Hi,
Niks I see your selling your Bilstein shocks. I have dropped my W124 40mm & I was looking to upgrade my shocks but you mention that the Bilstein's don't work well with a 40mm drop, (or Sportline maybe?) (sorry a little tired)
What were the problem's you had?
I would have replied on your classified Ad but i was not aloud (something about privilages)
Hi mate,
I had a talk with a few people regarding these B4 Bilstein shocks and thats including Eibach (as I have the Pro Kit Springs), Bilstein themselves and also a few motorsport outlets who have experience in using Bilstein and Eibach setups.
All of them said the same thing, B4's are a general upgrade to the standard MB Shocks which were made by Boge/Schachs (I think). The honest answer was "they are not designed to work with lowering kits down to 40mm in the first place, as these have a longer piston stroke. You are infact asking the shocks to work out of their range so the chances of a blow out or a failed shock is far greater. B4's are designed to work with standard height MB Springs but also have a head room to cope with 20mm drops as with every mercedes model, options vary (engine weight, A/C and so on...) and also the coil shims (8mm to 23mm for the W124 models). By asking the shocks to work out of their optimum range, this has a significant impact on damping and rebound rates which can lead to poor handling performance. This is precisely why the B6 and B8 dampers exist, which were designed for lowering/sport setups".
Well I had no grounds to argue on that one which made perfect sense.
"As you suffer rubbing on your front arches, I can only suggest you have a look at your coil shims and verify what numbers they are. You may need to install bigger ones to cure this problem. By raising the front end, depending by how much of course, you may notice better performance from the shocks as they could well then operate back within their optimum range. Please note that there is no simple plug and play solution when it comes to lowering cars by using different combination products/manufacturers, but only when you purchase complete kit systems such as the B8 Kit. Other options available to contribute to a better driving experience is by using upgraded sway/antiroll bars."
I agreed to that.
So from what I figure, it all depends on how you drive and what handling characteristics you are after. It varies on every car, what might work well on one car, may not necessarily work well on another. Every driver/owner has their own opinions and reasons, some may like the drive smooth and some may like it rough, for normal roads or for the track. Its a fine line balance to get right.
All I can say is experiment and find out what works well for you, its a trial and error territory. For me it was the case of installing 23mm shims up front and 18mm shims in the rear to make the B4's work well with the Eibach Springs...for my liking. Im actually saving for the B8 dampers now.
When the weather is better, I'll take a picture of my car so you can see the difference in the stance and overall look from before/after.
I hope that helps?
