Which BILSTEIN's to buy? Sports or Regular....HELP!!!!!!

Kenny2g · Dec 6, 2004

Guys, am in the process of changing my shocks. However, i don't know if i should by the BILSTEIN Sports Shock i saw on Ebay for $450 or to buy the regular one on Ebay for $300. Mind you i have a 17" Wheel on the car. Do i need to go with the Sports or what?

Besides, what's the difference between the Sports and the Regular ones?
Holla Back Please!!!!!!

Abdoman · Dec 6, 2004

When I replaced my struts on my 5, I went with the regular (touring) struts. They are quite a bit stiffer than stock. Unless you are into autox or something, I would go with the regular struts. I have heard that the sport struts are very stiff.

epj3 · Dec 6, 2004

Go with the heavy duty shocks. I was extremely pleased with them. By the way - do you have ANY kind of lowering spring?? If so you NEED the sport shocks.

I would actually reccomend the Koni adjustable shocks... they cost just as much as the sport shocks i believe, but are adjustable, so if you're going to do quite a bit of highway driving, you can (from the top with the included special tool), adjust them to be a little less stiff and much more comfortable. It's what I was going to buy for my car.

VANCE · Dec 6, 2004

hind sight is 20/20
i wish i had gone with the koni sa's

Kirby · Dec 6, 2004

Most people feel that the sports are too stiff for average street driving, and the sports are really intended to be used with sport springs, not stock springs.. As Abdoman said, unless you are AutoX or tracking the car, don't get the sports.

Kenny2g · Dec 6, 2004

The car is using regular standard springs. So what about the Konis? how much or where can i buy them for cheap.

AutohausAZ · Dec 6, 2004

Kenny2G,

You can get the rear shocks for your car much cheaper than those prices you found on ebay. I have included a link below.

Autohaus Arizona - Discount OE BMW Parts

Kirby · Dec 6, 2004

Go to TC Kline Racing for Koni info and prices: http://tcklineracing.com/shocks.htm

They have links to tech info from Koni that explains everything.

Koni prices are usually not discounted a whole bunch. Look at shox.com for additional pricing.

epj3 · Dec 6, 2004

Kenny - don't necessarily go to this AutohausAZ's link - he's obviously advertising for his own stuff. I've never heard of his site so I'd be weary unless others have purchased from him.

AutohausAZ · Dec 7, 2004

epj3,

Many people have used us from BMWBoard. We are an advertiser on here. You will find us in the Marketplace on this site. We are in the top block of advertisers on the marketplace page. We also sponsor the General Car Chat forum. Our company has been in business since 1978. Since you do not know who we are, please do not make it sound like we are a shady business. Especially since we help support this site through advertising fees we pay.

I can understand your concern because there are a lot of bad online companies out there.

Big Daddy · Dec 7, 2004

AutohausAZ is a legitimate advertiser here at BMWBoard.com. and as such is highly recommended. If you have questions about advertisers please PM a moderator or the Administration of this site.

Faze · Dec 7, 2004

I would be less wary of AutohausAZ than I would be disappointed in their pricing. You can find MUCH better deals elsewhere on the net. I am sure they are great folks, and thanks to them for supporting the site, but just looking at the suspension pricing I can see they don't appear to be a good value. YMMV.

And the Bilstein Sports and HDs offer the same damping but for different applications. The Sports are made for lowering springs, whereas the HDs are for stock height springs. Both are going to offer improved handling over the Boges.

-J

AutohausAZ · Dec 7, 2004

Faze,

Where did you find pricing less than us. We are always trying to make sure our pricing is the lowest on the same parts. If you see something less somewhere else, you can request a custom quote and include the website and price so we can price match it for you. Unfortunately there are literally thousands of websites and we cannot check every single one for every single part.

epj3 · Dec 7, 2004

Big Daddy said:

Ever think there is no way to tell that he's an advertiser? Change his title to "BMW Board Advertiser" or something. I dont regularly check out the "market place" link at the top becuase most of your parts advertisers sell nothing but E36 and E46 parts. Sorry to tell ya but then there is no reason for me to speak highly of an advertiser who doesn't sell a product I would buy.

No, this is not the case with Autohaus. I'm sure they are a reputable company, but i was just telling people to watch out. Just becuase they are an advertiser doesn't mean anything. Lowen Design used to be an advertiser here if I remember correctly, and he was and still is a scam. I'm just telling people to watch out. I've only used pelican parts and bavauto. Nothing against autohaus - and Faze, their prices are pretty damn good IMO for most things.

Faze · Dec 7, 2004

AutohausAZ said:

Well, over at shox.com I can get a complete set of Bilstein Sports for $479 (all four corners). Just getting the two front struts from your site would be about that much. I have also used pelican parts, germanautoparts.com, and a couple of others guys. Sometimes I am willing to pay a little more for service, or tech support, but I do mean a "little" more. And I don't care to go through all the price matching hassle with companies that list high prices for suckers and deal to the hard core bargain finders. I will just go with the best deal I find. And if I can get a high dollar item for much cheaper at one place, I might just pick up incidentals from them as well. And we all know accessories is where you make your profit (most markup).

-Joe

Kirby · Dec 7, 2004

I probably should not get involved here, but I am going to post a few thoughts anyhow.

- I noticed Autohaus' sponsorship of this forum without going to the marketplace link. It clearly says on the main page:
Discussion Forum relating to nonspecific BMW models and any car talk. Sponsored By: Autohaus Arizona

- I'm pretty sure I saw a banner ad for them at the top of the page. At any rate, I visited their site a few weeks ago after they started sponsoring the forum, so to me it's pretty evident that they are a sponsor.

- I trust that the admins have done some research on sponsors and feel comfortable with them. Any malfeasance on a supplier's part will have some repercussion on the Board and Tom, so I can feel comfortable that they are not just a random, unqualified supplier. With that said, certainly "buyer beware" applies to ANY internet purchases, Autohaus or Amazon.com

- Pricing is easy to shop around for on the internet. After seeing them on here a few weeks ago, I visited their site. Some of Autohaus' listed prices are competitive, some aren't. If they are willing to match another site's price for identical equipment, since they support the board, maybe it's worth giving them a try.

epj3 · Dec 7, 2004

Kirby said:

I, along with other people, typically dont even click the "Forum" link at the top. I use the "latest topics" feature on the main page (http://www.bmwboard.com/) except for when I want to obviously check out general discussion. Maybe the advertiseres links need to be placed on the main page for more exposure.

I didn't see their banner - and it appears I'm not the only one. Again, maybe their ad placement isn't working as well as it could. Like I said before - most of the advertisers sell stuff for BMW's no older than 6 - 10 years. I'd have no reason to even look at the links. This forum is mostly for newer cars anyways and not quite as tech related as other forums.

I trust and respect tom and his mods/admins, but like I said, I BELIEVE (Tom could definitely clear this up) that lowen design was, at one time, a sponsor. I shouldn't have to say more than that.

Yes, I said that if you would read the last part of my post.

I'm not saying AutohausAZ is not reputable - their site looks like they built it with time and care, and it doesn't look like just any old site out there. I'm believe they are reputable, but that's not my point at all. When advertisers are put above forum members trying to help out and watch out for someone else in the community, that's when the "community" part disappears. I realize websites cost a fortune to run and maintain, so advertisers are a must, but they should stay out of the community discussions. The best thing to do is for someone to say "check out the Market Place link, you would probably find a good deal from one of our advertisers". That's all. I never saw anyone go after a forum member becuase of what they said about a sponsor on Bimmerforums.com which is a much larger forum.

There are other ways for the forum to make money to help support the site... like selling stickers (BMW Board), or other little things. Sell a sticker for $10 - say it's a $10 donation and you get a free sticker. I think there are a good number of people here who would be more than willing to do that.

Big Daddy · Dec 7, 2004

As Kirby has cleared up you can watch banners, check the Market Place and the main page. AutohausAZ sells e30 parts as well as e36, e46 and e32 and others! So because there is "no reason for me to speak highly of an advertiser who doesn't sell a product I would buy", mean that you have to speak negatively about them?

I am not sure where this came from, "I never saw anyone go after a forum member becuase of what they said about a sponsor on Bimmerforums.com which is a much larger forum." because I do not see where anyone went after you? What I said was, "AutohausAZ is a legitimate advertiser here at BMWBoard.com. and as such is highly recommended. If you have questions about advertisers please PM a moderator or the Administration of this site." Please explain how this is going after you?

Tom · Dec 7, 2004

Eric, you are blowing this way out of proportion and turning a simple Suspension question into a commercialism issue. I enjoy this community as much as anyone else and if money was ever an object then we are definitely in the wrong business.

Yes, AutohausAZ is a reputable affiliate and NO Lowen Design was never a sponsor. Like Dan stated, a simple PM to any of us would have cleared up any misunderstandings. You know I'm always open to chatting with you, so please don't hesitate to contact me in the future.

epj3 · Dec 7, 2004

Big Daddy said:

You mistook what I said. I didn't say ALL of the advertisers only sell stuff for new cars, but most of them are like that.

Tom - I honestly couldn't remember if I saw lowen's name show up somewhere on the site before out of the forums.

My first post about it was that I never heard of them, never ordered from them, and don't know anyone who's ever ordered for them. I'm on the BMW tech forums pretty often - thats why I was kind of weary about it. This guy doesn't even sell Koni's anyways which is what was reccomended to him.

If Autohaus does start selling the koni adjustables and he'll give me a better price than someone else, I'd be more than happy to buy from him. I'm sorry if this was blown WAY out of proportion, I just don't see the need for Big Daddy to come in and tell me that I shouldn't say to be weary of someone I've never heard of just becuase they are an advertiser. That's what MY problem is with the whole thing.

Which BILSTEIN's to buy? Sports or Regular....HELP!!!!!!

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