[M1500Z]

Overview
Why this thread? I've been running Öhlins Road & Track (stock spring rates) for a little while, and while excellent on road and for a occasional track use, I have found them a little softly sprung for heavier track use and think separate compression and rebound adjustments would be nice. This led me onto the path of seeking a 2-way damper to replace them with and ultimately to MCS.

I don't have a lot of experience with high-end dampers and while I appreciate and respect the information I've received from the dealer, I still want to hear more first-hand experience from owners—there seems to be some variability on spring rates. Also, some real-world experience of street driving would be perfecto. I've been pestering a few of you through PM but figured maybe this will help other people ����*♂️.

Product
1-way, 2-way non-remote (2WNR), 2-way remote (2W), 3-way

Divorced
Y/N

Spring rate
Front:
Rear:

Relevant setup info
Swaybars, damper settings, typical tire run, etc

What's good

What could be improved

Tracks you run

Anything else? Other damper comparisons?

[AlexB77]

Following! I'm still on stock suspension besides GC camber plates and Turner monoball thrust arms but am looking into upgrading to coilovers soon. OGM2, mostly track driven these days with some road driving to/from the track and fun weekend drives.

Would like to add the question: How often do you need to rebuild your coilovers?

[jdubm2c]

This is what my shop recommended for half a dozen or so track days a year and still good on the street. I have been very happy with the changes. The rear is divorced. I am not sure what they ended up going with on the rebound settings, but I will find that out. Running a 275/18 square setup, and have had Yoko A052 (265) and Toyo R888R (275) so far. I have a set of RE71R's that I purchased on closeout in waiting for next year. I have only been on Portland Int'l Raceway, which is pretty flat and Oregon Raceway Park, which is like a roller coaster. I only have the stock setup to compare to as this is my first performance car.

SPL Rear Toe Links with Eccentric Lockout
MCS Single Adjustable Damper SEt
MCS Front Adapter Sleeve Pair
Eibach 2.25 ID Spring Spacer
Eibach Tender Spring Pair
Eibach 6inch 600lb 2.25ID Spring (Front)
Eibach 8 inch 2.25ID 750lb spring (Rear)
GC Camber Plate Set
Ground Control Rear Weight Jackers
H&R 16-18 BMW M2 F87 30mm Adj. 2 Hole Sway Bar - Front
Set of Titan 7 T-S5 18x9.5 +35

[PrimeBMW]

Originally Posted by M1500Z

Overview
Why this thread? I've been running Öhlins Road & Track (stock spring rates) for a little while, and while excellent on road and for a occasional track use, I have found them a little softly sprung for heavier track use and think separate compression and rebound adjustments would be nice. This led me onto the path of seeking a 2-way damper to replace them with and ultimately to MCS.

I don't have a lot of experience with high-end dampers and while I appreciate and respect the information I've received from the dealer, I still want to hear more first-hand experience from owners—there seems to be some variability on spring rates. Also, some real-world experience of street driving would be perfecto. I've been pestering a few of you through PM but figured maybe this will help other people ����*♂️.

Product
1-way, 2-way non-remote (2WNR), 2-way remote (2W), 3-way

Divorced
Y/N

Spring rate
Front:
Rear:

Relevant setup info
Swaybars, damper settings, typical tire run, etc

What's good

What could be improved

Tracks you run

Anything else? Other damper comparisons?

Who is the "dealer" you bought the MCS from? They should have interviewed you about your experience, the intended use and your car mods. With that info they should have recommended spring rates and shock set up. It should be very close. That is the info you should be using not the random people in this thread.

[mcvaughan]

Corey, I think you would be happy with the MCS setup (any of them). Just call Bimmerworld and they'll spec out whatever you need.

[M1500Z]

Originally Posted by PrimeBMW

Who is the "dealer" you bought the MCS from? They should have interviewed you about your experience, the intended use and your car mods. With that info they should have recommended spring rates and shock set up. It should be very close. That is the info you should be using not the random people in this thread.

I haven't made a purchase at this time nor is the goal to use random people to spec anything. I am just seeking experiences from people who've purchased and tracked an MCS setup. The information that I was suggesting be added to those experiences is to help put those experiences in context.

Originally Posted by mcvaughan

Corey, I think you would be happy with the MCS setup (any of them). Just call Bimmerworld and they'll spec out whatever you need.

I am pretty sure you're right, Matt, and thanks for sharing your experience in the past . Yours was especially helpful since you often drive your car on the street.

[Doublej]

Hey All,

Recently setup my car with 2WNR. I did not have the car out on track prior to this this setup and to be honest I had only driven ~2500KM in the 14 months I had owned it prior to going to the track so I didn't really know the car very well when I hit the track. I managed to get 3 track days in but with a new car, new track and working on so many things at the same time, it's difficult to give any really assessment of the setup. So this may not be useful at all.

It had been some 4 years since I had been out on track so I took a slow and steady approach to dusting the cobwebs off that part of my brain. The track I ran (Castrol Raceway in Leduc, AB) has some bumpy sections and concrete walls in some areas so I wasn't feeling the need to get too cocky too quickly.

I didn't spend too much time on damper tweaks since I felt I wanted to get more comfortable with the car and track first, figure out tire pressures etc. The basics.

I started out with a middle of the road damper settings of:
Front: C:8 R:8
Rear: C:8 R:8

I wanted predictable which it was and these actually turned out to be pretty decent starting points. I had no sense of what sort of grip I would have on-throttle, braking, cornering etc so I figured these settings were pretty safe.

This is my first time having a 2 way adjustable damper so that has a learning curve in itself to know what setting to change for what behaviour. I found this chart which I saved to my phone (and printed) for quick reference:
https://dsportmag.com/wp-content/upl...ning-chart.jpg

I looked at Ohlins R&T for the M2C but there were some mixed comments with the front perch clearance and some liked or didn't like the spring rates. I could have opted for custom rates but when I read about MCS it just seemed like the way to go for me. MCS in general were highly spoken of.

I had several conversations about spring rates. I initially was going to go for something like a ~ 450/800 setup but then I spoke directly with Wyatt @ MCS and he convinced me to up the rates. I didn't go as high as he suggested but one notch lower I believe.

They're on the firm side for the street and again honestly, I haven't even taken the time to find the perfect dampening for around town. It's just gone from the garage to the track, back to the garage. With my track days done now I'll spend some time this coming weekend to find what works best for street.


Product
2-way non-remote (2WNR)

Divorced
Y

Spring rate
Front: Swift Z60-152-120 6" 60mm 672lbs/in w/H60-060-015 helpers
Rear: Swift Z65-203-180 8" 65mm 1009lbs/in

Relevant setup info
Stock sway bars
Ground Control Camber Plates
Tires are square setup 275/35/18 BFG Supercar 3 on Apex 18x10 ET33
Camber Front: -2.8
Camber Rear: -2
Front Toe: 0
Rear Toe: .26 total
I had asked for max allowable caster in the front since the camber plates have a small amount of adjustment but the shop didn't take note of that so I ended up with 8 on one side and 7.6 on the other.
Ride Height Front: 600mm
Ride Height Rear: 605mm (although I think it's settled to 600 now)
SPL sway bar drop links all around
SPL front thrust arm bushings
SPL rear toe links
Ground Control rear height jacks
AP Racing 9668 front brake setup with Ferrodo DS1.11 all around.

Rear Seats are out
CMS Rollbar
Sparco EVO front seats with 6 pt harnesses
BM3 M2 CS Tune


What's good
- Spring rates are a good start but I won't know for sure until I am really pushing and dial in the dampers. Higher rate isn't always better for grip. And, I feel you can't really tell until you're comfortable leaning on the car. Once I'm comfortable and start throwing the car around more I'll learn a lot more about the capabilities of this particular setup.
- installation was pretty straight forward.

What could be improved
- I almost wish now I had gone remote reservoirs just because it can be a pain in the ass to adjust the rears. If it was wet it would be very difficult to turn the adjusters (not too mention laying on a wet ground)
- The adjuster in the rear to switch from compression to rebound adjustment can be difficult to turn. Dirt/grit gets in there making it more difficult.
- The drivers rear adjuster wheel set screw came loose and while I was able to tighten it, it tightened in such away that I couldn't switch between compression to rebound. I sorted it all out but a bit of a pain. Had had to take the wheel off to get in there to fix it.
- I don't feel great about the damper shafts being exposed. I would have liked to had dust boots.

Tracks you run
- Castrol Raceway in Leduc, AB
- There is a new track almost ready near Calgary, AB (Crossfield) which hopefully be my new home track.
I have ran the following in the past: Mission Raceway (Vancouver), Pacific Raceway (Seattle), The Ridge (Shelton, WA), Portland, Oregon Raceway Park (favorite). I plan to get do a trip and get back to some of these next year. Hopefully the border opens by then.

Anything else? Other damper comparisons?
Not on this car. Had Ohlins R&T on a 2016 Golf R but spring rates were too soft for the track. Great for the street or spirited street so that's the only thing I can compare to.

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by M1500Z

I am pretty sure you're right, Matt, and thanks for sharing your experience in the past . Yours was especially helpful since you often drive your car on the street.

I'll 2nd what mcvaughan said about getting with BW if going with MCS - those guys are awesome. I ran MCS 3ways that I worked with BW on my race car and was very happy with their performance. We have since moved on and are now working with Inertia Lab on developing platform and application specific Nitron setups (i.e. race, dedicated track, street/track hybrid, etc).

My experience with BW & MCS - we were very close right out of the box with the setup they recommended & suggested settings. Did not take us very long to get it dialed in at all. New tracks, different conditions, still wouldn't take very long to get where we wanted to be at too. With JRZ it felt like we were always chasing our tail a bit trying to get them dialed in. These are race experiences but just passing along as some feedback being happy with BW spec'd MCS at the time

[M1500Z]

Thanks Doublej for taking the time to add your experience/information. I'm looking forward to your feedback on the street.

Jason—helpful as always. I've got nothing against JRZ, but have heard similar feedback. I'm curious though—why switch to Nitron if your experience was positive with MCS?

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by M1500Z

Jason—helpful as always. I've got nothing against JRZ, but have heard similar feedback. I'm curious though—why switch to Nitron if your experience was positive with MCS?

Looking for that mix of performance and durability that Nitron has the reputation for. Also working with Inertia Lab we have the opportunity to really dial in complete kits exactly like we want them. For example our 223 M2C build - spring rates & lengths, valving, all that fun stuff - get to do some extensive testing to find out what works best for this hybrid application. With Nitron I feel we start with a very durable damper that will also perform like we want.