Prefered shock absorders

[Speedfactor 5]

Which is it to be!!

Whats the general concensous on the prefered aftermarket shock for BMW

Koni or Bilstein (if it was to be between these two)

[Apex 693]

KW.

[Lucan 196]

Bilstein

[CamB 48]

I bought Bilsteins for the M3 from you - have been great so far I just put H&R springs with them and they're even better (shocks are better matched to the somewhat stiffer H&Rs in my opinion).

[Nobimmer 694]

I've run both, I think the Konis are a bit better. Having said that, the Billies weren't brand new, but not far from it.

[No name user 379]

Have bilstein in both road and race car

[Silver Fox 43]

Have Koni's in the front and Billie's in the back. The billie's are a bit soft, may need re-valving, but am happy with both actually.

[Speedfactor 5]

Have Koni's in the front and Billie's in the back. The billie's are a bit soft, may need re-valving, but am happy with both actually.

Thanks for the feedback...

Have always thought Bilstein has the upper hand with bump control on our stunning roads. Point with the H&R springs. Had the same affect on an Audi I owned. Added Neuspeed springs later and got better ride. Koni with rebound control being great for tuning to the conditions though.. We've always stocked alot more Bilstein, but keen to help out where we can for Koni.

Keep it coming!

[Phatputer 3]

Currently running Billies on the Coupe, I find them stunning on open road driving, but personally a bit unrelenting when driving around town.

Trying a few things over Christmas in regards to Shock / spring combos, will be interesting.

[Forrest 35]

Used both in various combinations over the last few years, Koni's seem to do the job better.

[antil33t 90]

I've started collecting Koni's.

Only have rears so far, fronts when I get enough cash hah.

[gps289 0]

All comes down to valving really. Either can be valved to suit any required conditions. From a road car point of view either work well, with Koni's having the advantage with the ability to fine tune rebound control to suit individual requirements. BUT f**k your ride up with stupid ride heights (idiot low) and the resulting lack of shock travel will make neither perform as designed. I've lost count of the number of times i've heard "brands" rubbished due to problems caused by other components.

Now from a race car point of view (talking circuit here) there's no comparison. YES Bilsteins can be revalved to suit what you are trying to achieve, but any big change of direction in spring rate, swaybar size, unsprung weight etc will mean another revalve. All good if someone has already done the development on your type of car and combination but if not expect to pay around $200 (per shock) for every re-valve. This is where Koni's adjustability comes into its own, with both single adjustable (rebound) and double adjustable (bump and rebound) able to be manufactured for most applications. Quite often a short term gain ($$) can turn out to be a long term pain!! As is often quoted "developments in Motorsport filter down to volume products"

KONI in F1 = B.A.R, Williams, Renault, McLaren

Bilstein in F1 = ??????

(Note: Any bias shown above is purely intentional )

[bravo 35]

Bilsteins and H&R are a match made in heaven. That said I did have all of my Billies revalved (when they were brand new). Made the stock m325i Bilsteins feel like rubber bands. (and no, that is not my only point of reference).

Oh, and the srevice and support I've received from the H&R and Bilstein suppliers has been absolutely topnotch. Top product knowledge, customer service, value, and support. And it wasn't BNT or Autolign,

Credit goes to Keith Hartley "SUSPENSION" and Chris Alexander (Suspension Tech).