I subscribe to Bimmer mag and in the latest issue,the editor says to a question from a reader that these shocks are so good,you will wish you had the from day one with your car.What do you guys think of them if you have them?

 

It depends...spirited drivers or people who track their cars may like it. However, some members here say they are too stiff. While I have been looking for suspension upgrades myself, I always take member reviews with a grain of salt. Same goes with magazine reviews. You have to look into the context on how they tested the car and suspension. They're comfort level or driving style may be different from yours.

 

^ +1000

Well said.

 

I've had HDs on my car for about 3 months now. To tell the truth, I'm not happy with them. Wished I've gone with coil-over route. They are stiff for daily driving. I can feel every pebble on the road. Some may like that, some don't. It depends on your preference. They do look cool when the car's jacked up.

 

Thanks for the feedback.My summer tires are low profile and I truly feel the road...and not always in a good way,so I will have to really think about whether I will go the stiffer shock route

 

Bilstein only makes the B8 for lowering our xi e60's. I had them and was not happy. Horribly firm ride for streets and commuting here on the east coast. I went back to stock until I decided I was keeping my car long-term, then went KW v3. The KW route is the only way to go via dampers for an e60 xi.

 

I have just had the Bilstein B8s fitted to my 535d but with Hartge Sport Springs (lowered 30mm) and I am nothing but delighted with the outcome.

Admittedly I did have FK Automotive coilovers on before (remnants from a previous owner) and they were truly shocking in every sense of the word.

I am running on 20's too with obviously the skinny rubber and the ride is more than acceptable on our less than perfect UK roads.

 

I have some bilstein hd's on my e39 and I loved them. Granted my cars isn't lowered but it rides on 18 m pars with low pro tires and I never thought they were too stiff. I like the feel they gave to me with my car. In my opinion I think they are a good option from my experience from them being on my other car.

 

personally I had the HDs on my 530i paired with eibach pro-kit springs in the past. just with the eibachs, the ride was similar to a stock sport suspension in my opinion. adding the HDs gave much less body roll in turns and curves. Ive never tracked the E60 when I had it, but I loved the way it rode as a "sport sedan", not being too stiff in my opinion but yes you do get more road feel. most customers we have setup with the bilstein HD shocks as well and have all had positive reviews and good feedback, even when I switched with a local customer when I put the E60 back to stock the customer said he loved my setup over sport suspension with H&R springs.

 

My 545i has 100k miles on it.

Do the struts need to be replaced at this time?

I've been more of a Mercedes owner over the years and I generally found that replacing the struts at this mileage with Bilstein's greatly improved handing.

Are BMW - OEM struts made by Bilstein?

I find it hard to believe that struts can actually last the life of the car so when should they be replaced?