Thoroughly confused on which Konis to pair with my H&R race springs

[citizen_insane]

I'm thinking of getting some Koni yellows for my 1989 325i and I see there are multiple versions of the shocks available and I'm not sure which are best to run on my car. I'm running H&R Race springs and to be honest, they are a bit low for me so I might add 0.5" spring spaces or move to coil overs in the future (I would increase spring stiffness if I did)

From what I can see there are both long and short versions of the Konis available.

Short: 8641-1210Sport (f) // 80-2641Sport (r)
Long: 8641-1021Sport (f) // 80-2522Sport (r)

From what I can tell, neither of these rears are top adjustable and require you to compress the shock completely and then turn the body to adjust damping. I have seen mention of top-adjustable rears on various forums but no one ever lists a part number.

My general feeling is I should run the 1210Sport fronts and the top adjustable rears, whatever part number they are. To make matters worse, ECS sells a kit, but the part numbers in the kit don't appear to match the above sets even though they claim to fit my car.

Can anyone help me figure this out? Koni's website isn't much more help.

[JRKOUPE]

I have run HR race for several yrs on a track mainly car..w/ Koni from GC direct....both frt and rr are top adjust. Both have GC inscribed on shock body...I don't know if u can buy them elsewhere.

There is a thread somewhere..I think here..that goes over p/n's

[citizen_insane]

I found the thread you are referring to (I think) and it's still not completely clear to me which to get: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...7&postcount=19

8641 1021 / 80 2522:
485/614 mm compressed/expanded length
500/750 N compression/rebound stiffness

8641 1210 / 80 2641:
488/585 mm
700/750 N

This thread also has a similar discussion but seems to have conflicting information. Here Jay from GC says the 1210's are not good for lowering because they don't have enough stroke. Problem being that the 1210's are the short version according to Koni's website so I'd think they would be the ideal ones to use....

[Regarding 1210's]...but if you decide to do a coilover in the future, or anything more than just the MILDEST spring change, you are better off with alternate part numbers.

Also, I found the M3 uses a different rear: 80-2522SP1. Why is this? What's the difference between the 2522Sport and the 2522SP1?

[JRKOUPE]

welllll....Jay happens to know......he IS GC..lol

annnnd.....u could just call them..and buy what u need.

[citizen_insane]

GC doesn't sell just shocks (according to their website). I'm not going to call them up and bother them about which shocks to buy when I'm not even going to be giving them the business.

[JRKOUPE]

be open minded....


call them.......tell them u want the best shocks for your car....and you want to buy what they sell...be nice

ya never know

or call TCK

[Northern]

I'm pretty torn on the Koni part numbers as well. I have konis now, but they belong to the GC kit in a car I'm about to sell.

I've decided to just run 8610-1437 Race in shortened housings up front (.5" shorter than iX, but I assume better valving) but I have no idea which rears to get:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=362104 has conflicting info to this thread as well:

I asked Koni about the differences between the part numbers a few months ago and this was their response. Needless to say, Koni kills it with product support.

"1. Basically, yes. The listing is carried over from our European catalog the differences between all of the shocks and inserts listed are fairly minimal.

8641 1021SPORT vs. 8641 1210SPORT

The main differences between these is that the 1210 is 20mm shorter in max length (min length is the same). The 1210 is also slightly firmer in compression versus the 1021 but the difference isn’t enough to where I would recommend/not recommend one over the other.

80 2522SP1 versus 80 2641SPORT versus 80 2522SPORT (bonus!)
The 2522SP1 is 10mm shorter in max length versus the 2641SPORT. The 2522SPORT is 40mm LONGER than the 2522SP1. The min lengths are all identical between the three of them. The valving between the two 2522s are identical and both are slightly firmer in rebound than the 2641SPORT. Compression is the same.

2. The listing we have for the E30 M3 is the 8641-1210SPORT and 80 2522SP1. Given that you’re planning on running those springs, it will be fine for the setup that you’re looking at. However, does the M3 spring make the front sit a little lower in the 325is due to the heavier engine? In either case, please make sure that you run a factory bumpstop on the front struts. Thanks."

In addition, the Koni catalogue has a note next to the 80 2641SPORT only, which says to remove bump stops before adjusting, which implies that they're compress to adjust. This post shows the 80 2641SPORT as well, and it appears to not be top adjust.

[Gnarles]

TC Kline sells top adjustable rear konis but they are a little pricier...

http://www.tcklineracing.com/webdocs/Items/Details38.cfm

[Northern]

Those are the 8041-1186 mustang shocks. People say that TCK doesn't revalve them, but TCK lists them as 8041-1186TCK like they're custom valved, so I don't know what to think.