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Hey all,

I know there are several threads discussing this particular set of coilovers, but there are bits of information all over the place which requires some searching so thought I would share what I did. Hopefully it benefits someone in the future.

Some background. My car is entirely street driven (unlikely it will ever see the track), and my previous set of coils were H&R. They have been on the car for 6+ years and about 60k miles. I remember that they were quite comfy when they were first installed, but recently it seemed like there was zero damping which prompted my decision to have them replaced.

The correct Bilstein part number for the Z4M is 48-141635. I found that searching online using the part number gave me more results. I ordered mine from schmiedmann.com with a 10% discount. Delivery took about 3 months so I guess my set was freshly manufactured.

These coilovers require some original parts to complete the install, see below pics for reference. Of course, you can reuse your old ones but mine were in pretty bad shape so replacing them is strongly recommended. The parts I purchased were:

31-33-1-090-612, front spring plate with axial bearing (2 pieces)
51-71-7-036-781, front strut tower reinforcement plates (2 pieces)
31-33-1-091-233, front upper spring pad (2 pieces)
33-53-1-136-385, rear upper spring pad (2 pieces)
33-53-1-094-518, rear bottom spring pad (2 pieces)
Rogue engineering rear shock mounts - already had these, just had to buy new bushings which are really cheap.

The installation process is straightforward, nothing special to note. My workshop got the job done in less than 2 hours with two mechanics.

I have the damper settings at 3 all round and am pretty pleased. Ran the car through my regular routes with some long sweeping high speed turns and also tighter turns, everything held up well. Read some other reviews which said that the Bilstein coilovers are harsh. As far as coilovers go, I really don't see how much more comfortable they can be. Overall, very satisfied.

On to the pics... Btw, note the size difference for the rear shocks.