E39 Touring shocks?

I'm making my son's 528iT my daily while diesel is over $5.60 a gal and I'll use my Ram only for truck things. He only has his permit right now so it isn't like I'm kicking him out of his car.

While I'm driving it I'm shaking it down so it doesn't do anything stupid when he gets turned loose in it.  The first thing I noticed driving it was the worn out dampers. Hit a bump and it reminds me of flicking a ruler that is hanging off the edge of a table. The car has 155K miles on it and it looks like they are still OE Sachs shocks.

Rock Auto has everything from Gabriels for $4.61 to the Sachs for $188. The car doesn't have the electronic or air bag suspension. I usually like Bilsteins but I'm not sure on the B4,the B6, or do I stick with the Sachs?

What has the hive put on their E39's?

I had Bilstein HDs (B6 in current parlance, I think) in my 525i Sport. They were good, if typical, Bilsteins, so jiggly. My biggest complaint was that they rusted. Bad. Like the top of the piston, right under the upper strut mount, on both fronts after only three years. Bilstein warrantied them, but only as a courtesy - the lifetime warranty does not cover corrosion. Then I had the same thing with the Bilsteins in my 128i, which they refused to replace, in spite of the chrome flaking off the piston on one side. And the rears on the 128i rusted at the weld on the bottom so badly that I was afraid they were going to snap off the mount. Needless to say I'm on Konis now. If you're anywhere near the rust belt, you'll want to keep an eye on Bilsteins for rust if you go that way. If not, they're going to be what you expect on the E39. I wouldn't bother with the cheapies unless you don't plan to keep the car. I don't know what the Touring is like, but changing the rears on the sedan sucked hard.

Florida so rust probably won't be an issue. Jiggly is more what I'm worried about. I have no idea how the car felt with fresh Sachs all the way around.

I've had good luck with bilsteins on german cars, but I also haven't had any of them in inverted montube form and no e39 specific experience so maybe those aren't tuned as well or the issue is with the inverted design. Personally I'd be inclined to try the bilsteins but if you're worried the sachs parts are probably fine. But it's worth noting that likely sachs aftermarket replacements are not quite the same as the oe parts. If you could manage to find a lightly used set of oe takeoffs (if such a thing even exists) those would probably be better.

For a daily go Sachs or Bilstein B4. Skip the Monroe/Gabriel crap, BTDT, they will make the car ride and handle like a Chevy Lumina.

Bilstein B6/HD is a good shock but you either like the "Bilstein yellow feel" (lots of rebound) or you don't.

I found the Koni FSD sets available around $600 and a few people on BMW specific boards seem to like them for their sedans. One guy said ride was better than stock but tightened up nicely when tossed into a corner. It seems the high shaft speed valving is a little better than the B6 and lets it blow off on bumps but low shaft speed valving still controls the body well.

I actually have 2 of these cars. The other is getting a turbo LS stuffed in it. I might grab the rear shocks off the project car and check them on my shock dyno against the ones I think are shot to see if I can save a few bucks. Then buy the Konis for my car,lol.

I would avoid Bilsteins, they end up being way too harsh. Either go with the OEM Sachs shocks or with the Koni Yellows, that's what I had in my 2000 540it and it rode pretty darn good.

One more nudge toward Konis, thanks. I didn't see a listing for Yellows for the rear of the wagons.

edit: Just went to Koni site and the Yellows for the wagon are NLA, they point you to the active valve shock as a substitute

I liked the Koni FSD/Special Active (they changed the name at some point) on the Volvo I had them on, decent balance of damping and ride quality, not compatible with lowering springs though.

Bilstein B4s should be fine.  At least for the similar E38 chassis, the B6/HD is similar to the stock BMW/Sachs sport shocks but with a little more rebound damping.  The B4 is much closer to the standard non-sport shocks. 

If you go Bilstein, be aware that the fronts may clunk a bit at times.  It's mildly annoying, but unfortunately common on Bilstein struts due to how they basically put a shock inside a strut tube with slider bushings.  The bushings rarely stay tight enough to totally avoid clunking. 

Bilstein HDs=B6, and I can tell you that they area significant step up in terms of harshness.  Good for pushing the limits, but not my choice for a commuter for sure.  B4's or the OE sachs would be my choice. 

Koni Sport on mine. I'm not a fan of the Bilstein ride. 

I don't know about the Touring, but the sedans have a few bushings in the suspension that make a big difference. 

Koni Yellows and Bilsteins have never done me wrong on other applications.

For whatever reason, Bilstein B6 and B8 shocks are always super harsh on BMW's, especially when combined with lowering springs. I've tried them on half a dozen different BMW chassis and was not pleased. The B4's are fine since they're a different design and are closer to OEM spec. If you're not lowering your car or going to the track with it, the B4 is a perfectly acceptable option.

Bilstein is wicked harsh on these, BMWs in general I've found. I did Konis on the one that didn't have the leveling suspension.

dannyzabolotny said:

For whatever reason, Bilstein B6 and B8 shocks are always super harsh on BMW's, especially when combined with lowering springs. I've tried them on half a dozen different BMW chassis and was not pleased. The B4's are fine since they're a different design and are closer to OEM spec. If you're not lowering your car or going to the track with it, the B4 is a perfectly acceptable option.

Have B6's on my E46 Touring, can confirm.  The ride is, um, very firm. 

I drove an e39 touring once and I was shocked with how heavy it felt.

I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on the Koni FSD set. I think one place claims to have them in stock, most are listing a July ship date! The car is staying at stock ride height and as Cactus points out, she's kind of a pig. I've run down the highway at well above the speed limit and it is just a great ride. I've also tossed it around on some twisty roads and even with bad shocks it has a great steady state turn feel. So as long as the turn is long and smooth its great right now,lol.

Koni is having trouble getting product to vendors in the US,  definitely jump on any shocks you can find. 

For those saying the B6 / HD are harsh, they'll feel overdamped and unpleasant with stock non-sport springs most likely.  They do better with stiffer springs.  The ones on my E38 feel very similar to the stock sport shocks (with sport package springs), just a little stiffer but nothing significant.   I'd say they've got a little more rebound damping and maybe a little more low speed compression, but they're not by any means harsh.  I doubt they'd feel as good with the softer non-sport springs though.  

rslifkin said:

For those saying the B6 / HD are harsh, they'll feel overdamped and unpleasant with stock non-sport springs most likely.  They do better with stiffer springs.  The ones on my E38 feel very similar to the stock sport shocks (with sport package springs), just a little stiffer but nothing significant.   I'd say they've got a little more rebound damping and maybe a little more low speed compression, but they're not by any means harsh.  I doubt they'd feel as good with the softer non-sport springs though.  

I'm definitely not saying you're wrong, but I have to politely disagree.   My 3 reference points are my tack-only E36 M3 with PSS9's, E39 sedan with Koni Yellows, and my E46 Touring with B6 and sport springs... and the B6/sport combo is equally as harsh as my track-set PSS9's at low speeds.  If the car is serving dual purposes with some type of racing/autocrossing, then yes- B6 all the way.  But if it's a strict highway commuter, that's going to be a regrettable decision IMveryhumbleO. 

I'm with golfduke, I am firmly convinced "that's just how they are".

My E28 with B8 (Sport) and Eibach springs was uncomfortably firm. E28 with B6 (HD) and iS springs was...uncomfortably firm. E46 ZSP with B6 (HD) was...well, you can probably draw the conclusion.

They all handled very well of course but I don't know that I would ever buy another set of yellow Bilsteins to put on a street-only car.