[Juliana19]

Hi all,

After moving to the M Performance coilovers I was actually quite disappointed with their overall performance, I understand they are good fast road option for many but for me driving on track regularly I found them too soft, poor damping and very crashy when stiffened up. (disclaimer other opinions are available!)

As a result I set off to find an alternative solution which means I could still use the car on the road in relative comfort but also have more control on track. I do lots of trackdays with a friend who has a 981 Cayman GTS with a set of custom valved and sprung coilovers developed by a company called Omnium Racing. I drove the car and was very very impressed especially as I've driven the car several times in stock form.

Initially I got Omnium racing to set my car up properly with corner weighting etc and although that improved the car on track I still found the suspension to be lacking good body control, damping and overall feel.

I was originally looking at Nitron R1s to replace my M Performance set up but after speaking at length with Omnium they suggested they were interested in developing a custom ohlins set up for the M2 with a proper coilover on the rear (not a divorced spring and damper) custom valving, spring rates and ride height for different applications (mine being more focussed for track). Omnium Racing are big advocates of Ohlins and are a big fan of the DFV system in the standard R&T system but advised that by could massively improve this with their custom valving.

I've had the car back from them after 3 or so weeks ago of measuring and development and I am extremely impressed with the car now. I've done around 500 miles and 2 trackdays.

Subjectively the car rides better on the road it's firm given the spring rates but is much less crashy on pot holes and this translates on track when you tag a curb. It's also more able to cope with bumps and undulations on the road and track way more effectively (I really struggled on bumpy tracks with the M Perf previously), I can also feel what the tyres are doing a lot more which gives me a lot of confidence I often found the feeling was quite 'vague' previously. It's all round a lot more fun to drive

Objectively the car is faster on track, it turns in harder, is more balanced and I'm able to get on the power sooner.

I'm by no means a racing driver so I am not just chasing lap times but having come from more analogue cars previously (474bph Honda S2000 with no driver aids) a big thing on track is feel and I felt that was lacking previously. It's just much more fun to drive now.

Omnium Racing have not "launched" this as a product just yet but are planning to do so very soon. I just wanted to share my experience and of course some lovely Swedish gold pictures

[FaRKle!]

Let's see the spring rates and damper dynos!

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by Juliana19

Hi all,

After moving to the M Performance coilovers I was actually quite disappointed with their overall performance, I understand they are good fast road option for many but for me driving on track regularly I found them too soft, poor damping and very crashy when stiffened up. (disclaimer other opinions are available!)

As a result I set off to find an alternative solution which means I could still use the car on the road in relative comfort but also have more control on track. I do lots of trackdays with a friend who has a 981 Cayman GTS with a set of custom valved and sprung coilovers developed by a company called Omnium Racing. I drove the car and was very very impressed especially as I've driven the car several times in stock form.

Initially I got Omnium racing to set my car up properly with corner weighting etc and although that improved the car on track I still found the suspension to be lacking good body control, damping and overall feel.

I was originally looking at Nitron R1s to replace my M Performance set up but after speaking at length with Omnium they suggested they were interested in developing a custom ohlins set up for the M2 with a proper coilover on the rear (not a divorced spring and damper) custom valving, spring rates and ride height for different applications (mine being more focussed for track). Omnium Racing are big advocates of Ohlins and are a big fan of the DFV system in the standard R&T system but advised that by could massively improve this with their custom valving.

I've had the car back from them after 3 or so weeks ago of measuring and development and I am extremely impressed with the car now. I've done around 500 miles and 2 trackdays.

Subjectively the car rides better on the road it's firm given the spring rates but is much less crashy on pot holes and this translates on track when you tag a curb. It's also more able to cope with bumps and undulations on the road and track way more effectively (I really struggled on bumpy tracks with the M Perf previously), I can also feel what the tyres are doing a lot more which gives me a lot of confidence I often found the feeling was quite 'vague' previously. It's all round a lot more fun to drive

Objectively the car is faster on track, it turns in harder, is more balanced and I'm able to get on the power sooner.

I'm by no means a racing driver so I am not just chasing lap times but having come from more analogue cars previously (474bph Honda S2000 with no driver aids) a big thing on track is feel and I felt that was lacking previously. It's just much more fun to drive now.

Omnium Racing have not "launched" this as a product just yet but are planning to do so very soon. I just wanted to share my experience and of course some lovely Swedish gold pictures

What settings did you use with the MPS on track? BMW do provide a specific track biased setting, so wondering about the delta between that and any settings you used for specific tracks.

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by M Fifty

What settings did you use with the MPS on track? BMW do provide a specific track biased setting, so wondering about the delta between that and any settings you used for specific tracks.

I played with the settings lots on various tracks starting at the recommended BMW track settings and then stiffening up to control body roll/brake dive however came to conclusion that you can't compensate for such a soft spring rate (particularly on front) with compression as it ruins the damping (square peg round hole)

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Let's see the spring rates and damper dynos!

Not sure Omnium Racing would be all that thrilled if I shared that!

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by Juliana19

Not sure Omnium Racing would be all that thrilled if I shared that!

Whose car - and suspension - is it?

In the meantime, maybe post the results on the end of this thread:

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...hlight=jetbill

[x233]

Originally Posted by M Fifty

What settings did you use with the MPS on track? BMW do provide a specific track biased setting, so wondering about the delta between that and any settings you used for specific tracks.

Quote from the manual: "settings have been determined for a flat race course".
Which means those settings wouldn't work well on a bumpy track.

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by x233

Quote from the manual: "settings have been determined for a flat race course".
Which means those settings wouldn't work well on a bumpy track.

Doesn't work well on any track

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by M Fifty

Whose car - and suspension - is it?

In the meantime, maybe post the results on the end of this thread:

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...hlight=jetbill

I've no idea what the spring rates are to be honest mate, all I know is that it's much much better than before both on road and track

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by Juliana19

Doesn't work well on any track

You should definitely let BMW know that their chassis engineers are not worth the money they pay them. I'm sure they will find what you have to say useful in further improving their products.

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by Juliana19

I've no idea what the spring rates are to be honest mate, all I know is that it's much much better than before both on road and track

That's where a spring dyno is useful - it will tell you exactly what rate the spring actually is.

So you can then quantify in what way, and how much better what you have is.

HTH

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by M Fifty

You should definitely let BMW know that their chassis engineers are not worth the money they pay them. I'm sure they will find what you have to say useful in further improving their products.

I’m not really sure what your point is…? You think the M performance Coilovers are the best track coilovers available?

Or are BMW tying to hit a certain price point and target audience with the M Perf which isn’t people who do 20 Trackdays a year and instead trying to cater for a wider audience who do 1-2 Trackdays and want to lower their cars…

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by M Fifty

That's where a spring dyno is useful - it will tell you exactly what rate the spring actually is.

So you can then quantify in what way, and how much better what you have is.

HTH

Suggest you give Schirmer racing a call and asking for their spring rates see what they say

[FaRKle!]

To some people: "Hey we tuned it on xxx racetrack and are experts! Just give us your money and trust us!" is enough to get them to buy.

Other people require higher standards of proof and actual technical details.

[Juliana19]

Can you show me some examples of a manufacturer publishing their proof of higher standards and technical details when selling suspension? Or is it normally statements about the characteristics and technology as as the tech details are their IP.

Proof in point BMW/KW won’t even tell you the spring rates of the M Perf system. I know I’ve asked them both…

You can however read all about Ohlins DFV system as thats well documented and it’s no surprise that this proven system when modified to be custom valved to meet the exact ride height, free stroke, spring rate etc is pretty good…

Apologies if I’ve offended some of you guys (unsure how) by sharing some recent development on the platform which is objectively faster on track (lap times). Seems slightly odd there are negative comments when there are so many threads about other suspension developments with absolutely no technical data which are very very well received (see Litchfield Nitrons and Bilsteins as examples).

[x233]

Originally Posted by Juliana19

Doesn't work well on any track

KW has a track focused kit. It's called KW Clubsport. The MPerf kit (based on KW3) is of an everyday variety with an occasional track outing. So when you compare it with track dedicated kits it's just not apples for apples.

[M Fifty]

Please see the thread where Jetbill kindly posted details of all the different suspensions systems he had actually tried on his M2 - as gathered using a suspension dyno. I have MPS. It's not perfect, but it's an improvement. You found something better, so I'm interested in how it's better. HTH.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by Juliana19

Can you show me some examples of a manufacturer publishing their proof of higher standards and technical details when selling suspension? Or is it normally statements about the characteristics and technology as as the tech details are their IP.

Ohlins openly advertises their spring rates, KW, Bilstein, Eibach and others will happily tell you their spring rates if you contact their CS (and I've done that for all of them), and even smaller players like Fortune Auto will give you damper dynos and spring rates.

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by M Fifty

Please see the thread where Jetbill kindly posted details of all the different suspensions systems he had actually tried on his M2 - as gathered using a suspension dyno. I have MPS. It's not perfect, but it's an improvement. You found something better, so I'm interested in how it's better. HTH.

I agree re MPS and if you read my original post I quite clearly state that I understand the MPS is an good option for many and improvement (albeit that in itself is an unquantified but very popular opinion on here which remains unchallenged) however... based on my experience running them back to back the Ohlins are leagues ahead in terms of a set of subjective statements and an objective perspective using consistent faster lap times as a proxy

[Juliana19]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Ohlins openly advertises their spring rates, KW, Bilstein, Eibach and others will happily tell you their spring rates if you contact their CS (and I've done that for all of them), and even smaller players like Fortune Auto will give you damper dynos and spring rates.

I hope you aren't missing some of the irony of your signature re paid consultations suspension settings with this...

[f87kevin]

Oh no, this news/review can't be good for my wallet

[Bee Pee]

Originally Posted by Juliana19

are BMW tying to hit a certain price point and target audience with the M Perf which isn’t people who do 20 Trackdays a year and instead trying to cater for a wider audience who do 1-2 Trackdays and want to lower their cars…

Any OEM c/over setup, like BMW's F87 MPerf Suspension (MPS), is always going to be a compromise TBH.

You tried MPS and it wasn't for you, desspite tweaking settings. Did you have MPS set up properly ?

FWIW I do 6-8 TD's per year and find the MPS works very well on various tracks (I've tried the car standard, MPerf BMW settings and then had MPS fettled by Centre Gravity) and latterly my trusty OG M2 is way easy to pedal and can stay with and go around some far more exotic machinery ;-)

Fair play to you - you've now chosen something more suiting yr needs from a new entrant (Omnium Racing) at an entirely different pricing point perhaps 75-100% more $$ ?). Reads to me like it's hitting the mark more than the MPS did and I guess this proves the "pay to play" cliche when it comes to aftermarket add-ons.