2QAdw) for my impact drill. I did some other work a while ago and using the multipoint with the impact drill rounded the bolts nicely and quickly They're okay for lighter wrenching but I agree 6 point for the tight stuff!

$980 is a steal for sure, but JM Auto Racing did something else which saved me over $200 shipping them to Canada.

What did they do to save you $200, I am in canada and I am interested!

merling2 PM sent... Unfortunately My PM's are sitting in the outbox and not sent items. Anyone know how to correct this?

Typically the message will sit in your outbox until the recipient reads it, at which time it will move to your sent folder

Thought I would update the thread with a bit more info I read up on. A few guys attempted to remove the front strut assembly with the wishbone still on the car and they were successful by following these steps.

PB blaster everything (Wait min 30 min).
Remove wishbone to strut bolt completely.
Remove sway bar bolt and disconnect.
Using a large screw driver or pry bar, pry the space where the strut to wishbone bolt was installed apart while tapping the wishbone with a rubber mallet. This should allow the wheel assembly to drop out of the strut.

Then remove the upper mounting bolts and remove the strut.

Will give that a go and see if it works out.

msvara wrote:Thought I would update the thread with a bit more info I read up on. A few guys attempted to remove the front strut assembly with the wishbone still on the car and they were successful by following these steps.

PB blaster everything (Wait min 30 min).
Remove wishbone to strut bolt completely.
Remove sway bar bolt and disconnect.
Using a large screw driver or pry bar, pry the space where the strut to wishbone bolt was installed apart while tapping the wishbone with a rubber mallet. This should allow the wheel assembly to drop out of the strut.

Then remove the upper mounting bolts and remove the strut.

Will give that a go and see if it works out.

Worth a shot. You have to get quite the leverage on it...as the normal sitting position of the steering assembly is 'up'. It won't drop down enough...so get ready to maybe have another person push down. I would leave the top nuts on until you have it out of the wishbone otherwise it will fall and may injure you lol.

Ahh steering linkages, forgot about them 8) Can I not just unbolt that as well? I guess by the time I go through all this alternative trouble it may have been easier to just remove the wishbone as well hahaha.

msvara wrote:Ahh steering linkages, forgot about them 8) Can I not just unbolt that as well? I guess by the time I go through all this alternative trouble it may have been easier to just remove the wishbone as well hahaha.

I just removed the end link nut and disengaged that, then undid the wishbone and moved the whole arm (pushed down on the rotor). This allowed me to get the wishbone out and the necessary space.

Just a quick update. Install was straight forward but a couple of very annoying things that D2 forgot and I must mention. In the kit there are two brackets, both of which are for the abs sensors. Two grommets are included as well. There is no bracket for the brake mount. Cannot be reused off the old shock and nothing on the new. This made me loose 1 hour having to travel the the hardware store and think of what to use. PITA! Next thing they forgot was the rear shocks have the bolt welded to one side of the shock mount. The D2 was just two holes so I had to find a bolt and nut that would work. Again lost time traveling to the hardware store.

For the upper gaskets I used silicone sheets. Suspension is very quiet so far.

I will do a complete writeup but halfway through taking photos I gave up. The car is dropped 2.5" up front and 2.25" out back. Bit of a nosedive look. I started with 3" from collar to collar but found that to be too low so turned it out 5.5 turns. The rears are exactly 3.75" from collar to collar. At the current settings its too bouncy. I was laughing my a** off driving on the highway bouncing all over my seat. It's 16 clicks to H from full S for rear and 18 clicks for fronts. I did drive over a section of roadway where busses have sunk down and the tar formed a sort of wave. The car did scrape this section primarily due to the dip. Otherwise no other hits. The car feels like a go kart now lol. Feels like zero lean on corners.

Photos and writeup to follow.

Btw most of my bolts came off with my impact wrench so had no probs with taking the old off. Removing of the front retainer and wishbone was necessary. I could not get the fronts down low enough to get the strut out.

Anyone know how to get to the rear shock tops for adjustment?

Remove them is the only way. You did remove the old spring right?

I figured as much. I did remove the old springs from the perch.

I have my rear D2's set at 20 from soft to hard

Seriously? Isn't it bouncy? How low?

I have custom spring rates on my set which makes it stiffer for driving low on the M45 but all the other stock sets I have done are smooth, even for those that live in NY. The lower you go the stiffer you need to set the strut.

You should measure from fender lip to the ground on all 4 corners, everyone has a different tire & wheel set up.

If your cars has 60k miles or more your going from a dead strut to a firmer strut and this will take a few days for you to get used to it.

Did you re-set your springs pre-load before installation?

Reset spring preload? I set it off the car once but didn't know I had to reset it. None of these minor issues are as annoying as having to remove the strut to adjust rears. I wonder if there is a way to cut into that part from the trunk. Has anyone considered that? Anyone think that's a bad idea?

it would be nice to have but it's a big job as you need to redo the rears and remove the rear deck.

I asked about the spring load because in the past some people would not check it or would add to much.