[EmanAkbarpour]

Hey everyone! Just put on some Enkei Raijin 18's on my e92 328i. Now just wanna fix that fitment.

I don't have a ton of money to spend on something like KW's, but I've heard of people replacing their stock shocks and struts with Bilstein ones and putting springs on them.

I don't think my car has sport suspension on it stock. But I am thinking about going with Bilstein B4's with Eibach pro springs as it is a daily driver. I have seen people say there is a sport and a standard version of the B4's, but I don't see any different products listed on any website. What is the difference between the two? And how much will my car be dropped once it's settled?

[Volasko]

Eibachs and koni yellows have served me well for many years, on the street and track. I even found them to be an improvement on ride compared to my old stock suspension.

[PcarFan]

There's no B4 sport struts, the B6'S are the sport version of the B8's without lowering the car, meaning that you can use your OEM springs with the B6'S.

The Eibach pro springs are lowering springs and they should be paired with B8's.

[mattanderson]

All US E92's *should* have the Sport suspension stock.

Oddly enough, there was a couple month window (March-April 2007) where the factory seemingly made a mistake, and US-bound E92's were assembled with standard suspension (mine is one of them).

Non-sport suspension looks REALLY high on the coupes (ie., like the AWD models).

[TGTIW]

The hardest part about buying Bilstein struts is the amount of incorrect information there is floating around, even from Bilstein.
B4s are available in both standard and sport varieties.

B4 OE Replacement - Suspension Strut Assembly
Part Number:22-135032
Product Type:Suspension Strut Assembly
Position: Front Left

Notes:
-Sport Suspension

B4 OE Replacement - Suspension Strut Assembly
Part Number:22-136572
Product Type:Suspension Strut Assembly
Position: Front Left

Notes:
-Standard Suspension

[michaelalex17]

Honestly don’t do it. There really isn’t a cheap solution to suspension. I’ve had Koni with Eibach and I’ve had Bilstein B8’s with H&R springs on my e90 and they just aren’t nearly as good as a set of KW coilovers.

[steifan]

I'd go for B6 or B8s with new springs, but they cost almost twice that of "standard" shock absorbers.

Koni sells "Strt" shock absorbers that is priced around the standard ones from Sachs & Bilstein etc but with a sportier setting (perhaps?) and orange paint (), mixed reviews though.

I run B8s on my E46 and on the rear on the E90 so far and I'm happy (also 4x on my old Volvo). The B8's are a little harsh on low speeds but really nice when picking up some speed.

[steifan]

Originally Posted by PcarFan

There's no B4 sport struts, the B6'S are the sport version of the B8's without lowering the car, meaning that you can use your OEM springs with the B6'S.

The Eibach pro springs are lowering springs and they should be paired with B8's.

There are B4 "sport" struts, as they are made for BMW "standard" sport chassis, not to be confused by aftermarket sport shock absorbers like B6, B8 etc.

[PcarFan]

Originally Posted by steifan

There are B4 "sport" struts, as they are made for BMW "standard" sport chassis, not to be confused by aftermarket sport shock absorbers like B6, B8 etc.

Can you post a link for the B4 Sport struts. I`ve never heard of B4 Sport struts before. I have changed a lot of suspensions in 30+ years and I never seen B4 Sport struts....None of the the struts that TGTIW posted are B4 sport struts.

[TGTIW]

22-135032 are for the e90 with Sport Suspension
https://www.bimmerworld.com/Suspensi...22-135032.html

22-136572 are for the e90 with Standard Suspension
https://www.bimmerworld.com/Bilstein...22-136572.html

[PcarFan]

I`ve never bought anything from bimmerworld, I don`t know how accurate their info is.
Here's 2 websites that I shop at, and there`s no mention of any of those struts being Sport struts.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...t=7556&jsn=456
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...t=7556&jsn=455
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...335i-22-136572
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...335d-22-135032

[TGTIW]

Your FCPEuro links specify either standard or sports suspension in the Fitment tab.

[PcarFan]

Originally Posted by TGTIW

Your FCPEuro links specify either standard or sports suspension in the Fitment tab.

I guess I learned something new, thanks
I've never seen B4 sport struts before.

[steifan]

Might that Sachs even has struts and shocks for m sport suspension (for early cars that had separate from sport struts & shocks with m sport) which might be a bit of an upgrade over Bilstein B4 Sport. Maybe.

[aphael]

From my experience, don't do it. The drop is very minimal compared to the stock springs. They don't increase the spring rate and as a result you will be riding on bumpstops all the time. I was faster with the stock sport springs than with the eibachs.

The ride quality definitely got worse, and this was with new B4 Sport shocks. I sold them immediately and bought coilovers. Check out solowerks s1. They are owned by KW/ST and are pretty cheap last time I heard about them.

Bilstein B6/b8 or koni yellows are also a great value as well. Lots of options, but suspension generally isn't something I would cheap out on.

[AWD Addict]

The cost difference between Bilsteins and Eibachs, versus Kw v1s isn't a lot.


Now that I've run both for a while, I'd say it's 100% worth going coilovers from the beginning. You can find my threads on both setups (albeit on an xdrive) in the XI forum.

Good luck with the decision and congratulations on the new wheels!

[bmw_solid]

B4 are OE to BMW and SACHS are OEM to BMW.

B4 Has better reviews generally speaking compared to SACHS, but I think personally its a stereo type reaction. Unless someone bought both struts and compared them, fair enough, but if anything the SACHS should be the best as they are literally what BMW used on the E90 factory car.

Yes, B4 for standard suspension and B4 Sport for Sports suspension (which is M-Sport). What the confusion here is, is that Bilstein say the B4 Sports is for BMW Sports suspension (which is M-Sport) and the B8 is for M-Technology suspension, which is also M-Sport. I thinks its just their language of saying, yeah, the B4 will give your factory M-Sport feel and B8 will give you more than that!


I just gone and ordered, 19-135052 E90 LCI rear B4 Sport shocks and I spoke to Bilstein UK and they confirmed the B4 Sport is for M-Sport and that their catalogue is in pending review of updating part numbers.

[steifan]

Originally Posted by bmw_solid

B4 are OE to BMW and SACHS are OEM to BMW.

I'd say Sachs are OE to BMW and Bilstein might be an OEM in general.

" Original Equipment (OE) Parts: These are the same parts originally supplied to dealerships, except with the dealer logos removed. This is done by manufacturers so the parts can be sold outside the dealer network due to licensing agreements.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Parts: These are produced by a manufacturer that supplies at least one OE part to a vehicle manufacturer. OEM parts may not have been original to the car, but are held to higher-quality standards and stringent quality control.

Genuine Parts: These parts come branded by the vehicle manufacturer and at a premium cost, as they're sold through dealerships with higher overhead expenses. These are the same parts you would find at your local dealership."

https://www.fcpeuro.com/page/oe-academy

[steifan]

Originally Posted by bmw_solid

I just gone and ordered, 19-135052 E90 LCI rear B4 Sport shocks and I spoke to Bilstein UK and they confirmed the B4 Sport is for M-Sport and that their catalogue is in pending review of updating part numbers.

Sachs still sells the specific M-sport shocks that aren't used on more generic LCI-cars after 03/2007 where there were only standard or sport available (excluding poor roads that might be something else).


M-sport: 33528036026 (Sachs "311 411" https://aftermarket.zf.com/en/afterm...rticle/311+411)


Sport: 33526771729 (Sachs "310 411" https://aftermarket.zf.com/en/afterm...rticle/311+410)

And in generic catalogs they aren't even listed as replaceable to each other. The Bilstein 19-135052 refers to the sport shocks (33526771729) though. Which is all right if the cars is made after 03/2007 but otherwise "wrong"
- in theory.

[streetpro]

I already described it here somewhere - I put B8 and Eibach (25mm lowering) on e39 (530iA 2002) and it was tragic. The car jumped on everything except perfectly smooth roads. Basically, it was only fun to drive rally style on county roads at around 90-110 km/h. After about a year and absolutely minimal mileage, I think the left front shock started knocking, and after half a year the other one went too (I never hit any big potholes or anything like that).
When I replaced them with Sachs Advantage, they were completely rusted, full of mud (obviously the seal came off and water got in). The rears were fine (different design, but same bad characteristic to the progressive Eibachs).
If I'd give the B8 100% for sport riding, the Sachsum maybe 90%, but for comfort the Sachs would have 100% and the B8 maybe 30%.
And someone on a forum in Germany had the exact same quality problem, but he reclaimed them, got new ones and repeated the problem.
Perhaps on this platform they work fine but for me it is a no go.
Koni Sport and Eibach work perfect (smooth, progressive), H&R and B8 shloud be fine, although pretty stiff.