Bilstein Sport & Bav Auto springs - 500 mile review

[MINIz guy]

I've never written a proper review, so here goes nothing.

I have a '96 318ti Sport with 164k miles. All the dampers were blown, and I had a cracked rear coil spring. It was certainly time to refresh the suspension. I wanted to use my car for autocross and daily driver duties. I wanted reliability and durability first, and performance second; ride comfort wasn't high up on my list.

I found my set of Bilsteins and Bav Auto springs on CL. They were lightly used, not even 1000 miles on them. Now I read some other reviews and opinions on them, saying how they were too soft and bottomed out on the smallest of bumps. I still couldn't turn down the deal I was to get on my suspension though, as everything together was less than buying 4 Bilstein Sport dampers. I also got like-new strut and shock mounts, so everything was refreshed.

The quality of the products were great; Bilsteins are known for their quality and the Bav Auto springs were also nicely painted. Once installed, I got a nice drop, but nothing too low. The front of my side skirt is approximately 4 inches off the ground now. If you're looking for slammage, these springs aren't for you. Installing struts and shocks were also the easiest DIY's I've ever done too, especially since the struts were preassembled. The only thing I wished for was better paint from Bilstein as the yellow does chip of easily.

Now let's address the performance aspect. I emailed Bavarian Autosport and they told me they don't have spring rates on hand for their springs. What they did tell me is that their springs are stiffer than OEM sport springs and softer than H&R Sport springs. I'll say they're just under 200 lb/in in front and 380 lb/in in back, which are the H&R Sport published rates. Daily driving them, I have not bottomed out once; the car doesn't feel floaty either. When you hit a bump, the compression is firm and the rebound controlled. I can only compare it to what I felt when driving a Scion FRS. Yes, I do want to say that the suspension characteristics match that of a modern sports car meant for performance driving.

I am very happy with my suspension set up for daily driving. As it is winter in NJ, I haven't had the opportunity to test out the suspension in an autocross environment. I cannot say if the springs are undersprung for that task yet. Only time will tell, and I will report back once I hit up my first autocross with this suspension.

Of course, no review is done without a photo. You can find more pictures of my car if you click the link to my Flickr.

Project36_07 by MINIz guy, on Flickr

[showaski]

Nice review!

I just listed a set of Bav Auto springs for sale on eBay. They came with the purchase of Yoda's 318Ti. I don't have any intentions to install the springs back on the car, though .... so if anyone likes this review, the springs are up for grabs on eBay with a starting bid of $39+shipping w/ no reserve ... help yourselves (the eBay link is in the parts FS section)

[DaRvDrUmS]

Thanks for the review! I just received a set of Bilstein/H&R Sports. Haven't installed them yet though...lol

[MINIz guy]

Since I'm bored, I'll give a 3k mile review.

My dampers still look like new under the car. I put in new front strut mounts to reduce some of my reverse rake, and to get rid of some clunking I thought came from them. Nothing is rusty yet and I've done plenty of hard autocross and city driving with them.

I've driven a lot more with people in the car now. With a full car of guys weighing ~180lbs, the car squats a good 2 inches. I scrape everywhere with a full car, or even 4 people for that matter. I guess they are too soft for heavy duty tasks which I am a little disappointed about.

I have a LSD going in my car this summer. I will install that and test out how the car drives with and without the rear sway connected. If I determine it to be too soft, I may look for some 500# or 600# 2.5" rear springs to test out and see if I like how the car handles that way.

[joe1602]

Do you think those Bav Auto springs would still keep me in the street class for scca autocross? I am interested in refreshing my springs while staying in class.

[MINIz guy]

The rulebook clearly states no.

[joe1602]

I was just wondering if those Bav Auto springs would pass as stock springs. I know we have to use stock and not any lowering springs to stay in the street class. I need to refresh the ones I have and was hoping there is some type that I might use that are a little better than what I have. Thanks for the response.

[MINIz guy]

The Bavarian Autosport springs are lowering springs. They won't pass by as stock springs.

Your best bet is to go to your BMW dealer and give the parts guy your VIN. They can pull what what springs are available for your car.

I've thought about going back to stock springs. However, my LSD build is more important right now since I have the LSD in hand. An upcoming build thread will cover it in the next few months.