For many years, the suspension manufacturer KW automotive develops several suspension components for the motorsports and accessories program of the car manufacturer BMW. The 3-way adjustable KW coilover Variant 4 is now available for the independent aftermarket for all current BMW M3 and BMW M4 of the G8x generation. To a certain extent, the redesigned Variant 4 is a further development of our standard suspension for the old BMW M4 GTS (F82) and the KW Clubsport coilover.

The BMW M3 (G80) and the BMW M4 (G82), which are already lowered in standard production, can be further lowered by installing the KW Variant 4. According to the technical parts certificate, an additional lowering of 20 to 35 millimetres at the front axle and 15 to 30 millimetres at the rear axle is possible despite the factory-lowered BMW M4 body. The KW Variant 4 enables the same adjustment range in terms of lowering for the BMW M3 sedan (G80). This roughly corresponds to a lowering of 50 millimetres on the BMW 4 Series coupé (G22) and 60 millimetres on the BMW 3 Series sedan (G20).
 

On the M4 GTS standard suspension, we still worked with a reservoir and installed the adjustable low-speed and high-speed compression valves there. In contrast, we redesigned the entire damper setup for the next generation of Variant 4. The valves, which can be adjusted separately in the compression’s low-speed and high-speed range, are positioned in a compact valve housing laterally on the strut and damper housing for the rear axle. The golden adjustment wheel can be used to set the damping in high-speed compression with 14 clicks and with the purple wheel, the damping characteristics in low-speed compression can be fine-tuned with 13 clicks.

When the valves are open, the compression is reduced and the M4 body dives faster. The compression influences the diving speed of the damper piston rod to a certain extent. Moreover, the compression has an impact on the body's pitching and rolling movements as well as its turn-in behaviour. If the compression is increased, the piston rod dives more slowly. Consequently, the vehicle becomes more stable during steering movements. The turn-in behaviour gets more precise the tighter the compression is tuned.

The low-speed rebound, which is equally adjustable on the KW coilover Variant 4, has a direct effect on the operating speed when the piston rod de-compresses. It controls with 16 clicks how fast the spring gets back to its original position. So to speak, the diameters of the rebound valves open for a more comfortable road behaviour and close for more firm tuning. Braking, accelerating and steering, for instance, are low-speed stimuli in everyday driving. The preset Sport+ tuning of Variant 4 can be altered to a comfort-oriented road setup with just a few clicks if desired.

Typical high-speed excitations occur when the wheel rolls over bumps or transverse joints. Anyone who drove rapidly over a badly constructed road certainly noticed that this makes the whole car become unsteady. Nevertheless, a suspension that disposes of shock absorbers with adjustable multi-valve technology can integrate much more calmness into the entire body structure, even with a sporty set-up. The possibility of tuning the dampers of KW Variant 4 per one’s everyday driving profile makes the KW coilover made in Germany the first choice when it comes to BMW tuning.

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