Bilstein height settings?

[Jon K]

I have heard people say that the Bilstein sport struts have two adjustable settings for the rears of our cars.

My sisters car has Bilsteins/H&R and is higher than my car is in the rear. I have Bilstein/H&R and my drag wheels are rubbing and I need to know if I can raise the car. Is it true that these struts/suspensions have 2 settings or no? If so, anyone have a picture of what they're talking about when they say they have two spots? Thanks all

[Tiger]

No... never heard of it. I installed mine with Eibach... Bilstein Sport. How much bigger is your drag wheel compared to factory size? You probably need to get M-tech rear springs to raise it up higher for your use.

Rear spring rate is practically same for all 5 series... just the front is different depending on engine size. Or call up Eibach and see if they can come up with something for you.

[Jon K]

I could just throw my stock springs back in. The tire is 26" OD, but its almost 11" wide.

[632 Regal]

give the stockers a go and measure the height now and after you put them in. I had spring pad spacers made as the eibachs were a bit low for my taste, went with .75 inch spacers and good to go.

[Jon K]

I hear the bilsteins are adjustable - now im just confused

[repenttokyo]

I hear the bilsteins are adjustable - now im just confused

they are not adjustable.

[Jon K]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/talagangAZN/IMG_2690.jpg

Guy on BF.C posts that saying his have adjustable positions for the lower spring perch

[repenttokyo]

my rear bilstein sport shocks, which were installed last month, do not have an adjustment. do what you will with that knowledge. i guess it's up to you who you want to believe...

your sister's car might be higher because she kept the bumpstops, or only trimmed them instead of removing them.

[Tiger]

Call Bilstein up to confirm.

[bimmerd00d]

I remember when i got Bilstein Sports waybackwhen. BimmerNutEd told me they'd have adjustments like his 535i did, and so did Patrick @ BMA. When i got them there were no adjustments. It looks like either they used to do it, or just not for our 525i's.

[Ross]

How about making up a spacer for the top mount?

[Bill R.]

I assume they are rubbing on the sides not the top?
After looking around a bit, it seems that you don't have to roll them with a baseball bat, Tirerack evidently rents a tool now... Here (http://www.bmwdiy.info/fender-rolling/index.html)

[e345spd]

I've heard/seen that the perch on bilstein rears can be moved from one slot to another, looked almost like a snap ring, look for a slot in the body of the shock ( a little above or below your spring perch), should look just like the one the perch is in now.

[Tiger]

No snap ring can withstand the forces of the springs. I think that picture shows the difference between the standard HD Bilstein and the Sport Bilstein. And from there, someone thought it is adjustable.

Even the length of that shock valve body is totally different. One is much longer than the other.

[Jon K]

I assume they are rubbing on the sides not the top?
After looking around a bit, it seems that you don't have to roll them with a baseball bat, Tirerack evidently rents a tool now... Here (http://www.bmwdiy.info/fender-rolling/index.html)

thanks bill it actually needs to be rolled all around. More of a roll/pull. I think my RSM is failed and thats why the one side is lower than the other. I could see if we could make a simple 1/4" aluminum plate to move the car up yet another 1/4" later, but for now the drivers side is perfect, the passengers side is low.

[e345spd]

I know it wouldn't be a normal snap ring, and i suspect that it is a retaining system to hold the actual perch, just look for the slots, and if it has them take the springs off so you can figure out how to move the perch. by the way, snap rings hold alot of car parts together, such as cv joints, ball joints etc.

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/images/bilstein2.jpg

[genphreak]

The adjustable perches are standard on Bilstein shocks for early 535s. I don't think there is much difference on any 5er, although they have esoteric differences with the springs and top mounts (excepting LAD equipped vehicles).

Perhaps all e28s (certainly 535) have adjustables perches. The snap rings make me nervous too. I think Mercedes have a similar setup on their older cars- sometimes you see them with collapsed rars- but then again, they proly have hydraulic rear suspensions and thus similar failures to BMW's older LAD-cars.