Painful! But remarkably true...

For the 2010 model year (in Canada), I had no choice but to get an X-drive (they equipped all 2010 5 series with x-drive). Truth be told, I probably would have bought one to tackle our winters anyway, but after reading this forum, it may have swayed my decision!

 

did you order these direct from the factory or a vendor...

 

through a vendor. KW will drop ship them after they are made.

 

Acting on the tip from Jay, I've been doing some investigatin' into the Bilsteins. Here's what I've found out so far:

The system that fits the Xi with short springs is the Bilstein B8 shocks/struts.

I've found one vendor that is willing to ship and accepts paypal and CC, but he is not in Germany, so I'll keep looking for someone close to the manufacturer to get the best pricing. So far, I can get all four for a little over a grand US - that's shipped.

This is a straight swap for the OEM units, so no exotic work required.

No reported noise issues, like KW owners have - this is IMHO the more sedate option to lower the Xi, but do it right - not just the springs over the OEM shocks/struts, which can lead to crash and bounce in the suspension.

 

At this rate, we're going to call you the patron saint of Xi owners.

 

No one really knows if these shocks will be a good match since they aren't specifically designed to work with the H&R springs. You may thrown down all this coin and still have a bouncy ride. Too bad H&R doesn't make a cup kit like they did with my old VW. The cup kit had springs and shocks that were designed to go together and it was a killer setup aside from the lack of height adjustability.

 

just figure out the spring rate of the H&R and then the force dampening of the shocks and its easy to see if its a good match

 

They are made to work with H&R springs since the Bilstein Sports have a shorter overall length to match with the shorter overall height of the H&R's.

I have matched up H&R springs with Bilstein Sport shocks on cars alot in the past never with any issues! They are a great combination!

 

Yes, the vendor I spoke with in UK also said that my short H&R Springs should work perfect with the Bilstein B8's - I did ask several questions about this.

 

This is great news V.

I've already jumped on a local opportunity for V3's, and I'm hoping and praying they don't squeak, rattle and roll

If it turns out they are as bad as PTL experienced, I may look at this as a replacement option. At the time, I went with them even with the risk of being noisy cause there was no other option

Good to know our options are growing!