Hyper_545i

Hello All,

I need some help from the experts here. I have an 04 545i with factory sport suspension. At 111k on the clock, I am in search of replacement shocks/struts. I am a little confused with the Bilsteins. Do I need the HD's or Sports? I know the valving is the same but the tube size is shorter on the Sports as they are meant for lowering springs. With the sport package, the springs are shorter. So do I need the sports or the HD's?

How are the Bilsteins? Are they an equivalent to the OEM package or mor harsh? Any input would be greatly appreciated. I did search but have not found a concrete answer. Thank you all in advance!

hks

been asking around myself too cuz im seeing shocks under different numbers. mine has the sport package so what im going to do is just buy the original one listed for it...found some bilstein on ebay reasonable price...just run your vin and see what part number you come up with on realoem.com

KyleB

If you have the factory sport package, you need Bilstein SPORTS. The HDs are for cars with standard suspension.

The Bilsteins are a bit stiff initially, but they should soften up over time. I have 20 year old Bilstein sports on my E30 that are still working as they should. I just put a set of B-sports on my E60 last weekend along with some OE sport springs I picked up from a forum member. They're definitely more firm than the OE Sachs that came off of the car, but I suspect that's more a function of my old shocks being completely worn out. I had Koni shocks on my old 325iX that worked very well too. Hopefully you'll get some others to chime in, but I think if you went with either Bilsteins or Konis you'd be happy.

good luck with the car, don't forget to replace your rear lower shock bolt when you do the suspension work. they have been known to snap if reused.

Hyper_545i

Thanks hks!

Thank you KyleB! Good Info. Exactly what I was looking for. I was going to ask about the Koni's as well. Which Koni shocks would you recommend?

KyleB

Whatever the Bilstein sport equivalent for Koni is what you want to look into. Price-wise they're both on part with one another. I had good experiences with both, although I only drove my iX for about a year with that setup before I sold it. IMO you simply can't go wrong with Bilsteins.

If you decide to DIY and you have questions, feel free to post or PM me. I just got done doing this less than a week ago.

pcb5

Wondering about this as well. You can order the strut or the complete strut assembly? Whats the difference? I ordered the Sachs complete strut assembly, and only received the struts?

KyleB

By strut, you mean you received a shock only without spring, upper mount, etc?

If so, that's correct. You have to swap over all of your old mounting hardware, spring, spring pads, etc to the new strut. I've never seen anyone sell a complete strut 'assembly' with the spring and everything already attached.

keno75

How hard is it to swap out the front and rear struts? I just got my KW in and been thinking about doing the swap myself…or better yet, finding someone than done it already and get some help from them. I got about 60K on my vehicle now