tasho3

Hello guys. I lowered my car on H&R Sport Springs about 7 months ago, and now I notice some bumping noises from my front shocks. only noticeable on small bumps, and I'm pretty sure my shocks will need replacing. I do not want to put OEM shocks cause they will wear out fast ( due to lowered suspension ) is there another option? And to those that already have lowered suspension, what kind of shocks did you use?

Knightmare69

Is yours the sports package? Supposedly the sports package shocks are valved differently from the luxury package but I can't confirm that. If it were true and assuming you had the luxury trim you could just order the sports package shocks.

I myself since I'm lowered on the supersports swapped out to bilstein shocks.

tasho3

I do have the sport. But when I lowered it the car dropped 1.25" or so in front. The stock shocks are always compressed now, and probably bottom out on big bumps. I was thinking of getting bilstein's. Is there a specific shock they carry for lowered suspension?

Mixedfruits

idk but might be selling my oem shocks on 13k miles soon

tasho3

THank you for the heads up but I'm looking for something aftermarket. If I put OEM's they'll wear out just as fast too. How much you want for the btw just in case I decide to go OEM?

Knightmare69

Sorry, I was traveling.

http://www.bilstein.de/en/products/h...lstein-b8.html

We do have a old thread that discussed this FYI.

kevink2

The link by Knightmare69 will tell you what's currently made for the car.

It seems that the performance B6 and B8 shocks must be special ordered for US owners, by Tirerack or Allshocks.com (run by the race team Turner Motorsports) . B8 front shocks are not made for the 4MATIC.

For your 4MATIC, they list B6 Sport (Monotube) shocks, which are ok for 30 mm drop.

F 35-170815, R 24-170828

The B8's have a short rod and are designed for 30-40 mm (50mm max) drop, but are not listed for the 4MATIC.

Bilstein uses the same rear shock for 4MATIC & RWD, but different shocks up front ... I wonder if the geometry is that different.

Link to B8 thread: Bilstein B8 shocks This post is about a potential new Bilstein shock set.

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Knightmare69

Sorry, I forgot he was only lowered on sports and not SS. For sports you don't need as short of a shock as I do for my SS springs. Best bet is to shoot an email to Bilstein and see what they recommend as they sell packages paired with either Eibach or H&R (forgot which)

tasho3

Thank you for all your help guys really appreciate it. Looks like I'm going with the B6. Now just got to find a vendor

kevink2

um, I think 2 vendors were mentioned (found) above.

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tasho3

Right, meant decide which to go with.

kevink2

Good advice. But as far as available "off the shelf" shocks, the 4MATIC he has really limits the options. They make 3 packages that are ONLY for the RWD cars:

B12, Sportline Spring + B8 shocks
B12, Prokit Spring + B8 shocks
B10, Bilstein Springs + "shortened rebound" grey shocks.

In short, the yellow B6 performance shocks are the only option from Bilstein for the 4MATIC, rated at 30mm drop, but very likely capable of more. In fact, I think OEM shocks are the only other option for the 4MATIC, unless someone finds that the RWD front struts can be used on the 4MATIC front suspension.

If it were me, for general info, I'd ask Bilstein if their urethane bump cushions, that work in parallel with the spring for the final compression travel, could be trimmed like 25% for extra compression travel. Google BMW bump stop for a lot of info on this.

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Knightmare69

To be honest, I was never clear on what the difference in the suspension was between the 4-matics and rwd. To me, aside from the transmission, everything should be pretty much the same, I couldn't see how having 4-matic would affect the suspension. But since I have a regular rwd I don't think too much about it.

kevink2

Bilstein went to great lengths to specify different front shocks in a series, say B6, for the 2 drive systems. But they always used the same rear shock part number for RWD and 4MATIC. As I said before, the assumption is there is a different geometry in the front suspension for the 2 drive systems, requiring different struts. One could verify it, but Bilstein tech has a good engineering reputation, and I'm assuming they are correct.

Note that ~ 5 years ago, they did list the rear B8 performance shocks (not the fronts) for the 4Matic.

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Knightmare69

If someone could post a pic of their 4-matic front shock absorber I can post a pic of my oem rwd front shock and we can compare. A quick google search yielded no results for W204 4-matic shocks but did yield E-class 4-matic shocks, if the 2 are similar then yes, there is no shock replacement besides oem.

I think it's time we stop speculating and actually get to the bottom of this so we can stick the info for future members.

kevink2

I agree that side by side comparo's, complete with full extenion and compression conditions, would be best. You may consider your suggestions/comments as speculation. But I would hardly consider my phone discussions with Bilstein-US-East, and analyisis of the US vendors and Bilstein-Germany's global offerings, as speculation. I've put in the extra time on this with the goal of having something firm to pass on to others.

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kevink2

Based on a phone conversation yesterday with a sharp Bilstein Tech, my assumtion about the front struts being different on the 4MATIC vs the RWD was correct. They attach at the bottom differently:

2009 C300 RWD








2009 C300 4MATIC Not MB, but similar lower attachment





I assume global sales of the rwd are much higher than the 4MATIC, thus the limited offerings for 4MATIC shocks.

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kevink2

Based on your old oem rwd front shock, which of the 2 shocks pictured above does yours resemble, down in the bolting location ? The picture or the illustration ?

Thanx

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Knightmare69

Let me check when I get home tonight as I am traveling for work right now.

BTW Kevin, I never meant to sound like I was undermining your conversation with Bilstein. My point simply being that the board has discussed this topic more than once and not till now did we start thinking to ourselves, let's get concrete evidence that the shocks will not fit. Till now we have all just been saying this won't fit because it's not listed etc. Hope this clears my statement up.

kevink2

understood, no problem

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Knightmare69

I'm still traveling for work so haven't been home. However I noticed that a member (C200k W204) graciously provided a DIY for spring install and there is a pic of his front shock. We can now definitively confirm that RWD front shocks and 4-matic front shocks are in no way compatible.

kevink2

Great! That pic and my MB illustration for RWD makes it definitive for the RWD model. But still would be nice to see a pic of a 4MATIC front strut, to put it to rest.