Help with Suspension Refresh at 50k miles/10 years

[BMWCurves]

As others have said: standard rear Koni shocks for our cars are adjustable, but not externally adjustable at the top and have to be removed to be adjusted. Standard front Koni struts are externally adjustable and are adjusted easily with the included knob like in the diagram Sockethead (Rob) provided.

Having futzed with the rear shocks to get them the same setting before putting them in, externally adjustable rear shocks would be very nice. I don't plan to track often (still haven't even gone yet) and because of that, I thought it worth saving the money to just get regular Koni rear shocks rather than the more expensive externally adjustable ones slater (Peter) are mentioning.

[Sockethead]

Here's the pics:





This is what I was talking about with certain strut bars... Mine has to come off to change settings which really sucks

[Sockethead]

Here's the part number off the rear shocks



Someone was talking about how Bilstein sport is a shorter shock:



Both shocks are the same height mounted in the car. The Koni has about 2" protruding below the pinch mount

[AggieBlake]

Sweet! Thanks Rob. Very helpful. I have my eye on an M3 OE strut bar for that exact reason - adjust without removing the bar (just the cosmetic cap). Now to find those Koni's on sale. Probably have to wait till March for that.

[3ZHPGUY]

Check Tirerack for prices on the Koni's. It was the best I could find when I did mine years ago.

[BMWCurves]

Rob beat me to it, but the Koni part numbers are listed in the first post of this thread and are:

• 8741-1390RSPORT - Front right
• 8741-1390LSPORT - Front left
• 8040-1271SPORT - Rear shocks

Check Tirerack for prices on the Koni's. It was the best I could find when I did mine years ago.

Agreed. That's where I was going to buy them originally until I found them cheaper at a website/company I had never heard of called Race Consulting Agency who had them for under $500 shipped.

[ELCID86]

Good stuff going on here.


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - an e46fanatic

[Sockethead]

I took the car for an extended test drive after swapping the shocks. I'm very happy with the swap. The suspension seems much more compliant. I have the Konis turned all the way down for now.
In all fairness, the old rear shock mounts were punched through and the strut bearings were getting a little rough, I'm sure that may have been a factor on the old setup.
The beauty is that if I start to feel that it's too soft, I'll just dial up the shocks

[Lorenzo]

Rob beat me to it, but the Koni part numbers are listed in the first post of this thread and are:

• 8741-1390RSPORT - Front right
• 8741-1390LSPORT - Front left
• 8040-1271SPORT - Rear shocks

Agreed. That's where I was going to buy them originally until I found them cheaper at a website/company I had never heard of called Race Consulting Agency who had them for under $500 shipped.

I checked race consulting agency and prices on site are $190 each for front and $118 each for rear - $616 total. How'd you get for $500? Did you call them?

[Vas]

Awesome. Koni sounds like a good setup