Why are Bilstein Sports so ROUGH!?

[rturbo 930]

i doubt the 8 people agreeing are jumping on a bandwagon lol. as we stated it is subjective, and will depend on your roads. really smooth roads you probably wont have as much of a problem

Indeed, my Bilstein Sport / H&R Race combo is great on smooth roads. On rough roads, I really hate them. I don't have anything to compare them to since this is the only car I've had with stiff suspension, but if I were buying shocks again, I would buy Konis without question.

[efficient]

I thought I had blown bilsteins sports after 2 years. Guess it's just how these shocks are. They ride fine on smooth surface but over imperfections my whole dash rattles.

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

It's all perspective, it's not that the suspension is too hard, just that you are too soft.

[six2midnight]

i doubt the 8 people agreeing are jumping on a bandwagon lol. as we stated it is subjective, and will depend on your roads. really smooth roads you probably wont have as much of a problem.

also depends on how low you are. hr sports aren't that low and the spring rate is still pretty light. I think its like 350F 400R

[sluflyer06]

I don't understand all this Billy Sport hate. I run all poly bushings with Billy Sports and and H&R Sport springs on 205/50 dirrezzas and the ride is no harsher than my bone stock BRZ. Often on slow but dodgy roads the dampening on the bilsteins is actually superior to my Subaru. Seems like people are just jumping on a bandwagon here IMO.

[six2midnight]

e28 is a lot heavier car in the back. with stock springs it could probably use a tougher damper.

upgrade the springs to something more stiff and you probably wouldn't.

[Bearmw]

The funny thing is a lot of E28 drivers like Bilstein especially in the back on a stock or mildly lowered car because of its perceived stiffness.

[achtung-e30]

to the op point
just put in h&k e36 m3 oem sport 5041055 springs with the billstein hd 14mm oem sway- and i think it rides fine- firmer than stock- not harsh at all - wonder if there is variences in the shock valve build ?

(ps ive owned bilstein shocks in the past not overly impressed with durability - so if u think there harsh dont worry they wont be for too long imho)

[six2midnight]

SHOCKS CAME IN! whoop.

so I took everything out of the box, the fronts are actually gas shocks, and the rears are hydraulic shocks (both Koni SA). I guess I didn't realize this when I bought them, but its started to make A LOT of sense. I have always used bil sports which are both gas shocks front and rear.

THIS can cause a very very harsh ride, which is probably what we all have been experiencing. The gas shocks takes a lot more pressure (usually 75lb to completely compress) while a hydraulic shock can easily be moved in and out.

So I started reading a little, and most older and vintage cars were designed to have hydraulic shocks in the back. Im not sure what the OE shocks were that came on the e30, but I am guessing it had hydraulic in the back and gas in the front.

Im pretty excited to try these koni sa shocks in the rear. I really think it will solve all my problems, especially for a street car. I don't think id run hydraulic shocks on my track rat.

Ill keep you posted...

[alas]

SUB'd. I'm going to need to decide a route with my suspension set up soon.



-E

[six2midnight]

awesome! make sure you post how the ride is with the hr sports.


im going to be running hypercoils 450/650.


I also sold my Bil sports for 375 :)

[TrentW]

Ordered the Konis. Looking forward to a much improved ride.

[six2midnight]

First off, I know this is a subjective subject. some people think bil sports aren't harsh.

But I think as an overall consensus now, we have come to say that for the STREET/DAILY driving, the bil sports give a pretty harsh ride.

That being said I have them on my track car and love them.

Also ya..not many options of rus. bil sports, bil hds, koni SA, KYB. Only other options are full coilovers from AST or GC (which uses a revalved VW corrado knoi shock.)

I cant comment on the HR sport with anything other than bil sport..because its all I know. (besides KYB. but heck kyb felt better to me. they just don't last long at all).

I already took advantage of the tirerack sale. SHIPPED SAME DAY!

I bought e30 Koni SA for the Rear, and the VW corrado Koni SA for the front. Im going to run coilovoer sleeves. I decided im not going to cut down my shock housing but shim the shock up to meet the correct height.

I still want to be low (lower), but I don't want to sacrifice ride quality. I understand you really cant do one and not have the consequence of the other.

Ill keep ya updated on how it feels

[jeffnhiscars]

Seems to me that Konis sales are an annual event sponsored by the factory but used to be 40% off. I haven't seen discounts that deep in a couple of years though

[TrentW]

Because you actually run it on the track, or so you can tell people what your spring rates are?


So, serious question for this group then -
What is a decent, reasonably-priced street shock for an H&R Sport-lowered car?

LOL...besides Bilstein and Koni, there's KYB.

Just say no to KYB.

***I'm not saying the Bilsteins don't soften up slightly (VERY slightly), but mine have 10 years on them and I'm so tired of the harshness that I'm seriously close to taking advantage of the Tire Rack 20% off sale. Who wants to give me $100 for my 'Steins?