weak in the knees

[fluidsoul]

Hey all. I lurked here for a while back when I had a ti. Sold it to my best friends, now I'm the one doing all the work on it. It's got about 140k on what I believe are the original struts. Standard suspension (non sport). Springs and bushings seem fine. I'd like to find them some new struts, but they're on a really tight budget. There's a few ways that I can go with this:

OE struts. Expensive. Are there ever any used ones around? How long do the OE struts usually last? Anybody replace them in the last couple years and then upgrade later?

Aftermarket struts. Expensive. Used market for these? Compatibility with OE springs?

Aftermarket struts and springs. Expensive. Ride height is an issue for them. 1" drop at most. Used sets around?

Thanks for your time. This forum is a great resource.

Cheers.

[aparatchik]

basic rule: you get what you pay for... I just picked up my car last week, with 107K miles, and will be replacing shocks, springs, control arms and bushings. Not entirely because it MUST be done, but more because it's a guarantee of everything being good to go for the next 100K. I'd shy away from used struts, since they're much used and abused. I believe Bilstein HD's have standard stroke and as suck should work with stock springs. (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

[TORJTHM]

i believe your right ... i know if you go to tcklineracing.com and call their number you can talk to one of the guys there and they can you what your best options are for your budget

[fluidsoul]

Understood. I have the same philosophy about my vehicles.

Unfortunately, the way it stands for them, it's either cheap or not at all.

I was hoping that there would be somebody around here that just put on coilovers and had some relatively new ones for sale.

[andyman7931]

I have access to someone who has OE struts and springs for our cars and z3's. They are considered used but look brand new, I got a set for my wife's ti but haven't installed them yet. He had about 2 dozen sets when I was there. If you're interested PM me and I'll get you his contact info.

[aparatchik]

In thinking about this more you may also want to look into what Sachs/Boge and KYB do on the lower end of the market, as well as Bilstein's Touring product. They're not of interest to me so much, so I can't help ya there, but there's a good chance they've got some cheaper product than Bilstein HD's. I think there's a guy regularly selling sets of Bilstein Touring schocks and struts on ebay for under 300.

[azca]

I have a nice OE set. PMed