Spax psx.

Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:43 pm

Need to replace the suspension on my 86 325i cab, it,s on
40/60 atm and want the same set up. There is currently what seems like a good deal on the Spax PSX kit from a dealer/member on here. Now while i don,t thrash the a**e
off the car, i do drive it spiritedly on mainly B roads and a lot of very twisty country roads. Does the Spax kit sound like what i need, and what are peoples thoughts on the kit, preferably
from those who are currently, or who have previuosly had the kit
fitted ?.

Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:12 pm

i had the psx adjustable kit. far to harsh for road use even on the softest of the 28 settings. mine ate 3 sets of rear top mounts in a year using these. teeth rattling on small road bumps.

Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:24 pm

fuzzy wrote:i had the psx adjustable kit. far to harsh for road use even on the softest of the 28 settings. mine ate 3 sets of rear top mounts in a year using these. teeth rattling on small road bumps.

you live in scotland remember they just started building roads lol

Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:27 pm

Spax shocks a jank!

Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:38 pm

Spax - no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

Bloody horrible, rock hard ride plus you know one of the bastards will be leaking within a month.

Go to BMW and buy a set of 325i Touring or Sport Boge gas. In 10 years/100'000 miles check them for leaks. They are the proper deal, built to last and give a decent ride. Yellow Billies are nice but too firm for a Convertible.

60mm is a bit low. 40mm front will still look fine and improve the ride. Eibach pro kits work well.

Wed Dec 16, 2009 9:14 am

Anyone tried the VSX? It's supposed to be a bit softer.

Andyboy wrote:Spax - no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

Bloody horrible, rock hard ride plus you know one of the bastards will be leaking within a month.

Go to BMW and buy a set of 325i Touring or Sport Boge gas. In 10 years/100'000 miles check them for leaks. They are the proper deal, built to last and give a decent ride. Yellow Billies are nice but too firm for a Convertible.

60mm is a bit low. 40mm front will still look fine and improve the ride. Eibach pro kits work well.

Wed Dec 16, 2009 7:29 pm

Not trying to contradict anyone here but on my first E30, the dolphin grey one now owned by FastFreddie, that has PSX shocks and springs. I have no objection to the dampers. What I have objection to is the springs. They were notvery progressive. In fact, I'd say they were very, very linear, which is not something that I value in springs. I am a fan of the multi-point adjustment and the set that I had covered 30k in my use and 35k in the previous owners use and they were fitted before he had the car! No leaks at all.
Its true that the earlier dampers leaked more frequently than their competitors but the later ones are very good.

If I could be fussy, I would go for the Spax dampers and Eibach progressive springs in 40/30 drop.... but thats my ideal world and quite specific.

Fri Dec 18, 2009 3:27 pm

Thanks for everybody,s advice so far.
Will probably go for Andyboys suggestion, though tbh i do love the way my present
60/40 looks and drives. Then again, iv,e never driven it with a 40/40 set up.

Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:55 pm

ive used spax psx on a 325i and thought they were good for the money and to be honest can't really complain.

When used on track they do show there weaknesses but this is mainly down to the spring rates.

Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:13 pm

i have them on one of my e30's and im happy with them andthey havent leaked.

ride is a touch hard though but does not bother me and i still have all my teeth and fillings in place

Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:23 pm

I will have some Mtec dampers you can have gooner, when i get round too fitting my new suspension set up.

No springs though mate

Sun Dec 20, 2009 7:40 pm

SCOTT325SE wrote:
If I could be fussy, I would go for the Spax dampers and Eibach progressive springs in 40/30 drop.... but thats my ideal world and quite specific.

And you'd be buying Bilsteins a year later when the Spax were leaking and fcuked.

Sun Dec 20, 2009 8:57 pm

Andyboy wrote:
SCOTT325SE wrote:
If I could be fussy, I would go for the Spax dampers and Eibach progressive springs in 40/30 drop.... but thats my ideal world and quite specific.
And you'd be buying Bilsteins a year later when the Spax were leaking and fcuked.

Signior E' ... you negate to read half my post - i did 30odd thousand miles on them (more than a years mileage) and the previous owner also did over 30k on them (about 4 years ownership) and they were not leaking and fcuked when the car ceased to be under my ownership.
Thats about 5.5-6 years of daily use and they were still fine.

Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:49 pm

i have spax psx up front and sport at the rear end , the front end is a tad harsh but i can live with it[not a daily driver] and the rear is fine for the way the car is used, the set up has more handling
talent than i do thats for sure

Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:16 pm

SCOTT325SE wrote:
Andyboy wrote:
SCOTT325SE wrote:
If I could be fussy, I would go for the Spax dampers and Eibach progressive springs in 40/30 drop.... but thats my ideal world and quite specific.
And you'd be buying Bilsteins a year later when the Spax were leaking and fcuked.
Signior E' ... you negate to read half my post - i did 30odd thousand miles on them (more than a years mileage) and the previous owner also did over 30k on them (about 4 years ownership) and they were not leaking and fcuked when the car ceased to be under my ownership.
Thats about 5.5-6 years of daily use and they were still fine.

Brilliant. I had a set for an E36. The fronts were seized solid on delivery and had to go back to be rebuilt before they went on the car. One front adjuster stopped working after that and one rear started to leak. Not bad for 1500 miles.
I took them off and sold them before reverting to Boge gas.

Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:15 pm

Hate to be picky, but those negative reviews - how long ago did you buy or try Spax? I can tell you for a fact there've been a lot of revisions in the last 10 years, improvements made to seals and components in general, and at the end of the day there's still a 2 year warranty if there's a genuine problem...

Stiffness is a personal opinion of course, but softest setting shouldn't be far off stock dampers. Andyboy - you'll be glad to hear that they now have an adjuster on you can turn by hand :p People never think about taking care of these things either - got coilovers, put some copper slip on the thread - better safe than sorry! Same with adjusters.

No real comments on the springs, I've not tried them. Springs are always a bit hit and miss IMO.

Saga - I'd have the PSX over the VSX any day. Definitely.

Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:25 pm

E30star wrote:
Saga - I'd have the PSX over the VSX any day. Definitely.

Ta, much appreciated.

I can see the point of adjustability, but is there any difference in the damping that you know of? It would be for a road car and a four-banger at that, so really just as an alternative to going OEM / OEM spec to replace tired shocks/rear springs. The extra £110 means my family will eat for another week or two and the VSX are basically the same price as four turbo gas alone (let alone Bilstein B4s + stock springs) ;)

Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:40 pm

If it's a boggo road car and you're not really aiming to use it on track or anything, then go VSX. There's nothing wrong with them, but if I could afford the PSX and wanted to use and abuse the car at all, PSX it is. Drop me a pm and I'll see what I can offer you.