D2 Air on Y50

I've got an '06 M45 that the previous owner setup softer and taller than I prefer.  I've got the appropriate tools, and will be making adjustments to lower the perches for the bags to sit lower.  Where I'm stuck is attempting to adjust the rear damping.  I was wondering if anyone had some insight into how to adjust this (whether I need to take the shocks off, or etc...,) and where their setups are at for low driving (both strut/bag psi and collar height.)

Given that this is my first car on air, and my first experience with anything other than coils, I'm having a hard time understanding the impact of my adjustments, and just how far I can push things for minimal suspension travel.

Thanks in advance!  (BTW, I have already called D2, and aside from maximal recommended pressures, and general setup tips, I've not gotten any specific help from them.)

Get incontact with Chris from Philly, D2 racing dealer. Also M owner with D2 Racing air set-up.

They are just like any other coils, with 36 level dampening adjustment that you adjust from the top with the specific "key/needle". And when you adjust the height of the coil it don't affect your ride quality in any way, other than if you max out on your other suspension joints. Just do some experiments with the air pressure and find the right psi for slow cruising and highway cruising, and then adjust the coils height to get your desired park/cruise/clearing height. There really isn't any precise values because every air setup and car is different so you just gotta do some work. Thats how I did it with my D2's :biggthumpup:

One bad thing with D2 air on a 1GS is that you can't lower the coils enough to cruise hard while dragging frame with 20"/21" wheels =)

Thanks for the responses fellas.

I believe Chris is on here, with the white 08 on Luxury Abstracts?  I've sent him a PM before, however I think he's been awfully busy to get back to someone who didn't do any business with him, and I can completely understand that.  ; )  I appreciate the idea!

I think Juzzo's got it right, just going to have to play with it.  I've got the key for damping adjustment, just can't seem to find the adjustment slot in the rear dampers.  I'll have to take the struts off and take a look at the top sides.

The car has 19s on it, and there looks to be plenty of room left for adjustment for proper low, so when time makes itself available to me I'll get on it!  Can't wait to get rid of this soft ass ride and drive right.

[QUOTE=busaj;417516]Thanks for the responses fellas.

I believe Chris is on here, with the white 08 on Luxury Abstracts?  I've sent him a PM before, however I think he's been awfully busy to get back to someone who didn't do any business with him, and I can completely understand that.  ; )  I appreciate the idea!

I think Juzzo's got it right, just going to have to play with it.  I've got the key for damping adjustment, just can't seem to find the adjustment slot in the rear dampers.  I'll have to take the struts off and take a look at the top sides.

The car has 19s on it, and there looks to be plenty of room left for adjustment for proper low, so when time makes itself available to me I'll get on it!  Can't wait to get rid of this soft ass ride and drive right.[/QUOTE]
Hmmm odd there should be a nut at the top hat into which the adjuster slides in... M45's don't got reverse mounted shocks in the rear do they?

Ohh and you only got front/back setup (2 pairs of magnetic valves)? One thing to consider is that when you get separate valves for each corner that also stiffens up your ride, 'coz it prevents the air from moving from one bag to the another which creates an unstable and also a softer ride (because the other sides bag absorbs some of the transferred force). Hopely this isn't too poorly described =)

Juzzo, good point, that was something simple that I had overlooked.  The car does only have front/back pressure regulation, no side to side, or single corner operation.  After I have the chance to make adjustments, I will look into this if my needs are still not met.

As for the rear adjustment, there looks to be studs from the shock towers that the shock mounts slide over.  Given this, I am thinking (as D2 had commented may be the case) that this is one of their setups that needs removal to adjust the rear dampers as there is no concession for adjustment at the bottom of the shock.  The way in which the fronts are done there is the nut that you speak of, with a center hole for the damper tool to slide into (very easy).  Looks like I just need to put in a bit more work than I wanted to, and I'll be able to make these adjusments.  All I hope now is that between riding with the collar height lower, more psi, and stiffer damping that this will be enough to drive low enough to meet my standards.  ; )

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

I know Chris has been working hard on his M the last few weeks to make About 3 shows but he will help even if you didn't purchase from him.
 
And yes you have to remove the rear to adjust them with the little nut tool that comes with the kit.
 
I have the coilovers but no air on my M.

That was the solid info I was looking for!  I knew I wasn't that stupid to just not be able to find the adjuster.

As for Chris, just like I said, don't know him, never did business with him, so I just don't expect anything from him.  Seems like a nice guy, so figured he was busy doing his own thing!

Thanks again for the insights guys!

full front/back/side/side with 8 valves will help your ride quality immensely.

[url]http://www.ridetech.com/store/musclecar/control-systems-musclecar/[/url]

You'll be very happy once u have individual controls. Just the F&B control-ability is not not ideal for driving. I used the ridetech ridepro e3 setup. Very happy with it.

what psi are u runnin?

Thanks for the recos guys!  I've been looking into accuair e-level for further ride control.  Just wanted to do some learning with the current setup before stepping up.  Can't believe that I overlooked the fact that it does not have individual corner valving.

LiLS - right now front is at about 70, the rear 80 psi, this is to drive lowered, not really low IMO.  To get this thing down the highway without having the ass end flopping up and down like it's on cut springs, need to air up to about 85-90 up front and 105 rear.  It's pretty much stock height at this point.

What I'm hoping to do is set the collar height lower, and roll at around 100 psi.

[QUOTE=brainneeded;417628]full front/back/side/side with 8 valves will help your ride quality immensely.[/QUOTE]

By ride quality, do you mean the suppleness of the ride, as well as having additional control and firmness?  It makes sense to me as each corner is acting independently to each road imperfection as it should.  Just wanted to clarify.

i think most of us here are used to stiffer suspension, coming from different aspects of tuning. it will stiffen up the ride. i, as well as many others, have found that cars with just front/back seem to "float" more since the air is traveling side to side from strut to strut, whereas with f/b/s/s setups the air is confined to that one corner.

Thanks brainneeded, that's just as I figured, just wanted to clarify.

I adjusted the damping tonight, and have transformed the ride.  I did not adjust the collars tonight, as I am from the "one change at a time" school of setup.  Car rides IMO MUCH better, far better response and lateral movement, and is far more controlled than before.  The car rides smoothly over dips, with little excess movement.

The previous owner had the damping set up front at 3 clicks from full soft, and the rear at 4 clicks from full soft.  The front is now 6 from full hard, the rear 8 from full hard.

I will be adjusting the collars this weekend when I have time to test and re-adjust.  I'm assuming that as I bump the air pressure higher I'll want to add some additional damping.  Will find out this weekend!

Thanks again to everyone who has been patient with me and my simple questions.  Car is much more gratifying to drive now, not to mention lower!!!!

Finally had the chance to work on the car tonight.  Adjusted the rear collars to where I want them, things look to be a hell of a lot better for driving low there.  Set it up for a compromise of height until I can afford to switch over to the eLevel.

The fronts I will be doing in the morning.  Looks as though the collars are spun all the way down to allow for maximum lift.  I'll get this right in the morning.

I did come up with another question... for front tire clearance at drive height, what sort of alignment adjustments are needed?  The car currently has a 225/40 on what I believe is a 10.5, and it's too damn tall.  Regardless, at a reasonable height I still get interference with the fender after a pretty serious pull and shave.  Any ideas, suggestions, or comments on what I'm not understanding?  Sorry again for the simpleton question.

In case anyone was curious, the adjustments will put the car at 90 psi front and back for slow speed driving at a decent lowered height.  I'll try to get pics when its all set and done tomorrow.