[Snik]

ok, here goes.
car is DD, suspension is H&R Cupkit.
rear shocks i think are shot, they just dont have the high speed dampening of the rear wheel like they used to, and i can see where the upper/outer sleeve is rubbing on the lower/inner one.

car has a huge and heavy wood reinforced fiberglass enclosure that pretty much takes up the entire trunk, + a 13W7 so that alone is 60 lbs, plus 2 amps and LOTS of dynamat and a few more things. i estimate atleast 200lbs in the trunk. I rarely, rarely ever have anyone sitting in the back.

Car will most likely NEVER see the track, but gets driven very spiritedly around town. I love the ride of the cup kit, but i wouldnt mind the back being a tad stiffer on the compression side, rebound is ok, or was ok, before the shock started being weird.

I DO NOT know what model shock the cupkit comes with, i think its a custom setup made by Bilstein for H&R, im trying to keep this cheap and easy, i WILL NOT have time or the motivation to remove the system later on and adjust or replace the shock, so i want to do it now while the system is out and the amp is being repaired.

Ive found everything pretty cheap online form Tokico HPs for under $70 each, Bilsteins HD, and sport for $80, and touring for $55 , to Sachs for $90, KYB GR-2 for around $50. Im on a tight budget, id like under $80 each shock, because fixing JL Audio amps aint cheap.

What do you guys think, if youve had experience with any of these REAR shocks on your BMW and or changed shocks on your Cupkit, youre input would be immensely appreciated. However, if you add anything, please tell me what you had the experience with, shock type and car, and the type of driving it was used for, and setup if anything other than stock was used.

BTW, im running a staggered setup on square tires, currently 255/35 and 245/45, the fronts i run as thin as 225, up to 245, and try to stay with 255s out back.
TIA...

 

[hcaleman]

FWIW, guys ***** and moan all the time that the Bilstein Sports for the e36 M3 (they didn't make HD for the M) are valved too stiff on the compression side. I have them in my car and they are stiff, but don't think they are jarring like many exaggerate them to be. Not sure if the case is the same for the E46 app. Tokico HPs and KYB's GR2s are more of an OEM replacement type shock, have used both on other vehicles as cheap stock replacements, I would scratch these from your list.

Of the ones you have list the Bilstein Sport is the most "performance" oriented and likely going to be the stiffest (no clue on the sachs, aren't they also more oem spec). With the weight you are throwing throwing around back they may be good, but in general I'd assume your car will lean towards snap oversteer. You are going to leave the front struts alone?

 

[Snik]

good deal, so one for Koni Blues one for Bilstein Sports. i really am leaning towards those two, but im not sure the difference between the sport and the HD and which would be better for my application. Do you think the extra stiffness and the weight of my trunk, will be too much for our crappy roads?

BTW, the blues i saw are the non adjustable ones, and added more info on car.

 

[hcaleman]

The sports will be more aggressive than the HDs on the bilstein side of things. I don't really have experience with konis, but I have heard their customer service is decent (as is ground controls) for bouncing some questions off of.

Should be fine for our roads, I never head out to the VA beach part of 264 though where it gets really bad.

 

[Snik]

im gonna be on that think daily in a the next few weeks, but ther eis always 664. i think those heavy as RFT 255s are a part of the problem, but hell, no spare, no choice. lol

 

[SpeedDemon]

My vote goes to Koni S/A Externally Adjustable rear dampers from TC Kline Racing. They're externally adjustable compared to normal Koni Sports which are not (in the rear at least).

Also, you should probably think about whether it is really compression or rebound damping that you actually need more of. You may think that you need more compression damping but you are probably confused because it is rebound damping that controls the car's sprung weight. Because you've added weight to the car's trunk, it would likely be advantageous for you to be able to add more rebound damping compared to the front of the car.

 

[Snik]

^ those are out of the budget. ANy recommendations withing the budget?

while the upsprung weight has increased since i started running rRFT, ive always felt the compression damping was inadequate.
I track my motorcycle and setup my own suspension, so ive got a pretty good idea whats going on. once i get my GoPro in im gonna record the wheel as i go down the crappy ass HWY and see if i see anything new, but ive always felt the rebound was adequate and the compression inadequate on the cupkit rear end. Low and high speed compression damping.

 

[shady3one3]

bilstein hd all the way

 

[bigjae1976]

Did you check the rear shock mounts?

 

[Snik]

Thanks Ashley. I thought I had this conversation with you before but couldn't find the PMs.

RSM are from RE, they're solid and good to go. Speaking of, is there anything I should get for the RSM when replacing the shocks that the shocks might not come with? Any funky gaskets or seals or stuff like that?

 

[Snik]

My vote goes to Koni S/A Externally Adjustable rear dampers from TC Kline Racing. They're externally adjustable compared to normal Koni Sports which are not (in the rear at least).

Also, you should probably think about whether it is really compression or rebound damping that you actually need more of. You may think that you need more compression damping but you are probably confused because it is rebound damping that controls the car's sprung weight. Because you've added weight to the car's trunk, it would likely be advantageous for you to be able to add more rebound damping compared to the front of the car.

been thinking about what you said, and now that i re-read what you said and think about it, you may be right, my high speed rebound damping may be too much, or not enough and making the rough stuff pack it in on the upstroke, not to mention heavier RFT adding to the upsprung weight. whatever it is tho, with my budget, i dont think that i will be able to address that issue at all for the priceline im aiming for, so with that i'll still aim for a cheap shock with increased compression damping and hopefully the rebound damping is better also and i can benefit there too

 

[bigjae1976]

Oh yeah, you got the JL setup with the blue FG exo-skeleton. That thing must be super heavy.

I'd go with the Bilstein HDs.

 

[Snik]

Oh yeah, you got the JL setup with the blue FG exo-skeleton. That thing must be super heavy.

I'd go with the Bilstein HDs.

The blue FG what? What's that?

 

[bigjae1976]

The blue FG what? What's that?

I guess I got the wrong guy then.

 

[hcaleman]

FG is fiberglass I assume, then he might have the right guy. Can't remember if it's blue though.

 

[Snik]

Its blue, its fiberglass, but its not an exoskeleton at all. I'll post a pic when I get home.

 

[Snik]

Its blue, its fiberglass, but its not an exoskeleton at all. I'll post a pic when I get home.

 

[Snik]

pics of the setup...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=857132

 

[bigjae1976]

Yeah, that's it. I saw the build thread with the MDF skeleton and FG on top. Pretty sick.

 

[Snik]

yeah, i love the damn thing. The 300/4 took a crap on me and i finally broke down and paid to have it sent to JL for repairs.
so once it gets back, i wanna do this shock thing real wuick and put her back in the trunk.

Im still trying to figure out the best way to run a ipod on the setup tho. Tapping the RCAs form the PS2 makes it VERY low, and i dont want to remove the changer since the HU doesnt play any disks at all, neither do i want to remove the Navi, because i wanna switch it to a DVD based unit in the future.