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Thread: E39 540i Bilstein B12 Pro-kit review

  1. #1
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    E39 540i Bilstein B12 Pro-kit review

    Haven't seen too many reviews of the B12 kit, so perhaps I can add a little to the community.

    My 03 is a 540 M Sport, with 140k miles. Much of the suspension was tired, so far have replaced all the rear control arms, bearings, and now doing the front - center and both side tie rods, wheel bearings, thrust arms, and shocks and shock mounts. The outer tie rods and the joint at the idle arm were loose, surprisingly the front shocks still feel good, they could probably go another 50k, who knows. The upper strut mounts are a good design, at 140k they seem fine. The left rear shock has a mild leak which made me spring for the B12 kit.

    Compared to the Bilstein B8's the stock BMW sport shocks are about an inch shorter. The Pro kit springs aren't much different than the stock springs, apparently Eibach didn't feel need to change much. Hopefully the taller Bilstein doesn't cause issues. In no way would you want to use even taller HD shocks with the factory sport springs.

    Will post a review on the ride once it's done.

    03 front M sport spring vs Eibach pro kit:



    B8 vs M sport shock:

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  2. #2
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    Nice.
    The Eibach springs do look the same as the stock springs...
    Hopefully, Bilstein fixed the horrendous valving they have set for the E39.

    Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …

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    I got the front done today, didn't have time for the rear, but did a little drive around the block, the B8's don't feel that much stiffer, but will have to drive it more. The front dropped about 3/8". This kit may be a lateral move over the stock M Sport setup but I got the kit on sale for <$700 so springs basically free.
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  4. #4
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    Good stuff. Don't mistake spring length with rate of course. Same height/dimension doesn't indicate same rate...

    The HD struts def should not be used w sport springs but 100 guys make that mistake, or, the opposite (sport struts w oem stock springs) and then crap on Bilstein. So... Always hard to gauge how much Bilstein complain is legit.
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    Yeah, you'd either bind the springs or ride the bump stops. I am a little surprised the B8 is taller than the factory shock.

    With the work to do the rear a Bavsound kit seems in order. I like the factory Alpine head unit but the speakers are weak.
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    It's not just that - the internal valving on bilsteins is height calibrated/sensitive, so if the ride height isn't right they don't work well and can wear faster. Koni doesn't have that problem...
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    It's not just that - the internal valving on bilsteins is height calibrated/sensitive, so if the ride height isn't right they don't work well and can wear faster. Koni doesn't have that problem...
    Gotcha. I've installed the B12 kit on other cars and typically this kit nails it. The last car I did this kit on (a B5.5 Passat) handled well enough to autocross the damn thing, place, then comfortably bring the groceries home.
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    Going to start doing the rears tonight. Is this the generally accepted procedure? This dude removes the rear fender liners.

    https://youtu.be/vX6tWFO_trQ
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  9. #9
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    This guys instructions are ok until he pulls the fender liners. A lot easier to do the rear upper control arm instead.

    Need to get alignment, but short drive around the block feels good so far, tight and much more focused.

    At 140k all four original M sport shocks still have their damping, but one rear has a seal starting to weep.
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    Height notes:

    M Sport:
    Before
    RR - 23 1/2
    LR - 23 1/2

    RF - 23 7/8
    LF - 23 7/8

    After
    Rear - no change
    Front - both 23 1/2

    Front drops 3/8, rear no change.
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  11. #11
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    How is the ride?

    Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …

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    I've only done a couple short drives around the block, it needs an alignment, but so far it feels much tighter and more focused. I hit a few bumps and you feel them a bit more but not harsh at all. As soon as I get it aligned will post more feedback.
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  13. #13
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    E39 540i Bilstein B12 Pro-kit review

    Have driven to/from work a couple times now. This kit is a winner. Its not what you expect from Bilstein - the usual crashing hard suspension. The car rides great, handles better, less floaty, and now feels more like my E36 M3. It feels much more composed, and rides as good or better than the original suspension. Its not bad at all over broken road, and is almost less effected, it just tightly glides over imperfections. Yes, my original dampers have miles, but all still have their damping, so I feel comparison is mostly valid. I've done the B12 kit on several cars, with highly satisfactory results on all. I would totally recommend this kit as an alternative for anyone who doesn't want to empty their account on OEM aluminum shocks. A little bit of unsightly front gap is reduced as a benefit.
    IMG_1642.jpg
    Last edited by bostonaudi; 03-29-2017 at 12:31 PM.
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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by bostonaudi View Post
    Have driven to/from work a couple times now. This kit is a winner. Its not what you expect from Bilstein - the usual crashing hard suspension.
    Yeah - it's funny that Bilstein has that rep around E39 circles. My previous experience w/ them is anything but that, and I've had like a half dozen cars w/ Bilstein HD's or whatever.
    I've said many times it seems like they screwed up w/ E39 part specs to end up with such a crap reputation around here...

    Glad its working out... be prepared you'll have skeptics though - Bilstein Hate is like a religious calling around here.
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  15. #15
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    I have Billies on both my cars now, E36 M3 (PSS9) and the 540, both are a blast to drive. Koni's work too, but I don't think a Koni setup would come anywhere near how well the B12 setup works on this car. A well set up Bilstein suspension gives a much better sense of control over sometimes rather dead feeling Koni setups.
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  16. #16
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    Yeah with all due respect, IME generalizations like that don't hold up 100%. Konis seem to be pretty outstanding to me in most cases, but I've always had good luck w/ Bils as well - which is contradictory to what many guys will say... seems to me you need to be talking more about specific kits/setups to make a call. So many aftermarket suspension marketers use Konis and some have them valved faster or slower and/or dialed in for higher/lower spring rates... Most E39 guys will insist under pain of torture that Koni's are 1000x better than Bils for these cars... so... ya never know. Some of that chalk up to 'personal preference' obviously aka some 20-somedoucheyear-old who thinks a just horrible NVH and non-compliant bad ride is "SPORTY AND FAST" vs. some older guy who wants smooth comfort at all costs... people want different things so I always question empirical statements about suspension setups unless its truly about reliability or from someone who really understands the aforementioned and knows the difference between "a good setup that's just not for me" and "a bad set of gear".

    The one thing that is objective are the engineering design issues however and those are pretty inarguable aka the Billies are ride-height specific because of the internal workings and running the 'wrong ones' will be bad for the struts and bad for the ride and causes a lot of 'illegitimate' complaints...
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  17. #17
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    E39 540i Bilstein B12 Pro-kit review

    My comment of course was completely subjective. I ran a GC race set up with expensive DA Koni's on my E36 M3 for about 3 years, a great setup. But overall I like the feel of control with Bilsteins a bit better, and I've liked the feel of other monotube based sets up better as well. Koni is the damper of many suspension kits out there for good reason, as an off the shelf damper they work. One day I'd like to try a TCK DA setup on the M3. Right now I'm enjoying my cyclical Bilstein phase.
    Last edited by bostonaudi; 04-03-2017 at 11:38 PM.
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  18. #18
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    Yeah I have the TCK SA in the M3 - its great although they blew out at short miles due to some mfg defect, thankfully it was a known issue and TCK sent me brand new parts which went in last year...
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  19. #19
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    Hi Boston! Long time no see.
    Good perspective on the B12 kit.
    I’ll just add to the reasons people have issues with the Billys at lower heights is due to hitting the internal bumpstops during medium velocity, medium force moments. The digressive nature of Billy valvings contributes to the perception of harshness due to closed internal valve. (Into bumpstops with closed digressive valving)
    Still loving them?

  20. #20
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    Hi All !
    I'm new to the E39 world---I just bought a mint condish garage-kept '98 540i 6sp w 98,000 babied miles.
    The tires were either flat-spotted due to storage or way out of balance, so I brought it to a local BMW specialist.
    The previous owner (I think foolishly) set it up with "M5" sized staggered Privat wheels.
    The car had some wobble and rotational thumping so I'm having the offending suspension links replaced---he says most bushings etc are in fine shape and don't need to be changed--and getting alignment, balancing and new rear tires (showing steel at insides bc of camber).
    The car has very low mileage Sumitomo HTRZ-II all around, (wouldn't be my choice, though decent and very quiet and comfortable) but replaced rears with another pair of them anyway for consistent four-wheel drift breakaway characteristics with the fronts (I hope---because the HTRZ-II now has a new tread pattern).

    Anyway, while its up on the lift, I figured the original shocks must be tired (even though even with all the issues, the car still handled great on the highway and was incredibly smooooth over train tracks) so I ordered from tirerack a set of four Bilstein B4 oe replacement shocks/struts.

    I was considering the yellow-painted "harder" Bilsteins and swapping out springs, too, but because I hope to someday stumble into a great deal on a set of new take-off original BMW wheels that might have a larger rolling radius, I decided against lowering the car, and chose the B4's bc I felt that the B6 shocks/struts wouldn't be in their optimal range of travel with the stock springs.

    My questions to you guys are...

    1) They're still on their way shipping, so I can still change set-up---did I make the right choice?

    2) I'm pretty aggressive and have a decent budget for mods---but of course, getting the most "bang for the buck" is preferable since its a daily driver, street-only car.
    I'm hoping the original springs and B4's will handle nice and leave extra room for wheel/tire combinations than would have with lowering the car.
    I (think) my stock set up is non-staggered 20mm offset---I'd like to kick out the stance a little bit without risking rubbing anywhere.
    Is anyone familiar with a specific OEM wheel/model/year I should keep an eye out for...?
    Thanks! (maybe better in a different thread?}

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