Which Coilover Kit Fits My Car? How to Read a Fitment Listing

This article was written by Coilovers.com Owner and Principal, Lou Tortola.

What coilovers fit my car? The answer is in the listing title, and you can read it yourself in about a minute. Match five things: the years, the chassis code, the body style, the drivetrain and any factory package the listing names or excludes.

Get those five right and the coilover kit bolts on. Miss one and you are boxing it back up. This guide walks through real listings from our own catalog, line by line, so you know what each part of a title is telling you. It ends with a checklist of what to have ready before you order or call.

What Coilovers Fit My Car? Start With the Listing Title

Every kit we list carries a title built the same way. It reads left to right: years, make, model, then the details that narrow the fit, then the brand. Here is one from BC Racing:

That title tells you five things. The years run 1995 to 2003. The make is BMW. The model is the 5 Series, in sedan form, with rear-wheel drive. The chassis code is E39. You can see the full BC Racing E39 sedan kit on its product page.

Notice what the title does not say. It does not say Touring. That matters, because BC Racing lists the E39 Touring as a separate kit. Read every word, and treat anything the title leaves out as a question, not a yes.

If you are newer to this, our guide to what coilovers are covers the parts and adjustments first. This article assumes you know you want a kit and need to find the right one.

Years and Chassis Code: The First Two Filters

Model names carry over for decades. The chassis code does not. A 5 Series from 1998 and one from 2018 share a badge and almost nothing under it. The chassis code is how the industry keeps them apart.

Car people use these codes all the time: E39, E46 and E90 for BMW, S550 for the Mustang, S13 and S14 for the 240SX. If you do not know yours, the year range on the listing is your first clue. Then confirm it with your VIN.

Year ranges also differ by brand on the same chassis. On the E39, our BC Racing sedan listing runs 1995 to 2003. The KW sedan listing runs 1997 to 2003. Neither is wrong. Each brand states the years it covers. Go by the listing for the kit you want, not by a forum post about a different brand.

Watch the edges of a range. If your car sits on the first or last year of a listing, call us with the VIN before you order.

Body Style: Sedan, Coupe, Touring and Wagon

A wagon is not a sedan with a longer roof. It often has a different rear setup, different weight and sometimes different mounts. Brands split the listing when the hardware changes.

The E39 shows this well. In our catalog:

So an E39 wagon owner has to answer two questions, not one. Is it a wagon? And does it have the factory rear levelling? The KW E39 wagon kit for cars with rear air and the version without it are different parts. Check the car or the window sticker, or call us. The VIN alone may not show it.

Coupes and convertibles split the same way on many platforms. BC Racing lists the E90 sedan and the E92 coupe as their own kits, and groups the E91 Touring and E93 Convertible together in another.

Drivetrain Splits: RWD, FWD, AWD and xDrive

All-wheel drive changes the front of the car. There is a driveshaft running through the front hub, and the strut or damper has to clear it. That is why brands list AWD and RWD versions as different kits on the same chassis.

On the BMW E90 and E92, BC Racing lists a rear-wheel-drive sedan kit and a separate 3 Series xDrive kit for the E90 and E92. The same pattern shows up on Mercedes 4MATIC and on Subaru AWD models across the catalog.

Your drivetrain is usually on the badge. If the badge is gone, the VIN usually tells us. Never assume a RWD kit fits an AWD car because the years match.

Trims, Packages and Factory Electronic Damping

This is where most wrong orders come from. Two cars with the same years, body and drivetrain can still need different parts because of a factory option.

Sport packages and trim exclusions

Our Solo-Werks E39 sedan kit reads "Non-M - Without OEM Sport Package". That is two exclusions. It is not listed for the M5, and it is not listed for a car that left the factory with the Sport Package. If your E39 has that package, this listing does not cover it. Call us and we will look at what does.

Bilstein uses the same idea. Its E39 B14 PSS listings say "Without Electronic or Self-Leveling Suspension". The 540i sedan listing adds "Also Fits 00-03 M5". When a title names trims, take it at its word.

Factory adaptive dampers: MagneRide and EDC

Many modern performance cars came with electronic damping from the factory. Ford uses MagneRide on some Mustangs. BMW uses EDC on some M cars. A passive coilover kit replaces those dampers, and the car's electronics need to be dealt with.

So brands list these cars separately. For the 2015 to 2021 Mustang, BC Racing lists one kit "With Magneride" and another kit that excludes MagneRide. Both titles add "Swift Front Only". KW lists its 2015 to 2017 S550 kit "without electronic dampers". On the E90 and E92 M3, BC Racing splits the listing into "Originally with EDC" and "Originally without EDC".

Not sure which you have? Look at the original window sticker or the car itself, or call us. The VIN alone may not show it, so do not guess on this one.

The Small Print: Spring Options, Included Parts and Variants

Once the car matches, the rest of the title tells you about the kit itself.

Spring notes and included parts change what you get and how you set it up. Exclusions such as "Excl. Magneride" do change fit, so treat them like any other part of the title. Spring rate, damping range and ride height range all live on the product page, so read it after the title checks out.

Wheels, Brakes and the Rest of Your Build

A listing tells you the kit fits the factory car. Your car may not be factory anymore. Wider wheels, lower offsets and bigger brakes all change the space around the damper body.

Wheels, tires and brakes also make up most of the unsprung weight on any corner. A bigger brake kit can add some and change caliper clearance too. Tell us about every one of these parts when you ask about fitment. A coilover kit can fit the car perfectly and still rub a wheel that sits too far inboard.

Ride height matters here too. On full-length kits like BC Racing and Fortune Auto, you set height at the lower mount, and the spring perch sets preload. A locking collar holds each setting. Lower the car and you change how the tire sits in the arch. Our guide to setting ride height on coilovers covers how to measure it.

Your Fitment Checklist Before You Order

Have these ready and the question of what coilovers fit my car takes a few minutes, whether you order online or call.

The VIN is the big one. It is on your registration and your insurance card. It identifies the car and can help confirm options with a dealer or a decoder. It does not by itself show every factory option, so confirm electronic dampers and strut size from the car and the listing, or call us. Our article on buying suspension covers the rest of the decision, from use case to price point. If you want to know how online coilover sales work behind the scenes, read our look at buying coilovers online.

Every performance suspension brand we carry works this way, from KW and Bilstein to TEIN, Öhlins and Fortune Auto. The details in the title are the details that change the part. Read them all, confirm them on the product page and call us if anything is unclear.

Frequently Asked Questions