Shock replacement

[BimmerFlyer]

What do people use for shock replacement ? looking for a stock ride.. Bilstein Touring or B4's? Sachs? ..Lots of potholes here in Ohio..
Strange thing, not a spot of rust on this car, anywhere, rear spring perch on the shock itself rusty/rotted off....
Pete

[Zedbimmer]

What do people use for shock replacement ? looking for a stock ride.. Bilstein Touring or B4's? Sachs? ..Lots of potholes here in Ohio..
Strange thing, not a spot of rust on this car, anywhere, rear spring perch on the shock itself rusty/rotted off....
Pete

I have b4 and eibachs, the front not low enough, 3 fingers fit, while back is great.

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[SpeedyE38]

Same here...no rust but the passenger rear spring perch has failed from rust.

Of course, I have a spare set of springs for the sport. Now, just need to line up a shop and the shocks to do the job.

[Zedbimmer]

Same here...no rust but the passenger rear spring perch has failed from rust.

Of course, I have a spare set of springs for the sport. Now, just need to line up a shop and the shocks to do the job.

Did mine myself with all suspension bushings, control arms and balljoints. Very very time consuming, but lucky for me the car was raised in Texas so the only rust was on my skills.

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[jdlbmw]

Can I replace just the front shocks with non-edc parts and unplug/disable the edc function only in the front? Or do I need to disable edc all around and if so, would that present any problems?

Looking for a more reasonably priced solution than replacing the edc version on a car that is probably barely worth twice the price of replacing just the front suspension.

Thanks.

[kouks]

If you're going to replace with Sachs, you might as well just use Monroe or Gabriel or any other aftermarket, they're all the same quality and ride (on my 740iL I had Monroe for about 80k miles and nice OE ride). If you go higher performance, it's all a preference. The strut will not adjust the initial movement of the car after a bump, it will adjust the rate at which the car stabilizes after the bump. Performance struts are great on smoother roads since they deal with one bump at a time. In the case of bad roads, the car does not have time to react to the first bump, which is then followed by other bumps, so the performance struts will offer a stiffer/tougher ride. I would go with standard shocks or Bilstien Touring if you drive on bad roads...but thats all subjective.

[stevick]

Modified from my post on another thread:
If you're interested in keeping the front EDC struts, I came across these on Amazon @ $679/pair shipped: https://www.amazon.com/AIRSUSFAT-Sus.../dp/B07QGQN383 They also appear to be the same as this Chinese supplier listing on Alibaba for ~$635/pair shipped: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32952985524.html? While neither of these listings is explicit, one of the other Alibaba importers of the item lists "Original Refurbished" on their specs page, so these are also likely refurbished. Looks like it would be cheaper than a Nagengast rebuild when considering shipping and customs. A one year warranty seems to be the standard. Some of the same Alibaba vendors also list the rear EDC/SLS units at a good price, but exorbitant shipping costs. Based on the origin, there is some risk as to quality. I'm not recommending, just offering it up as an option...

[jdlbmw]

Thanks stevic. My experience has been that you get what you pay for.

I'm cheap, but not that cheap...

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks kouks. I'm leaning towards the B4's. Just want to understand the ramifications

[BimmerFlyer]

OP here, I ended up replacing the rear shocks with Bilstein B4’s .what pain in the ass job.... front has B6’s on it that the PO put on just before I got it... never been impressed with the ride of the HD’s.. You would think that a 4500# 20 ft luxury car would drive better...you can feel every damn bump... might swap out the fronts for some B4’s and see if that is any better. Hell, my 2019 Ram truck drives smoother then what my 740IL does...it is Quieter as well..
Pete

[Old525i]

I concur with BimmerFlyer with the pain in the ass job description for replacing the rear shocks. These German cars are nice to drive, but when something goes bad, there goes a couple of weekends of work on them. I understand removing the seats and the back shelf for replacing the shocks, but the speaker box???, the C pillars??? and the fender liners???. Then there are the complications: like the speakers are shot, the C pillar lights crumble after so many years of cooling and heating cycles. I am looking for never having to do this job again. Ever. So it is Bilstein Touring shocks in all corners and a new front suspension. Plus a new set of 4 power steering hoses.

[BimmerFlyer]

Just to confirm, Bilstein B4 is the same as Touring?..i really dont want to spend the money on OEM Sachs, looking for an OEM quality ride..This is an Autobahn cruiser, for “spirited driving”I have an E24.... I can tell you for sure Bilstein HD is pretty harsh... they are coming back out...
Pete

[Old525i]

According to FCP Euro, https://www.fcpeuro.com/BMW-parts/74...=5&b=5&d=10&v=, Bilstein B4 and Touring are the same. The outside is painted in black.

[acspecialists]

I put B4's on my wife's 525 and they will not provide a smooth ride, they will be noticeably stiffer than OEM. I lowered the tire pressure to help dampen the small stuff.