XYZ Racing Tarmac Rally Coilovers — BMW 7 SERIES E38 8 CYL (NOT AIR STRUT) 1995-2002

The E38 7 Series is a heavy, long-wheelbase V8 saloon built for motorway cruising, and on the standard car that weight rides on self-levelling air struts tuned for comfort rather than cornering load. This Tarmac Rally coilover kit for the Bmw 7 Series E38 8 CYL (NOT AIR STRUT) chassis replaces that air-strut hardware entirely with a fixed, sealed-stage-rated damper and spring set, so weight transfer through fast direction changes is controlled by mechanical damping rather than air pressure that varies with temperature and load.

Tarmac Rally is XYZ’s spec for sealed-stage work, where the surface is consistent but the compressions, crests and mid-corner bumps are not. On an E38 that means keeping a heavy saloon’s mass in check under braking into a hairpin and settled through fast direction changes, without the car ballooning onto its bump stops the way the factory air suspension does under sustained hard driving.

What this coilover does for your 1995-2002 Bmw 7 Series E38 8 CYL (NOT AIR STRUT)

Swapping the air struts for this coilover set gives the E38 a fixed ride height and spring rate that doesn’t drift with air pressure, temperature or how long the car has sat idle between stages. Damping is set from XYZ’s tarmac rally settings, so the front end resists dive under braking and the rear stays planted through load transfer instead of pitching on its air bellows. That control puts more of the tyre’s contact patch on the road through direction changes, which is where the traction gain over the factory setup actually shows up. Ride height is also no longer self-levelling, so the car sits at a known, repeatable stance from one stage to the next rather than adjusting itself between runs.

About the Tarmac Rally coilover

XYZ’s Tarmac Rally coilover is built specifically for sealed-stage work, where the damper has to soak up the impact of an uneven road surface without passing that hit straight into the chassis. The valving is set to absorb the jolt of a hard compression or a big bump at speed, taking the shock out of the body shell rather than letting it upset the car’s line. That control is also what keeps the tyre loaded and gripping through the moment of impact, rather than letting the wheel skip and lose traction. The result is a car that holds its stability and handling balance through the kind of surface changes a tarmac stage throws up mid-corner, not just in a straight line. Every setting on this kit comes out of XYZ’s own tarmac rally programme, not a generic road-going damping curve adapted after the fact.

Fitment for the Bmw 7 Series E38 8 CYL (NOT AIR STRUT) (1995-2002)

This kit (chassis reference BM21-2) is built for the E38-chassis Bmw 7 Series, 8-cylinder cars built 1995 to 2002, and specifically for the NOT AIR STRUT variant, meaning it does not fit E38s running the factory self-levelling air suspension setup. Confirm your car is running conventional strut mounts, not the factory air-strut setup, before ordering, as the two use different mounting hardware.

What buyers also search for

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• E38 fixed-rate suspension replacing self-levelling air suspension

If your E38 is running the non-air-strut setup and you’re prepping it for tarmac stage work, pick your spec below and build yours to the car.