Inverted dampers are so the stationary portion of the shock is the heavy part. The body that oscillates will be lighter. Probably not noticeable on a 4000lb car, but on a motorcycle inverted forks are night and day.
The only way to have a monotube damper in a strut suspension is to invert it. Monotubes need to have small piston rods for hydraulic reasons, so they can’t handle all the lateral loads that a strut has to bear. The non-inverted designs are all twin or triple tube.
Good point! I didn't mention that there's a tradeoff to going non-inverted. An inverted design lets you use a small enough shaft to reduce gas forces. I believe MCS and Nitron (and maybe some others) make monotube non-inverted struts for this platform, but their shaft sizes are definitely larger.
Super nice video! :) I just installed the Öhlins R&T on my M2C. I started with 7 click front and rear with the 90/190 N/mm strings. Way over-damped and bouncy in the rear. Changed to 12 front and 20 in rear. Completely transformed. Feels like a goods street setting. I think you are right in your observation, in the front I most likely stay 8-12 and in the rear 15-20. One more thing that would be great if you could cover. In the rear the droop it MUCH less with the Öhlins compared to stock I noticed when installing them. Any comments about that?
Yeah, it's weird the rear dampers don't have that much travel. You could increase the droop allowed by making the damper longer via the top cup, but that would then put you closer to bump stop engagement. The F2x/F3x Ohlins rear dampers have a good amount more travel. Do you know how much free damper travel you have till bump stop engagement? That's super cool that the damping settings you feel are most optimal are matching well with what I've modeled!
Interesting video. I have this kit on my M2C, with the 190 rear spring. I find it generally too firm our bad roads here in the UK. I changed the rear to 18 and fronts to 13 and it felt much better. However if you carry any speed over undulations and bumps you get a bounce thats really uncomfortable. If you stiffen it up and run like 10 front and 12 rear you dont get that bounce but its very stiff and not really comfortable. I think the spring rates for bad roads are just too stiff. Not sure if i should change the springs or just go forba more road based coilover like KW / M Performance. When the roads are smooth the Ohlins are great but most of the time they are not. My car is mostly a road fun car with maybe 4 track days a year. What do you think about my thoughts above?
I settled on like 6F and 13R for the damping settings. Less than that on the front and the front is underdamped. When I went less on both the front and rear the car was clearly underdamped and I experienced a lot of secondary/tertiary oscillations, even though they were at a high frequency.
@FaRKle0079 oh wow that seems quite stiff but ill try it. I dropped the rear to 15 today. I'll try your setting. I went out in an M2C with M-Performance coilovers today. It was alot more compliant on the road, softer, you didn't feel every imperfection on the road, however at speed over undulations the rear tyres rubbed. So it was probably set soft or is to soft. Maybe softer springs on the Ohlins is the way to go?
@@JayKullar M-Perf dampers are twin tube, so they should be more comfortable also due to the lower gas pressure. Going to softer springs is one way to try and improve the comfort, but the Ohlins damping range doesn't let you go that much softer without being overdamped.
@@mrfurious214 190N/mm rear springs. One setting for both street and track. You want as little damping as required so the suspension isn't overconstrained and able to follow the road as best as possible, but is able to have sufficient body control.
Ok, finally someone some really good information on the MR40. If your looking to do track days or Autocross this us the Ohlins kit to have. I had this exact kit modified with the help of Brian at Ohlins to fit my M235i. Your right the rear spring is massive. On the street it can be a little bouncy. On the Autocross track it's brilliant!! I just ordered this kit for my new to me 2017 M2. Thank you for the bloody brilliant shock dyno explanations. Two thumbs 👍up for this video. I just subscribed to your channel.
Did Ohlins provide you with a smaller diameter sleeve/height adjuster to for the MR40 front struts to fit the F2x/F3x knuckles, and a different rear damper top cap to fit the F2x/F3x rear top mounts?
I had the kit shipped to Vorshlag. I used there camber plates. The did the machine work. Turned out they didn't do a very good job of it. After running them about a yr, my number one mechanic noticed weren't machined correctly. He was able to get me two replacements and had them machined correctly.
The inverted monotube design is VERY COOOOOL-----I would insist upon it (for an expensive coilover.) My Bilstein B12's and B14's are alllll inverted. Their benefits may be more theoretical than felt on your fingers at the steering wheel or against your buttocks on the seat. It does lower unsprung weight a tiny bit and that's appreciated.
Awesome video! You should do video explaining how to adjust the Ohlins MR40 rear spring/strut (height and preload). Seems like the Ohlins installation instructions are a bit misleading on the rear adjustment part.
when you transfer weight of the vehicle on the track, it is where slow velocity area in the damper plays the role because the roll / pitch motion is relatively slower, right? and the curve shows that Ohlins DFV has softer damping characteristics than the stock in that slow velocity area - means they are less affective in controlling roll / pitch motion on the track, which is quite contrary to my real world experience (roll / pitch is significanly reduced than the stock), maybe it implies that the spring ratio plays more role than the damper in weight transfering situation... interesting topic to think about! nice video by the way, thank you so much !
Do you think the difference and revision in rear spring rate was due to Ohlins messing up the measurement of the rear motion ratio? I’ve seen threads on Bimmerpost about ohlins quoting the motion ratio incorrectly.
@@danvuquoc I don't think they did it for motion ratio reasons, but rather because people complained the kit was too stiff. Especially with these rebound bias setups, things can get pretty harsh when going over successive bumps because then you have a lot of bump stop engagement. So 1) the already stiff spring provides less isolation from road textures, and 2) you can jack down into the bump stops providing less give.
@@lucassganderlla7305 The front motion ratio is 0.95. You might be interested in checking out my BMW F8x suspension deep dive videos: -Part1: ua-cam.com/video/56bno-Xp6_I/v-deo.html -Part2: ua-cam.com/video/eUhJzOu3E2Q/v-deo.html
@@FaRKle0079 even the updated spring rate is pretty stiff these are supposed to be road and track not just track :) They’re even a bit stiffer than the KW club sport 3ways.
It will reduce wheel/tire clearance compared to stock since the spring perch sits in the same plane as the tire/wheel. The stock spring perch sits above it.
Isn't the thicker rod above because it is an inverted design with fluid moved to sprung weight, making unsprung lighter and more responsive? The thinner rod is just moved to the bottom, not increasing or decreasing lateral stiffness.
In an inverted design the piston shaft is inside the strut body housing where it hardly sees any lateral load compared to if it were protruding above the strut body. The damper body itself (where the piston is moving within) is the structural member above the strut body and takes the lateral load. Doing it this way allows for a thinner piston shaft and avoids higher gas force so the damper can start working sooner.
@@FaRKle0079 @FaRKle0079 forgive my lack of proper technical terms. Yes I understand the design. Ok, that is understandable about be able to use lower gas forces. The point in your video where you talked about the damper body being in top just made it seem like Ohlins inverted the shock based on lateral stiffness alone.
You can probably run the front and rear a bit higher on damping. If the front feels fine, then I'd leave it, but you can also try going down to 8. For the rear try going down another 2-4 clicks and see if that helps.
So which means I can't use the stiffest settings for track cause the coilovers will bleed? I was using about 13 clicks but feeling kinda too soft, just changed to the 0 clicks which is the stiffest setting, is it dnagerous to do that?
You can "use" the stiffest settings, but you'll be detuning things rather than improving them. I don't think it'd be crazy dangerous or anything like that, but you'd have less grip than if you stayed in a more reasonable damping range.
It's pretty typical for kits to have various adapting pieces for main springs, and dampers to their mounting points. As you go to even lower volume and more expensive kits the amount of adapters becomes even greater...
Make sense. How did you like the comfort of these on the street? I have an Mr41 kit I’m eyeing for my F83 but after perusing the M2 forums it looks like those guys really don’t find it a comfortable ride on the street
@@ryanp7219 It's not very comfortable on the street to me. That said your F83 is a good bit heavier by ~450lbs so the Ohlins spring rates aren't as much of a jump for you. I still think a B16 kit with different springs to achieve flat ride can be more comfortable and cheaper alternative than Ohlins.
@@FaRKle0079 what springs did you end up with with the stock ohlins dampers or did you have them revalved? was thinking of going with 80N/mm F and 160N/mm rear springs on the F80 w/ 18". thanks
@@hovnojede010101 I'm still running the default 90/190 N/mm springs. I don't plan on having these revalved, especially since I've never seen a dyno of what that even turns it into.
This isn't one of the FCM kits. FCM uses Bilstein made dampers to do their bespoke kits. I'll eventually be trying one of those too on the M2 (I have one on my F31)!
Thank You for this amazing video! Just installed Ohlins and I am looking for best setup for daily driving. I thought 20 clicks all around should do it. But then car has a lot of rebound. Now went to 15 front, 18 back. Yes, it’s a bit stiffer. But that also takes away the excessive rebound, which ironically makes it more comfortable. I guess different springs would also help, maybe will try that in couple months.
If you don’t mind keeping the stock shocks/struts, you can replace the springs with a Dinan coilover sleeve kit. Dinan has been said to give a more comfortable ride quality than stock springs. Or MSS height adjustable spring kit. Evolve Automotive has been using it on their M2 for a long time and they also claim better ride quality than stock. The springs are made by Eibach, so still a reputable company.
Great review! 190 N/mm rear spring should be used on a M2. Öhlins initially released the M3/M4 kit with 230 N/mm but updated to 190 N/mm. **190 N/mm rear spring has always been the spec'd spring for M2 package since initial release.**
@@FaRKle0079 Source 2x 48010-67 (190 N/mm, 200mm FL, 65mm ID) from an Öhlins dealer to get the appropriate spring. I would also encourage sourcing a 200mm front spring, 2x 48010-27, to reduce the chances of spring bind with the 180mm you show in the video. Make sure you have all the rubber spring isolators and thrust spacers, 25601-01 and 25602-01, which are typically included with a system.
@@brianfowler9804 I'll probably buy springs close to the Ohlins rate/length specs, but not the actual Ohlins part. No reason to pay Ohlins markup. 190N/mm is close enough for me to grab an 8" 1050 or 1100 lbs/in spring from Hyperco or Eibach. In fact I'm quite positive Eibach makes the springs for Ohlins. For the front spring, at 513 lbs/ in it should be compressed about 1.7" at static ride height, and for the 7" spring, should have about an additional 2.5" of compression before bind. If the bump stop starts to engage before that, I should be fine in terms of coil bind. Eibach says there's an additional 7mm of travel in the 200mm front spring vs 180mm. I need to get some new thrust sheets for the kit since I gave mine to a local guy I helped (his M2 was making a lot of noises and it turns out the shop that installed his Ohlins didn't put the thrust sheets in AND put the left strut on the right side, and so forth...).
Inverted dampers are so the stationary portion of the shock is the heavy part. The body that oscillates will be lighter. Probably not noticeable on a 4000lb car, but on a motorcycle inverted forks are night and day.
Quality video and explanation chap - enjoyed that alot.
The only way to have a monotube damper in a strut suspension is to invert it. Monotubes need to have small piston rods for hydraulic reasons, so they can’t handle all the lateral loads that a strut has to bear. The non-inverted designs are all twin or triple tube.
Good point! I didn't mention that there's a tradeoff to going non-inverted. An inverted design lets you use a small enough shaft to reduce gas forces.
I believe MCS and Nitron (and maybe some others) make monotube non-inverted struts for this platform, but their shaft sizes are definitely larger.
@@FaRKle0079how does that translate to feel? Between a custom valved 3DM R&T versus Nitron and MCS
Super nice video! :) I just installed the Öhlins R&T on my M2C. I started with 7 click front and rear with the 90/190 N/mm strings. Way over-damped and bouncy in the rear. Changed to 12 front and 20 in rear. Completely transformed. Feels like a goods street setting. I think you are right in your observation, in the front I most likely stay 8-12 and in the rear 15-20.
One more thing that would be great if you could cover. In the rear the droop it MUCH less with the Öhlins compared to stock I noticed when installing them. Any comments about that?
Yeah, it's weird the rear dampers don't have that much travel. You could increase the droop allowed by making the damper longer via the top cup, but that would then put you closer to bump stop engagement. The F2x/F3x Ohlins rear dampers have a good amount more travel. Do you know how much free damper travel you have till bump stop engagement?
That's super cool that the damping settings you feel are most optimal are matching well with what I've modeled!
Watched this like 8 times today alone
excellent review!!
Great vid and explanation. Currently
Saving for the Ohlins R&T for my MK7 GTI.
Interesting video. I have this kit on my M2C, with the 190 rear spring. I find it generally too firm our bad roads here in the UK. I changed the rear to 18 and fronts to 13 and it felt much better. However if you carry any speed over undulations and bumps you get a bounce thats really uncomfortable. If you stiffen it up and run like 10 front and 12 rear you dont get that bounce but its very stiff and not really comfortable. I think the spring rates for bad roads are just too stiff. Not sure if i should change the springs or just go forba more road based coilover like KW / M Performance. When the roads are smooth the Ohlins are great but most of the time they are not. My car is mostly a road fun car with maybe 4 track days a year. What do you think about my thoughts above?
I settled on like 6F and 13R for the damping settings. Less than that on the front and the front is underdamped. When I went less on both the front and rear the car was clearly underdamped and I experienced a lot of secondary/tertiary oscillations, even though they were at a high frequency.
@FaRKle0079 oh wow that seems quite stiff but ill try it. I dropped the rear to 15 today. I'll try your setting. I went out in an M2C with M-Performance coilovers today. It was alot more compliant on the road, softer, you didn't feel every imperfection on the road, however at speed over undulations the rear tyres rubbed. So it was probably set soft or is to soft. Maybe softer springs on the Ohlins is the way to go?
@@JayKullar M-Perf dampers are twin tube, so they should be more comfortable also due to the lower gas pressure. Going to softer springs is one way to try and improve the comfort, but the Ohlins damping range doesn't let you go that much softer without being overdamped.
@@FaRKle0079are those settings with the rear 230Nm or the 190Nm springs? Also, are those track settings or street?
@@mrfurious214 190N/mm rear springs. One setting for both street and track. You want as little damping as required so the suspension isn't overconstrained and able to follow the road as best as possible, but is able to have sufficient body control.
would love to see a video and recommended settings for 993 R&T Ohlins
Ok, finally someone some really good information on the MR40. If your looking to do track days or Autocross this us the Ohlins kit to have.
I had this exact kit modified with the help of Brian at Ohlins to fit my M235i. Your right the rear spring is massive. On the street it can be a little bouncy.
On the Autocross track it's brilliant!!
I just ordered this kit for my new to me 2017 M2. Thank you for the bloody brilliant shock dyno explanations.
Two thumbs 👍up for this video.
I just subscribed to your channel.
Did Ohlins provide you with a smaller diameter sleeve/height adjuster to for the MR40 front struts to fit the F2x/F3x knuckles, and a different rear damper top cap to fit the F2x/F3x rear top mounts?
I had the kit shipped to Vorshlag. I used there camber plates. The did the machine work. Turned out they didn't do a very good job of it.
After running them about a yr, my number one mechanic noticed weren't machined correctly. He was able to get me two replacements and had them machined correctly.
@@michaellegere4823 Oh wow, glad you got it sorted in the end!
The inverted monotube design is VERY COOOOOL-----I would insist upon it (for an expensive coilover.) My Bilstein B12's and B14's are alllll inverted. Their benefits may be more theoretical than felt on your fingers at the steering wheel or against your buttocks on the seat. It does lower unsprung weight a tiny bit and that's appreciated.
Awesome video! You should do video explaining how to adjust the Ohlins MR40 rear spring/strut (height and preload). Seems like the Ohlins installation instructions are a bit misleading on the rear adjustment part.
Thanks! I'll be sure to cover that when I eventually get around to installing them.
Thanks!!!!
How would you compare ohlins to bilstein b6/b8 ?
when you transfer weight of the vehicle on the track, it is where slow velocity area in the damper plays the role because the roll / pitch motion is relatively slower, right? and the curve shows that Ohlins DFV has softer damping characteristics than the stock in that slow velocity area - means they are less affective in controlling roll / pitch motion on the track, which is quite contrary to my real world experience (roll / pitch is significanly reduced than the stock), maybe it implies that the spring ratio plays more role than the damper in weight transfering situation... interesting topic to think about! nice video by the way, thank you so much !
Do you think the difference and revision in rear spring rate was due to Ohlins messing up the measurement of the rear motion ratio? I’ve seen threads on Bimmerpost about ohlins quoting the motion ratio incorrectly.
For reference Ohlins is quoted at calculating the motion ratio at 0.47.
Is the front near 1? Trying to estimate what the difference would be for wheel rates.
@@danvuquoc I don't think they did it for motion ratio reasons, but rather because people complained the kit was too stiff. Especially with these rebound bias setups, things can get pretty harsh when going over successive bumps because then you have a lot of bump stop engagement. So 1) the already stiff spring provides less isolation from road textures, and 2) you can jack down into the bump stops providing less give.
@@lucassganderlla7305 The front motion ratio is 0.95. You might be interested in checking out my BMW F8x suspension deep dive videos:
-Part1: ua-cam.com/video/56bno-Xp6_I/v-deo.html
-Part2: ua-cam.com/video/eUhJzOu3E2Q/v-deo.html
@@FaRKle0079 even the updated spring rate is pretty stiff these are supposed to be road and track not just track :) They’re even a bit stiffer than the KW club sport 3ways.
Did you experience any noise when turning the wheels?
Great Video ! About the tire clearence on M3 F80 , Ohlins R&T reduce it compared to stock suspension ?
It will reduce wheel/tire clearance compared to stock since the spring perch sits in the same plane as the tire/wheel. The stock spring perch sits above it.
Isn't the thicker rod above because it is an inverted design with fluid moved to sprung weight, making unsprung lighter and more responsive?
The thinner rod is just moved to the bottom, not increasing or decreasing lateral stiffness.
In an inverted design the piston shaft is inside the strut body housing where it hardly sees any lateral load compared to if it were protruding above the strut body. The damper body itself (where the piston is moving within) is the structural member above the strut body and takes the lateral load. Doing it this way allows for a thinner piston shaft and avoids higher gas force so the damper can start working sooner.
@@FaRKle0079 @FaRKle0079 forgive my lack of proper technical terms. Yes I understand the design. Ok, that is understandable about be able to use lower gas forces. The point in your video where you talked about the damper body being in top just made it seem like Ohlins inverted the shock based on lateral stiffness alone.
@@dho0liganb Yes, I neglected to mention the tradeoff between shaft size and gas force there.
What are your settings for the track? I run 10f 17r - the rear is oscillating up and down too much. If run the rear softer i feel it will bottom out
You can probably run the front and rear a bit higher on damping. If the front feels fine, then I'd leave it, but you can also try going down to 8. For the rear try going down another 2-4 clicks and see if that helps.
So which means I can't use the stiffest settings for track cause the coilovers will bleed? I was using about 13 clicks but feeling kinda too soft, just changed to the 0 clicks which is the stiffest setting, is it dnagerous to do that?
You can "use" the stiffest settings, but you'll be detuning things rather than improving them. I don't think it'd be crazy dangerous or anything like that, but you'd have less grip than if you stayed in a more reasonable damping range.
Do other kits have as many adapters and shims as ohlins to make it work with the F8X platform? Seems like a negative aspect to these.
It's pretty typical for kits to have various adapting pieces for main springs, and dampers to their mounting points. As you go to even lower volume and more expensive kits the amount of adapters becomes even greater...
Make sense. How did you like the comfort of these on the street?
I have an Mr41 kit I’m eyeing for my F83 but after perusing the M2 forums it looks like those guys really don’t find it a comfortable ride on the street
@@ryanp7219 It's not very comfortable on the street to me. That said your F83 is a good bit heavier by ~450lbs so the Ohlins spring rates aren't as much of a jump for you. I still think a B16 kit with different springs to achieve flat ride can be more comfortable and cheaper alternative than Ohlins.
@@FaRKle0079 what springs did you end up with with the stock ohlins dampers or did you have them revalved? was thinking of going with 80N/mm F and 160N/mm rear springs on the F80 w/ 18". thanks
@@hovnojede010101 I'm still running the default 90/190 N/mm springs. I don't plan on having these revalved, especially since I've never seen a dyno of what that even turns it into.
Actually inverted piston shafts are an advantage vs non inverted for lateral strength and stability.
Is this the kit from Sheik from FCM?
This isn't one of the FCM kits. FCM uses Bilstein made dampers to do their bespoke kits. I'll eventually be trying one of those too on the M2 (I have one on my F31)!
Thank You for this amazing video!
Just installed Ohlins and I am looking for best setup for daily driving.
I thought 20 clicks all around should do it. But then car has a lot of rebound.
Now went to 15 front, 18 back. Yes, it’s a bit stiffer. But that also takes away the excessive rebound, which ironically makes it more comfortable.
I guess different springs would also help, maybe will try that in couple months.
What would you recommend for a softer, more everyday ride, than a track ready suspension?
KW seem to be pretty good as DDs. Their spring rates aren't too much higher than stock, and they maintain flat ride.
The Ohlins R&T are much better than KW for the street and everyday driving. I had the KW’s. Not street friendly.
If you don’t mind keeping the stock shocks/struts, you can replace the springs with a Dinan coilover sleeve kit. Dinan has been said to give a more comfortable ride quality than stock springs.
Or MSS height adjustable spring kit. Evolve Automotive has been using it on their M2 for a long time and they also claim better ride quality than stock. The springs are made by Eibach, so still a reputable company.
Why are KW not street friendly?
@@JacesOwnWorld which KW ?
Great review!
190 N/mm rear spring should be used on a M2. Öhlins initially released the M3/M4 kit with 230 N/mm but updated to 190 N/mm.
**190 N/mm rear spring has always been the spec'd spring for M2 package since initial release.**
Good point. I'll probably buy a spring around that range to test with in the rear.
@@FaRKle0079 Source 2x 48010-67 (190 N/mm, 200mm FL, 65mm ID) from an Öhlins dealer to get the appropriate spring. I would also encourage sourcing a 200mm front spring, 2x 48010-27, to reduce the chances of spring bind with the 180mm you show in the video. Make sure you have all the rubber spring isolators and thrust spacers, 25601-01 and 25602-01, which are typically included with a system.
@@brianfowler9804 I'll probably buy springs close to the Ohlins rate/length specs, but not the actual Ohlins part. No reason to pay Ohlins markup. 190N/mm is close enough for me to grab an 8" 1050 or 1100 lbs/in spring from Hyperco or Eibach. In fact I'm quite positive Eibach makes the springs for Ohlins.
For the front spring, at 513 lbs/ in it should be compressed about 1.7" at static ride height, and for the 7" spring, should have about an additional 2.5" of compression before bind. If the bump stop starts to engage before that, I should be fine in terms of coil bind. Eibach says there's an additional 7mm of travel in the 200mm front spring vs 180mm.
I need to get some new thrust sheets for the kit since I gave mine to a local guy I helped (his M2 was making a lot of noises and it turns out the shop that installed his Ohlins didn't put the thrust sheets in AND put the left strut on the right side, and so forth...).
@@FaRKle0079 Make sure whatever front spring you choose has more than 114mm of stroke and you'll be fine. Otherwise, sounds good!
Do yourself a favor and install original M3 struts.