So my friend who owns a G35X sedan (AWD) version has the same dilemma as us e9x'ers with AWD except he's in a much worse situation. He loves his car lowered, but there are NO suspension options for his car. No shocks/struts nor ANY coilovers for his car.
So he posted up a link to a place in Ohio (recommended by Koni USA) for rebuilding shocks/custom work. They do work on race cars as well so they know what they are doing.
Basically, they will take any blown (or not) shock housing you provide them and build you a custom shock. So for example, you want Koni Yellows.
You send them your OEM BMW XI shock, they rebuild it with koni components internally but the housing still remains your OEM housing. So he bought a set of blown used shocks from a G35x sedan, sent them to
TRUchoice KONI racing in Ohio
http://www.truechoicekoniracingservices.com/menu.html
After about a week they sent him back a set of rebuilt shocks w/ koni internals etc, they are now even adjustable!!!!
Here are some pics
Keep in mind the housing is OEM, even though the stickers say "Koni".
The only negative is the price, he stated they charged $525 PER SHOCK!!!
I am really thinking about going this route!!! The only thing I need to verify is that the rear suspension on the XI is the same as the front (and I am almost 95% certain it is!!)
A while back Spool and I installed my springs and compared his 335i shocks/struts to mine and the rears looked identical, however the front struts from teh 335i would NOT fit in behind the hub in the housing. The 335i was thicker and also longer and would fall into where the cv joint met the wheels hub.
I am hoping to either buy an extra set of struts shocks (220 I believe from tischer new
) or to buy a used set on the boards...
The only down side is paying 440 for 2 new struts than another 1050 for them to rebuild your OEM shocks....
Total comes to 1490. Cheaper than KWv3's but more than H&R Coilovers. Only good thing is they are adjustable...
Now only need to worry about the rear...