M140i Upgrades // Part 5: M3/4 Lower Control Arms and Tension Struts
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- Опубликовано: 3 май 2020
- In this episode we look at the nice bits of front suspension that we can steal from the F8x M3s and M4s and with a bit of tinkering fit to our M Performance cars.
Note: One thing I forgot to mention was the LCAs dropping the nose of the car by ~6mm, worth considering for ground clearance, aesthetics and spring selection.
Parts used:
Lemforder M4 LCAs part #s 3825801 & 3825901 £67.35 ea. (left and right needed)
Lemforder M4 TS' part #s 3825601 & 3825701 £67.15 ea (L and R needed)
Both from Autodoc
M4 headlight levelling rod (BMW) part # 37142283867 ~£18
M6 (size not car) nut (BMW) part # 07129905817 ~£4 (but you can use a generic nut for much less!)
Stainless steel spacers for TS' (custom made, contact for supplier):
2 x 12mm ID 30mm OD - 6.3mm wide
2 x 12mm ID 30mm OD - 12.2mm wide
Alternatively DW Tuning are now offering complete //M arm kits with everything you need for £395 delivered, search DW Tuning on FB (no financial affiliation, Dave has just supplied and fitted parts for me and I'm happy to support his business).
Prices correct as of 04/05/2020. 
Авто/Мото
![M140i Differential Install with M4 Lower Control Arms [Unlock Hidden Grip]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BW6w-PCKOYs/mqdefault.jpg)
Best M lite mod series on RUclips - so helpful. Lots of detail but somehow you’ve made easy to understand too
Dan thanks a lot! Very flattered!
I’ll keep doing my best on the explanations and hopefully don’t put too many people to sleep in the process! 😂
Great content - as always 👍
Much appreciated! Thank you mate!
Nice vid Matt, good of you to list the parts and prices like that, will save folk a few££'s. Itching to get out for a drive, think MSV will be opening up again soon fingers crossed :)
samellio let’s hope so!! Nice to think there might be plenty of dates too before racing takes over again. 🤞🤞
Nice video , really tempted to do this and the quaife on my m235i , any improvements to the steering especially will be most welcome
A lovely combination with the Quaife 🙌
There is a subtle improve in steering feel, sadly doesn’t turn it into an Elise but I can forgive these cars some dynamic flaws and a little less feedback for being such wonderful daily drivers. 😊
Great video, and fab information explaining the camber and caster differences with the fitted mods/parts.
Mine is a daily driver, so the only mod I am doing is a locking diff (think I'm going for a wavetrac), to handle the extra power from the remap.
But, it's fascinating to see what you are doing with yours, to make it a lot more focussed on track.
Thank you.
Nik Gnashers Thanks Nik, appreciate the comment! Regardless of what I do to mine, it’s biggest strength remains being such a great daily driver, they just make every journey easy and enjoyable. 😊
Maybe just one more mod I’d be tempted to sneak in is a pair of Bilstein rear shocks as I don’t think BMW got them right. 😈
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS I'll look into those matey.
I did forget one addition I am going to make, and it's a cheap one which I think transforms the car, and that is to fit the underbody bracing that the M235i/M24oi cars got.
Nik Gnashers yes a worthwhile addition I think, I have one on mine. Though if I could choose just rear shock or brace it would be the shocks every time.
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS Thanks for your experience and guidance mate.
My car has adaptive suspension, so replacement shocks are fuggin expensive lol, and the underbody brace is only £130, and supposed to make a massive difference to how 'sloppy' the rear end is under acceleration.
If only I had a few grand to chuck at the car :-)) I'd have the lot..
Nik Gnashers ah yes things do get expensive on the shock front with adaptive!
Perfect plan in that case! 😊
Thank you for making these videos. I've done a lot of your recommended mods! I have a question with fitment...I am running 8J ET40 (225 tires) at the front and have adjustable coilovers (lowered about 10mm). If I only install the LCAs (without the TS), do you think I will have trouble with rubbing? I was planning to move the coilover height back to stock and then install the LCAs. Thanks in advance!!
Could you please recommend alignment settings with LCA+TS , stock springs, stock dampers?
TIA
Lovely video with clear and precise instruction along with pros and cons. Wheres your pull handle on the drivers side roof gone? Easier to drive with a helmet on?
Nick Anderson thank you Nick and good spot! You’re right it’s just for helmet clearance on track, I’m waiting on some blanking plugs that are used on the M4 to tidy it up. 👍
gret video! so helpful. what alignment do you recommend after replacing those arms?
Great video as always, the ts spacers im guessing are not the wheel spacers you mean? am definitely looking to get this done as i never thought about using autodoc before to save a few £
997speedy thank you! Yes at the chassis/subframe end of the TS’, the metal bush inserts are narrower on the //M arms than the M lite arms, so you need spacers to locate the TS’ without any fire and aft movement. Think thick washers either side of the arm. 👍
Donnington 😍
I can’t wait to get back there, we really don’t go often enough with it only an hour and a half away. Got some making up to do!!
M4 LCA will increase negative camber by ca 1 degree, so you’ll end up most likely at ca -2 degrees front
Voll Care thank you mate, good info, I’ll add to the notes. Good news for me too as I haven’t had mine aligned since taking the camber plates off, I’ll be happy with 2*. 😊
Will this correct the floating feeling the front end has?
Mine became more nervous at high speeds, also the rear wobbles a lot since i've done the LCA's.... Corners great though
Great upgrade, looking to do this for my f30. Besides the LCA and TS upgrade what would you suggest to make it perfect?
Lsd and coilovers
I spy a Tegiwa air freshener hanging in the back there..! Cracking vid, as ever, fella. Really have been enjoying the content Matt and yourself have been posting. 👍🏻
titchster Cheers Titch!! Haha yeah that’s one way to find your way into one of our vids... free air fresheners! Opie have been well supported in the past! 😂
CIRCUIT : DRIVER I’m also going to apologise for effectively referring to you as Will and vice versa in that last comment (whether it would be an insult to one or the other is up to you to decide 😂). It’s only now I’ve realised what I did...
titchster An easy mistake mate, we’re both buff, bearded and balding... 😂😂
Hi, are the m3/m4 control arms you use made by TRW, if so, how do I find the part number, or how do I ask for them, for my 2018 m140i, TIA.
Millway do a ‘street’ variant of the top mounts which is polybushed, think I might take this route
I thought this was the solution when they came out, however I’ve heard some reviews that say they are still noisy… a shame if that is the case.
It’s a real shame nobody makes a rubber or poly bushes fixed top mount with say -0.5* extra camber. I think that would be an excellent product for these cars.
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS that is a shame as it’s nice to have the adjustment. Maybe the M4 arms are the better route for a road car in that case…
Very informative, thanks. For those of us with the Motech Stance (springs and spacers), how would installing the LCA's and TS's affect the track? I don't remember the Motech Stance spacer widths, but I'm a little bit cautious about the extra load and strain on the hubs and bearings etc.
I have motech stance and fitted the M4 LCA and TS. I had to take the front spacers off to to rubbing on bumps due to the drop it gives you and even with TS the caster is still increased over stock. I've subsequently purchased a pair of Eibach Pro springs for the front which are the same as motech just 5mm tall. These are being fitted today along with putting the Motech spacers back on. Hopefully no more rubbing, but will have to wait and see.
Christopher Moss Mr. Fatblokescanfly (😳) has answered the question perfectly, let’s follow his experiences for confirmation of clearance! For what it’s worth my suggestion would be exactly the same - swap the front springs for normal Pro Kit from Eibach. 😊
fatblokescanfly thanks everyone so much for your input, super helpful and just what I would suggest!
Interested to see where you end up with arch clearance and spacers so please update us! Hope the car feels great!! 👍
@@fatblokescanfly are you sure that motech stance "non plus" is more lower in the front that pro kit?
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS you are really think pro kit is not the same on the front that motech stance "non plus"?
I would be very grateful for your answer, rear mothec stance is perfect? no problem with different spring? rear motech front pro kit?
The handle above your driver's door is missing due to wieght reduction?
Thank you for the precious info.
Haha, no, my helmet would tap against it on track, quite distracting! 👍
Great content Matt! Fab videos.
I’d like to retain my ride height so the car looks stock, you mentioned a 6mm drop with LCA’s, does this drop reduce/increase when fitted with TS’?
I have birds suspension at the moment which has dropped the front a little, but its borderline on looking oem/modded hence I really don’t want to drop it anymore!
Jas Sidhu Hi Jas, thanks and that’s a very good question. The drop doesn’t change materially with the TS’ too. One option you might consider is offsetting the LCA drop with an OEM spring... I suspect the Birds spring is a similar drop to the LCAs.
If you were considering that, these are the calculated stiffnesses (is that a word?!):
M135i 1.62 kg/mm
Birds 2.00 kg/mm
M140i 2.34 kg/mm
M235/240 both firmer still
Information courtesy of Marco Polo on the excellent Babybmw forum. 😊
CIRCUIT : DRIVER Thank you Matt thats extremely helpful! I will look into what spring would work best in this case or just accept the drop. As birds have developed the spring and damper in conjunction with each-other I can see myself doing the latter. Thanks again and love the detail in your videos. Just what youtube needs. 👍
Jas Sidhu that sounds like a sensible first choice Jas, can always swap to a different spring down the line is the height is too low. It may also be possible to make a shim to space the front top mounts down for a small increase.
I made top mount isolator spacers from 5mm rubber for my camber plates, of course these compressed when the nuts were tightened, but something similar could be made from a stiffer material like urethane. 👍
CIRCUIT : DRIVER thats a good shout regarding the shim. I will look into this!
I installed only the rear hardrace arb after having already installed b12 kit, m4 lca’s and bush inserts. To me the balance is not great, especially in faster corners. Very oversteery, and not confidence inspiring. When you gently go on throttle midcorner you want to feel some feedback from the front, but
now the car immediately tends to rotate. I find myself coaxing the car into the corner and then babying the throttle. I will move back to the standard rear arb, as the car feels stiff enough for road use as is. For track I would probably upgrade to a stiffer front bar aswel. I’m now understanding better why eibach’s arb are only marginally thicker at the rear. I think the b12 kit is already quite stiff, therefor they chose not to go crazy on the rear arb.
Great feedback thanks, is that with or without a slippy diff?
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS With an M Performance diff! Currently in a bit of an internal discussion if I will go for a thicker front ARB or just move back to the standard rear ARB. Just for reference, my mechanic who also races in the Benelux historics championship in an E28 m5 also felt the car was very direct and not particularly confidence inspiring in the faster stuff.
Nice review! Just curious how much negative caster have changed?
I’m afraid I don’t have the before and after numbers, but with the LCAs you add about 1* of negative camber with it without the TS’. Without the TS’ you add more significant positive caster than with the TS’, however tyre clearance to the arch limits ride height and tyre width.
So both with TS’ and without make compromises, but I prefer the combination of both fitted.
That little silver Clio in the first circuit clip (Bedford?🤔) was going well! 😀
Yeah very well, kudos! The way he gets it into Bunga Bunge compared to me is mega!
Nice! Any reason this setup won’t work for the 125d too?
I *think* it would work on the F2x 125d, but my suggestion is to ask the knowledgeable folk on the BabyBMW forum.
You can also use M1xx hubs for about 0.5* more camber each side. 👍
Can you put wider rear tyres with spacers on 15mm on rear and if you increase the width at the back do you have to do front
I think you would have to lose the spacers, or fit smaller ones to upsize the rear width. All depends on wheel offset though.
I don’t actually think going slightly wider at the rear is a bad idea within reason.
Hi, I found your videos really helpful and interesting but I didn't fully understand what you mean about the downside of fully adjustable camber plates... Mwh? Nwh? Sry I'm not a native speaker so... :D explanation would be helpful.
David Becker no worries, NVH is noise, vibration and harshness, all of which are increased with the camber plates. I went from camber plates to OEM top mounts and the peace with the latter transformed the car for the better for me! 😊
They are indeed bearings on the extended arms not rubber bushes :)
Hypersonik if there’s one man that would know! 😂👍
Is there a way I can get it contact with you? I have an M140 and done almost all of the same mods as you all but LSD I believe. Have a few questions I would like to ask if possible
adam nathan Hey Adam sure, find Circuit Driver on FB and drop us a message! 👍
how many M4 headlight levelling rod (BMW) part # 37142283867 you need ? left and right one each or just ONE item only thx
There's only one side with the rod so just the one. :-)
How to assemble Stainless steel spacers for TS'
Can you send me photos?
Can you expect clearance issue in the arches on standard suspension and standard wheels? Later probably will install b12
No, with those you will be fine, and have an excellent car!! That's a great combination of parts!
The arm combination will drop the front of the car by a further 5mm so worth considering, but should still look and drive very well!
I'm lowered on standard wheels no spacers. No issues whatsoever with M4 LCA + TS in terms of arch clearance.
CIRCUIT : DRIVER cool, will do that on my m235i as soon as possible :) thanks for your honest reviews!!!
As it drops the front 5mm as Matt says I'm changing my Motech stance front springs to Eibach Pro as they are the same yet 5mm tall. This will hopefully get rid of any rubbing and will enable me to refit the Motech spacers.
raveutcars thanks for confirming mate! 😊
Did your bola FLB rims still fit nicely after the new lca and ts?
Umar Said yes, though I had my front arches rolled to give extra clearance as I wanted to use a 235/40 front tyre. With 225/40 you wouldn’t need the arches rolled at a sensible ride height. 👍
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS do you think a 245 front would fit for square setup?.
Umar Said not without camber plates if you have //M LCAs. I used 255 fronts with camber plates and rolled arches but you’d have no chance without the plates IMO.
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS will a 225 fit on the 8.5j rim ok?
Umar Said yes though it will look a little stretched, good to have a tyre with good rim protection too!
I’ve used a 225 on a 9” rim before on the track so functionally they’re fine. 👍
I’ve been told that if you add the tension struts with the Lca it doesn’t lower at the front
The TS reduces the change in caster and gets close to removing any forward movement of the wheel in the arch, but the car will still be lower. 👍
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS I’m reading reports of max 5mm lower , my car is on the eibach pro kit and having the m4 lca and ts fitted next week along with the bilstein b6 damptronics , which I’ve heard raise the car slightly due to the spring perch position and high gas pressure , I will be measuring before and after ride heights 👍
@@Addselwyn ooh magic, should be a great transformation! Should imagine the ride height will be a nice subtle drop by the sounds of things.
Report back with your findings and I’ll update the Video description if there are new findings. 👍👍
Hi, thanks for your informative views of the BMW 140i track handling and the tweeks you made during ownership of a fantastic car. My Garage in Stockholm installed the M4 Control arms and replaced the original springs with the Eibach 15mm lowering springs. My car is a 2017 M140 Xdrive. I manufactured bushings but it seems they aren’t needed on the 4wd model. However the negative camber seems to be minimum 3.5 degrees and the car stance is really low. Did you measure how much camber you had on your car? Would be helpful to know? Cheers from Stockholm/ Ove S
Hi Ove! There’s something odd there, I wonder if there is some different geometry in the front of the xdrive cars?... with lowering springs and LCAs, camber wouldn’t be much more than -2*, even on quite low rwd cars.
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS Thanks for your reply, yes its different but I got it sorted yesterday, the negative camber is now 3.2 degrees in the front and 2 degrees at the rear which works on track and is ok on the road, toe in on the rears was 10 mm on each side so that was adjusted to 1 mm on each side. Can’t wait for spring and coming track days when this Covid rhapsody finally comes to an end. Alignment was done with a square setup on 8” ATS rims ET43 (225/40 tyres) the car was very responsive maybe a little to much for normal road use so I went back tho the original m sport rims with 7.5” ET45 on the fronts and 8” ET52 on the rears (still 225/40 tyres) and this gives a little more stability for road use. The car is fantastic like a glove. I normally never subscribe to anything on RUclips but I will make an exception now prior to Brexit and I urge all F20 owners to do the same! Very useful info indeed. / Cheers
@@ovesvensson7954 so pleased to hear that you’ve found a setup that works well for you, that sounds a great track setup and I’m not surprised that it became a little too responsive for the road with that front camber.
I bet the car is ultra capable now, I’ve never driven an x drive 140, I can imagine it makes putting the power down out of corners much easier!
Haha, thanks for the sub, I’ve no idea what proportion of Brits actually want Brexit now (I never did!), I dare say it’s well below 50%, but there’s not much we can do at this point. The COVID crisis as terrible as it is has made for a convenient distraction for the government from Brexit and I’m sure they’ll drip feed bad news to us between good vaccine news...
Anyway, back to the track before too long, enjoy your awesome 140! 😊
I heard these M4 LCA don’t work on xdrive models !!!
Already someone destroyed the front driveshaft installing M4 LCs on xdrive 340i
do these changes improve feedback through the steering wheel?
Duplicate reply from the Supsnsion vid, hopefully one finds you:
I think I might be a bit of a feel through the bum driver as much as through the wheel as it has tended make less of a difference to my enjoyment of cars than others report.. for example, give me power assisted mk3 MR2 steering over unassisted 'pure' mk1 Elise any day!
That said, driving my car back to back with an m135i without the //M arms at the front, the m135i felt much less precise and feelsome, I hadn't appreciated the difference they made to the drive until this point and felt like I needed more information and accuracy from the front of the 35 without the mods.
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS thanks for the response, appreciated!
Have you got coilovers mate? If so what type and how are they?
Joe Davidson Hi Joe, I’ve just fitted KWs, having had a few other setups previously and driven a few more. Once I’m free of lockdown, able to get the car aligned and drive it again I’ll be making a vid covering all that I have experience of and giving some general advice. Stay tuned! 👍
CIRCUIT : DRIVER which KW do you have, V1,2,3 or Street Comfort ?
Voll Care they’re V3s... this weekend it’s drilling holes for rear rebound extenders to run into the boot area. 🙂
CIRCUIT : DRIVER I’m excited to hear your experience with this drill mod :)
...I’m still planning this mod for my KW Street Comfort to adjust the rebound damping
KW V3 are great, arn‘t they?
...can you already compare it with you previous coilover (B14?) ?
Voll Care I would love to tell you what I think of the KWs but I’ve not really driven the car since fitting due to lockdown.
Of course full thoughts and details about the rebound mod once lockdown is relaxed and I can get it aligned and drive it!
The last coilovers were Meister R GT1s, I swapped as I wanted to revert to the OEM front top mounts. 👍
07:28 That’s what she said...
welz2002 haha great spot!! 🍆🚫
Best lsd and where to get it please.
mirin jawbro ooh good question, I went for a Quaife (check out the vid), supplied and fitted by DW Tuning.
Though I think anyone will be happy with the M Performance BMW diff or Wavetrac too. 😊
Everyone always says m lite but with a few modifications this car is a m car and when tuned it faster then a lot of them
Quite different cars in reality despite looking so similar in paper… both awesome at what they do though and both with huge potential with tuning! 🙌
@@CIRCUITDRIVERCARS when a m140i has had a few modifications it’s just as good or even better then a so called m car but without the handling modifications it’s not near a m cat
@@jimyinam2464 it’s such a difficult comparison to make, in terms of capability it’s quite easy to edge the 140 towards an M car, M car feel would be infeasibly involved to achieve.
That said, the 140 is a better daily road car, so by its very forte compromised.
8:50 for some dirty talk 😂
Hahaa! Amazing! 😂👍
In all seriousness I know what you mean my 140 was a fairly good handling car, it just didn't feel it or inspire confidence. Coming from some new generation unflappable quattro cars it was even more highlighted.
W00LFY100 I’ve still not driven a modern S/RS Audi, would make for an interesting comparison. With the caveat that I’ve not driven the Golf R or Audi’s, I think the FWD Civic and Renaults are the ones more likely to tempt me away...
A series on a Meg 265 or a Trophy-R would be amazing!!
wastho07 it sure would be! I’d love one one day! 😊
Someone found 'DW Tuning' on Facebook or something else?
Dave has rebranded his garage to DRW Performance, you can find it on Facebookand other social media. :-)
Dont forget that it is not suited for the xDrive version !!
Useful info thanks!
We don’t have the xDrive in the UK, don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing! 😅