E36 M3: the struts, not the poop

My e36/5 has the mixed setup of Koni Yellows with eibach springs on the rear and unknown Bilsteins with unknown springs on the front. It sits a smidge lower than I'd like and the springs are a tad softer than I'd like but that's not why I'm here today.

My struts are blown. I'm trying to figure out what the best choice is here. I've thought about Sachs stock replacements, but I know some stock struts don't like lowering springs. I've thought about new Billsteins but most of them I find come with springs and I don't want to gamble on ride height. Otherwise they confusingly don't cost the same left vs right. There are cheap Coilovers(Maxpeed etc), where a set of four is less than the cost of new Bilsteins, but none seem to say they are M3 compatible and all mention huge drops. Koni inserts look nice but they don't work with my Bilstein struts only with stockers. Koni Yellows would be sweet if I could find a set but I think they're NLA.

I'm looking for a decent street setup that won't completely break the bank. Higher quality front only? Roll the dice on Sachs with lowering springs? Burn the car to the ground and start over? Weld em up solid and rattle my teeth out? Look for used fronts? If it makes any difference I have  camber/caster plates as well and I don't know if that changes anything.

Looking forward to seeing the replies to this!

Well, I can tell you something that you might already know but it also may be tangentially helpful.

The m3 strut has the sway bar mount on the strut, and the non m struts do not (sway bar attaches to control arm).

I'd probably be looking for the bilsteins if I were in your shoes.

Yeah, I've got M3 struts swapped into my car so I'm stuck replacing them with more M3 struts. Yay!(?)

The weird thing on the billys is that between different stores one side runs a little higher price, usually by about $40. So if I go billys then I'll buy left from one place and right from the other.

Koni's with H&R OE Sport springs are your ticket.  Nice ride, lowers the car just a bit from stock, handles well.

I have Koni's at all four corners on my 97 M3 Coupe.  (fronts are adjustable, and the rears are JC cline-modified adjustables)  I still run the stock springs, and I've been very happy with the ride / handling compromise.  I also have an Eibach 26mm front bar FWIW.  

The ride is comfortable and eager on the road, and it's still competent on track.  I was realistic when setting the car up, and realized that 90% of the time the car is on the street---- so why punish myself constantly, so just to make it a fraction better on track?   I also have speed bumps and potholes to deal with, so I have no interest in lowering the car.  (I also prefer the way it looks at stock ride height, vs. lowered)  

You really can't go wrong with Koni's.   The Bilsteins I've tried were all overly harsh.   Good dampers, no doubt, but I prefer the Koni's.  YMMV.   

So, you can't cut the tops off the Billies you have in the front and put in the Koni inserts?

If not, I would get on CL or Bimmerforums and see if somebody would sell me a set of worn-out stock front dampers and saw those off at the top for the Konis.

If I was comfy going back to stock ride height, CL and Bimmerforums often seem to have stock E36 M3 springs for sale cheap, and the Sachs would be fine then.

Koni Yellow + H&R Sport was always my go-to E36 street car setup. Even threw a set on my E46 M3 'vert and enjoyed them there. Cheap-ish easy button.

There are a few companies that will rebuild your Koni's that are NLA.  Koni doesn't do that anymore.

https://www.truechoicekoniracingservices.com/

https://propartsusa.com/pages/shock-services

buzzboy said:

Yeah, I've got M3 struts swapped into my car so I'm stuck replacing them with more M3 struts. Yay!(?)

The weird thing on the billys is that between different stores one side runs a little higher price, usually by about $40. So if I go billys then I'll buy left from one place and right from the other.

Is the sway bar attached to the strut as part of the swap, though? Or left in the non-M location?

Everybody is showing the direct replacement of my current struts as being out of stock for at least a month. I was hoping to do this when I winterize the car in a few weeks. We'll see if that happens. 

JBasham said:

So, you can't cut the tops off the Billies you have in the front and put in the Koni inserts?

That is correct. I wish it were so, because that would be the easiest.

  MadScientistMatt said:

Is the sway bar attached to the strut as part of the swap, though? Or left in the non-M location?

They are M3 struts with the sway bar attached to the strut.

You can do the cut and gut with koni's and stock strut housings.  I did it and it worked fine.