Bilstein B16 Damptronic Coilovers

[//steve\\]

Originally Posted by aus

I have the RS2 no reservoir units from APEX Racing here on the boards.
It's not terrible but didn't expect the noise.
.

Originally Posted by kyippee

Interesting. Thanks foe Shaw ring; sounds like an issue with their older gen then!

I wouldn't even assume there is necessarily anything wrong. Could just be some kind of minor install error/issue.

Make sure the top hats are on tight enough. I just switched to MCS 2-way and I have some new noise and I'm 100% sure it's the new endlinks I had to get. Could be easily to blame the shocks but I know they aren't the problem.

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by wyatth

If anybody is replacing ZCP shocks/springs, I’d love a direct comparison!

I'll be going from ZDC shocks & H%R Sport Plus springs to these hopefully end of next week. Waiting on camber plates to arrive

[W12x]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

I'll be going from ZDC shocks & H%R Sport Plus springs to these hopefully end of next week. Waiting on camber plates to arrive

I remember seeing you posting about Ohlins RT as well, have you tried that setup before?

[TrickTizzle]

Which camber plates are y'all running?

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by TrickTizzle

Which camber plates are y'all running?

I went with Ground Control Street camber plates for OEM spring design.

[6ixSpd]

Hey guys, so i installed my fronts last night and noticed something different.

My kit did not include these OEM style adapters for the stock front strut connection:



To those that have this kit, did you have this part? How did you connect the Bilstein strut wiring to the stock EDC dome cap connector?

Mine was a much different shape and I had to remove the stock connector from the dome cap to make it work. Trying to see if I got sent the wrong adapters or if they've updated it to this new style that doesn't plug into the plastic strut dome housing... Everything works and I'm thrilled with how they've handled on a my local test road.

[M4_GTS]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

Hey guys, so i installed my fronts last night and noticed something different.

My kit did not include these OEM style adapters for the stock front strut connection:



To those that have this kit, did you have this part? How did you connect the Bilstein strut wiring to the stock EDC dome cap connector?

Mine was a much different shape and I had to remove the stock connector from the dome cap to make it work. Trying to see if I got sent the wrong adapters or if they've updated it to this new style that doesn't plug into the plastic strut dome housing... Everything works and I'm thrilled with how they've handled on a my local test road.

The pic your posted is actually their newer style connector that directly plugs into the cars harness.

The one you got must be the older style that requires you to use the pigtail from the dome that plugs into your strut.

Bilstein is all over the place when it comes to these connectors. Its like they throw whatever they have into the box.

[6ixSpd]

Well that's fucking annoying. Guess I'll have to source the newer style connector over the winter.

[WagonR]

I got mine the middle of last week. I thought I missed the round of inventory at the start of July, but I guess there was a set hanging out somewhere. That said, the box had a rough journey:







Hoping to get a little time blocked out for the install. In the mean time, I'd appreciate anyone who could provide any measurements or pictures of the setup at maximum height.

[6ixSpd]

My box was roughed up too lol. It's packaged very well inside though.

For reference, 3 threads up from bottom sits at about the H&R sport spring ride height I had previously. This is where my struts were set to out of the box and I left it at that height to see where it would land and it's perfect.

I've yet to do the rears. Aiming to do them tomorrow afternoon. Will post photos and thread counts to help others in setting their heights

[WagonR]

Actually opened the box tonight. Was packaged pretty well, but for one of the front struts the top of spring got into a position where it lightly damaged the threads on the top of the strut. I should be able to re-thread/tap the threads since it was pretty minimal. Not ideal, but I'm not trying to wait on a replacement!

For that it's worth, I got the older EDC connection harness like you did 6ixSpd

Question - Is anyone refreshing stock components on the shocks/struts while they're in there? Top mounts are probably the first thing that come to mind. I know some run camber plates up front, but what did everyone else think?

[6ixSpd]

Finished the install and also replaced my tie rods with new units. Off to an alignment on Friday and then heading to the track on the 12th! I'll wait to post a thorough review after that covering my impressions on these on both road and track over the next week as well as install tips, and ride height/thread count info.

Originally Posted by WagonR

Actually opened the box tonight. Was packaged pretty well, but for one of the front struts the top of spring got into a position where it lightly damaged the threads on the top of the strut. I should be able to re-thread/tap the threads since it was pretty minimal. Not ideal, but I'm not trying to wait on a replacement!

For that it's worth, I got the older EDC connection harness like you did 6ixSpd

Question - Is anyone refreshing stock components on the shocks/struts while they're in there? Top mounts are probably the first thing that come to mind. I know some run camber plates up front, but what did everyone else think?

That's rather frustrating, but at least its extremely minor and a relatively easy fix. Depending on your mileage, the only stock component to be changed would be the top strut mounts. But honestly, they seldom go bad on these cars. Good thing too because they're so damn expensive lol. As for the connectors, it's not a big deal. I ended up taking the connector out of the domes and removing the large rubber grommet. This allowed me to do a cleaner install and tuck the wiring away nicely. I did put the dome caps back on to minimize dust entry into the camber plates...

Shameless plug: I have a set of used top mounts for sale if anyone is looking to refurb theirs without dropping the coin on new ones :P

[TrickTizzle]

Post pictures of the new ride height!

I've yet to install mine...

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by TrickTizzle

Post pictures of the new ride height!

I've yet to install mine...

GET ON IT! You'll only wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

I'll snap some photos tomorrow and post them up.

[irokwrx]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

ROFL, fuck that. There's a mountain of better wualiry and readily available coilovers for our cars for less than that. Bilstein is basically giving a big F You to the E9X community with this and I will never buy another product of theirs again. Let our wallets speak.

Ummm...change of heart.

[Lithiumax]

We installed these on our tarmac rally build mule and they went in fine, though the front plugs supplied are a little confusing and untidy, and of course ride height is adjustable as we all know. We found the range of adjustment far greater than advertised but we went for the following stance. In terms of DD suitability. If you DD stick with the OEM top mounts, we found that even 'street' biased top mounts increased NVH a considerable amount. With OEM top mounts they are a touch stiffer than OEM non-ZCP EDC dampers and springs, as we could predict by the stiffer spring rates but the damping is superior to the OEM units. It tackles hard knocks and fast transitions much better and overall a significant step up over the OEM units. The benefits are even more pronounced in the stiffer 2 settings. If you are looking for ultimate comfort then maybe the ZCP or non-ZCP OEM units might suit you better. We are finding that for tarmac rally applications this setup is just about spot on as when the weather and conditions on long format rallies like we have here in AUS changes, we can select a more suitable EDC setting in-stage, this has a huge benefit for stage times and probably the best and most cost effective solution for our application. Pure circuit cars may need something stiffer, but for us it's

[derbo]

what are the spring rates on the latest ones?

[Yea Boi]

Does anybody know where I can source the newer connectors, I checked ecstuning but I can’t find it or I searched wrong. Part number or anything would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Yea Boi]

Originally Posted by M4_GTS

The pic your posted is actually their newer style connector that directly plugs into the cars harness.

The one you got must be the older style that requires you to use the pigtail from the dome that plugs into your strut.

Bilstein is all over the place when it comes to these connectors. Its like they throw whatever they have into the box.

Guys, FWIW call your vendors who you bought your kit from. Tell them you got the old connectors making for a messy install and that your missing the updated front connectors for edc, or contact bilstein directly. They are sending me the updated connectors.

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by M3pnoy

Guys, FWIW call your vendors who you bought your kit from and tell them your missing the front connectors for edc, or contact bilstein directly. They are sending me the updated connectors.

I had no luck with this

[Yea Boi]

Originally Posted by 6ixSpd

I had no luck with this

That sucks, I think you need to be more persistent. I told them many forum members were getting the old connectors, so they asked for links of the post stating where forum members were getting the older connectors, and it also clearly states on page 10 of the instructions that it should be included.

[M4_GTS]

Originally Posted by M3pnoy

Guys, FWIW call your vendors who you bought your kit from and tell them your missing the front connectors for edc, or contact bilstein directly. They are sending me the updated connectors.

Here's the problem. Should just be honest and not lie about not getting the connectors.

Originally Posted by M3pnoy

That sucks, I think you need to be more persistent. I told them many forum members were getting the old connectors, so they asked for links of the post stating where forum members were getting the older connectors, and it also clearly states on page 10 of the instructions that it should be included.

Why would you reference this thread when you openly teaching ppl to lie about not getting the connectors and to call them up?

I am sure the connectors they have on hand is for warranty replacements and not to give away because members got the old style connectors.