Shocks are shot, Bilsteins time?

TomK · Post by **TomK** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 6:53 pm

There's really no need to use the front strut tower reinforcement plates unless you are using something like intrax or nitron with a much smaller surface area top mount. Bilstein B12 uses the OEM top mount so no reason to reinforce.
This is what an intrax solid top mount looks like, you can see why reinforcement is advised.

Ed Doe · Post by **Ed Doe** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 7:20 pm

Scooba_Steve wrote:As above.

I've not heard of any issues with Z4s so didn't reinforce when I put my B12 kit in.

Same - never heard of that issue before? Meh I've not noticed any issues with my mounting turrets, shan't worry about it!

Steve84N · Post by **Steve84N** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 8:07 pm

The American guy who makes repair videos seemed to have some, (igeak?)

Mittens · Post by **Mittens** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:08 pm

Hi everybody,

The shocks (B12 kit) are now in and I've put a few miles on them, my word, what a difference!

The old front shocks were in a right state, one of them had about 15mm of slop and very little resistance. Unsurprisingly the car feel much more composed and even goes over speed bumps better than before.

The biggest change is how much smoother the car is going round corners. I don't know if it can corner better now or, if it's just giving me reassurance that it will be able to do what I'm asking it to - previously it felt like it should be able to pull in tighter, but wasn't willing.

The ride is firmer, but not as much as I'd feared, and feels communicative rather than uncomfortable (I am "young" at (very, very) early 30s though). The car feels much more like a bolted together unit (especially noticeable over speed bumps) than it did before, which in hindsight was a sloppy, crashy mess.

Once again, thanks for your advice, both for and against. I'm certainly happy with my choice.

Scooba_Steve · Post by **Scooba_Steve** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:57 pm

Glad you went with the B12, a very capable middle ground. They do make a lot of difference to the car.

markplant · Post by **markplant** » Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:34 pm

Mittens wrote:Hi everybody,

The shocks (B12 kit) are now in and I've put a few miles on them, my word, what a difference!

The old front shocks were in a right state, one of them had about 15mm of slop and very little resistance. Unsurprisingly the car feel much more composed and even goes over speed bumps better than before.

The biggest change is how much smoother the car is going round corners. I don't know if it can corner better now or, if it's just giving me reassurance that it will be able to do what I'm asking it to - previously it felt like it should be able to pull in tighter, but wasn't willing.

The ride is firmer, but not as much as I'd feared, and feels communicative rather than uncomfortable (I am "young" at (very, very) early 30s though). The car feels much more like a bolted together unit (especially noticeable over speed bumps) than it did before, which in hindsight was a sloppy, crashy mess.

Once again, thanks for your advice, both for and against. I'm certainly happy with my choice.

Other than the b12 kit which other parts did you change upgrade or replace at the same time.... Glad you good result

Mittens · Post by **Mittens** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:09 am

markplant wrote: Other than the b12 kit which other parts did you change upgrade or replace at the same time.... Glad you good result

The top mounts (Lemforder), the two in the front had a nice visible crack (under load), the rear bump stops and a drop link which needed doing.

The reinforcement plates would not fit in the end since there is a welded bit to do with the roof which wouldn't let the plate sit flat.

markplant · Post by **markplant** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:38 am

Thanks

Steve84N · Post by **Steve84N** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:26 am

The rear plates only fit on a coupe unfortunately.

Can you recall what size the nuts are at the top of the rear dampers, I think it's M10 but could be M12?

ScoobyR1 · Post by **ScoobyR1** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:37 pm

Sandy wrote:I've just fitted the Bilstein/Eibach kit with Meyle HD wishbones and revised alignment, a massive improvement all round. It's lost the initial smoothness of the ride, but doesn't suddenly jerk on the second rate, like it does on the originals, which I prefer.

Hi Guys

Quite interested in this thread as I am looking to potentially change my shocks in the near future, to match the lowered springs I got off of Smartbear. Can I ask Sandy why you chose to change out the wishbones? I thought that the wishbones were a non wear item?

Cheers

Scooba_Steve · Post by **Scooba_Steve** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:54 pm

The arms are solid but the bushings will get tired. Meyle arms have replaceable joints, if you're changing shocks might as well do all the other consumables too. A new topic probably best.

ScoobyR1 · Post by **ScoobyR1** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:06 pm

Scooba_Steve wrote:The arms are solid but the bushings will get tired. Meyle arms have replaceable joints, if you're changing shocks might as well do all the other consumables too. A new topic probably best.

Hi Scooba_Steve

I was going to poly bush the wishbone control arm rears, but hadn't factored in the addition of the actual wishbone itself. If I replace the relevant bushes then, assuming my wishbones aren't in any way damaged, that should be sufficient ? Or would you recommend changing out ? My car is 70,000 miles up and I had the control arm bushes changed at 55,000 with OE, not poly.

Cheers

Scooba_Steve · Post by **Scooba_Steve** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:11 pm

I don't think you can get the arm joints separately and those are what go. Could be wrong, I just swapped mine out for Meyle arms, those are replaceable.

ScoobyR1 · Post by **ScoobyR1** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 11:20 pm

Scooba_Steve wrote:I don't think you can get the arm joints separately and those are what go. Could be wrong, I just swapped mine out for Meyle arms, those are replaceable.

How did the fact that you needed to replace the original wishbones manifest itself? Was there a vagueness in the steering or just general sloppiness in the suspension?
My car has 70000 miles and is still on the original dampers, I've gone down the route of control arm bushes, 18" Non RFT, wheel alignment and now I am looking to further improve the feel of the car, as I have never fully eliminated the "tramlining vagueness" kind of feeling entirely. That's why I was contemplating the B12 + polybush route. But if you are saying that the wishbone replacement gives an improvement then that's just added an additional £200 to my ever expanding bill!!!

Scooba_Steve · Post by **Scooba_Steve** » Mon Jan 16, 2017 11:34 pm

There was just general slop but once everything was swapped out it transformed the feel. I made the decision to refresh everything perishable, it's expensive but worth it if you plan on keeping. There's no reason why you couldn't do the arms at a later date though.

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