The above is an advertisment. If it asks you to download software or create an account, please ignore it.
Site News - 7/9: Amazon Prime Deal: $100 Uber/Lyft Card for $85/$80! | 5/10: Members: Log In to See Fewer Ads!
[General | Members | C900 | 9000 | NG900 & OG93 | 93 | 95 | NG95 | 99 | Sonett | Vintage Models | Clubs | Other Cars | FAQs | Gifts | Member Photo Galleries | Member Directory | Classifieds | Manuals | *Buddy Registry | *Mileage Registry | Polls | What's New | Raffle | Photo of the Month | Sponsors]

9000 Bulletin Board
1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest]
(Search Author's Posts: e.g. Keyword:username)*Members Only

[Main 9000 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ | Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ] Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
500 Mile review - - > Bilstein Suspension ( l o n g )
Like This Post: - Subscribe to Daily Digest for this Bulletin Board
Posted by Diamond Dave (more from Diamond Dave) on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:31:44 Share Post by Email
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup

OK, it's been 500 miles since I installed my Bilstein suspension and I wanted to give a mini review.

Car: 1994 9000 Aero, 5spd, LeMans Blue, no TCS, Full 3" JT exhaust, 210K miles.

This is the 4th car I've owned with Bilsteins. My weekend car is a 92 Miata with the factory Bilsteins. The other two were a 88 Scirocco and a 84 Jetta GLI with the Bilstein Sport strut/shocks and lowering springs. The only difference between Sport and HD is that Sports are designed to work with a lowering spring.

I purchased the Bilsteins through ScanWest in Seattle, WA. Great guys to deal with. I did the front upper strut bearings at the same time. Parts costs were: $135 apiece for the fronts, $77 apiece for the rears, and $115 apiece for the strut bearings. BTW, the front struts are the entire strut assembly, not just a strut insert; very exciting to see that much yellow under there.

Front strut R&R was straightforward. remove the bolts on the top and the two on the bottom. Unbolt the brake line bracket, go to the spring compressor, compress spring, put the spring and new strut bearing on the strut assembly.

Rears were odd. I had to cut an opening in the interior liner to access the shock mounting bolts. Other than that, quite straightforward.

First drive impression: what have I done?! The ride was so horrible and harsh I was mentally shopping for a set of Boges. How could my precious Bilsteins be doing this to me? The feeling wasn't much different than the blown suspension I replaced, with the exception that at least I felt like they were controlling the car; just harshly so.

Fastforward to ~500 miles later and I couldn't be happier unless I were twins! Still a firm ride, but just butter smooth most of the time. Bilsteins typically like to handle the rough stuff with some speed and they protest going slowly (just think how would a rally drive go through these railroad tracks). The only time I notice anything odd is when going over concrete roads (with a sidewalk style cutoff between slabs); then it's pretty doggone harsh. But for everything else the ride is fantastic. The only downside is I waited 60K miles to put these suckers on!


posted by 24.22.6...
Posts in this Thread:
Alert me when someone posts in this thread:
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup

No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.

Name: Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
E-Mail: (Optional)
Re-Enter E-Mail: (Confidential & Secure - Not revealed to other users!)
Note: Please check your spam folder for BB responses.

Subject:

Posting rules are simple - No for sale/wanted ads may be posted here - use the site classifieds.
You may not cross-post your message to multiple BBs.
Not permitted: political/religious topics and being disrespectful (personal attacks, insults, etc...).
 Site Members do not see any red text, inline ad links, bottom of page anchor ads, box ads, or anti-spam check.

Message: (please no for sale/wanted classifieds - post those in the Saabnet.com Classifieds)
Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).

Links are now automatically made active, no need for any special code (or use the Option Link field below) - don't put links in () or end with a '.'
To add inline images to your post above, use [img]http://www.domain.com/img.jpg[endimg] (or use the Optional Image Link field below).
Optional Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/)
Link Title: (Optional)
Optional Photo/Image Link: (e.g. http://www.saabnet.com/img.jpg)
Photo/Image to Upload: (Please be patient while file uploads)



StateOfNine.com
SaabClub.com
Jak Stoll Performance
M Car Covers
Ad Available

The content on this site may not be republished without permission. Copyright © 1988-2025 - The Saab Network - saabnet.com.
For usage guidelines, see the Mission & Privacy Notice.
[Contact | Site Map | Saabnet.com on Facebook | Saabnet.com on Twitter | Shop Amazon via TSN | Site Donations]

Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)
This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right. Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY. Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages. This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP - Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot


Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all the Site Membership Benefits!