Bilstein Sport Schocks & Eibach Pro Kit on E85

[minmat11]

I just received my new suspension in the mail today! My E85 just hit 80K and the suspension was completely shot and needed to be changed. So after weeks of research, I finally landed on these shocks/springs combo and will be installing it this Saturday with a few buddies. I'll be writing a brief walkthrough/review after the install. Stay posted!





Tools needed for this install.

Jack/Jack Stands/Lug Wrench/ Sockets/Torque Wrench/Spring Compressors/Impact Wrench/Hammer/Gloves



Service Jack


Sockets


Jack Stands


Torque Wrench (Rented @ Autozone)



Spring Compressors (Rented @ Autozone)


Impact Wrench


Quick description of all the tools.

** UPDATE **


Alright. I finally got around to doing the install this past Saturday and everything went well. I had to step out at night because it was St. Patty's and needed to get my drink on, so I only got around to doing the front two (the hardest ones). I will try to get the rears done this week and finish up this write up, but for now:

First thing is first, make sure you have all the tools needed for this install and that you're doing it in a safe place with no possible hazards. Please proceed at your own risk.

#1 Jack up the car and place it on the jack stands. Take all wheels off.





#2 There are two bolts you need to remove. By doing so, this will allow you remove the strut. One of the bolts secures a brace around the base of the strut and the other one bolts on to the top of the strut. Look at how nasty and used up those struts were..



Now, the top screw on the end link.


I used a C-wrench to hold the back of the screw.



#3 Remove the three bolts from the strut tower.


**Pay close attention to this** This will be useful for when you reassemble everything later.
There is a forth hole on the strut tower (the smallest one). This hole needs to be aligned with the hole on the top plate of your new strut. Just remember to align it when you put bolt it back on. I'll elaborate more when we get to that step. Just something to keep in mind.


#4 Remove the strut. There was a lot of rust build-up so I had to bang the bottom of the strut in order to loosen it up. Before you do so, put your jack under the control arm for support because you don't want that entire unit just hanging in the air. Lift up the strut into the tower and kind of just wiggle it around until it comes out.

Good lord.. The suspension on this car had never been touched up until that day.



#5 Here comes the fun part.. Compressing the springs and disassembling the strut unit.
Clamp the spring compressors onto the spring (this is where that Impact Wrench comes in handy) and start compressing. You need to do this in order to smoothly get the top plates out. If you don't use a spring compressor and just decide to take the bolts out on their own, they will violently shoot out and potentially cause some harm to you or your car.
Make sure you put the compressors on opposite sides so that the spring is equally compressed all around.


After you've compressed the spring, proceed to take out the top nut that secures the strut. Everything should come lose.



#6 Quick comparison:

Remember the exact order of how everything was assembled and put everything on the new strut. Clean the parts that you're going to reuse. It's always good to keep everything neat Here are a couple clips:
Use the same rubber on the new strut and make sure you align it with the base!

When you put the spring on the strut, check that the base and top of the spring are aligned with the plates. This is very important.

#7 Assemble the strut back. So again, make sure everything is aligned well, proceed to compress the spring again and bolt the top plates back on.



#8 Put the strut back into tower and assemble everything back. Make sure you align all three holes with pins and the small forth hole as well. Also, I forgot to take a picture of this but, once you get the pins in the tower's holes, push them towards the outside of the car. I hope that makes sense. In other words, the pins need to be pushed away from the engine and once they are in that position, start securing them. Put your wheels back on and you're golden! you're done!
Here is a quick side by side comparison

Before


After




I've driven the car around for a couple days now and the difference is night and day. The ramps on the highway are easy to take and there is no body roll which makes cornering super tight. But I still think it's too early to write a full review, I haven't even done the rears yet. So stay posted!

Oh and for those of you who wanted torque specs:


*** UPDATE ***

I got the rears done a little while back and I'm now ready to write a full review and install on them. I ran into a slight problem though. When I uploaded the pictures from my phone onto my computer today, they were all invalid and had black lines all over them for some reason. So I have no pictures of the install at all, which I'm really sorry about. I went back and took some pictures of the finished installation to try write this walkthrough so bear with me please. With that being said:

First, you're gonna want to have your car on jack stands and get under it. Locate the shock/spring. There's a screw that bolts the bottom of the shock to the control arm. You're gonna need to take that out first.



Once that screw is out, we are going to proceed to remove the spring. Now, I have heard a lot of people have had a hard time trying to take the springs out, but luck for me, it came out with ease. This is how I removed mine: I stepped on the control arm/rotor and had my buddy pull out the spring. It was that easy. But if yours doesn't come out like that, get a tool (like a metal pry bar) and pry the bottom of the spring until it comes out.
In this picture, I'm pointing at the spring (top) and where you need to step on.



This is the hardest part of installing the rears. Be patient, God knows I was.. If you have a coupe, this part is a breeze (just remove the carpeting in the trunk and locate the towers). If you have a convertible like myself, you're gonna need to do a whole lot more. First, make sure the top is up. Since all my pictures are useless I found a guide from BMW to help you get to the towers.











Once you get all the carpeting out and you finally see the towers, remove the two bolts/nuts on top. The shock should come out free. You can install the new spring at this time as well. Assemble everything back the same way it came out and we are done! The rears took me less than 40 minutes after removing all the carpeting in the trunk. Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures. I am really mad that they couldn't be uploaded right.

Here is a comparison of the rear's height from before and after.



Review

I've been riding the car for a couple weeks now and the difference is night and day. Bilstein & Eibach really outdid themselves. I love my new suspension

Ride Quality/Height:
The ride is bit more harsh as expected but that also has to do with my 19" wheels. Overall, I don't mind sacrificing a little bit of comfort for performance. The ride is bearable and it isn't as bad as other people have described it. The car no longer bounces and the fence gap is looong gone The car now looks like a real sports car, a real roadster. Perfect drop. You are closer to the ground now so you sort of feel more in control of the car (at least I do), especially on the highway. Going up onto a parking lot takes a little more precaution now. I have to get one tire on first and then the rest of the car. That's probably the only thing that bugs me but asides from that, driving this car is so much fun now. I can't wait till I get some 18"s and hit the track this summer.
As far as looks go, the car looks great. I went to a drive in last week and got a million compliments on the drop!

Performance
I have nothing but great things to say about this new set up. I can easily take street corners at 35+MPH and the highway ramps are a breeze to go on. I do a lot of my driving on the highway and the difference is unreal. The car feels more planted, still and tight, the car won't shake and switching lanes hardly takes any effort. Goodbye body roll! My girlfriend even noticed the change on the highway. She asked me why I was going so slow. I looked at her and told her "I'm going over 100 MPH". She said it felt like we were going under 70.
In that sense, the car feels really planted to the ground and that's all due to the lower center of gravity. Overall, I am very satisfied and happy with my new set up and feel very accomplished for doing it all in my own garage!
I'll be getting an alignment at the end of this week to get everything back to stock specs (I wanted to wait till the springs settled completely).
I really hope this write-up helps and more pictures of the car will be coming soon! Provided that I can upload them with no issues haha

[KevinC]

Nice. I opted for Bilstein HDs on stock springs, and replaced them much earlier, around 42k. Stockers were toast by then. REALLY happy with the results. And these will last 100k+, easily.

[Vanne]

Congrats on the purchase mate, let us know how you find them in the write up.

[RossBMWZseries]

Those aren't even mine and I'm excited

[elerner61]

From the look of your pictures (high quality) looking forward to your DIY on this (hopefully with all torque specs used ).

[minmat11]

Sorry it's been taking me a while to post the write up. I finally got a hold of the spring compressors today so I should be doing the install throughout these next few days!

[dharper]

I'm curious as to how you like this set up. I installed ST coil-overs over this type of set up. They're really nice handling but the ride is really firm.

Does your car have the sport suspension?

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by dharper

I'm curious as to how you like this set up. I installed ST coil-overs over this type of set up. They're really nice handling but the ride is really firm.

Does your car have the sport suspension?

I haven't gotten around to installing it yet. I'm doing it this Saturday. Been super swamped with work. But no I don't have the sport suspension and I will definitely let you know how it feels as soon as I get everything done.

[Finnegan]

Let us know the spring rates as well.

[minmat11]

****** Updated ******

[Steeler]

Did you reuse the old bearings?
Ideal time to replace those also

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by dbarton62

Did you reuse the old bearings?
Ideal time to replace those also

Yeah. That didn't cross my mind till yesterday lol I'm ordering new ones soon.

[Vanne]

cool write up for the fronts, get them rears on buddy bearing replacements is its own kettle of fish, can't remember which one was an absolute F@%K of a job, but either the front or rears were..

[jdoublehcubed]

Is there any way to avoid lowering the car with these? I would like to replace my stock suspension and would like to stick with regular struts (not coilovers), but I really don't want to change the ride height. I have a hard enough time keeping the nose off the pavement already.

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

Is there any way to avoid lowering the car with these? I would like to replace my stock suspension and would like to stick with regular struts (not coilovers), but I really don't want to change the ride height. I have a hard enough time keeping the nose off the pavement already.

These springs will lower the car regardless. And the struts are made for performance springs so you might wanna try another route.

[unluky]

How's the ride? Mine rides perfect to me - smooth on the highway, but just tight enough where it needs to be. I want to put the Eibach's on mine too (I have them on my 300ZX and love them), but it would be stupid not to put new struts on at the same time. Not sure which I want to use, but I don't want a harsh ride. I am getting too old I guess.............. =)

[minmat11]

Originally Posted by unluky

How's the ride? Mine rides perfect to me - smooth on the highway, but just tight enough where it needs to be. I want to put the Eibach's on mine too (I have them on my 300ZX and love them), but it would be stupid not to put new struts on at the same time. Not sure which I want to use, but I don't want a harsh ride. I am getting too old I guess.............. =)

I'm not saying the ride is harsh now but it is different from stock in the sense that is not as soft anymore. At least on my car. On the bright side, the ride is much firmer and there's no body roll when cornering, which always puts a smile on my face. I'm 25 and enjoy a sporty ride but I also like a somewhat comfortable ride. This set up gave me exactly that.

[iErik]

Excellent!

[minmat11]

***UPDATED***

[Vanne]

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

Is there any way to avoid lowering the car with these? I would like to replace my stock suspension and would like to stick with regular struts (not coilovers), but I really don't want to change the ride height. I have a hard enough time keeping the nose off the pavement already.

have you checked out the Bilstein HD's?, there a good strut, and you can use them with your stock springs if you like. there is a little secret to them that not many peeps know. aint that right Shippy

OP, excellent write up mate, this needs to go into DIY section

[unluky]

So what is the difference with the HD and non-HD versions? One stiffer than the other? I am going to do this fairly quick and have been trying to decide. I am mostly doing it to lower the ride and get the nose down, but want to do the shocks while I am in there. I am not unhappy with the ride and performance now (I have sport suspension) and do not want a jarring ride. It is pretty smooth while crushing the highways now and I like that. I can take a lot of highway changes without turning the cruise off, so the body roll and cornering are nice and tight now.