ROG100

Over the past weekend I spent a lot of time with various of our parts manufacturers in LA. In particular I had a meeting with two execs from Bilstein. They were both well versed in the issue of non-delivery of rear Bilstein shocks and very embarrassed with the situation to say the least. They realized that in not producing the rears in an expedient way that lots of lost sales to the likes of Koni had eroded their business.
The problem lies with the lower rubber mount. The company making it went out of business and they had to reinvent the wheel. Now why that has taken nearly 18 months is anybody’s guess. Someone like Greg could of made these in a week while taking his time. However I do know how the Corporate wheel spins and it is always very slow. Still it was heartening that they were aware of the problem and where doing something about it even if progress is at a snail’s pace. They promised two months, but as I told them based on their previous multitude of promises, I/we am/are not holding my/our breath.

On a more positive note we talked about one of their adaptive shock designs that potentially could be made to work in the 928. Fairly simple concept and already in production. More suited to the street driver than the track driver. It would allow two settings – sport and comfort. It will adjust both compression and rebound. So with a flick of a switch you can change the settings. More to come as this progresses.

Danieldd

Thanks for the update Roger. I am going to need shocks this Spring and I'd like to have options, so maybe Bilstein will come through this time.

Not holding my breath, though...

Abby Normal

Thanks for your efforts on this! I'd really like to get the Bilstein set up on my 928 turbo and the parts are just impossible to find.

jpNcos

Yes, Thanks for your effort on this. Without people like you being the voice for our hobby / passion we would be left with fewer choices or none at all.

Hope it all works out.

vanster

Thanks Roger for staying on top of it
Van

heinrich

The next word from you on the topic, Roger, will be "shock & awe"

GregBBRD

The "adaptive" idea is great, Roger!

Speedtoys

Roger:

Id do an adaptive set if they are looking to measure interest.

kelanel

Im with jeff on this one, looking to refresh my suspension next winter.

kurt_1

Just for the record: I had sent all 4 shocks to Bilstein (Germany) to refurbish them incl. fitting new rubber bushings.

They initially (Oct 2011) told me about them being N/A and that they were currently testing the new bushing from another supplier. they estimated that they should be ready end of January 2012. I had no problems with that since my car is in hibernation anyway so I told them to hold on to the shocks until the bushings are available.

Last week I got a notice that my shocks would ship back to me Jan 21 with new bushings installed. So apparently they are ready to go and should also be able to deliver new shocks in the near future.

Kurt

ROG100

Kurt,
That seems very positive and in line with what they told me.
Roger

Alan

Roger - is this a mechanical switch on the shock body or a remotely switched electrically controlled feature?

Alan

Tom in Austin

The "adaptive" description sounds interesting ... does that just mean adjustable settings for compression and rebound?

What did Koni do with their FSD line, is that just a fancy name for adjustability or was there an actual technical advance in there somewhere?

SeanR

When Roger was telling me about the meeting he brought this up and instantly I knew it would be a huge seller. I want this.

Switch on the dash and bam, sport mode.

Rob Edwards

Mmmm, new button on the window switches ver 2.0. And there's unused RDK wiring to each hub in '90-'93 if there's electrical control required. Kewl.