I’m hoping you might be able to help me with my suspension. I purchased the car with what seems to be a Bilstein B8 shocks and struts and H&R sport springs. I don’t know the age or the mileage on the current suspension components. All the descriptions I have read say that the B8 maintain a comfortable street ride while improving track performance. The car is my HPDE car and not a daily driver, though I do need to drive it to and from the track. I live in the Northeast (New York) and the local streets and highways are not in the best condition.
All I can say is the car drives wonderful on the track, but on the street it is bone jarring and teeth rattling. I cringe when I drive over expansion joints. I have asked my mechanic about it and he thinks this is normal given the setup. I’m just curious whether you have any experience with this setup and what I should expect.
B8's are "heavy duty" and would be very firm. I but B4's in my wife's 525 and they were firm.
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Check the condition of your bump stops, front and rear. Also, measure the unloaded strut and shock lengths, and then measure them with the static load of the car on the suspension, to see how much the dampers are compressed, and how much travel is left before you hit the bump stops.
Basically, you need to determine if there isn’t enough damper travel until the front struts or rear shocks (or both) bottom out. That’s a more likely scenario than the compression pressure of the Bilsteins being too firm to soften out the bumps.
-rb
Seeing that you are in NY, I would say that what you are experiencing is normal. I had H&R Race springs with B8 on my e36 and it was unbearable for street driving.
Unbearable is how I would describe it as well. I just installed BC Racing Coilovers BR series and dumped the H&R/Bilstein combo. They were of unknown age on the car when I bought it. Given that the powder coat was flaking and they were starting to show rust meant they were past their prime. What a difference. Easy to dial up soft (relatively) for the street. I no longer cringe driving on the street. I can't wait until the track season opens again.
I have no idea why people still use B8's. Their damping force ramps up incredibly high, making the ride quality only tolerable if you have very tall tire sidewalls to act as a second spring. Not a performance damper at all, the car will skip over curbs if you try to use them on track.
For the money, you did good with BC's. Keep them soft as you do now and it'll keep the tires happy on track too.
Op - what kind of car / chassis?
I lean towards that agreement above. You need a stiff spring for them, and they raise ride height.
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