Bilstein B16 Damptronic for F80 M3: My Review

[ntg44]

Hi everyone,

Considering there aren't too many of these on the street, let alone reviews of them, thought I'd take the time to weigh in on my experience of the B16 Damptronic with EDC kit so far.

***Background: TL;DR - Skip this portion to go straight to B16 review***

2017 M3, base (no comp pack), 18 inch wheels.

After 6000 miles, I had switched to Macht Schnell springs, and have ridden on them for a year and 2000 miles before the B16 Damptronic install yesterday. I will use the MS spring kit as a reference point for comparison, but I will try my best to compare to stock springs from memory.

As many others have complained, stock shocks have a very floaty/bouncy feeling. I'm no suspension expert, but my novice impression of the stock shocks were that while comfortable over small bumps and minor road imperfections, anything with a greater than a 2 inch elevation change going over 50 mph would cause this boat rocking feeling, with the suspension requiring multiple compressions/rebounds to settle again. This, combined with a particularly rigid chassis, regularly caused issues with traction control and rear end stability, and was not at all confidence inspiring for me.

After MS spring install, the car felt slightly stiffer than stock, but only to me who was the most familiar with the ride quality, and no one I had driven after the change to lowering springs complained about the ride quality - the MS kit really does feel as close to stock as you can get in my opinion. However, while it looked great, it was no better or worse performing than stock in my opinion, and I knew that I eventually needed to look into a kit with better shocks. I did not want to code out EDC, so that left me with the following options:

- KW DDC (was out of my budget)
- Tractive shocks (couldn't find any legitimate way to get these into the US)
- Bilstein B6 shocks (tried contacting vendors in the UK for shipping to US, but none responded. USA availability still TBD at time of writing)
- Bilstein B16 Damptronic - was in my budget, and I heard good things, so chose this system due to it being the only attainable kit that fit my budget and feature requirements.

With that out of the way, on to the review.


***End Background and Begin Review***

I've only had a ~50 mile trip home to experience the kit so far, but here are my initial observations:

- This kit is stiff. I am at roughly max height in front and about -5 -> -10mm from max height in rear. Comfort mode on B16 is somewhere in between Sport and Sport+ on stock shocks. Sport and Sport+ in my opinion are too much for the street. I'm on 18 inch wheels with Continental ECS tires with 40 sidewall, and it's not what I'd call comfortable. I personally wouldn't be able to tolerate this kit with 19 or 20 inch wheels. Also, if this car was my daily driver, I'd most likely be having buyer's remorse at this point. This may change as I recalibrate my expectations.

- This kit is PLANTED. What these coil overs give up in comfort, they make up for in stability and then some. It doesn't matter how big or small the road imperfection is, these shocks just eat them up and the composure of the car is undisturbed. Gone are the multiple compressions/rebounds and horrendous vertical weight transfer of the stock shocks, replaced with a single compression/rebound and constant grip. Haven't floored it much since I got it due to traffic, but when I did, I did notice the traction control light basically not flashing at all in first gear on bumpy roads. Pleasant surprise.

- The car has gained so much steering feel! I don't know how or why, but even in comfort steering, I can now feel the feedback coming from the road into the steering wheel. I used to complain that my R8's hydraulic steering (which isn't even that high on feedback) had more steering feel. But after I got home, I took the R8 out just to make sure this wasn't placebo effect, and I confirmed my initial observation. My M3 with electric steering now has more feel than my R8 with hydraulic steering, and any other car I've owned in recent memory. Incredible.

- Toward the last 3 miles of my roughly 50 mile drive home, I got a chassis malfunction warning. It was not a chassis function restricted, but it did read something like continuous driving permissable. However, my steering was locked to Sport and Engine to Efficient, M buttons were disabled, but I was still able to manually turn on MDM. I did not notice the shocks being more or less stiff after this happened. After getting home, I turned the car off, turned it back on, and the warning light was gone, and everything had returned to normal. I drove around for about 2 miles afterwards and the warning light did not reappear. Will monitor and scan the error code if this happens again. At this point not sure if install or hardware related.


To sum up, I would say this kit is definitely more track focused. Even on 18s and soft tires, I would find it difficult to daily drive the car with this system installed. There are too many other cars out there with fantastic OEM suspensions that are much more compliant for a street car, without the bounciness that the stock M3/4 shocks provide. My R8 Spyder for comparison, although 200lb heavier and much more expensive I admit, has a much more comfortable mag-shock suspension that has all of the stiffness with none of the drawbacks, and I would much rather take the R8 on a road trip vs. the M3 at this point. But this does not take anything away from the B16 kit, and at this point the kit is worth the trade off in comfort for shorter distance joyrides. Your mileage may vary though, and this could be exactly what you've been looking for.


That's all I have so far. I hope this information is valuable to anyone looking into this kit, and if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

[EvoFire]

I'm curious have you driven or gotten a ride on the DDC's? How are those compared to the Bilsteins?

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

I'm curious have you driven or gotten a ride on the DDC's? How are those compared to the Bilsteins?

I haven't, but would gladly meet up with someone in Chicago for a comparison. Slim chance of that though

[danchee]

Thanks for the detailed review. Looks like I'm going to have to wait until I can get some butt in seat time with it in someone's car before buying.

[FaRKle!]

The F8x Damptronics shocks are monotubes with larger pistons, and therefore larger piston rings/seals (friction surfaces). The ride may get better as the piston seals break in. I know on my passive Bilsteins they were really stiff with new seals until they wore in a couple hundred miles later.

If they're still really stiff hundreds of miles later, well they're just overdamped.

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

The F8x Damptronics shocks are monotubes with larger pistons, and therefore larger piston rings/seals (friction surfaces). The ride may get better as the piston seals break in. I know on my passive Bilsteins they were really stiff with new seals until they wore in a couple hundred miles later.

If they're still really stiff hundreds of miles later, well they're just overdamped.

My bluetooth OBD2 wireless receiver isn't able to grab the chassis error code no matter which app I use, so I ordered a Foxwell scanner...we'll see how it goes. Really hoping it's a front sensor, because the rear re-uses the OEM sensors and I have an extra pair of front sensor cables.

I have the worst luck with any non-cosmetic mods. This is the worst possible scenario that I was thinking of, and of course it happened. This is exactly why I don't tune my cars.

[domino_z]

if you want a suspension kit that is more comfortable than stock with higher quality dampening you need to bypass these consumer products like bilstein, h&r, kw and go tractive

i'm 15k km in with the tractives and the dampeners imo are the best you're going to get a stiff mcpherson strut chassis to behave on a bumpy b and c road - pair these up with a 19's for inner city (which i'm working on now as i put a loaner set on and saw the light) and you'll get M lite like daily driveability as well

i've had bilstein pss10's, ohlins dfv's, kw v3's in past cars and none have provided anywhere near the same comfort and dampening balance, they were all stiffer than stock in their quest for more balanced handling - which is the easy/cheap way to do it

[8_is_enough]

Thanks for the insights. These have been at the top of my list for a while.

My '16 non-ZCP is on Swift springs with oem adaptive shocks and 20"s. The car is gathering dust because the ride is too bouncy for my family, and I'm hoping the Damptronics are the solution.

[danchee]

Originally Posted by domino_z

if you want a suspension kit that is more comfortable than stock with higher quality dampening you need to bypass these consumer products like bilstein, h&r, kw and go tractive

i'm 15k km in with the tractives and the dampeners imo are the best you're going to get a stiff mcpherson strut chassis to behave on a bumpy b and c road - pair these up with a 19's for inner city (which i'm working on now as i put a loaner set on and saw the light) and you'll get M lite like daily driveability as well

i've had bilstein pss10's, ohlins dfv's, kw v3's in past cars and none have provided anywhere near the same comfort and dampening balance, they were all stiffer than stock in their quest for more balanced handling - which is the easy/cheap way to do it

If only one can order Tractive in the US. Every place I called that is listed as a distributor says they don't carry it in the US.

[domino_z]

Originally Posted by danchee

If only one can order Tractive in the US. Every place I called that is listed as a distributor says they don't carry it in the US.

i'm sure DSCsportJeremy can order them in

they're balls deep into the tractive stuff

https://www.dscsport.com/tractive-suspension/

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by domino_z

i'm sure DSCsportJeremy can order them in

they're balls deep into the tractive stuff

https://www.dscsport.com/tractive-suspension/

That would have been good to know when I was searching for these with no success... but oh well, not going to swap out now. If I can't get this chassis malfunction code sorted out, I'm probably just going to go back to stock shocks, buy a set of Eibach v2 springs and be done with it. I've already spent way too much on suspension mods for my own liking, and I prefer driving my cars than troubleshooting them. Only reason I went with the Bilsteins was because the kit is supposed to be "100% plug and play". I'm a little irritated at this point.

[domino_z]

I feel ya pain, I'm very into ride comfort and if it weren't for the tractive's I would have just sold the car

The stock zcp was uncomfortable in city and unbearably crashy on a bumpy back road

The issue isn't the springs, it's the sachs shocks, they have always been terrible, worse now than ever on M cars that have been developed on race tracks and not real worlds

Adding springs will shorten the stroke of the oe shocks and give you not only a horribly stiff ride, but also poor dampening

If you want a budget setup, I would buy the b4 (not b6) damptronic shocks and pair those with oe or eibach springs - the b4 is an oe replacement spec shock, so will be valved similar to the sachs, if not better

Google the part numbers, if they can't be sourced here, they're pretty cheap out of UK bilstein dealers

https://www.bilstein.com/int/en/blog...bmw-m3-and-m4/

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by domino_z

I feel ya pain, I'm very into ride comfort and if it weren't for the tractive's I would have just sold the car

The stock zcp was uncomfortable in city and unbearably crashy on a bumpy back road

The issue isn't the springs, it's the sachs shocks, they have always been terrible, worse now than ever on M cars that have been developed on race tracks and not real worlds

Adding springs will shorten the stroke of the oe shocks and give you not only a horribly stiff ride, but also poor dampening

If you want a budget setup, I would buy the b4 (not b6) damptronic shocks and pair those with oe or eibach springs - the b4 is an oe replacement spec shock, so will be valved similar to the sachs, if not better

Google the part numbers, if they can't be sourced here, they're pretty cheap out of UK bilstein dealers

https://www.bilstein.com/int/en/blog...bmw-m3-and-m4/

Yeah, thanks for that. I actually found out during my install that the rear shocks of the B16 are actually just B6 shocks. The rears are not able to be purchased by themselves in the US, but the fronts are (actual availability I'm not sure of though). My original intent was to buy a set of B6 shocks and combine them with my Macht Schnell springs, so if for whatever reason the B16 isn't working out, I'd still consider finding front B6s and run them all around.

[domino_z]

The b6 are part of the issue youre having with stiffness, buying b6's will not gain anything over the b16

The b16 uses b6 shock internals

It's the b4's you want to dial back the stiffness

These guys in uk stock the b4, pretty cheap once you remove vat, this was my plan b

https://www.hendyeshop.co.uk/bilstei...s-224661-p.asp

[FaRKle!]

The F8x damptronic B4s look like twin-tube shocks to me based on the PNs. I don't know how much I trust they're valved similarly to OE. I don't trust Bilstein much in general looking at how crappy of a job they did with F2x and F3x applications (they recommend the same damper and coilover PNs for a lightweight 230ix as they do for a heavy 340ix GT).

[Teeone]

Thanks for the review. I was hoping to hear something different.......

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by Teeone

Thanks for the review. I was hoping to hear something different.......

Haha well, luckily I was a guinea pig, so you don't need to be.

Was able to read the error codes. Looks like there's an issue with the left rear. Ordered a new EDC sensor cable today, should arrive Saturday. Will give an update once issue is resolved and hopefully an extended mileage review sometime afterwards.

Modding is so FUN.

[hellokitty]

Hopefully the coilovers will break in over the next thousand miles.

My coilovers felt substantially better over the course of 2-4K miles compared to when it rolled off the lift.

[Alan l.]

Could the chassis malfunction be caused by a faulty bilstein cable like another member here? He said that caused the car to put the suspension in full stiff state which made the ride intolerable.

I really hoped these would have been a good compromise of better handling and ride comfort but doesn't seem like that's the case base on your review.

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

Could the chassis malfunction be caused by a faulty bilstein cable like another member here? He said that caused the car to put the suspension in full stiff state which made the ride intolerable.

I really hoped these would have been a good compromise of better handling and ride comfort but doesn't seem like that's the case base on your review.

Honestly I wish that was the case because I have an extra set of front cables. But the diagnostic tool said left rear, which uses OEM sensor. Bought an extra OEM sensor, should be getting it replaced tomorrow and will update with my findings. I can also report that passive mode is borderline unbearable.

[8_is_enough]

Damn, hope they work out for you. Makes me curious about the KW DDC (and their $800 premium)

[FreeDarko]

Originally Posted by 8_is_enough

Damn, hope they work out for you. Makes me curious about the KW DDC (and their $800 premium)

Plus a few guys had failed struts within 2 years of use on the E90.

I'm not sure why Bilsteins QC varies so much when they are the OEM supplier for Nissan GTRs & Porsche for these type of suspensions.