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