Boge V Bilstein V Sachs

Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:19 pm

You search across various suppliers from BMW to ECP and a few others and the damper of choice to replace an MTEC shock differs.

AFAIK, for a 318iS there are the following:

MTEC Damper from BMW - stock and good.

Boge Gas Damper - OE for the model as above.

Bilstein B4 - Better than non-MTEC suspension but below the Boge / MTEC.

Bilstein B6 - Stiffer than B4 - an equivalent to Boge / MTEC.

Bilstein B8 - Stiffer still, lower than B6 and the limit of what you would use on roads.

Sachs - also OE? Anyone tried these?

What I want to know is, whats best for me - assuming there are upgrades to be had over the stock shock. Not interested in a harsher ride but don't mind better body control / tauter handling.

Cheers.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:56 pm

I have B4's and the Eibach pro springs and it makes a lovely combination. Not loose and sloppy like a boat but not too harsh either.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:59 pm

On an iS?

Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:23 pm

Nah just a 316.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:24 pm

They'll work just as well on an iS as they will on a 316i. I wouldn't want to go stiffer than B4 on UK roads.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 7:29 pm

I had bilstein b4s with eibach on my 318is and it was a fantastic drive, and sat/looked super

Mon Feb 17, 2014 8:34 pm

Interesting.

Lots of zoners upgrade to the B6 and Bilstein bill it as their sporty road damper without loss of comfort.

But maybe only worth it if you get to have a regular thrash or hit the track now and again - which I don't get time to much these days.

Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:13 pm

Isn't that for 6 pot cars tho with a bigger heavier but less powerful engine

Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:02 pm

Springs have more of a say in dealing with 6-Pot weight.

Dampers are the same I think for both the 6-pot and the Motorsport-derived hand built tricked out 4-pot in the iS.

Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:18 pm

CompareTheShockAbsorberMarketConfused.com

Cheapest prices on each model (Rears are usually 25% less than fronts):

Genuine BMW MTEC (Boge) from dealer - £125 EACH

Boge - £65 EACH

Bilstein B4 - £101 EACH

Bilstein B6 - £146 EACH

Sachs - £55 EACH

Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:41 pm

You can get the entire set of B4's for £180.

Should be there on the Performance3000 ebay shop. I cba to look for you though because it's a bit of a mess and there are too many variables.

Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:35 pm

Yes you're right - I just wanted to compare single damper prices.

Anyone care to share B6 feedback / reviews I'd be much obliged.

Tue Feb 18, 2014 11:47 pm

The Boge/Sachs Super Touring is a great damper. Same as a 325i, stiff enough to work with some Eibach springs, not silly stiff or silly expensive and they last for yonks. Bilstein B4's are just their cheapo range and B6's are for bragging rights unless you want the absolute ultimate and will pay for it. For 140 bhp and regular use on shite roads, Boge Supertourings are just fine.

Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:51 am

I thought B8s and up were the bragging damper.

B6 aren't that fancy.

And BHP doesn't have much to do with benefiting from better shocks.

Your power figure is incorrect also.

Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:12 pm

Suit yourself.

Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:21 pm

I also like the boge turbos

Wed Feb 19, 2014 8:39 pm

koni adjustables

or custom valved bilstein to suit the spring. from what i am told the off the shelf billy's are valved for a much stiffer spring than OEM and slightly uprated like eibachs etc and are far from optimal as a result

Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:33 pm

That's interesting.

Starts to get pretty complicated tho.

Guess it's down to B4s or stock MTEC / Boges again.

Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:35 pm

from the horse mouth -

http://web1.carparts-cat.com/default.as ... 004&12=130

Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:04 pm

I ran B8's with spax springs which are soft, it wasnt a good combination, lots of movement, now I feel like im at the other end of the scale with B8's and H&R springs which are stiff, dont get me wrong they work great on nice roads...

Compensating with old skool tyres is the way

Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:10 pm

The other key to the equation is what size rim you are running

Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:23 pm

rich318i wrote:The other key to the equation is what size rim you are running

my car rides better on 16" than 15" because the sidewalls are softer on my tyres with 16"..... so unless you ride on crazy big rims i wouldnt be too concerned

Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:46 pm

I'd skip the whole lot of them and go with coilovers

I'm fairly picky though and I drive my E30 quite hard.

I had Bilstein B8s and Eibach springs on my iS and thought it was pretty good but still room for improvement. Was too rolly for my liking until I fitted a set of Eibach ARBs and the shocks were still abit harsh on bumpy roads according to passengers. Personally, I didn't notice it.
Fitted coilovers to my E30s then however and the difference in both handling and even comfort when set on the softer settings was like night and day.

Tyre and wheel sizes were varied between 17s with random 205 or 215/40s and then on my own cars, 15" BBSes and 15" Hartges with 205/50s and 16" BBS LMs with 205/45s and 225/45s

If not going coilovers though and just want a good shock and spring kit, I'd go for the B12 kit.
Not a fan of Konis and I tried the H&R cup kit too and I thought it was too soft before I went with the B8s and Eibachs.

I quite like how B6 and B8s work with Mtec springs too.

Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:26 pm

DanThe wrote:I ran B8's with spax springs which are soft, it wasnt a good combination, lots of movement, now I feel like im at the other end of the scale with B8's and H&R springs which are stiff, dont get me wrong they work great on nice roads...
Compensating with old skool tyres is the way

Do you think the H & R springs are much stiffer than Eibachs? I have eibachs and think they're a little on the soft side.

Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:23 am

Tom7 wrote:
Do you think the H & R springs are much stiffer than Eibachs? I have eibachs and think they're a little on the soft side.

What shocks do you have?

Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:34 am

I thought the eibachs were quite soft too.

Sat Feb 22, 2014 4:46 pm

Leaning towards B6 with the stock springs at back but wouldn't mind a tad lower spring up front to get rid of that dreaded E30 gaping arch gap. I'm talking 15mm max tho - and nothing stiffer.

On 8J/7J Alpinas @ 16".

Sat Feb 22, 2014 5:42 pm

I recently bought a set of B6's, probably will go for Eibach springs when I put them on my touring.

There's a set brand new on Ebay currently.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/151235504985?nav=SEARCH

Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:50 pm

G-Bear wrote:
Tom7 wrote:
Do you think the H & R springs are much stiffer than Eibachs? I have eibachs and think they're a little on the soft side.
What shocks do you have?

I have Gaz adjustables, I will probably fit Bilstein or similar in the near future.

Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:09 pm

Tom7 wrote:
DanThe wrote:I ran B8's with spax springs which are soft, it wasnt a good combination, lots of movement, now I feel like im at the other end of the scale with B8's and H&R springs which are stiff, dont get me wrong they work great on nice roads...
Compensating with old skool tyres is the way
Do you think the H & R springs are much stiffer than Eibachs? I have eibachs and think they're a little on the soft side.

they will be one step stiffer. i have eibach and fins them too soft and i probably would try h&r if i was looking for an off the shelf spring

Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:26 pm

I think I'm going to do that and lose the gaz dampers, to control the ride as I want to they ride very poorly at low speeds.

Tue Feb 25, 2014 10:34 am

I thought the eibachs were abit too soft too. Handled nicely though as had the B8s and Eibach arbs but without the arbs, it was abit rolly for my liking.

Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:22 pm

The arbs on these boats are far too soft, even the mtech cars are still too soft for our tastes in the uk.

Best thing to do would be upgrade the roll bars and keep softer springs and dampers on if you wan't a decent ride and better body control.

Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:46 pm

HairyScreech wrote:
Best thing to do would be upgrade the roll bars and keep softer springs and dampers on if you wan't a decent ride and better body control.

This sounds like a good compromise for UK roads.

Tue Feb 25, 2014 5:03 pm

Its pretty much the direction auto manufacturers have gone over the last 20 years, look at the sizes of roll bar on the e30 - e36 compact - z3 for example.
Similar chassis and similar weights, yet bar sizes have gone from ~13mm rear ~24mm front to something like ~15.5mm rear and ~26mm front.

Doesn't sound a lot but as spring rate is related to cross sectional area rather than diameter its really an increase of 42% rear and 17.5% front a large difference in anti roll without having rock hard dampers.