Air Marshall Eldritch

To match the lowered springs (1.5" lowering from stock), what was the name of the shock? Was it Bilstein HD?

raymond g-

Bilstein HDs are full length, whereas the Sports are about 1.5" shorter

Air Marshall Eldritch

Thanks Ray, thats what I needed.

That said, if I plan on replacing spent Bilstein Sports, what is the consensus these days? Koni? More Bilsteins? Something else?

uberwgn

The KONI adjustable will be more street-friendly. Could be a consideration based upon the condition of your local roadways.

TMAllison

Dont Bilisteins have a lifetime warranty?

Air Marshall Eldritch

I don't know, but I bought them second hand from another forum member. They were NIB but there are no receipts, if that matters.

I'm not quite sure the shocks are shot, but the ride has gone punishing as of a few months ago - every bump results in a washboard-like rattling almost as if there were no shocks at all. I complained about this here before, but nobody had any input. The car has been test driven and put up on a lift by my mechanic. He can't see the problem. I've driven this car enough years to notice a handling difference like this.

raymond g-

Bilsteins do have a lifetime warranty but only for the original purchaser
and if the name on the receipt matches the person requesting service.
I tried......on one shock which appeared to have blown spring on the
rebound stroke. The rebuilt is approx $80 per shock.

(when I removed the shock and compressed it against the floor, it
stayed in compressed length until I manually pulled it back to full length)

victorylap

Is the Bilstein HD that are full length come with all the top and bottom bushings and is the ride quality equally the same or better than stock? Thx.

TMAllison

Yes.

Your 00 prob has Sachs/Boge OEM shocks like my 99 did. THey are available aftermarket or from the dealer at similar costs as the Bili's. You could do worse than use OEM replacements.

raymond g-

actually, i'll stick my neck out there and say the Bilstein HDs are not 'as good'
as OEM shocks. they are roughly 10% firmer in compression and rebound
damping, so the ride is firmer.

so, to paraphrase Clinton, what is good? it is not as plush as OEM....but
good as in 'allows for better handling during left/right transitions.' the
handling improves a bit when pushed....but sipping from a cup of latte
may be a tad more challenging with the HDs

victorylap

Thx for the feedback on the Bilstein HDs.
I'll be replacing all four shocks next week, but, I have a quick question on Raymond's write up on the example of the spring pad bump indicator (eg # 3 pad).

Raymond, do I need to replace the spring pad?

Thx

raymond g-

spring pads fine tune the ride height and there is no practical nexus between
the pads and the shock replacement. having said that, had you thoughts
about raising or lowing the ride height of the car, then yes...you can con-
sider swapping out the pucks as needed. but be sure you have an idea
what you're trying to accomplish in doing so. the pads avg $10-20 each
and come in 4mm increments. most of the time, E320s leave the factory
with the middle spring pad (about #3 in the front, and #2 in the rear.)

TMAllison

I'll second that. Bilistein Sports (stiffer than HD's) on the rear of my 99 make it feel like a chopped tuner car on the freeway. Wished I'd gone OEM.

ohlord

figured in the cost and labor of the camber eccentrics and rear link or k-mac bushings?
Just thought I'd throw a fly into the ointment.

better asked now than having to post a reply as to why your tires wore out in ten thousand miles.

victorylap

I just replaced my front two shocks and I'll be replacing the rear shocks tonight; however, i followed ray's write-up on replacing the front shock and boy.. the better part of the challenge was removing the old shocks. anyhoo, once i got the new shocks on, what a tremendous difference in my ride quality.

Ray, thanks for the write-up, but, I hope the old rear shocks won't be all too difficult to remove.