I installed NM Eng springs and swaybar over the weekend and wanted to report to the group. I did all the work myself and can say that everything went smoothly except for the swaybar that gave me a little trouble.

Problem was with fastening down the swaybar: when I got to the remaining side, it was difficult to line up the bolts to the holes in the subframe as it is obviously designed to be tight so that there are no rattles. It took a little fidling but I got there eventually. Spring replacement was a breeze. I recommend spring compressors to make the job easier and safer.

Once I double checked torque on all fasteners just to be sure I went for a quick test drive. No rattles or squeeks to report, all is tight and solid.

The car handles great ! I was concerned at first with the lowering and stiffer swaybar would render the car undriveable on street. But as many reported before, the NM Eng springs are actually more forgiving on the road than the OE sport suspension. I"m happy that I made the jump. Car feels great ! I took some of my favorite on-ramps to get a feel for the suspension and car feels alot more planted than before. I have the swaybar on the softest setting for now but will experiment in the next little while. I will be returning to the track in mid July which will be true test.

I also installed the JCM brake ducts on the standard non-aero bumper and grill. It took a bit of fidling and some creative dremmel work, biut in the end, it turned out ok. Not sure if it will make a difference at the track , that remains to be determined but it sure looks trick

 

Thanks for the info on the NM springs and sway bar, these are definitely on my mod list. Could you please share photos of the install of the JCW brake ducts on your '07 MCS, I would like to do the same mod but do not want to have to buy the JCW aero kit. Thanks in advance.

 

kukaepe,

I didn't document the process but I can post a picture of the result. At first, I contemplated replacing the OE grill with the Aero one that comes with the kit, but that would've been difficult.

I then proceeded to modidy the standard grill. Essentially, it boiled down to making two openings at either end to accomodate the intake ducts. I followed the countour of the grill edge and went straight down for the vertical cut towards the centre. This is actually pretty easy as there is a reinforcing section behind the grill that goes straight down at the ideal location. I just followed it.

The other easy part is the tube section between the front metal frame section and the wheel well. This would be the same on all cars so just follow the instructions (DIY PDF can be downloaded from MotoringFile web site). Driver's side is a little more difficult as there is the windshield fluid tank and other hoses/wires.

Now for the hard part: fitting the intake ducts to the grill. There is no real easy way to do this since none of the existing clips will fit on the OE grill. Furthermore, the shape of the grill opening doesn't exactly match. Time for the dremmel tool.... I lined up the straight vertical portion of the duct with same on grill and used this as a reference. The duct is actually bigger than the opening in the grill so that makes it easier to fit since any deffects will be behind the grill and therefore hidden from view. Once you have a fit you're happy with, the trick now is to get the intake duct to hold onto the grill. I first reattached the grill to the bumper cover then using aluminum duct-tape, I tapped the duct to the grill (from the back of course). Once the ducts are holding in place, I monted the bumper cover temporarily to see what the fit was like. The duct lined up properly with the frame opening but were too long since the bottom attachment points for the bumper cover were not ligning up. The idea is then to progressivelly remove material from the duct end using the dremmel until the bumper cover ligns up properly.

And since the duct is now jammed in between the grill and the frame, there is no chance it will go anywhere. I then used some paintable plastic glue to seal imperfections and will sand and paint the entire assembly so that the small defects don't show. I am no professional at this by the way. The black plastic plays in your favour. All it takes is some time and patience.

I'll be at the track in a couple of weeks so I'll be able to see if it does help.

 

I just installed the same setup a few weeks ago, with the same results. Springs were easy to install, sway was tight.

Sway was a little tight. Had someone helping me out who I think was rushing a bit, and ended up cross threading one hole... I bought a tap and a new bolt and fixed it, but jeeze I was a little upset.

Apparently NM is aware of the overly tight fit and have manufactured slightly smaller brackets to make installation easier.

 

Glad to hear it all worked out in the end.

I almost did the same thing but stopped when I realized I was x-treading the bolt I was able to cut the damaged portion off and grind and using a same size tap, clean up the hole in the sub-frame. That was a close one....

How do you like the ride ? I'm personnally impressed. I went out again this morning and this thing tracks. Understeer has been all but eliminated and I haven' t even played with the swaybar yet ! I have it at the softest setting for now.

 

I'm on the medium setting and love it. I haven't had the back end break loose, but then again, I haven't gotten onto a track to really throw it around yet.

Losing the understeer is amazing. It feels like the whole car turns, instead of just the front end with the rear dragging behind.

The ride is great too, I definitely prefer it to stock. Care definitely needs to be taken to avoid potholes now though.

 

kukaepe,

As requested, couple of pictures showing brake duct install. Not the best but you get the idea.

 

mlg2ca: Thanks for posting the photos. It looks great, you did great work. Keep us posted what you notice on your next track day. I appreciate, as well as I'm sure other NAMers, how much effort you put into sharing your experience of installing this mod. Thanks Kukaepe

 

Thanks. I'm happy with the results, especially considering that the total cost for the kit was about 100$ USD. Sure beats buying complete Aero kit

 

Thank you so much for posting this. I am thinking about how to do this brake duct mod on a regular MCS bumper so this will definately help.

I was thinking about putting the duct behind the grill and dremel only small holes (leaving the grate structure). Do you think that would work?

How is the brake duct holding on w/o fasterners? Is it jammed on very tightly but still floating (not touching the bottom).

 

I think it could work if you're patient enough. Clearing out all the holes would take alot of time. You would also have to remove more material from the duct so that it will fit between the grill and metal backing.

The brake duct is indeed floating and jammed between the grill and metal frame. I used aluminum duct tape on the inside to hold it in place during install and fitting then used some paintable plastic glue to fill gaps and help hold it in place.

 

It sounds like a whole day project. I will try it in July some chunk of time with the car.

Have you taken it to the track to see if it would stand the extreme conditions. Also how does the aluminium tape hold up in the wet?

BTW, where did you buy the kit? Did you buy the entire unit including the grill or just the ducts alone?

 

I bought the kit online from Morristown MINI in NJ. The kit comes with the grill.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=214217

I will try on track in a few weeks. I drove for 2 hrs yesterday in heavy rain and all seems well.

 

Great. I will be able to get it from Morristown Mini as well. Have a few things to pick up from them anyway.

Looks like all is secure

 

Yup, that's exactly how I would describe it.

 

What setting are you guys using on the swaybar ?

I started at the mildest setting. I bumped it up a notch last few days. The car still feels nice, but I didn't notice a big difference.

 

just the middle setting.

after a car control clinic in a few weeks i'll decide if i want to go to the stiffest or not.

 

A car control clinic? Whats that? Track time haha?

 

Learning how to bring a car into control from either an oversteer or understeer condition. Generally they do it in a circle or a figure 8 configuration but sometimes in a autocross track. Many times, they will wet down the course to make conditions more ideal for learning.

There is no track time as those speeds are too high.

 

they're required around here in order to get onto the track, for safety. You need to understand how to handle at the threshold before you can hit the track.

there is some track time at the end of the car control clinic, assuming you pass.

 

Sounds like fun! In Bama, all they care about is if you can stop at a red light and do a 3 point turn. What a joke.

 

Could be right about the track time. They did not give you track time when I did mine.

 

I did the JCW brake duct install today on an R56, also on a regular lower bumper. The info here helped. I took a ton of pics too.

 

I swapped my factory sport suspension springs with the NM RS alpha springs, and have been extremely pleased with the better handling, less torque steer, more stable breaking (no fore-aft lurching on launch or hitting breaks).

Then, about a month ago I added the NM adjustable rear endlinks. This made a definite improvement in how planted the rear end feels going around curves-- very surprised to find how flimsy are the stock endlinks. That gain motivated me to immediately order the NM front endlinks-- and now that I have those installed, all i can say is WOW! that gave a big improvement in how firm and precise the steering response is now with hardly any sway-- small movement of the wheel now gives so much more instantaneous and direct control of the steering. Anyone else noticed this? I suspect it would be more noticeable for those with bigger swaybars, and maybe less useful for those with standard size swaybars.

In any case, I'm really happy with the difference it made for me.

 

i installed the NM rear sway bar on my R55, corning much flatter and planted in the group.

and i encountered the same problem when installing the rear sway bar, but i did not striped out the threads, as i left about 1/8" gap between the aluminum clamp and the subframe, which mean the clamp is not touching the subframe. do you guys think that will cause a problem eventually?

calvin