Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    San Ramon, CA
    Posts
    14

    Koni or Other Replacement Struts

    The subject car is my wife's 2005 ZHP sedan (sadly it is an automatic, but hey, I have my M3). The struts are leaking - no surprise for a car with over 125K miles. The shop that is maintaining the car gave a quote that included factory replacement struts at over $300 each just for the parts.

    The car rides about as firmly as my wife would like, so I'm trying to avoid any replacement that is going to be more stiff than stock.

    The shop's service advisor told me not to use Bilsteins. He didn't say why and I didn't have time to ask. So I thought about Konis.

    Koni STR.T Street Struts are available from Tire Rack and others for about $115 each. They're described as twin-tube, non-adjustable low pressure gas struts.

    Koni Sport Struts are also available from Tire Rack for about $197 each. They're described as twin-tube, adjustable low pressure gas struts.

    Has anyone had experience putting either of these struts on their ZHP? If so, how does the ride compare to stock? On the adjustables, how does the least stiff setting compare to stock?

    Sachs also makes a low pressure gas strut for sport suspension (the ZHP suspension is essentially the Sport Package suspension) for about $90 and a different low pressure gas strut for about $100 that is not listed as being for sport suspension. Are either of these even worth considering?

    Thanks for any input on these.
    Scott in San Ramon CA

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Hereford, AZ
    Posts
    1,081
    "Don't use Bilsteins"? Would love to know his reasoning.

    Your shocks may have only recently started leaking, but have probably been, for the most part, "dead" since about 50k miles. That's about all the stockers are good for. Based on your ride quality comments, I'd strongly consider going with Koni FSD's. Many here have them and I'll leave it to them to comment.

    '21 M2 Competition
    '08 Z4 M Coupé
    '19 Golf R

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Portland, OR
    Posts
    10,244
    A handful of people have Koni FSDs and say they're filled with unicorn tears for hydraulic fluid. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I have no experience with them, but they all seem to like them.

    I replaced my worn factory Sachs shocks/struts at ~50k miles with Koni Sports (Yellows) and have nothing bad to say about them. I have the Konis set at 3/4 turn from full soft and they are more comfortable than the worn Sachs units, and have better performance as well. I'm sure your wife would be perfectly comfortable at full soft or even up to 3/4 turn from soft.

    You might also consider replacing some other bits while you're in there. I have a thread on what I did for an "OEM+" suspension refresh that I did on my car where I wanted to improve on stock performance without sacrificing ride comfort:

    http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showt...miles-10-years

    My assumption on the Bilsteins like HDs is that I've heard they're more stiff compared to stock Sachs shocks/struts and most Konis that are adjusted to full soft, so not really what you're looking for in your wife's car.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    3,130
    Muh boyz is right. If you want comfort and handling, then you want FSD's. I've been driving my ZHP with FSD's recently and it is an absolute pleasure even on rough roads. You won't have the 'readinesss' of a tight suspension setup, but the ride is so worth it.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Leesburg, VA
    Posts
    1,209
    Have you checked out the Suspension portion of the forum? There are many shock & strut threads there:
    http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/forum...?99-Suspension
    2006 330ci ZHP - Silbergrau Metallic / Stoff Laser/Anthrazit / Alu Black Cube trim / Adaptive Xenon headlights / HK hi-fi system / heated front seats

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    4,903
    For diversity, I went with Koni Street STR and KYB in front. Very good setup, sport suspension, tight but compliant, nice. Too many choices out there, you are not tracking it so let your wallet help you choose.
    325i, 2005, 5MT, Silvergrey, leatherette, Sport package; CDV delete, KONI STR-T & KYB Excel-G, Weisslichts, Stewart H2O pump

    328i, 2010, 6MT, Spacegrey, dakota leather, M-sport packages; has a 330 intake but no tune - yet
    http://s900.photobucket.com/user/othibau/media/Junesig.jpg.html][IMG]http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac208/othibau/Junesig.jpg

  7. #7
    I went from OEM ZHP shocks to Koni STR.T and the ride was considerably worse. Worse handling and worse comfort. Also, the build quality was poo poo. If you want a cheaper option I would get OEM Sachs struts.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    San Ramon, CA
    Posts
    14
    We bought the car used with about 90K miles on it, so they may have been replaced once before our ownership. They've passed the "bounce test" just fine, so they may not be as good as new, but they've been functional shocks, even now with the leaks. Anyway, thanks for the FSD suggestion.
    Scott in San Ramon CA

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    San Ramon, CA
    Posts
    14
    Thanks for the Koni Sport recommendation. The shop will also be replacing the LCA bushings, the oil pan gasket (leaking) and motor mounts (failing), but the steering and other bits down there check out good.
    Scott in San Ramon CA

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    San Ramon, CA
    Posts
    14
    Thanks for the warning on the STR.Ts. Sounds like they'll ride exactly the way we don't want.
    Scott in San Ramon CA

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