BigAl1

Thanks for the info guys. I'm close to ordering my first group of parts, so finalizing my shopping list.

ROG100

Bilsteins come complete with the lower spring perch and adjusting nut. The threaded sleeve is an itegral part of the shock

Rob Edwards

BIMMERMIKE

Will you use stock or Eibach springs ?

blown 87

Manfred

Are stock springs still available new? That is to say, are people replacing 20yr old 80K stock springs with new stock springs and then mating those with Bilsteins or if going the stock spring route is one forced to stay with what's on the car?

ROG100

As far as availability some are - however figure $300 to $400 each new.
That is why Eibachs are so good - low price and excellent on the street ride wise IMOO.

Original springs tend to sag with age - much like me 8>).

A lot of owners in Australia have springs made by a local company to their own specs.
They could probably make some with stock settings.

blown 87

Roger can you give us some guidance on which springs are what, I think PET list 3 for a 87.

ROG100

My pleasure Greg,

Fronts - only one choice was/is available - 928 343 511 09 404 Brown $317 each.
The only other choice for the front was 928 343 511 12 504 Orange. This was the CS (Club Sport) spring and currently not available (probably NLA).

Rears - there used to be three choices but these all supercede to one number 928 333 531 14 304.
These are available (11 left in Germany) and $444 each.

Hope that helps.
Roger

blown 87

So we have the normal non sport package springs or springs that are much stiffer than stock.
That leaves us with 3 choices, the Ebachs, the very high $$ stock springs or some high dollar made to spec springs.
Thanks Roger.

ROG100

Greg,
That is about it.
Some of the guys in the UK are coming up with new shocks and springs but not really for street use as far as I can see.
Roger

BigAl1

I'm leaning toward Bilstiens with my stock springs. Every other possible wear item in the suspension is being R&R'd, so should go with a nice setup for street and touring.

dr bob

If there's a critical mass of owners who want new stock springs, reality is that getting coils springs made is not a huge challenge. Like any other effort, you pay a setup charge and then a per-fiece cost for actual production. As Mark A shared with us with the Eibach purchase, if there are a bunch then the per-piece cost goes down.


There is always the option that Carl offers, where you use different perches, with very standard and relatively inexpensive std size race coils.


The WSM and tech-specs books give us the free length and the rates on the various original offerings. I have the ones I took out of my S4 for the Eibachs, and should compare them to the spec book free-length dimensions just t see how they "measure up" after twenty-some years of holding the car up. We have the wire size, number of turns, coil diameter, and free length. Believe it or not, these numbers are pretty much all you need to get new springs made.

blown 87

If you could do that it would be great.

jcorenman

An interesting thread, and a very thoughtful comment, Wally.

I find myself in disagreement with most of the posters here, that Eibach springs are too stiff for touring. That's how our GT is set up, Bilsteins + Eibach's, and we really like how it handles. It is firmer than our S4 (with stock suspension), both spring rate and damping-- but not objectionably so.

But we're also running 17" wheels, with Sumi HTRZ-III's with about 33 psi all around, which they seem to like. The last thing we did was fit a pair of Ott-links to the rear, to stiffen the rear sway bar-- which we really like. No more "push" on turn-in and neutral through the corners, a real treat on twisty roads.

The ride is a bit stiffer than our S4, but it handles better-- the S4 suffers from initial understeer and a feeling of "heaviness". And we've taken both cars on plenty of long trips, the GT more so lately. There has only been one road recently where I would have traded for the S4 (or better yet a Caddy), that was US287 from Fort Collins to Yellowstone on the way back from SITM-- they had the road torn up for about 10 miles over the top of the ridge, down to dirt and potholes with a 25mph limit. But in the twisties, on pavement, there is no comparison.

The second-worst road we've met has to be Orangethorpe in Anaheim, and I can understand Greg B's comments.

I've also had the pleasure of riding in Dan's car, and it is very sweet-- Bilstein's plus stock springs is certainly a good combination, no argument there. But I am not sure I would trade it for our setup, for the kind of driving that we like.

This is a case where there are no wrong answers, just agreeable differences and personal preferences.