[Chowbow]

I just installed my new shock / spring combo last night, and just thought I'd post a quick review since I have not seen anybody post about this combination. Some primer about the parts I chose...

I did not want to lower the car a lot. I thought the stock sports suspension sat a little high, but it wasn't too bad. I went with the Eibach kit because it gave the least lowering (from people's experiences here), and it's a softer spring that H&Rs. I want to maintain ground clearance and suspension geometry, while giving just a slightly lowered look that's NOT slammed.

I picked up Bilstein HD shocks because I prefer the feel of monotube gas shocks compared to the Koni yellows. The Koni yellows are also quite stiff, which further turned me away from them. I wanted the shocks to have plenty of strong rebound, and mated well with the Eibach springs. The Bilstein HDs were designed to work with the stock springs. However, throughout Bilstein's history, their HD and Sport shocks often have the same valving. The HD just has a longer shaft (NOT a longer body, this is a common misconception) than the Sports. The reason for the longer shaft is because if you use REALLY short springs, at full extension with the HDs, Bilstein does not want to have the spring come off the spring seats. In terms of compression, both versions of the shocks compress the same. Meaning if both shocks were fully compressed, they would have the same external height from top to bottom. The Sport version does not compress more since the shock bodies are the same.

Originally I was going to get the Bilsteins custom valved to match the Eibach springs. When I talked to Bilstein at first they said that they had valving to go with the Eibach E90 springs, but it turns out that was incorrect. They told me to try it with the current valving since the Eibach springs are somewhat soft and they believe the shock will be more than able to handle the spring rates. They informed me that if I was unhappy with them, I could send them the shocks and springs and they will custom valve it for to match exactly with the springs.

Now the install... I decided to DIY it. I called around and a lot of places in the Bay Area just didn't have the scheduling that would suit mine (not their fault), so I figured I'd just break down and do it after work yesterday. It was quite a pain honestly, since I was doing it all by myself. I would highly recommend 2 people for the job. The extra set of hands would be very helpful at times. Power tools would be really helpful too, and an impact gun is a must to get the top nut on the Bilsteins. I only had an electric impact gun but that worked for me. Some things to note apart from some of the DIYs already posted... When you tighten the mounts for the shocks, make sure that you jack up the suspension arms so that the shocks and springs are compressed as if the car was sitting on the ground so the shocks are not hanging at full extension while you tighten the mounts.

I didn't get done with the install til about 11pm, and just took the car out for a quick test drive to make sure things were tight and took a couple on-ramps. Then this morning I got some time to test out day-to-day commute comfort.

In a word, I would describe this setup as "fast," meaning bump and rebound occur very quickly and while the car may feel bumpy over rough roads, it is very well controlled. Right off the bat, the suspension is a little stiffer and there is a lot more rebound in this setup than the stock sports suspension. Hitting small bumps and ruts on the road are more pronounced due to the stiffer setup. The initial impact is definitely stronger but the bumps are absorbed well and does not upset the car. Larger dips are very well controlled and mid corner undulations are also well controlled. With the stock suspension, I was always weary of the mid corner undulations since the shocks didn't seem to keep up with being compressed, and then hit another level of compression. This was particularly noticeable on the rear, the fronts were quite well controlled on the stock setup, IMO.

Through sweeping corners the car cornered with less body lean than stock. There's still some body lean which is not bothersome to me and the car sticks very well. I have yet to get an alignment though, and it's been raining all morning so I didn't get to really stretch it's legs. I will take the "long" commute home (through Calaveras Road, for those in the Bay Area who know it) and really test out the suspension then. I think the setup will really shine through left / right transitions with the increased stiffness and fast / high rebounding shocks.

I am very happy with this setup, and I would recommend it to those who don't mind a slightly stiffer ride. Most of the stiff feeling comes from the shocks IMO, but it is definitely not punishing. If I were to rate the stock sports suspension on a scale of 1-10 in stiff / harsh ride quality, I would say it's about a 5 (1 being a Lexus LS460 or something, and 10 being darn near race car stiff), and the Bilstein / Eibach setup a 7. It's stiffer and well worth the slightly less comfortable ride for the increased handling dynamics.

At this time I do not plan to remove the shocks and send to Bilstein to revalve. I think I could use a little more rebound on the fronts, but the rears feel great. If they get worn out and I send them back to Bilstein to get freshened up I might change the valving then, but for now I'm happy and impressed with this combination. It's still a very streetable combination, it doesn't lower the car too much, and handling is much improved over stock.

I'm not sure why many of the vendors here don't carry the Bilstein shocks, mostly just Konis or the PSS9s, but after trying them out, I would highly recommend this setup to other members.

[Fraggy]

I almost got HDs a while ago before I went with FSD on my last car. Im still debating what to do on this car, but Im leaning toward pss9s, just for the damping adjustability.

[griffmac]

Thanks for the great write-up

[stressdoc]

Very helpful. Nice job. Photos of DIYs are always useful.

[Chowbow]

Yeah, unfortunately I was working alone and wanted to get it done quickly so I did not take photos. Additionally, there's a pretty good DIY on springs in the DIY section. I read through that and it was helpful for the install.

I also bought the H&R rear sway bar at the same time but did not install that yet. I'm wondering if I should install it, as the car feels relatively neutral right now... But I won't really know until I get to the autocross or the track. Nice sunny day today to run through some canyons though...

[Neema]

what do you guys think about with a Bilstien HD and H&R Sport setup? Im debating between waiting for the 335 edition Koni yellows or Bilstien HD's for my ZSP E92 335 lowered on H&R sports.

[Chowbow]

Try it and let us know... I don't believe anybody has gone with that setup so be the first.

[acupunch]

nice write up. thanks for sharing. may I ask why not get bilstein PSS9 instead but decided on just shock n spring combo? since I read you gonna track your car too?

[Chowbow]

I just don't see the need for a coilover setup. It's a street car that gets tracked once in a while... I would not go through the trouble of corner balancing it (and from other threads, it looks like it's not that necessary), and the money I saved going with this combo gets me to another 3-4 track days. I don't think coilovers are always better, only for certain situations and for certain owners... and there are very very few people who use them to their full potential.

[acupunch]

I sort of agreed with what you said "...there are very very few people who use them to their full potential". if you don't mind may I continue to ask, how much saving you gain compares to PSS9? sorry me ain't locals, didn't know how to track a car in US. And thanks for your point of views on suspension set up.

[Chowbow]

A typical track day here in the US is $200USD. Sometimes it's cheaper at ~$150, sometimes more expensive at ~$250. We'll just call it $200.

Most vendors are selling the PSS9 at ~$1500USD. I bought the shocks and springs for $810USD, so about $700 cheaper than PSS9s. That will give me 3 track days instead, plus $100 for fuel.

[acupunch]

Oh I see, that's one hell of saving... Its seem similar to our tracking cost for here but in our currency, SINGAPORE Dollar. I suppose you like to explore options and you got what you want at the minimum cost. That very good indeed.

Thanks again on your replies.

[Chowbow]

Cool, hope that helps. I used to live in Singapore when I was a lot younger... in an apartment complex called Yong An Park. That's all I remember, don't know the address. It was very nice though and I had fun there as a kid.

I didn't even know there were tracks in Singapore... cool that there are!

[Chowbow]

A little bit more info in case people search and find the thread.

Height from center of wheel to fender:

FL: 13 1/2"
FR: 13 3/8"
RL: 13 5/8"
RR: 13 5/8"

Barely had any fuel in the car, a full tank may lower it another 1/8" or 1/4". Stock, the car sat at 14" front and 13 3/4" rear. So definitely lowered the front more, which IMO is not optimal in most circumstances.

However... the car handles very neutral. To the point where I can adjust tire pressures and tune the car to understeer or oversteer. I bought the rear sway bar at the same time but decided against installing it after taking the car to the autocross and really pushed the car.

I am going to change my opinion on the stiffness and say that it is stiffer than what I my original impression of the setup was. See first post.

[Rugs]

Great write up...what's your impression of your setup after a month now?
Are these Eibach Pro-Kit or Sport-Line Springs?
I had the Pro-Kit spring on my G35 that I track occasionally and loved them.

[Chowbow]

It's been over 2 months since I installed them... Put about 6k miles on them. So far still like it, no issues and handles nicely. This is the pro-kit.

[Corsis]

Cant go wrong with Bilstein/Eibach setup. I will be installing Bilstein sports on my E36 M3 shortly which currently has Eibach pro springs.

[Hegemony]

Nice write up!

[Rugs]

Chowbow...Could you post a couple of profile pics showing how much it's lowered & the front & rear fender gap of your setup? Thanks

[Supramano]

I had a TCKLine racing suspension modifeied from the e90 kit to fit my xi. The kit came with koni yellows...and they are def. too stiff for me..im having the shop now reverse the modifcations and put on the kwv3. I felt like i runined the feeling of the car. Racing suspensions i think are way too rough for this car. hopefuly ill be happy with the v3s everyone else sounds like they are. lata

[Chowbow]

Rugs,

Not the best shot, but might give you an idea... I had a few other pics before but not sure where they went online.

[BMW1983]

After months of trying to decide what I was going to do with my suspension I decided to try this route with the Bilstein HD's (B6 Sports....I think) and the Eibach ProKit.

First, thanks to ChowBow for the very helpful information and review .... very informative.

I made a mistake when I bought my car without the sports package. Eventually, I bought sport shocks, struts and springs from another member of this forum as I sought a drop and tighter response. I felt I got both of these, but continued to feel a good amount of .....chatter...for lack of another description. At times, I simply felt things were a bit harsh.

Made the change to PS2's from the RFT's and this helped a good amount - - but still didn't like the chatter like feeling with the drive.

After exploring every option and reading all I could find over these options I went with the above set up....

In one word I can describe my response....

EXCELLENT!

NO MORE CHATTER!! Simply a much smoother ride overall. Yes, bumps seem to have a sharper initial phase but the response from the shock/strut is so quick you hardly have any time to notice it. This combined with the progressive spring from Eibach makes for a comfortable ride.

The drop with the Eibach Pro Kit is perfect in my opinion - - I wouldn't like it any lower.

Haven't tracked the car yet....but will do so occasionally in the near future.

I think that if you desire a moderate drop from non ZSP or a modest drop from ZSP with very good comfort and fabulous control without the need to play with rebound settings and height adjustment then this is a set-up which will likely meet your needs. I feel I am driving a different class of car now.

Hope this information helps any who might be interested in this set up.