Lowering springs and Bilstein HDs ... possible?

[Marvin_Hecht]

Update

I just called Bilstein technical support. They said this:

If the springs I am using provide < 1.5 of drop
(e.g. M3 springs)
then
HDs or Sports, both will work fine, no difference in feel to driver

If the springs I am using provide > 1.5 inch of drop
(eg. professional lowering springs, eg. H&Rs)
then
Sports only, since otherwise I will break the shock because it
will bottom out and wear it out.

[BahnE30]

same shock same valving, ones shorter than the other
whoopdiee friggen dooo

[krtdudi]

The difference really only matters if the spring your using is considerably shorter than stock (not the ride height).

With a short spring, it won't sit snug between the lower and upper spring perch at full droop. This will cause the spring to rattle when the suspension is unloaded, like the crest of a hill for example.

With most lowering springs, (H&R, Eibach, Vogtland, etc) they make the free length of the spring very close to the original spring, so there's no issue with the spring being loose in the perches.

Go for either the Sport or HD, you won't have any issues unless you've got some unusual really short springs.