Just pulled the trigger on RoW M030
 

After quite a bit of research on this site, I decided to purchase the euro suspension kit from Porsche for my '01 S.

Can't wait!!! Ordered it from Design911 UK with a very reasonable cost. Kit costs 599 GBP with a flat international shipping to the USA for an additional 80 GBP.

Total cost in USD to my door is $1037.66 and after ordering yesterday, the kit is already in route....no waiting at all. Great service and communcation!

I will post some pictures pre and post install. Here is one pre.

It must be one of the very few things you can get cheaper in the UK ;) Surely well worth at this price if you want just the refresh.

I was shocked at how low this was with shipping applied from the UK. Lowest in the states closest to me is Suncoast, but their price prior to shipping is 1088 usd so by the time shipping is applied, they would be 150 or more.

Hate to pinch too many pennies, but in this economy, I have too.

Only reason I did this is because my b-day is coming up and I haven't bought myself anything in a while.

That bundle together is a great deal. The individual costs if purchased all separately can be at least double that package price.

By the way, your car looks great as is! Very clean, looks good with those wheels, and the paint looks awesome.

Will look even better with the ROW, looking forward to seeing the results!

It's the way the car should have come in the first place. Noticeably more oriented towards sport than comfort compared to the stock suspension. I've got 17"s adn the ride is still not jarring over ruts and bumps. The drop doesn't hurt the car's looks either. Enjoy.

I put the row m030 on my car 18 months ago. Loved it with the stock 17" wheels. Upgraded to 18" wheels recently and love the combo even more! Just my humble experience, but I think this suspension package works best with 18's. Grip level is fabulous and the ride is still very good.

By the way, when I bought the package from Sunset, I paid $974. But that was almost 2 years ago.

Talk about fast shipping....woke up this morning and there was the kit all boxed up on my porch.

I have never received a package from the UK in three days??? Wow!

Looking forward to seeing the "after" photos.

I've been planning to do the same upgrade when it's time to freshen up my suspension. Ever since I bought my F355 Spider, the Boxster's stock suspension feels a little dead.

When I was building my 64MGB I used to get all the major parts from England at a much cheaper price than available here and as with quick shipping as you said. I once got a 5 speed conversion kit , including trans, within a week. They like cars over there. Ed

By the way, that's a beautiful car you have there. How on earth did you find one with so low miles on her?

I love Ferrari's....and think the f355 is just one stunning vehicle!

Well...? Pull the trigger on the knuckle busting and picture-taking already. :)

Almost there...ordered a set of TurboWerx headers and they are still on back order. Doing both mods as the same time. Hopefully the headers will be made this week sometime. They were having trouble getting the flanges produced.

Really sucks too looking at the suspension sitting in a box now for over two weeks.

Getting close. RoW came in a couple weeks ago and the waiting is over now... Headers came in Friday... Talk about some nice quality. Thanks Marc if you see this post!!

Now off to the shop this week!

By the way, I washed the Box today and I had to post up some picts. It's really hard not to love Guards Red!!!

Couple more.

Nice headers!!

Is your car at stock height now? Could post some measurements at the fender before/after the install?

Yes, I plan on doing this before taking it in.

Congrats on getting you suspension. did mine about 7 months ago and improved my AX time by a couple of seconds, ride is still nice :cheers:

Congadulations! Let us know how it looks; fits and handles......are you 18s?

Took the car to the shop Friday. Was told it would be ready this coming Friday. Yes, I am running 18's.

I'm considering ordering the kit from Design 911 as well. Is the package Design 911 has for sale the same as the M030 ROW package available through places like Suncoast and Sunset?

Yes, it is the complete kit. I was going to post some pictures later today now it's installed. No regrets!

Thanks for the info. :) Yesterday Sunset quoted me a lower price than Design 911 (around $980 + $40 - $50 for shipping) for the M030 ROW suspension so I ordered it from there. Still, based on what I've seen so far I wouldn't hesitate to buy from Design 911 sometime in the future.

From the sound of it the suspension kit should be at my door within the next couple of weeks.

Can't wait to see this as I'm hoping to do the same thing in the next year or so!

So...Maybe you could give your box a little rest and put up some before/after pics?

I have been pretty busy and on top of that, we have had bad weather here so I have not been able to take shots. It's windy as hell today too. Maybe late this afternoon if the wind dies or tomorrow.

Trust me when I tell you that I should have done this mod a long time ago.

With that being said, I'm pretty much done with modding for the time being. Don't really know what else I could do to it now...except maybe a softronic reflash, IMS update or a gt3 or ruf body kit...

I'm pretty happy with the looks as-is. Would rather spend my money on performance and although the IMS issue is in my mind, I'd rather not spend the 3500 bucks for "reassurance" and a new rms and clutch with only 20k miles on the car.

But if my engine does happen to grenade on me, it will go to Jake R. for one of his 3.6's as that would be the ultimate upgrade with the new suspension setup.

Does it sound like I'm praying for that to happen or what??? I could only imagine 350+hp behind my seat...has to be simply breathtaking!

Picts attached

Some more post install picts of RoW M030.

It's been nearly a month since I ordered my M030 ROW suspension package from Sunset and it still hasn't arrived. Apparently it's on backorder from Germany and there's no ETA when the package will arrive at Sunset and then be sent to me.

Is having to wait this long to get the M030 suspension typical? I'm hoping to get everything and install everything before I put the car away for the winter and the snow comes.

No, that's way too long. When I ordered mine from the UK, it was here within 4 days. I was pretty shocked, but it was a very fast delivery. Design911 was on top of it.

If it's possible to do so and Design 911 has the suspension package in stock I'm thinking seriously of canceling my order with Sunset and just ordering it from Design 911. Even with shipping the difference in price between the two isn't more than $30 or $40.

It's a long time, but they do get backordered occasionally, especially from Sunset because they're a popular place to get the kit.

I would. That's ridiculous to wait so long. Sunset or not...same kit. You will love it once it's installed!

Earlier this afternoon I ordered the M030 ROW suspension package from Design 911. It sounds like they're expecting to receive a manual-transmission S package on Wednesday, and it should be headed my way not long after that so long as I placed my online order in time.

In the meantime I'm canceling my M030 ROW order with Sunset but am still ordering some front and rear shock mounts from them. Hopefully those parts will arrive at my place around the same time as the parts from Design 911 arrive. My goal is to get everything installed by the end of next week, or at least before I put the car away for the winter.

M030 and H and R sport springs
 

Has anyone taken the M030 struts and put H and R sport springs to get things a bit lower? This sounds like it would be ideal but would it work?

The front and rear strut mounts and front strut bearings I ordered from Sunset arrived a couple days ago and the M030 package I ordered from Design 911 should be here Monday. So my plan is to get everything installed Tuesday.

Usually when I've installed suspensions on other cars I've given them a couple weeks to "settle" before getting the cars aligned. Should I wait a couple weeks before I align the Boxster or should I go ahead and align it within a few days of the install?

I would align it right away! Then re-check it after things settle to make sure things are right! You dont want to be scrubbing tires unnecessarily

I have looked into that and have read that the M030 struts are the same as the Bilstein Sports. Quite a few people have been running that setup, but keep in mind that you may need adjustable toe control arms to maintain camber. Some haven't had a problem and some have; so its just something to think about.

Thanks I didn't know they were the same dampers. That is good news. I am concerned with fit in spring seats; available damper stroke with the lower H and R springs; mis match between the spring rate of the H and R springs a the M030 dampers. I definitely knew about the rear toe-in on bump that could require some after market adjustables (any favourites?) to get the wheels pointing neutral again. I thought one could get camber with the stock eccentrics.

How are these people finding the ride of this set up? Just a stock S on 18s can be harsh on certain roads.

I am still running my stock suspension on my 03 S so I really cant answer your questions with any certainty as far as spring rates, ride quality and damper stroke. I think I have been trying to figure out the same things you are. I only want to replace my suspension once and I need something that fits my daily driving needs without being overly harsh or screwing something up that would require more parts. One thing I can tell you is that a lot of people have been using the adjustable toe control arms from Tarett. They seem to be a quality product.

http://www.tarett.com/items/boxster~cayman-products/996-986-987-rear-t-control-arm-pr-996tlnk-detail.htm

When it comes down to it, I think that for my needs and for the money I am willing to spend, the ROW suspension is probably best. I don't want to spend a ton of money on all these extra suspension parts to maintain alignment and then have my daily driver ride like crap. I started another thread last week asking questions about the ROW kit but haven't gotten any responses.

http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/26449-rear-suspension-problem-row-m030-european-suspension-solution.html