[mcgipe]

I have been studying shocks/springs/coilover sets for about a week now and I now i'm looking at two sets and wanted suggestions from the group. The two sets are the Ohlins and Bilstein B16 Ride Control.
The Bilstein kit lowers the car about 1 inch minimum(from a stock suspension I assume) but if i'm already on a worn out sports suspension, then shouldn't the car already be about 1 inch lower than a stock suspension? Thank you very much.
Here are the links;
https://www.ohlinsusa.com/…/A…/bmw-3...05-2012-e90e92

https://www.bilstein.com/us/en/product-search-detail/…

[bluewater328]

IIRC, Sport is already a little lower than the default "standard" ride height spring. But reality is that those are fully adjustable, so you'll probably be able to pick your ride height at the end of the day. On my former cars, I would turn the collars so the suspension was as nearly high as possible, then let it break in and then adjust the ride height with the collar adjustments. And don't they come with their own coils on that model? [EDIT: Nope. Looks like you reuse stock.]

Not sure if this plays into your decisions, but people were saying that Bilsteins were a hard commodity to obtain lately -- how that relates to that particular model you're looking at, i dunno.

[tlow98]

Also, TC Kline makes some of the best dual purpose stuff around. Same ballpark that you’re looking at.

[agustincuenca]

the only thing that could lower the car due to wear is the top hat in the front but a full inch seems excessive.....maybe a third of an inch.
I would go with the Ohlins IMHO are the best you can get out there.

[bluewater328]

Ouch, just saw the Olins price. I hope you drive vigorously often.

[rick100]

the links are dead right now

having said that , I would highly advise to go with something that is at least height adjustable

I just got my ST installed last month , and it has been a headache trying to get the right height with the look that I wanted

At first it was low , 15 mm spacers in the back and 12 mm in the front , it looked really good , it actually drove fine , but it was rubbing bad.

Then I decided to raise it by a bit , it was good , no more rubbing that is until I had 4 people in the car , the rubbing was also bad on some bumps

Then it was removing all the spacers and running my ET35 arc 8s, the car did not rub even with 4 people in the car, however the ride was harsh when I was with people in the car and it also did not look as aggressive as I would like it to be .

So I finally came back to the shop , installed 12 mms in the front and 12 mms in the back instead of the 15mms I originally had there. Raised the car all around by about 1/4 inch . They also inspected the wheel well and found marks of where the car was rubbing , so they roll the fenders where it was rubbing and left the rest of the fender un-roll ( I m trying to avoid rolling fenders) . That gave me still a good drop , no rubbing and an aggressive look , so far I had 3 people in the car and I have heard zero rubbing , so fingers cross this last adjustment seals the deal.

Having said that, I would not be able to go back and do all these adjustments with fix spring / shock combo so keep that in mind

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by bluewater328

Ouch, just saw the Olins price. I hope you drive vigorously often.

What 2k? That’s the going rate for any half decent coil over... good shocks and springs even run $1200ish after all said and done

[bluewater328]

Originally Posted by tlow98

What 2k? That’s the going rate for any half decent coil over... good shocks and springs even run $1200ish after all said and done

Maybe I'm just thinking back, but for coils that reused springs, it used to be that $1700 was about right (got my Teins for $1400) and $2k was an installed price except for the aggressive models with in-cabin dampening adjustments.

I just got a whole sport system with springs for $1200 including new mounts, so I suppose price is relative.

[tlow98]

Gotcha. Yeah, you can snag the ohlins for the non M platform for $1800 if you look around. Same with TCKline - which I thought was pretty good.