bilsteins, yes or no?

[alan1272]

i'm building a 320i for some road rallies and possibly a few trackdays.

i've come to the point where i need some suspension but i don't want shell out the GNP of a small country for it. everybody at my local motorclub swears by bilsteins for road rallies and tweeks list a spring and damper set for an E30 at £511 +vat. thats about all i want to spend.

so before i shell out my hard earned, are there any other sets of the same quality i should consider? anyone else run bilsteins, if so what are they like?

any help is greatly appreciated.

[stevetigger]

How much!

[DRIFTBOY]

Yeah! You can get a set of Bilstein springs and shocks for less than £250!
I'm thinking about getting their streetline kit.

[Kos]

Yeah! You can get a set of Bilstein springs and shocks for less than £250!
I'm thinking about getting their streetline kit.

the streetline kits are OE quality, the ones he's been price up are probable the inverted ones which are the beast money can buy !!

i have used koni's, spax, billies, avo's and the billes are the best, konis are a close second, the rest aint worth it really, heard interesting stories about the other 2 and they deffo aint up to competition use

[alan1272]

Yeah! You can get a set of Bilstein springs and shocks for less than £250!
I'm thinking about getting their streetline kit.

£250?where from?
it's the B12 kit i'm after as i don't really want to lower the car much because i need the ground clearance for all those whites.

the b12 kit includes 4x b8 dampers and 4 springs, if anyone knows where i could get this kit cheaper i would be very gratefull

[massive]

Ive got the Bilstein Sport pack and they are great!

[Cabrio]

Hi

I can supply Bilstein suspension direct

Let me know what you want B6, B8 or the B12 kit which includes H&R Springs

We tend to supply the B8 as they are the best option and then supply Eibach springs for saloon, coupe or cab

Can offer the Zone a discount that will beat what you have been quoted let me know car spec and what you want or if you want to keep your existing springs

Cheers

[alan1272]

it's a '86 2 door 320i.

what would your price be for the B8's + eibach springs(are they sportline or pro-kit ones?)?

[Cabrio]

Hi...send me your mobile number and I will contact re a good deal...agreed best option are the B8 and Eibach springs you can have either Sport or Pro choice is yours...let me know asap and will do discount as have in stock and can meet up or deliver...where are you located!

[alan1272]

pm sent.

[Cabrio]

Hi

Left a message on your phone and tried to pm but still waiting to be sent for some reason in outbox

[dazleeds]

Billies are spot on mate

[Dan318-is]

Inverted bilsteins are the best hting that has ever happened to me. fuckin best bit of kit you can buy for suspension bar none. its the shock used on most coilover kits. Worth every penny mate

[JimmyC]

Have you thought about GAZ coilovers?

Think they retail around £900, used on a number of PBMW cars with fantastic feedback

[alan1272]

coilovers would be nice but £900 is way above what i can budget to .

[M3Compact]

I use Bilstein 'coilovers' and the quality is excellent imo. The inverted rears are thicker/stronger than oem and the front strut tubes are superb. (Gp 4 escort thickness! )

The only problem you may have will be the spring ratings/heights. Most kits are intended for street use giving a lowered ride height, and they'll be too hard/low for the whites.

I use the E46 M3 vert rear damper mounts that keep popping, but they're cheap/easy to replace, can't let go completely, and I don't like the idea of a solid mount passing all the shock in to the shell.

[Cabrio]

The only problem you may have will be the spring ratings/heights. Most kits are intended for street use giving a lowered ride height, and they'll be too hard/low for the whites

Hence the reason for using a B8 as is a shorter strut

Dont need to spend mega money to get good handling.

[M3Compact]

The only problem you may have will be the spring ratings/heights. Most kits are intended for street use giving a lowered ride height, and they'll be too hard/low for the whites.

Hence the reason for using a B8 as is a shorter strut

Dont need to spend mega money to get good handling.

Sorry mate, don't know what a B8 is, how does it being shorter help raise the ride height?

[Cabrio]

Simon

Sorry mate misread...but can get competition bilsteins with gravel settings if that is what you were interested in they do standatd E30 and M3 grp N and A ratings...good luck...are you doing the RWD challenge as we can supply many parts to help

[Taffy]

Leda are also worthy of consideration, being a competition specific shock they are very very good, all the Kumho E30's use them

[reggiegasket]

Did you put a B12 kit on then? How is it for road rallies?

G

[lowpro]

I've recently bought an E30 325i for trackdays which had Bilsteins and sports springs fitted. I'm new to BMW's so still trying to sort the car - when I checked the part numbers on the dampers and springs I found the following links.

http://www.edworthys.co.uk/product~prodID~874923.htm
http://katalog.bilstein.de/

We did a test day recently and found this setup to be far from perfect for a trackday car.

See for yourself, a bit of video here, it can be played in full screen mode - http://www.trackaction-online.co.uk/pho ... 03/cat/516

[Andy335Touring]

Looks like you need some stiffer springs and/or some uprated ARB's, but like said before, track and road suspension are two differant beasts other wise you end up with a comprimise either way.

[fuzzy]

if it hard you want id recommend the spax adjustable kit at around Ԛ£350+vat.i binned my spax kit because it was to hard for road use even on the softest settings and kept breaking rear top mounts.i went back to bilsteins for my fast road use

[Cabrio]

What dampers were they B6 or B8...and more importantly what springs...the B12 kit uses cheaper H&R springs...best get Eibach Pro springs...discounts from some suppliers for carclub members

[Taffy]

I'd say you've got alot of transfer due to the spring rates being too soft, you need competition springs on track that are matched to the shocks.

[lowpro]

I'd say you've got alot of transfer due to the spring rates being too soft, you need competition springs on track that are matched to the shocks.

Looking at the part numbers supplied in my last post would you agree that the car is fitted with a road going sports pack, spring and damper setup.

"""just realised the bilstein link just you the home page - this is the part number from the site - P36-0136 Shock Absorber BILSTEIN - B6 SPORT"""

The car will be use on track and for traveling to work as a 2nd car so comfort is not a big issue.

I'm guessing from your posts that your a racer yourself Taffy, so if you don't mind me picking your brains, what would you recommend as far as setting the suspension up, springs, dampers, ARB, poly bushes, ride height etc.

[SCOTT325SE]

if you are doing rallies with the car, you need a reasonable ground clearance, right? so a 40mm drop uprated kit from one of the mainstream manufacturers isnt gonna be much use to you i bet.

nobody has mentioned it yet, but what about the 325iX suspension kits? the iX was higher than a standard e30, but if you buy an uprated iX kit, that will give you the uprated handling, but more ground clearance. It will be ABOUT the same height as a standard e30 but will be uprated and all matched springs/dampers.


just a thought for you.

[Cabrio]

Best combined kit is set of Bilstein B8 struts and Eibach pro springs for your use...ok for track and normal road use...available direct from some specialists near you..cheers

[bolide]

A cheap alternative on the front is to take off the front legs, cut off the spring perches, weld threaded tube to the legs and and convert to 2.25" springs. Springs are about Ԛ£15 each and you can buy any length and any rate you like. You can buy the coilover kits complete with spring mounts and locking rings for about Ԛ£40 / set. You'll need some top mounts and a bump stop from someone like Superflex. This leaves you free to use "standard" dampers from any manufacturer

I did this on my 2002 and it uses upside-down Bilsteins. The rear end has standard springs with Bilsteins

Nick Froome