Suspension

[Simon 3.2M]

A quick question, does Bilstein B8 / 12 suspension have to sit on lowered springs or can they sit on the standard ones?

[Jembo]

I’m in the middle of this at the mo - the B12 ‘kit’ comes already with lowered eibachs - though just for shocks you need to be careful as certain models are designed for std length, others lowered.

Suggest also you have your RTAB’s replaced & RTAL’s fitted, as addresses much of the ‘curtain rail’ experience

[mc5]

As far as I know the b12 kit is a b6 shock which is oem height so can be paired with oem springs or the eibach it comes with.
B8 the shorter shock is not available for the M.

I have eibach with b6 shocks (b12). Rides better and more planted 90% of the time but can hit the bump stops on big pot holes at the front. Someone on here has reverted back to oem springs with bilsteins and prefers it.

[InterlagosZ4MR]

Yes that’s me: had B12 fitted and instantly regretted it due to crashiness and bump stop issues - spoke at length to Kevin Bird and also my v helpful BMW technicians, and consequently ditched the Eibachs but left shocks that came with B12 kit on and put in new OEM springs. Much better - I’d been ready to get rid of the car as it was on the B12 kit. As it is, after 4 years of tinkering generally, I’m kind of fed up with suspension not being as good as it should be tho.

[Bodyboarder]

Just goes to show how subjective suspension compliance is ! I’ve had a few cars with the b12 kit on and have nothing but praise for the setup considering the cost ( or lack of ) I just have the eibach springs in my M , along with 19” 245/275 set up and find it very comfortable for the majority of situations! I’d like to either go kw v3’s or Bilstein pss10’s in the future . Would like a passenger ride in the above setups though before I splash the cash

[RedUn]

A proper coil over setup is another level, I run clubsports on mine and they are excellent

[Bodyboarder]

A proper coil over setup is another level, I run clubsports on mine and they are excellent

But are they comfortable for road use ?

[RedUn]

You can adjust them to ride how you want and it depends what you class as comfortable. I've got them set firm, it's not crashy at all though it's well damped.

The V3s are for the road so I'd recommend those over clubsports for road use everytime

[Babw]

I've gone from OEM (20k miles old) to B12's (3k miles) to V3's (1k miles). The OEM to the B12's were by far the biggest improvement in damping. First things I noted were how well supported through the stroke they were in situations like heavy braking where the OEM seemed to brake dive far more. The ride is definitely firmer with the B12's but not crashy in anyway, I wonder if the poster above had a dud set? I've had 3 sets of Bilstein B12's across BMW and Audi, they've been superb every time.

The only reason for going for V3's is that I'm hoping to run quite an aggressive wheel setup so wanted to adjust the ride height.

[Bodyboarder]

How do the v3’s compare in comfort to the b12’s ?

[Scooba_Steve]

How do the v3’s compare in comfort to the b12’s ?

I assume they will go higher and softer than the B12. What are you trying to achieve and how much do you have to spend?

[Bodyboarder]

At the moment I’m happy enough with the eibach springs but I know in the future I’ll be wanting to upgrade .... I have ohlins on my other car and the damping /handling is another level . I’ll be doing the rear limiter bush kit first ... but this is a good thread to gain info when the time comes

[Babw]

How do the v3’s compare in comfort to the b12’s ?

V3's are less comfy for sure but not unbearable.

[Matt308]

This is something I am interested in. I have Eibach with B6 (= B12 I think.) I would like more compliance but can’t get to the bottom of whether B16 will offer that. I don’t mind firm, but it’s the jarring over small low speed bumps that is annoying.