[stashtrey]

*I posted this in the Suspension section but it is appropriate here also given its xi specific.

I've got a set of KW V3's on my E90 xi. Roughly 40k miles on them. I inspect them regularly and haven't had any signs of issue until today.

Surprisingly while changing angels eye bulbs (failed Lux...whole other story!) I noticed my passenger front bump stop was failing. About 1/4 of it is torn and "blown out". I was then shocked (lol couldn't resist) to find the driver side failing in the same way.

The roads here in the Sacramento region are terrible. In particular, the roads I travel nearly daily are hammered. I've definitely had more slams than I care to think about.

I've been preparing myself for the day I'll need to rebuild. Clearly it's time but I'm just baffled that both but stops appear to have failed at the same time (last inspected a month ago). I took a pretty hard slam a couple weeks ago on a rural highway up in the Sierra's...perhaps this was just too much?

I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen. How long should bump stops last on KW coilovers? Doesn't look like there is any way to replace them unless I'm not looking hard enough.

Now I need to figure out what to do while sending them off to KW. I've read it can take quite a while to get them back. Thinking some used Koni's and springs...or switching over to a solid spring/strut combo and sell the V3's after rebuild (or before).

When I bought these I got some Vorshlag camber plates at the same time. I was getting into molding and did some track days. I now have no interest in pushing this car and want a comfortable, sporty ride but no need for this level of setup.

I also think the camber plates make a lot of noise (not positive but things got noisier after i went this route.

This all brings me back to all the headaches and frustrations I had with a solution for the Xi suspension and lack of variety of parts. Looks like that may have changed some. I belive TC Kline sells a modified Koni sport front shock special for the xi to allow the proper travel. Previously I ran Koni which though they were not cut down/modified and had limited travel. I had H&R sport springs. It wasn't terrible but left a lot to be desired.

So...I'm going in circles here.

Any thoughts, insights, suggestions etc welcomed. More or less thinking out loud here!
Edit QUOTE

[stashtrey]

...many typos, I know. You get the drift!

[boro92]

You are too low. Xi has reduced bump travel and short stroke shock bodies don't remedy this completely. The bump travel situation is what it is in order for the half shaft angles to be appropriate for the front axle. This is why BMW actually raised an x drive. You would want to drop an xdrive maybe an inch max. 3/4 inch is more ideal .

Pop some new bump stops on. Super easy job and a mech wouldn't charge much for it if you don't have the tools for the job. The fact that you bottomed out so often suggests you were too low. You shouldn't blow through travel that often....and I bet you maybe had only a half inch of travel to begin with .

Oh and yes the vorshlag plates makes a little more noise but totally worth it. They transformed how the car drove. I wouldn't trade them out personally.

Fwiw I had prokit on Bilstein sports and despite shorter shock bodies, it had less travel than I liked also....so this has been my experience as well.

[stashtrey]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm not running very low at all. The spring perches are 2/3 up the strut. These are V3's made for the xi. Are you suggesting they still don't have the right amount of travel?

I've never ridden the bump stops and they've always had minimal wear. Very good condition. That's why today was so strange to find both failing in the same way. Clearly a major slam just hammered the front end.

I can't locate KW replacement bump stops. Not sweat replacing them myself. Just figuring if I'm gonna pull everything out I might as well get them rebuilt.

I guess you could say I'm at an impasse.

[RCB]

KW lists replacment part numbers on there website and any KW dealer should be able to get you those bump stops.