Tein Drift Spec Coilovers for BMW E21

[TheNeek]

Those rears are shorties.

Most impressive.

[340i]

update:

I have found some more stance in the front, by swapping the Tein camber plates for some BC camber plates. Due to their lower profile, this simple swap has netted my about 15mm, with scope to go another 5mm or so if I do some minor modification to the spacer ring between the bearing and the top spring platform.

Anyway, onto the pics...
Tein camber plates for an S15 silvia, vs BC camber plates for a Subaru Forrester (that was what they had on the shelf at the time, so I made them fit the e21)






As can be seen here, the BC top spring perches (left) are one piece, and the Tein ones are flatter and have a spacer. If more stance is required, this will get shortened.


Success!!

(bear in mind that this is an old brick of a phone, and also that I have hammered the panel upwards so that it is no longer sharp and pointing downwards)

And now for the start of the rear...

I got these Tein units for the back of a Subaru, which were meant to have adjustable dampers but are actually unadjustable versions. Pretty annoying, but I bought them anyway as they're the right size. I'll get them rebuilt with adjustable parts at a later stage, so no biggie...


side note - it cracks me up the names Tein give their suspension parts. Gotta love the Japanese!

Comparison shot with my Spax suspension

second side note - don't buy spax. These cost me a heap, I've driven on them 7 times (all in the dry), and they are rusting away and the paint is falling off the shocks and the springs.

The Teins have beefier bushes. I'll have to drill out the mounting pickup on the suspension (or run a sleeve) but that is easy enough.


They came with springs but no top plates, so here they are with my front plates before I used them on the front


And in the car...

Side note three: yes, that is a massive hole in my inner guard. I want to fit two recaros in the back but they're too wide, so cutty cutty cutty...

And finally, my new tyres! 295/35r17...

side note four: the reason the photo is crap is because my sister in Australia took it with her phone. I'm gonna bring them back with me on my next visit there. Nobody in nz could supply these, and shipping them from oz costs more than the tyres!

And the previously 'wide' 235/40r17's, which are now going to be the 'narrow' fronts

[340i]

i am still intersted on all one off engineering parts and when it is about the suspension of an E21 i am more than intersted!
what you do with your local engineer is really great!!!!

my setup is simplier: Bilstein B6 from an E30 (70$ second hand), shortened strut, threaded sleeve welded on the strut, 300lbs spring rate for the front... not finish yet but i can't wait!

thanks. i'd love to fabricate the bits myself but dont have access to lathes, mills, welders, etc, so its quite handy i can use him to make the bits for me. there's also always interesting cars in there too, which is fun to go see.

i was planning on going with a setup like yours, but measured the e30 shocks and didnt think i could go as low as i wanted (due to the large overall height of my wheels), so this seemed like the next best solution.

btw, this is just the start with my suspension upgrades. the real interesting stuff is coming up soon...

think dave macintyres setup, but without the downfalls of the design and without the ludicrous pricetag

plus a bit more bling thrown in, just for laughs

[ollycarbs]

i am still intersted on all one off engineering parts and when it is about the suspension of an E21 i am more than intersted!
what you do with your local engineer is really great!!!!

my setup is simplier: Bilstein B6 from an E30 (70$ second hand), shortened strut, threaded sleeve welded on the strut, 300lbs spring rate for the front... not finish yet but i can't wait!

[LewyS14a]

10/8kg may not be a lot different, ive uprated my sway bars wich has allowed me to run the damping a lot softer as it doesn't have to compensate anymore for the body roll , its helped alot on our pot hole riddled roads over here but if you value your spine id go with something softer .

[340i]

Awesome work, I run Tein Drift Specs on my S14a and there great coilovers. As for spring rates there 12/10kg so pretty damn stiff but worth it for the handling my cars like a point and shoot go kart now .

wow, those are hard springs! i was going to go 10/8kg, but arent sure now. i've got a few different ones i'll try and then just see from there whether to go harder or softer. custom front and rear swaybars are on the cards too, so that will change things when i add those.

good thing springs are the cheap part of the suspension build!

[LewyS14a]

Awesome work, I run Tein Drift Specs on my S14a and there great coilovers. As for spring rates there 12/10kg so pretty damn stiff but worth it for the handling my cars like a point and shoot go kart now .

[340i]

Nice. I'm a sucker for fabrication threads.

Aren't you a bit concerned by the age/condition of the coilovers though?

Not really, when rebuilt they will be pretty much as good as new ones. Also, even without a rebuild, they're at least 25 years newer than the car they're going into...

On the rears, I went to pick up some more Teins, but the guy selling them lied about what they were, and had some average non-adjustable type grrr!!!

Nice. I'm a sucker for fabrication threads.

Aren't you a bit concerned by the age/condition of the coilovers though?

[340i]

So you cut down the original strut tube and then slip that threaded "adapter" down over it and weld the "adapter" in place? That's pretty crafty.

yip, pretty much. I have a good local engineer who can pretty much make whatever I dream up. These didn't actually cost me much too, just some thick tube steel and about 3 hours labour for the cutting, machining and welding.

Another option would have been to cut the weld off from the bottom side of the macpherson strut, then push out the whole strut tube, then make an adaptor that slots in there and gets welded from the bottom, but I couldn't do this because of the law here that says I cant weld to a cast or forged suspension component.

The main logic behind building the suspension this way is that drift spec teins are really good but cost a heap brand new, so using second hand ones saves me money and lets me get them valved exactly how I want them. its a win-win i think.

next week, the rears...

[TheNeek]

So you cut down the original strut tube and then slip that threaded "adapter" down over it and weld the "adapter" in place? That's pretty crafty.

[340i]

Its getting close to what I want. I think it will look lower once I get the flares on, rather than the cut guards, which make it look higher than it is. If its still not low enough, I can still change to my other camber plates, which are much lower profile.

Next week, the rears!

[340i]

so are you welding the knuckle to that part you got machined? im interested in doing something like this for my e30

na, it will be welded to the strut tube. Its illegal to weld to cast jor forged suspension components in nz, but welding to the strut tube is fine. its also much easier.

[ZX88]

so are you welding the knuckle to that part you got machined? im interested in doing something like this for my e30

[340i]

Very crafty. Interested to seem them all welded together.

haha thanks.

They're getting welded this coming week and then I'm havnig the welds xrayed (required by law in NZ for suspension modifications).