suspension setup specific question

[roriii]

Alright, I'm looking into some new suspension stuff. I've pretty much gotten it down to a couple options. I want a decent drop in the front to take out the wheel gap without way too much negative camber in the back. I want good handling with acceptable-good ride quality. The car will not be tracked for the time being.

As far as dampers go, I'm between (but leaning towards Bilstein):

-Bilstein sports
-Koni S/A

As far as springs go, I'm between:

Spring...............Rates.......................D rop Amount

-Dinan Sport- (175ish front/300 rear)- 1.5 in. drop front, 1.3 in. rear
-H&R Sport 50406- (180 front/380 rear); 1.25 in. drop all around
H&R Sport 29664- (200 front/285 rear); 1.5in. drop front, 1.25 in. rear

I've heard really good things about the ride quality of Dinans, but I don't know where to find any for an i/is. The Dinan website only sells for ix and cabrio models. H&Rs seem to be some of the most popular BMW aftermarket springs in general. If anyone can provide input on the difference in the two H&R Sport models that would be great, and any other input is appreciated. Thanks,
Richard

[roriii]

bump

[smonkbmw]

i know nothing of Dinan parts besides their chips for m20s suck (lacking power).

i do know however that the 200lb hr sports transformed my boring eta sedan to a very fun car to drive. i run the sports with bilstein sports, i strongly recommend the bilsteins over konis. i have no experience with the konis, but the build design of the bilsteins is much better. im not sure what car youre running (318, 325 etc) but you might look into the hr races depending on what kind of drop your looking for.

eta sedan on bils sports, hr sports, new mounts:

before


after



my old 325 m52 swap car on bils sport, hr race, new mounts:

before



after (on 17s)

[Edev]

Go with what Jeff said. He knows what he's doing.

[JGood]

i have no experience with the konis, but the build design of the bilsteins is much better.

[smonkbmw]

well yeah from reading up on the two the bilstein design seems like a much better design than the koni. especially when were comparing the bilstein sports vs konis.

i dont have to purchase a set to experience them do i?

[JGood]

well yeah from reading up on the two the bilstein design seems like a much better design than the koni. especially when were comparing the bilstein sports vs konis.

i dont have to purchase a set to experience them do i?

What specifically is designed better on Bilstein Sports, and what model Koni are you comparing it to?

[smonkbmw]

hydraulic vs gas (koni). im looking at the sports vs koni sports. both have lifetime warranty. one is adjustable the other not. i dont believe in fiddling with the shock all the time so therefore i prefer the bilsteins. also bilsteins are cheaper i believe.

[gearheadE30]

I always understood the same, but if Bilsteins are better in design, why doesn't GC etc. use them in their kits? Not saying you are wrong, but the konis also seem to be able to handle higher rate springs than the bilsteins.

[nando]

because supposedly bilsteins can't handle as high of spring rates as konis without being revalved. But really beyond a certain point either shock should be revalved for your springs..

neither are going to last forever. I've seen plenty of failed bilsteins, and my front konis are leaking (still have good rebound though), but they've been through 70,000 miles of hell. Get what you want.

[roriii]

I always understood the same, but if Bilsteins are better in design, why doesn't GC etc. use them in their kits? Not saying you are wrong, but the konis also seem to be able to handle higher rate springs than the bilsteins.

konis are used in coilover kits because they are adjustable, I have specially valved tckline coilovers on my e36 m3 for that reason. Its all about correctly matching konis to a spring (like in my coilovers) to get durablity from what I'm hearing. This is why ground control prefers them. Since I won't dish out 1/5 of the car's value for suspension, I won't be getting coilovers. It sounds to me like Bilsteins are 1) matched pretty well with H&R Sports and 2) Less prone to failure when they aren't custom valved for the spring they are using. So in other words I think you guys have sold me on the Bilstein Sports and H&R Sports. Feel free to keep posting though, I'd love to hear anything else

[JGood]

hydraulic vs gas (koni). im looking at the sports vs koni sports. both have lifetime warranty. one is adjustable the other not. i dont believe in fiddling with the shock all the time so therefore i prefer the bilsteins. also bilsteins are cheaper i believe.

ALL shocks are hydraulic AND gas. Bilstein's are monotube high pressure, Koni's are twin tube low pressure. Monotube's can be considered better in high load use. I don't see them being "designed better" for the OP's street application though. They offer different dampening characteristics and are both solid, proven parts.

I use Bilstein Sports in both my e30's, but would never go as far as saying they are superior then Koni's for my uses (one is a daily driver with H&R Sports, the other is a track car w/ H&R Races).

[roriii]

good stuff, that makes sense. One of my friends recently told me that the ride with his hr races wasnt that bad, but the handling was far superior to hr sports. Bilsteins are apparently valved too soft for HR races though. Would regular koni s/a dampers work well with HR races? Or would I need to step up to Ground Control custom valved ones?

[jlevie]

Bilsteins are apparently valved too soft for HR races though.

I'd say that's not quite true. Bilstein Sports and H&R Race springs works rather well in a Spec E30 configuration with 22/19mm sways.

[smonkbmw]

ALL shocks are hydraulic AND gas. Bilstein's are monotube high pressure, Koni's are twin tube low pressure.
I use Bilstein Sports in both my e30's, but would never go as far as saying they are superior then Koni's for my uses (one is a daily driver with H&R Sports, the other is a track car w/ H&R Races).

your graph depicts Bilstein HDs, there should be a difference between hds and sports im assuming.

One of my friends recently told me that the ride with his hr races wasnt that bad, but the handling was far superior to hr sports. Bilsteins are apparently valved too soft for HR races though.

yes. the spring rate difference between race and sports are greatly different so yes it should handle "superior".

no bilstein sports are not valved to soft. they ride perfectly. and also as mentioned are the only spring/shock combo allowed in the Pro 3 race cars. what does that tell you?