Dennis,
I've been mulling over a few different approaches to the problem. Regretfully, it would really take doing the two side by side (or using my car as one of the solutions) then comparing them.
My car has P+ front dampers, standard air rear dampers (I did not see any difference between the standard and P+ rear air dampers) all using Tesla coil springs with the ride height set to slightly less than air Standard. My car is no M5 but is acceptable as my daily driver.
The other option would be a coil P85 lowered with rims and tires to achieve the best grip. You would loose the super thick sway bars which, for me, would be a plus as I do not think roll control is an issue on MS. You should also do better in the grip department as there are better choices for ultimate grip than the Pilots on the P+. You are likely to loose range as other tires may not be as efficient. The rub in this approach, and thus the need for testing, is (1) the standard coil dampers do not have the same bump and rebound valving as the P+ dampers and (2) their operating range or ideal operating stroke is further up the shaft thus testing is required to make sure there are no issues using them lowered.
The P solution is the most cost effective as it is bloody expensive to buy the P+ package only to have to buy a full set of coil units (parts not sold separately, you have to buy the whole damper assembly) to get the coils and perches. You then have to disable the air suspension.
Either way you go, you will be machining spring perch landing grooves so you can set your ride height.
Belgium is a long way away. If you find yourself on a family vacation to Disney or otherwise in South Florida you are welcome to drive mine to see if it meets your expectations.
As for developing an aftermarket set of dampers for the car, I've checked with Bilstein aftermarket and they do not have these types of dampers available. It is a shame because a few weeks and a stack of shims would permit coming up with a very nice solution. I'm not up for wandering over to other manufacturers although that is always an option for those that like to experiment. The MS supports both upper spring perch mounting stud spacings thus BMW strut mounts will work.
I've been mulling over a few different approaches to the problem. Regretfully, it would really take doing the two side by side (or using my car as one of the solutions) then comparing them.
My car has P+ front dampers, standard air rear dampers (I did not see any difference between the standard and P+ rear air dampers) all using Tesla coil springs with the ride height set to slightly less than air Standard. My car is no M5 but is acceptable as my daily driver.
The other option would be a coil P85 lowered with rims and tires to achieve the best grip. You would loose the super thick sway bars which, for me, would be a plus as I do not think roll control is an issue on MS. You should also do better in the grip department as there are better choices for ultimate grip than the Pilots on the P+. You are likely to loose range as other tires may not be as efficient. The rub in this approach, and thus the need for testing, is (1) the standard coil dampers do not have the same bump and rebound valving as the P+ dampers and (2) their operating range or ideal operating stroke is further up the shaft thus testing is required to make sure there are no issues using them lowered.
The P solution is the most cost effective as it is bloody expensive to buy the P+ package only to have to buy a full set of coil units (parts not sold separately, you have to buy the whole damper assembly) to get the coils and perches. You then have to disable the air suspension.
Either way you go, you will be machining spring perch landing grooves so you can set your ride height.
Belgium is a long way away. If you find yourself on a family vacation to Disney or otherwise in South Florida you are welcome to drive mine to see if it meets your expectations.
As for developing an aftermarket set of dampers for the car, I've checked with Bilstein aftermarket and they do not have these types of dampers available. It is a shame because a few weeks and a stack of shims would permit coming up with a very nice solution. I'm not up for wandering over to other manufacturers although that is always an option for those that like to experiment. The MS supports both upper spring perch mounting stud spacings thus BMW strut mounts will work.
That being said, I felt the increased bump and rebound on the front of my MS when I changed out the standard front dampers to the P+ front dampers (both with the coil conversion).
