Bilstein B16 Damptronic Kit - A love/hate relationship.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

I’ll see if I can find someone. If not, can you do it?! I’ll send the cable with a $20 bill haha

The cable is actually very robust. Kinda like a bicycle shifter cable. Like hard tubing.

Yeah I can look at it for you. Shoot me a PM if Bilstein says it's OK (or if you just want to go for it).

[melanthius]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Thanks!

How are the V3s? Are they easy to adjust in terms of ride quality? Also I heard that they run pretty low on the f80

Not too low to me, I'm still running on out of the box settings and the ride is very comfortable but superior body roll and nose diving compared to stock.

I've got a couple of spirited drives completed now and will probably start tweaking the settings after dialing in final ride height, corner balance, and final alignment settings as well.

I notice more creaking and general noise unless music is playing, so car feels a lot better under aggressive driving conditions, and a little janky/rickety when driving at lower speeds. There are some micro-bounces every time I come to a dead stop but the damping feels good at higher speeds.

[melvyn]

Imran has just had his new Bilstein EDC fitted , seams very impressed.

[hatepotholez]

any updates on this issue?

[clutchdj]

IIRC Bilstien did the same thing around the e9x platform and released them late. several of us including me have waited and waited for these for months. I just cancelled my order at one point and went with KW DDC and later coded to CS suspension spec and man they are great... but at heart I am a bilstien man. The micro bounces are exactly as bilstiens behave at low speed since they deflect at little as ~2mm of travel. Be sure to update the thread; I have a feeling they are very composed in comfort mode.

[jpy1980]

Car is fixed.

I ended up going with an unorthodox way of getting the matter dealt with.

I bought another set. With that new set, I just took one wire and put it on my car and now everything works perfectly.

The car is glorious!

I’m very happy but basically paid $4000 (bought it locally so got taxed) for a wire.

I’m waiting on Bilstein to send me a new wire and then I will sell the new set of Coilovers, I guess, at a slight loss. I don’t care, my car is working and my wife isn’t complaining.

Plus it handles like a dream!

I have one party interested already but we will see when I get the wire. Should be in a month or so. If any of you guys are interested, start saving your pennies!

[clutchdj]

great. was there any splicing involved with the stock connector --> to bilstien connector or are the connectors 100% plug and play?

[jpy1980]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

great. was there any splicing involved with the stock connector --> to bilstien connector or are the connectors 100% plug and play?

Nope. Just plug and play. Super easy.

When I got the new kit, I just lifted my car and unplugged the bad wire and plugged in the new wire and that was that. No more chassis malfunction or anything.

[hatepotholez]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Car is fixed.

I ended up going with an unorthodox way of getting the matter dealt with.

I bought another set. With that new set, I just took one wire and put it on my car and now everything works perfectly.

The car is glorious!

I’m very happy but basically paid $4000 (bought it locally so got taxed) for a wire.

I’m waiting on Bilstein to send me a new wire and then I will sell the new set of Coilovers, I guess, at a slight loss. I don’t care, my car is working and my wife isn’t complaining.

Plus it handles like a dream!

I have one party interested already but we will see when I get the wire. Should be in a month or so. If any of you guys are interested, start saving your pennies!

LOL that works! How would you describe comfort and sport modes? How about over potholes and crap. Thx

[two+2]

Anyone have an idea how to get the B6 EDC shocks Front and Rear in North America (Canada or US)?

Can only find it on the Bilstein Europe site.

Originally Posted by melvyn

Imran has just had his new Bilstein EDC fitted , seams very impressed.

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by two+2

Anyone have an idea how to get the B6 EDC shocks Front and Rear in North America (Canada or US)?

Can only find it on the Bilstein Europe site.

I spoke directly with Bilstein USA and according to the VP they plan to release in North America this Fall. Supply is pretty limited worldwide.

[jpy1980]

Quick update on my post as I had these coilovers for almost 2 years.

I recently had an issue where the chassis malfunction came back and due to the PTSD I suffered from the initial wiring issue, I immediately blamed the Bilsteins. Took my car to EAS and they took the suspension apart and checked for continuity and everything was fine. Put the car back together and it worked out fine. I guess a plug must've just come loose. I emailed Bilstein about this and they stated that most of these chassis issues are due to a loose plug.

In regards to the performance, I've always used these COs with the CS EDC tuning so YMMV, but I always found that comfort was too harsh and sport plus wasn't as agressive on track as I would've liked it. Having some body roll is fine, but when comfort is too harsh on a daily driver, that is what annoyed me the most. I recently got rid of my 35 aspect tires and put some 40 aspect profile tires and that really helped in terms of daily driving comfort. It actually make me like these coilovers all over again as I could live with them from day to day.

Key point to think about if you are considering buying these coilovers is to see what you really want from your car's suspension. Daily driving your car 90% of the time? Just keep your stock EDC suspension and call it a day. Making your car a track-ish car but like to keep some daily comfort? Buy some fatter tires and get a better coilover that has better spring rates.

If I had to do it all over again, I would've just kept my stock EDC with my swift springs, or maybe some OEM+ Eibach springs. Or gotten some static Ohlins with custom softer spring rates.

[yjypm]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Quick update on my post as I had these coilovers for almost 2 years.

I recently had an issue where the chassis malfunction came back and due to the PTSD I suffered from the initial wiring issue, I immediately blamed the Bilsteins. Took my car to EAS and they took the suspension apart and checked for continuity and everything was fine. Put the car back together and it worked out fine. I guess a plug must've just come loose. I emailed Bilstein about this and they stated that most of these chassis issues are due to a loose plug.

In regards to the performance, I've always used these COs with the CS EDC tuning so YMMV, but I always found that comfort was too harsh and sport plus wasn't as agressive on track as I would've liked it. Having some body roll is fine, but when comfort is too harsh on a daily driver, that is what annoyed me the most. I recently got rid of my 35 aspect tires and put some 40 aspect profile tires and that really helped in terms of daily driving comfort. It actually make me like these coilovers all over again as I could live with them from day to day.

Key point to think about if you are considering buying these coilovers is to see what you really want from your car's suspension. Daily driving your car 90% of the time? Just keep your stock EDC suspension and call it a day. Making your car a track-ish car but like to keep some daily comfort? Buy some fatter tires and get a better coilover that has better spring rates.

If I had to do it all over again, I would've just kept my stock EDC with my swift springs, or maybe some OEM+ Eibach springs. Or gotten some static Ohlins with custom softer spring rates.

40 series tires on 19 inch wheels? What are your tire sizes?

[clutchdj]

Thanks for the honest follow up/feedback jpy

[SteveChester]

@jpy1980 I've just sent Bilstein UK an email this evening as it's the same cable which has failed on mine - hopefully they can send one out quickly!

[slaughter.mode]

I just had these installed a few days ago @ EAS on my 2018 M4. Kevin helped me as well-he's great.

I can tell you compared to what I had (MPHAS on stock shock/struts) it is a massive improvement. Massive.

Yes, it's stiffer and that translates to harsher on 20s but the performance is incredible. I do have to say the 3 pre-defined modes are not as definitively pronounced as I'd have hoped but I've had them for like 200 miles. I need more time to really feel it out.

So my car is tuned with turbos/etc. pushing about 650whp and it really felt like it wanted to take off (into the sky) every time I punched it (before on the MPHAS kit). Now, however, it sits flat with minimal squat and no feeling like the rear end is going to break loose anymore. Cornering is obviously exponentially better at low and high speeds under de/acceleration. Road anomalies feel a little rougher but evenly so vs. the MPHAS sloppy response to crappy roads.

Also to note, they did bring it down pretty far. I told them "half way down the perch" and that translates to tucked tires. I have 20x10s in the front and 20x11.5s in the rear. The tires are Michelin PS4s @ 275x30x20(f) and 305x30x20(r). I have no issues with rubbing and no spacers. I am certian when I change to 19s that the thicker meat is going to absorb even more of the road harshness.

I've had zero electrical/EDC issues thus far (fingers crossed).

I paid a lot for adding all the bells and whistles to my F82 and I drove a KW DDC equipped F82 and hated it so I am pretty thrilled thus far.

[clutchdj]

can you post a side shot.

so there is no perceivable difference between c/s/s+...compared to what, that HAS kit?

How is the dampening; is there that never-ending bounce or is the ride tight but composed.

[jfritz27]

I also recently got the B16 kit installed (in combo with the Turner front thrust arm monoballs). I'm currently on my 245/45/18 X-ice's..... A few hundred miles racked up. Height not slammed, but rear tire is just slightly tucked, and I plan to raise it a bit. The ride is tight for sure. The only oscillations you'll be feeling is the road surface itself oscillating, because you'll now feel the chassis follow the contour of the road, dip-for-dip, bump-for-bump. I am somewhat concerned that once i get my back on my summer tires, the harshness will be a bit too much, even in Comfort. But I'm adjusting to it, and there is no doubt that, even with snows on, I can tell that body roll is significantly reduced with an increase in traction. But as others have said, there is a price to be paid in terms of comfort. My butt tells me that even in Comfort, it's still stiffer than stock Sport+.

Very excited to get these on track.

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by clutchdj

can you post a side shot.

so there is no perceivable difference between c/s/s+...compared to what, that HAS kit?

How is the dampening; is there that never-ending bounce or is the ride tight but composed.

I'll take pics today.

There is a perceivable difference but it's not as pronounced as I'd have hoped. I'm going to take it to the canyons today and will report back.

It is extremely composed and maneuvers over road irregularities like butter. The spring rate IS a good 20-25% stiffer than the MPHAS so you do feel the road but bouncy isn't a word I'd ever use to describe it.

[slaughter.mode]

Originally Posted by jfritz27

I also recently got the B16 kit installed (in combo with the Turner front thrust arm monoballs)...

I can't wait to get my monoballs. I wanted Turner pre-installed ones but they're not available until this summer (lol) so I just ordered up some Millway's. I'm also going to throw in some new lower arms, probably SPL because I want to really get this front end geometry dialed in nicely. Steering has always felt really sloppy on the F8x...probably the whole electronic steering crap.

[irunalot]

The B16s smooth out a bit with mileage, I'm at around 600 miles with mine and they are a lot better then when they were new. Much better then the MP-HAS, I was not happy with that set up at all. It has not settled as some of said but that may come with a few more miles.

[jpy1980]

Honestly the best combo for running these coilovers as a daily/spirited driving combo is getting an 18 inch setup with 40 profile tires.

I took off the CS EDC coding (reverted back to stock EDC coding) and got 18s with a 40 profile tire and now the ride is 100000000% better. Firm and planted when needed but civil enough in comfort mode that my wife DOESN'T complain anymore. Before with the CS EDC coding and my 19s with 35 profile tires, my wife would not get in my car.

I know changing wheels isn't in the cards for many of you, but it got to a point where I was not enjoying driving my car daily anymore. Taking off the CS EDC coding also helped tremendously.