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Where have you read the Ohlins R&T suck over bumps? The spring rates are not very high at F/R 343/686 lbf/in (f8x spring rates are almost 2x higher). You’ll definitely notice the increase in rate but it certainly won’t suck over bumpy roads. The R&T is a smooth damper and its single adjuster alters both rebound and compression damping so you can reduce damping to allow it to better absorb bumps or increase damping to improve handling performance/control. Out of the four kits you’ve listed, I’d rate the R&T as #1 for improved street ride quality. However, if you think the spring rates are too high, Turner and 3DM offer a street setup with softer spring rates and modified damping. I’ve been using the R&T with F/R 300/300 lbf/in rates on my R56 Mini Cooper S for more than a decade.
AST 5100 is a single adjustable (rebound only) damper. It comes with tapered front springs so the oem front strut upper mounts can be reused. The 5100 can be upgraded to a 2-way (5200) or 3-way (5300) damper. AST added a tapered front spring with a helper spring to create a street kit but I don’t know if they modified the damping to make it more of a street damper. Previously, this was their entry level track damper. I’d rank this at #2.
Sachs isn’t known for making aftermarket damper kits. There’s little information available about this kit and it’s never been popular even with its lower price point. Definitely stay away if Sachs said it’s been discontinued. I’d rank this as #3 even with it being discontinued.
Not sure where to begin with TCK. In 2012 I ordered a set of TCK SA with F/R 300/600 lbf/in spring rates for my wife’s e92 M3. This kit was so underdamped even with rebound damping maxed out that I removed it in < two weeks. The ride was so poorly controlled that it made my wife nauseous. Switched to a JRZ RS1 setup and it’s been great. It’s still on the car but we’ve since increased the rates to 400/700 lbf/in. TCK uses a soft spring tuning approach and it worked great on the e36 & e46 M3s. From my own experience as well as discussions with my track friends that have tried the TCK DA setup, the soft spring approach with using either Koni SA or DA dampers just doesn’t work well on the e9x and it’s much worse on newer generations (at least he’s stopped offering SA kits with the g8x). I believe from the e46 thru the f8x, the max spring rates recommend remained the same at 400/700 lbf/in (would go up to 500/800 if you pushed back but no changes to dampers made so it was pointless because they couldn’t handle the lower rates) - there was a large delta in weight increase between the e46 and the f8x yet the same rates and similar damping were spec’d…soft springs + light damping = poor control of pitch, roll and heave motions. It just doesn’t work on the street or the track. Almost $3.5k-$4k for the DA e9x to g8x kits is laughable when you consider the Koni dampers have been around for four decades! I’d strongly recommend not using TCK SA and DA kits. I’d rank this as #4 even with one of the other options being discontinued.
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