koni, bilstein or other???

[llatsni]

Just bought my 1st bmw last week - a '98 e36 316i (insurance limits my fun ;-) and i love it.
Already i want to make some, minor, subtle improvements/changes. Suspension is the 1st thing that springs (pun) to mind:

Any opinion on Koni or Bilstein kits?

I want a pretty basic, not too lowered, not pushed if adjustable, full shocks and springs kit.
Are there others that are better or cheaper?

Thanks.

[Pinecone]

Basic setup that works wel is Koni or Bilstein with H&R springs. Lower, but not too low. Very controlled.

Have Konis on two cars, Bilsteins on 1 car and 1 Jeep Grand Cherokee. And in the past had Bilsteins on 2 cars and Konis on 1.

Both shocks are very good. Both last, and both perform much better than stock. Koni has the advantage of being adjustable, if you have the time and skills to properly adjust them, they can bring out the last bit of performance. But for most street drivers Bilsteins work as well and no fiddling.

For all out, go with TC Kline or Ground Control coil over setups. The Bilstein coil overs have very soft springs. The H&R coil overs are way stiff for the street.

[llatsni]

Thanks for the detailed reply, I think bilsteins may do the job nicely.

I'm currently mailing around for prices on the Bilstein B12 shock & spring kit, which apparantly is OE on the m-tech bmw's - anyone confirm or deny this?

bilstein B12 (http://www.carparts-cat.com/pkw/parts/Artdetail.asp?SID=21379385721451804&ID=16,304,50,0,1,1,1&NID=0,11,370&GID=190,171&HGID=190,171&VID=1710013420)

They are non-adjustable which is fine and they only lower 35mm front, 25mm back, which is to my taste.

[llatsni]

oh also, any bits that i really should replace while i'm tearing the suspension apart?

[Andre Yew]

You should consider changing the rear shock mounts to a bottom mount style that's properly designed so it won't destroy itself. The stock BMW RSM, even the beefier M3 ones, will destroy itself over time. The bottom mount is really convenient for changing shocks in the future since you don't have to tear apart your trunk after installing the new RSMs. I like Ground Control RSMs, but there are other good ones out there. Check out this thread, too:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86908

BTW, even with lowering springs (like H&R Sports), I didn't see much, if any, lowering with Bilstein sport shocks.

--Andre