XM 1

iTrader: (5)

so hereīs what happened....i have a 2005 350Z and installed in july of 2006 a KW version 3 suspension kit (bought new!!) for around 1500 euro (with discount of a friend of my brother). installed it in the same month and was really happy with it. since my car is stored over the winter times i change my wheels for some spare wheels with old tires and noticed from time to time some oil leaking from the dampers (only on the rears and the left more than the right).
i had an accident 2 years ago (nothing major just damaged my INGīs lip) and due to problems at work and no money car had to be stored for about 1,5 years. than in july of this year i had the time and the funds to finish of my front and was really happy with it. the car was really low and i thought that the new front bumper (INGīs long nose) was the reason for this (i thought the bumper was lower the the stock one with the lip).
but than i noticed that the hole suspension settled 10mm on all 4 corners?!?!?!? (i found this out becuase normally i can put 2 finger in between the tire and the fender and i only could put in 1 finger this time!!!)

so i had to raise the car another 10 mm to get the car street legal here in germany......and so i did. while i was at the left rear damper i noticed that the damper was full off oil worse than i had ever seen over the years, so i cleaned it and thought that iīm fine for now.

after the TUV inspection which i passed i thought it might be a nice idea to do little mountain run through the black forest and so i did. after a while i noticed that the left rear damper felt strange.....while under pressure it was more "soft" than the right rear damper.....the car felt kind of spongy in corner where the rear left damper was used, but i thought that i might be a mind f+#k since i had in mind that the rear left damper "leaked" some oil.
at home i inspected the car of course and noticed that the rear left had settled again!!!!!
so how could this be on a ground level where i could place before 2 finger in between the fender and the tire now i only can put in 1!!!!?!?!?!

so i searched the web and came across several posts about leaking KW dampers and that itīs a commen problem (never heard about that before since this day). so called KW to see what they about to say. the guy on the phone was super unfriendly and absolutly not cooperative.....he said that itīs normal that some oil leaks....than i asked him if itīs normal that the car settles that much (20mm) if the damper i done...he said no normaly that shouldnīt happen because the sprind takes all the weight and not the damper.....so asked him a bit later "so you think itīs the sping that cause this??".... and he answered " no the springs are made out of high quality material.." ....so what causes this settlement than if it couldnīt be one of these two well he donīt know.so i can sent them my damper and they will rebuild it for 75 euros or i could buy a new damper for 325 euros,because this is no warranty case and itīs from him.....so i told him that iīll think about what to do.

this absolutly the worst company i dealed with i think they know that they are selling junk, but they donīt care about this!!! my dampers had only 12000 km on them with no track day and i even avoid nearly every major road bump i could!!!!
the next thing is iīm not really in the mood to change out the hole setup nore do i have the money to buy a complete new suspension kit.....and it really is a PITA to get suspension kits street legal here in germany. so the easiest way would be to buy 2 new rear dampers ( since the right one was leaking too) and replace them which costs a lot of course, but i donīt have a place where i can leave my car for 1 month on the jakes, because thatīs what i also read about them, it takes light years for them to rebuild dampers (and i only live about 120 km away from them).
so after all i wouldnīt recommend these dampers anyone!!!!!!

so what iīm asking you guys (i might already know, but iīm not 100% sure about this) what could cause this settlement of the car really????any help would be great

KingBaby

iTrader: (3)

Members on here say your wrong!

KW isn't junk

jerryd87

iTrader: (4)

not to mention the damper itself has no effect on ride height the springs and collars do that not the damper itself. the damper dosnt control height at all.

my guess? you dint lock something in place correctly.

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

Remove the rear KW dampers , install stock rear shocks , no need for the car to sit for a month on jack stands. If you don't want to do that , remove the shocks and put the car back on the ground.

XM 1

iTrader: (5)

have no stock ones at home

this is the exact thing happend to me

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=242423

@jerry: so what do you think it could be? or what should i look for...iīm 100% sure that everything is right in place. could a rear bushing failure cause this much settlement?

@king baby: do you have one? i donīt mean it harsh, but maybe you got a different damper than me? because what i also heard about KW is that they changed their damper supplier some years ago!?!?!? maybe they changed things for the better...who knows???

XM 1

iTrader: (5)

what i forgot to mention is that i noticed that on the rear springs on the last wind of the spring the powder coating is damaged like if the upper wind hit this one??? i saw this on other suspension setups too, but maybe could be off help

lgear080

iTrader: (21)

why not pay for a rebuild?

bgood

iTrader: (10)

so after 3 years, 2 years of just sitting your surprised the seals fail..... this is shocking why?

sry110

iTrader: (17)

kacz07

iTrader: (15)

Stop using KWs. I'm sure someone will gladly take them, have them rebuilt, enjoy them more than you, and give you their stock suspension. Problem solved.

0jiggy0

iTrader: (13)

This?

ALO8

iTrader: (5)

i wouldve got stance coils. lots of people run them without problems on the forums

3hree5ive0ero

iTrader: (95)

^ LOL @ recommending Stance, especially over KW.



This thread needs some pics.

jerryd87

iTrader: (4)

untelling my guess is the collar wasnt locked in place and is working itself back down. im not the greatest at suspension i just know 100% of the weight of the car is taken up by the spring ive seen some rock crawlers even run without and sort of damper.

Voboy

iTrader: (58)

Did warranty not come up in the conversation with kw? They adverise a limited lifetime warranty.

lgear080

iTrader: (21)

I'll take your ruined kw's off your hands.

Pm me some photos and a price.

vtchang

iTrader: (9)

nothing is perfect, things will break. deal with it, move on. Send it in for warranty unless you bought it second or third hand. I've had to send mine in twice already. The first time it took nearly 4 months (part backorder) and second time was 3 weeks.

Be grateful that they have some form of customer service, not to mention lifetime warranty. Most companies will only give you one year or even two years warranty.

As much as I hated waiting for rebuilds, at least it was free. now stop your *itching and suck it up. Nice things always come at a cost, and its never the initial cost.

BoomerZ33

iTrader: (23)

KW > stance all day

i have the variant 2 bought brand new. no problems after running 2 yrs strong.

leodspider

They dont take long to rebuild, i bought mines second hand Kw V3 and the rear damper needed a rebuild sent it away on a Monday , and received it in time on the Thursday. I live in the UK where the nearest KW rebuilder is a good 600 odd miles away

350Zdj

iTrader: (3)

Even my Teins had leaks. Happens to every coilover, no exception. It's just weird though that yours started leaking so soon. Did you overtight the adjusters or something?

Get it re-built.

My KW V2's settled in immediately after around 50miles of driving.