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A previous owner fitted Eibach springs to my car, but the shocks were toast so I decided to buy Bilstein B8's with new top mounts etc. in order to get a fresh and matching B12 Pro-Kit. It's now assembled and looks great! However the instructions were a bit unclear:
It says to reuse dust covers and bump stops (except in front, where bump stops are integrated). If so, the dust cover inner diameter is too wide and rattling against exposed metal, which seems rather pointless for a dust cover to do... So I decided to cut the bump stops short so that it fills the gap. Is that wrong? Should I rather have left them off?
On those bilstein front dampers pictured the bump stops are not integrated.
They're only integrated if the shock absorbers are of the 'upside-down' type which are easily recognised by the very thick shaft, wich actually is the damper body.
Here is what I mean, the black part at the bottom is the integrated bump stop
In case of the ones you are fitting, you're best off by getting new OE (M) sized bump stops.
Last edited by hardtailer; Sep 15, 2020 at 05:55 PM.
On those bilstein front dampers pictured the bump stops are not integrated.
They're only integrated if the shock absorbers are of the 'upside-down' type which are easily recognised by the very thick shaft, wich actually is the damper body.
Thanks a lot for the clarification! Their website says of course "upside-down monotube technology available on select applications"... Should've listened to my gut feeling when sawing them off
I had B8's and H&R springs installed back in February and I researched this very same topic but I could not come up with a definitive answer... I even emailed Bilstein and I also called them but I never got an actual answer. I ended up putting new bump stops on all the way around and used ROW M030 rear. Whether that was the right thing to do or not, I'm not sure. I haven't had any issues though.
I had B8's and H&R springs installed back in February and I researched this very same topic but I could not come up with a definitive answer... I even emailed Bilstein and I also called them but I never got an actual answer. I ended up putting new bump stops on all the way around and used ROW M030 rear. Whether that was the right thing to do or not, I'm not sure. I haven't had any issues though.
They may make great dampers but their information isn't exactly user friendly. I would've assumed it's either bump stop and dust cover, or nothing, the partial covering in my picture looks strange. I'll go with the former now.
How do you like your setup and ride height by the way? I considered buying H&R springs in addition, mostly because they come with TUV-documentation for mandatory DMV inspection over here. Eibach was however very helpful and sent some extra papers that I will try to use instead.
Last edited by affin; Sep 15, 2020 at 07:24 PM.
Reason: errors
They may make great dampers but their information isn't exactly user friendly. I would've assumed it's either bump stop and dust cover, or nothing, the partial covering in my picture looks strange. I'll go with the former now.
How do you like your setup and ride height by the way? I considered buying H&R springs in addition, mostly because they come with TUV-documentation for mandatory DMV inspection over here. Eibach was however very helpful and sent some extra papers that I will try to use instead.
I thought it was strange too that I could't find the right answer. Mine are also partially covered and at first it threw me but it is what it is. Mine look very similar.
I absolutely love this set up. Perfect ride height, not at all harsh and I run 19' BBS LM wheels. This is the suspension it should have come with from the factory. This pic will give you a good sense of the ride height...
That looks great, exactly what I'm going for! Here's my "before" picture. The front tires almost dip below the wheel arch and I can't understand why a supposed 30mm drop would do that. If this upgrade won't sort it out I'll go straight for the H&Rs instead. Will anyway be installing their sway bars at the same time.
I had the same issue. I finally got a call through to Bilstein tech, with my shock part number and they confirmed that the B8 fronts do have integrated bump stops and to NOT install the stock ones. The rears are different and do not have the integrated stops, so need the stock bump stocks. I ended up cutting my stock bumpstops to hold the dust covers too.
I had the same issue. I finally got a call through to Bilstein tech, with my shock part number and they confirmed that the B8 fronts do have integrated bump stops and to NOT install the stock ones. The rears are different and do not have the integrated stops, so need the stock bump stocks. I ended up cutting my stock bumpstops to hold the dust covers too.
Interesting. So you say I made the right decision? The instructions included with the dampers are a joke, they seem to be generic for all models. I just got more confused by reading it.
Interesting. So you say I made the right decision? The instructions included with the dampers are a joke, they seem to be generic for all models. I just got more confused by reading it.
That looks great, exactly what I'm going for! Here's my "before" picture. The front tires almost dip below the wheel arch and I can't understand why a supposed 30mm drop would do that. If this upgrade won't sort it out I'll go straight for the H&Rs instead. Will anyway be installing their sway bars at the same time.
I'm interested to know your feelings after installing H&R sway bars. I've been debating installing them but wondering if they're actually necessary for a purely street vehicle.
I found them pretty cheap and decided to try it out, but it will be difficult to differentiate the effects from other parts of my suspension refresh. First impressions is that the H&R sway bars are very solid, significantly thicker and heavier than the OEMs that I took off the car. Bit strange considering that the competing Eibach kit is advertised as being light weight..
At least I decided to hold off adjustable drop links until proven wrong, they seem overkill on the "fast road" setup that I'm currently aiming for.
The shop that installed my Techart / Bilstein B8s cut my bump stops, they removed the 33mm that was drop, turned out to be close to what the Porsche M030 units are.
Snapped pics when they were going in.
The shop that installed my Techart / Bilstein B8s cut my bump stops, they removed the 33mm that was drop, turned out to be close to what the Porsche M030 units are.
Snapped pics when they were going in.
Awesome! And very similar to what I'm currently doing myself (albeit as a complete beginner), including the same 18" wheels that I'll be restoring with sand paper and spray paint
It does seem like most springs drop in the same (reasonable) range of 25-35 mm so I guess that the "slammed" look on the front of my car is due to completely worn out dampers or other components. Time will tell.
Would be interesting to see what yours or Sobriquet's front struts / bump stops now look like when mounted (can't really tell by your second picture).
I found them pretty cheap and decided to try it out, but it will be difficult to differentiate the effects from other parts of my suspension refresh. First impressions is that the H&R sway bars are very solid, significantly thicker and heavier than the OEMs that I took off the car. Bit strange considering that the competing Eibach kit is advertised as being light weight..
At least I decided to hold off adjustable drop links until proven wrong, they seem overkill on the "fast road" setup that I'm currently aiming for.
That's why I'm looking at the H&R sways. I have a C4 and it's my understanding that they won't require adjustable drop links like the Tarett or GT3 bars. I think you're going to like the suspension set up.
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Bump stops on B8
