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Bilstein dampers

3K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  s.s.d.d 
#1 ·
A question for those with uprated Bilstein front struts.
Have yours got the large diameter piston rods, or just the skinny "normal" ones?
One supplier is telling me his kit has the bigger ones and the other tells me they are not avaiable for the 9000?
Bilstein's website has photos of both types, but nothing to say which is available for the 9000. I think the difference is bwetween the "Sport" and the "Sprint" damper, but not really sure.

Any "real life" information would be well received.
 
#2 ·
Hi Dave

If it's any help I have recently fitted the "Sprintline" shocks and springs front and rear. All I can say is that the struts look the same size as the originals Saab ones I took off.
I am changing back to standard as I find them too hard for normal use especially with 3 or 4 people in the car, although they have transformed the handling when getting a move on.
 
#5 ·
sounds crazy ? try clamping one more coil with a good set of clamps ive never come across that should be loads of space once wound down. ok so if the shocks are made to be fitted with a lower spring see if u can get hold of a set of aero springs ther 30mm lower then other 9000s but not as hard as the bilsteins??
 
#6 ·
I'm no suspension expert, but I suspect the biggest loads (transient ones, like when going over potholes, sleeping policemen etc) are provided by the dampers and not the spring? So if it's the transient loads that are the problem, putting the softer spring back on the harder damper might not cure it.

PS. I hope I won't live to regret buying these, (I haven't fitted them yet).
 
#7 ·
To be honest for 80% of the time I drive the car normally so I think a return to standard is the way to go.
When I started out what I wanted to do was reduce body roll and the pitching onto the front outside wheel when cornering hard. A change to poly ARB bushes helped but not enough. I was wondering if a strut brace might be the happy medium
 
#8 ·
Your right in what you say Dave pothole's and the like are the problem. When on a smooth road (yes I did manage to find one, just had to share it with a few 747's LOL) it was fine. I think ride is a very individual thing. At the end of the day the only way to know if a particular setup is for you is to try it. Unfortunatly this costs money, but there's every chance you will find the Billie's suit you
 
#10 ·
sorry some one told me 30mm
any way it looks like thers a lot of un happyness with these bilstein shocks as being to hard and as we no finding a road with out pot holes is a rare thing. is ther not no one whos got a shock set up that is better then stock but still gives a little comfort in our dogey roads
 
#11 ·
Originally posted by lizard:
[qb]sorry some one told me 30mm  
 [/qb][/b]
Lizard,
I think you've got a bit confused with a reply to an earlier thread about ride heights.
You were concerned about the 40mm drop that the Bilstein Sprintline kit gives. I replied that this is true for a standard 9000, but an Aero will be only 30mm lower, as the Aero is allready 10mm lower than a standard 9000.
 
#12 ·
Originally posted by dave225:
[qb]Bilstein's website has photos of both types, but nothing to say which is available for the 9000. I think the difference is bwetween the "Sport" and the "Sprint" damper, but not really sure.
[/qb][/b]
Dave, have you got an URL address for this Bilstein website, as I've been trying to search for one for ages without success....
 
#14 ·
Originally posted by Soulhand:
[qb][/qb]
www.bilstein.com seems to work for me. [/QB][/quote]

That's the USA specific site that the www.bilstein.de site links too. Knew that one already, was hoping Dave had found a link to an UK or english european site....


Anyway, from the US site and the Speedparts site, it looks as if the shocks as supplied in the Sprintline kit are the HD ones fitted with the thick dia piston rods, code numbers V36-4034 for front and B36-1785 for the rear.
The USA site lists a O.E. replacement shock for the 9000, under a Touring Comfort catagory, which is a twin tube shock, part Nos. VNE-4571-BE for front, and BES-2938-BE for rear. I suspect this is the thinner piston rod shock, but these shocks don't seem to be offered by any of the specialists in the UK or Europe.....?????

I think the problem of hard ride with this kit is the springs rather than the shocks, unless the bump settings are very high on these shocks, so, my plan may be to buy the shocks on their own and use the Abbott Racing springs as Abbott seems to have spent some time in developing their spring rates on the cars themeselves. But this was in conjunction with the, possibly softer bump settings of the Koni shocks....???

Oh well........
 
#15 ·
Originally posted by aeropilot:
Anyway, from the US site and the Speedparts site, it looks as if the shocks as supplied in the Sprintline kit are the HD ones fitted with the thick dia piston rods, code numbers V36-4034 for front and B36-1785 for the rear.
The USA site lists a O.E. replacement shock for the 9000, under a Touring Comfort catagory, which is a twin tube shock, part Nos. VNE-4571-BE for front, and BES-2938-BE for rear. I suspect this is the thinner piston rod shock, but these shocks don't seem to be offered by any of the specialists in the UK or Europe.....?????
[/QB][/b]
www.motorsportworld.co.uk has them. £73.76 for the fronts.

[qb]
my plan may be to buy the shocks on their own and use the Abbott Racing springs[/qb][/b]
Me too.

[qb]as Abbott seems to have spent some time in developing their spring rates on the cars themeselves. [/qb][/b]
Or so they'd like you to believe, anyway

The HD Bilsteins are about £130 here, but $140 in the US. Given the pound/dollar rate current, that's a *huge* disparity.
 
#16 ·
I've got the HD sport dampers (V36-4034 fr, B36-1785 rr) fitted to my Aero and these are standard length dampers designed to go with standard Saab springs - I'm using the original Aero springs. They have normal diameter damper rods (22mm me thinks) and are longer than the dampers from the Sprintline kit which go with the kit's shorter (-40mm (CS) or -35mm (CC)) springs.

Although I've seen Billies with the sexy thick damper rods I've got no idea which cars they fit.
 
#18 ·
If you search for this using google, http://www.bilstein.de/de/tuning.htm then click for the translated page, you get the closest I've found to an explanation of Bilstein's products, but it's still not enough to eliminate confusion.

My Sprintline kit has the V36-4034 struts, with 22mm dia rods, which I understand are what Bilstein classify as their B6 type.

You can download the "Katalog" from the Bilstein site, which gives these Pt Nos and lists the B8 type for the 9-5, which may well be the big rod type....but there's nothing I've found which explains.

Bilstein seem to have a pretty poor presence in the UK, because none of the suppliers I've spoken to seem to able to speak to them.

I'm pretty sure now, that the 22mm rod type are the only ones they do for the 9000 - but I'd like to be proved wrong.
 
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