jmarcos
Member
Over the Christmas break I installed the MPP suspension myself, first time doing such thing. Other than the spring removal which was stressful, it was rather straightforward; note that I had also installed the rear toe/camber arms and the front control arms, so I was familiar with what it would take. This thread helped quite a bit, with the instructions from @MountainPass always being on the brief side (love you guys, but that's where things could improve a bit!).
My goal was to lower less than 1'' on my M3P, about 20mm, so I decided to start with 12mm above the recommendation, or 10mm at the perch. I first did some measurements, and this inside caliper https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PU5HHY/ was quite useful to measure the heights to the battery and later for adjustments to the rear perch post-install.
I first did the rears over a couple of afternoons; was happy when I saw the same differential drop, and went for a 90mile ride over the bumpy LA freeways; the rears settled 4mm further.
Then another two half-days to do the fronts; I considered having somebody else remove the springs, but did it myself taking it easy with the spring compressors. I have a couple of suggestions for Jessie regarding the front instructions steps, will email him.
On a final day I did a small correction to all sides (roughly 1 mm) and re-measured the hub-to-fender and floor-to-fender heights after leveling with vinyl tiles and a good laser level. Total drop was around 19mm, about a 2 finger gap. Goal achieved!
Driving: the default 12/10 appeared to be similar to stock (as in not scary harsh), but for a first real drive I decided to try 9/7 on the canyons. The moment I drove off I had a smile on my face, and even though I was not driving fast, the handling in the canyons was quite awesome, while not being too harsh for me.
A big concern was the ride quality for the family; tried the street recommendation of 14/13 but it was a bit dull, so on on the way to alignment shop I went back to the initial 12/10; I was surprised at how composed the car was on the 5 freeway south from the 101, where in some sections the car used to pitch back and forth quite a bit.
The good thing about the 2 finger gap is that I can still reach the rear rebound with my fingers, so after a quick parking lot stop, I drove back with 10/8 which I thought was very close to what I wanted, with only too much feedback coming from the front, which over a long drive can fatigue you (the MPP lower control arm bushing provides plenty of feedback already!). So I reduced the front compression to 10, and voila!, nailed it for me (10/10 front, then tweaked the rears to 10/9). That's the daily setting for now.
The real test was when my wife drove to work; she said it was very good, "feels firm but smooth, what did you do?" (I was grinning).
So there you go, a big thumbs up and stamp of approval, and cannot wait to see how it does on the track! Now I only need that SA2020 helmet to finally ship...
My goal was to lower less than 1'' on my M3P, about 20mm, so I decided to start with 12mm above the recommendation, or 10mm at the perch. I first did some measurements, and this inside caliper https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PU5HHY/ was quite useful to measure the heights to the battery and later for adjustments to the rear perch post-install.
I first did the rears over a couple of afternoons; was happy when I saw the same differential drop, and went for a 90mile ride over the bumpy LA freeways; the rears settled 4mm further.
Then another two half-days to do the fronts; I considered having somebody else remove the springs, but did it myself taking it easy with the spring compressors. I have a couple of suggestions for Jessie regarding the front instructions steps, will email him.
On a final day I did a small correction to all sides (roughly 1 mm) and re-measured the hub-to-fender and floor-to-fender heights after leveling with vinyl tiles and a good laser level. Total drop was around 19mm, about a 2 finger gap. Goal achieved!
Driving: the default 12/10 appeared to be similar to stock (as in not scary harsh), but for a first real drive I decided to try 9/7 on the canyons. The moment I drove off I had a smile on my face, and even though I was not driving fast, the handling in the canyons was quite awesome, while not being too harsh for me.
A big concern was the ride quality for the family; tried the street recommendation of 14/13 but it was a bit dull, so on on the way to alignment shop I went back to the initial 12/10; I was surprised at how composed the car was on the 5 freeway south from the 101, where in some sections the car used to pitch back and forth quite a bit.
The good thing about the 2 finger gap is that I can still reach the rear rebound with my fingers, so after a quick parking lot stop, I drove back with 10/8 which I thought was very close to what I wanted, with only too much feedback coming from the front, which over a long drive can fatigue you (the MPP lower control arm bushing provides plenty of feedback already!). So I reduced the front compression to 10, and voila!, nailed it for me (10/10 front, then tweaked the rears to 10/9). That's the daily setting for now.
The real test was when my wife drove to work; she said it was very good, "feels firm but smooth, what did you do?" (I was grinning).
So there you go, a big thumbs up and stamp of approval, and cannot wait to see how it does on the track! Now I only need that SA2020 helmet to finally ship...