KW V3 Coilovers arrived from Germany - E30 M10b18 Turbo

[melting_bloke]

I shot a quick rundown of the process which was an absolute nightmare. I looked high and low for info and couldn't find anything about the V3 option for E30's so I assume not many are floating about.

I know they've a little overkill for the car, but i thought the extra few hundred quid was worth the additional adjustment and the future proofing (originally I'd intended on an s54 conversion or something mad, but now will be keeping is small and light with the m10b18 and a turbo..

ps. new member here.

[DanThe]

Welcome to the forum, FYI the threaded tube is mild steel and zinc plated, they will have sandblasted the struts before welding and putting through the zinc process (hence the grainy finish) so the rust will have started between blasting/zinc, a coat of waxoil will stop it rusting anymore, which it will do if left dry.

It looks like they have plated over the bearing stubs, personally I would remove this as it could interfere with the bearing fitting

[ajay]

Here's what they will look like in 15 years time.. Still no rust! I decided to get my old KW's turned into another type of coilover so had to strip them and send them off for the cut & shut. The finnish does last.

[ross_jsy]

They look better than Gaz golds after a couple of months on a car

[NoTurbo]

Looking good. What did they charge for the setup?

[melting_bloke]

Thanks for the replies.

@danthe thanks for the input. i have some fresh bearing/hubs here so will check fitment before fitting them. - and will see to that little patch of rust. I looked high and low for fresh strusts to send them but to no avail...

@ajay those look in great shape. thanks for the feedback


@noturbo it was around £1700 for the job, plus the cost of the struts. total inclusing shipping etc just a shade under 2k£. pretty hefty by the standards of other brands, but i think the compression and rebound adjustment makes them worth it to me.

[NoTurbo]

I was looking at KW for an Audi A6 i used to own. They were the nicest coilovers i experienced for that car and i have been considering them for my e30 318is.

Let us know how the handling feels once they are installed.

[andy200sx]

I would be interested to know a bit more about these if you have them installed yet? They are a sensible price for a double adjustable coilover, I didnt realise they were available for the E30.

By the way your youtube link doesnt seem to be working!

[DanThe]

They look better than Gaz golds after a couple of months on a car

Funny you should say that I bought my Gaz golds second hand, they had done one outing at Oulton Park and the car was written off, they had already started to rust, I cleaned them off and gave them a brush of waxoil and they are no worse now (5 years later)

Some recent pics I have







If ajays have been left untreated they probably had a different plating process 15 years ago, lots of companies seem to be cutting costs and using cheaper plating or just paint

[ross_jsy]

A set of 6 month old Gaz Golds came with my sport. They looked like that had been on the titanic.

I cleaned them up and sold them for many shekels