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Birds or Motech

11K views 98 replies 24 participants last post by  Connar92 
#1 ·
Need to improve the handling on my 240 so have been reading through all of the reviews on both the Birds and Motech shock/spring kits. All the feedback is consistently good on both, seems like a big improvement over stock. So I'm now trying to work out whether it's worth paying the Birds premium over Motech. Not surprisingly, there isn't any comparative feedback between the two.

On one hand, I like the fact that Birds have tuned the kit specifically for the car. So in theory I get that it's likely to be better. I also like the drop only being 5-10mm as opposed to the 20/25mm of Motech. But I'm struggling to swallow the hefty premium of Birds over Motech, even with the specific tuning they've done. Plus Mike was really helpful when I spoke to him on the phone!

Any views or experience that can give me a steer on whether the Birds premium is worth it?
 
#2 ·
Im mid the same dilemma.

Ive got the deposit on the "motech B12 kit". My initial thoughts were to go with the birds b2 kit but again like you couldn't justify the extra premium.

I get the impression the birds setup is the very similar to the stock eibach B12 kit in that it retains the stock ride height to some degree but has re valved B6 dampers to rather than the B8s found in a b12 or a "full motech" kit. I think from what i could gather the B6s were used to stop the shock from topping out on undulating uk roads and allowed to have the suspension setup to be a more compliant yet capable setup. This allows the wheels to stay in contact with the tarmac rather than lifting in the air over bigger bumps. Not that ill be taking off in mine too often! More of a suspension kit that the car "should have had from the factory".

But personally i wanted a bit of a drop. Been trying to find some measurements of a 235s drop in height from stock springs to the motech ones to see exactly how much they drop the car by. Unfortunately not had much success but ill post some up of my car once ive fitted them. Im guessing if the kit has been developed by eibach to work inline with the B8 dampers it should give a better ride too. Plus for £400 less than the birds stuff ive also added a full set of spacers and a few other bits from motech.

Hasn't stopped me from contemplating both kits on several occasions since though [emoji23]

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#3 ·
Motech just slap a premium on for items which are much same as other products out there. Springs / motech stance are all things much the same as what you can simply purchase yourself (h&r springs and whatever spacers suitable), followed by getting them fitted by a specialist who frankly knows 10x more. You will save yourself a bomb. It is a load of overpriced marketing rubbish.

I would go Birds, all day.
 
#6 ·
RobHardyUK said:
Motech just slap a premium on for items which are much same as other products out there. Springs / motech stance are all things much the same as what you can simply purchase yourself (h&r springs and whatever spacers suitable), followed by getting them fitted by a specialist who frankly knows 10x more. You will save yourself a bomb. It is a load of overpriced marketing rubbish.

I would go Birds, all day.
I thought the Motech springs were different ride heights to both the standard Eibach and h&r kits?
 
#7 ·
I have Birds B2 kit and as fantastic as it is I would certainly give consideration to the B12 kit which is considerably cheaper. The Birds kit is superb though, i could literally drive my car all day long without being bored or uncomfortable. Whether the b12 kit is as good/nearly as good Im not sure as I've never driven a car with it on.
 
#8 ·
Connar92 said:
Im mid the same dilemma.

Ive got the deposit on the "motech B12 kit". My initial thoughts were to go with the birds b2 kit but again like you couldn't justify the extra premium.

I get the impression the birds setup is the very similar to the stock eibach B12 kit in that it retains the stock ride height to some degree but has re valved B6 dampers to rather than the B8s found in a b12 or a "full motech" kit. I think from what i could gather the B6s were used to stop the shock from topping out on undulating uk roads and allowed to have the suspension setup to be a more compliant yet capable setup. This allows the wheels to stay in contact with the tarmac rather than lifting in the air over bigger bumps. Not that ill be taking off in mine too often! More of a suspension kit that the car "should have had from the factory".

But personally i wanted a bit of a drop. Been trying to find some measurements of a 235s drop in height from stock springs to the motech ones to see exactly how much they drop the car by. Unfortunately not had much success but ill post some up of my car once ive fitted them. Im guessing if the kit has been developed by eibach to work inline with the B8 dampers it should give a better ride too. Plus for £400 less than the birds stuff ive also added a full set of spacers and a few other bits from motech.

Hasn't stopped me from contemplating both kits on several occasions since though [emoji23

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How much is the Motech B12 kit?

I've toyed with the idea of getting the B12 kit (non Motech) and it would cost around £1k fitted from a local specialist with full Hunter alignment. I'm not really interested in a "Motech stance" or spacers.
 
#10 ·
RobHardyUK said:
Motech just slap a premium on for items which are much same as other products out there. Springs / motech stance are all things much the same as what you can simply purchase yourself (h&r springs and whatever spacers suitable), followed by getting them fitted by a specialist who frankly knows 10x more. You will save yourself a bomb. It is a load of overpriced marketing rubbish.

I would go Birds, all day.
No direct experience of either, however I would go for Birds.
I would agree all the Motech Stance stuff is marketing that has worked well for them.
 
#12 ·
markm240i said:
Connar92 said:
Im mid the same dilemma.

Ive got the deposit on the "motech B12 kit". My initial thoughts were to go with the birds b2 kit but again like you couldn't justify the extra premium.

I get the impression the birds setup is the very similar to the stock eibach B12 kit in that it retains the stock ride height to some degree but has re valved B6 dampers to rather than the B8s found in a b12 or a "full motech" kit. I think from what i could gather the B6s were used to stop the shock from topping out on undulating uk roads and allowed to have the suspension setup to be a more compliant yet capable setup. This allows the wheels to stay in contact with the tarmac rather than lifting in the air over bigger bumps. Not that ill be taking off in mine too often! More of a suspension kit that the car "should have had from the factory".

But personally i wanted a bit of a drop. Been trying to find some measurements of a 235s drop in height from stock springs to the motech ones to see exactly how much they drop the car by. Unfortunately not had much success but ill post some up of my car once ive fitted them. Im guessing if the kit has been developed by eibach to work inline with the B8 dampers it should give a better ride too. Plus for £400 less than the birds stuff ive also added a full set of spacers and a few other bits from motech.

Hasn't stopped me from contemplating both kits on several occasions since though [emoji23

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How much is the Motech B12 kit?

I've toyed with the idea of getting the B12 kit (non Motech) and it would cost around £1k fitted from a local specialist with full Hunter alignment. I'm not really interested in a "Motech stance" or spacers.
I think evolve are selling a B12 kit for an Mlite for £700 odd maybe a touch over. The motech stuff is £850.

So i guess like £100 on what youve been quoted? [emoji2371]

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#15 ·
When your missis drives you home pissed every Sunday afternoon and always comments how much she enjoys driving your car speaks volumes for Birds imo. To me they have totally nailed it with their settings, its so well judged it balances sportiness with daily all round use perfectly. Firm but never uncomfortable and so much more composed at pace than either stock passive or adaptive.
 
#16 ·
I have the Birds system and love it, having them fit the Quaife LSD next month as well. 😀
 
#19 ·
Connar92 said:
JonD said:
Birds!

Motech fit generic sping's (no disrespect to the forum sponsor), birds have developed their own setup specifically for uk roads.
Arnt they both Eibachs though in the birds and motech kit? [emoji2371]

When i spoke to Mike with regards to the motech spring rates he explained that eibach wouldn't disclose the adaptations with their springs ie spring rates etc however that their springs had been compressed over the standard eibach pros. So their stuff is essentially just an "eibach b12 kit" thats £100/150 more.

But the cynic in me would then think that the same rules would apply with birds. Ie eibach kept their cards close to their chest when it came to certain aspects of springs. However when i spoke to Kevin he explained that these kits were bespoke made for birds and not a generic spring. However Eibach may produce a spring that has the same fitment but different rate ie f30 etc. I dont know. Thats what id like to know exactly the differences. If that was the case though all that leaves would be a re valved/ softer B6 damper to work better with rougher surfaces.

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#21 ·
Connar92 said:
Torquey said:
I have the Birds system and love it, having them fit the Quaife LSD next month as well. [emoji3]
Whats yours a 135/140/235/240?

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M135i, it's in my signature at the bottom of my post 👍
 
#23 ·
To start with why not try a simple and v cheap upgrade to eibach springs? That simple change utterly transformed my car to the extent I can't see value for money or need to do the dampers too. It was a HUGE improvement, transformed the car (which lets be honest is highly suspect when pushing on in standard form)
 
#24 ·
Torquey said:
I have the Birds system and love it, having them fit the Quaife LSD next month as well. 😀
Interested you have birds and the M4 LCAs. When I spoke to Birds he recommended against the LCAs? Did you do separately, how do you find them?
 
#25 ·
Hi, I spoke to Birds and they didn't really think m4 lca's would make a difference , and they recommended fitting spacers on the front.But after reading so many positive reviews on here I had them fitted anyway. It's made a huge difference on how the front just digs in in the corners and turns in so much better. I had the underbody brace fitted also which helps stiffen up the rear. When I get the lsd fitted I think it should handle even better.
 
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