Sorry to revive this old thread, but I have news regarding the front clearance issue between exhaust header and Suplex suspension.
I'll quote the relevant part of my own post from a few pages back
Originally Posted By MarioCP
UPDATE ON XF14 AEF
The clearance issue raised its ugly head again. It won't happen often, but a more pronounced bump will make the right exhaust header hit the bottom of the spring.
This, evidently, cannot be, and I'm still puzzled by how can it- all of it - be possible. But the mechanic told me it might indeed be that this is an issue with my car and my car alone, due to what he suspects is a faulty right exhaust header. One that he says is SHORTER than it should. And he demonstrated this to me with two pictures he took with his smartphone. As you can see in them, the left header ends up farther away from the center of the vehicle than the right header. The turn signals were used as reference points to draw a vertical line from them ( I lack the English words to explain what's in the picture, but you guys can see it clearly I assume)
Here the pictures:
RIGHT SIDE
LEFT SIDE
Before I jump to any conclusion (and if the conclusion is that my right exhaust header is defective then I will ask for a new one ...), I'd like to call on my fellow TMers that are also M3W owners and ask them to take, and post here (or send me by email to mcp@cps.com.pt , if you prefer) the same pictures, but of their own cars. Left side and Right side, with a vertical line from each turn signal.
Hope you guys can help me out with this ... I'm really next to quitting the Suplex suspension altogether. And it's a shame because it transforms the car's handling (front) for the better.
Thanks!
Now, almost one year past, I'd like to say again a big "THANK YOU" to all of you that gave yourselves the trouble to take pictures of your own cars front suspension so I could "make my case". Because I made it, and MMC rose up to the occasion.
To make a long story short, with the help of your pictures and a couple more measurements made, MMC agreed that my right hand side exhaust header was incorrectly shaped and they sent me a new one.
Because the new one is ... uhh ... new, and the visual difference between the new and the old (Left Side) is nothing less than shocking, I asked to have them wrapped when installed.
That was made today. Here the result. As you can see the new header has a nice good clearance regarding the suspsension. I don't like the visuals with the wrapping (couldn't find black or dark material), but I'm told they'll soon get darkened by use and heat.
Here the result:
One more properly ticked box, a few to go ... to be continued!
