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One possibility (maybe remote in your case) with the bilstein sports is, due to the design in front (inverted monotube inside a McPherson strut housing), air can get trapped inside the lower part of the housing. This gives you 2 things, a little extra ride height and a somewhat softer effective spring rate. Until the air bleeds out over a few days or weeks of driving, then you are sitting on whatever your springs and bushings were before.
If you look at the "shaft" of the bilstein you will notice it is extremely thick, that is because even though it does slide up and down inside the housing, it is actually the shock body itself in there, the fluid, gas etc is inside that shaft. A smaller diameter ordinary shaft is bolted to the inside bottom part of the housing. The piston is attached to this one and it is the main body that slides up and down inside the housing around the piston. This is why you CANNOT add bump stops to front bilsteins, they have them inside already (at the bottom of the little shaft) and the exterior shaft is too thick.
So air gets trapped under there, this is one reason bilstein instructs you to fully compress new shocks before installing. It is a hassle though, as when new each time you jack up your car with front at full droop it sucks some air back in and needs to settle a bit afterwards. Goes a way as the seals break in.
Anyway the mystery here is not why they are harsh, I would expect Megan race + bilsteins to be harsh. The mystery is why they were ever soft, and the above is the only thing I can think of.
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