WHO | Craig Sterry, Contributor
What | E36 328i Touring
Mileage | 154,356
YEAR | 1998

With the car gradually becoming more focused, it was highlighting weaknesses in other areas – namely the suspension. We all know that OE shocks can take quite a beating before finally giving up the ghost. Although the car was still very compliant and quite soft which is perfect for normal use, it was clear that a change was in order to keep up with my demands. Thankfully, I had just the right parts on standby.

One of the first areas of my stockpile to be allocated was suspension. After running various permutations over the years, I elected to use coilovers for the first time.

There’s a staggering array of kits on the market and given their usually high price-point, cheaper kits are becoming much more popular. Of course, there will be a trade-off with regards to performance and longevity.

You really need to live with a certain suspension setup on a car to gauge its true potential before making a decision. It isn’t that feasible for suspension though, especially when the cheapest kit is still several hundred pounds. As the car was to be used for daily duties with the occasional track day/Nürburgring weekend I elected to use the H&R Street performance set-up.

 To read more about this BMW see the March 2012 issue of Total BMW. Available to buy here.