E46 Mixing Shocks (front-rear)

[Gaygle]

Hi all,

Currently looking at getting some new front shocks for my 330i. Now, on the rear it has some 2 month old Sachs OEM shocks. I put these on before i realised i might need front shocks too.

Now my question is, i have seen some Koni STR.T shocks for the front and i was wondering if mixing the Sachs OEM rear shocks with the "uprated" Koni front shocks would create a problem? I'm only looking at the Koni ones because they are £20 more for a pair than the OEM Sachs ones!

They will be used with Eibach springs all round (again, because the Eibach's are nearly the same price as the OEM's and are higher quality than the OEM's.)

Cheers for any help

 

[Gaygle]

Why would you want to mix shocks? Just fit the correct ones all round.

Not reallllly what i asked, was it?

But to answer your question, because i don't want to bin the 2 month old rear Sachs shocks and if some kind of performance upgrade can be made with the front shocks for the same money as the OEM front Sachs shocks.

 

[Gaygle]

There's nothing wrong with them at all, but the Koni ones are better. And i was just wondering if mixing them would create a problem since they are pretty much the same price.

If putting better shocks on the front makes the car better in the bends and gives no drawbacks - great! I'll go with that.

If putting better shocks on the front makes the car horrible to drive and i WILL end up in a ditch because of it - I'll just buy the OEM ones.

You must have had to replace shocks on yours by now - where did you go to get yours? What make/model were they?

 

[Gaygle]

There is no performance upgrade to be had mixing shocks.

Ok cool.

Just purely out of interest, why not? And is their drawbacks to having them different?

I want to keep the car as stock and OEM as possible, but when it's around £15 more for a pair of uprated shocks - i just had to ask.

 

[Gaygle]

I went for OEM ones - Sachs.

BMW M-Technik knew what they were doing when they set the suspension up on the Sport models. I'm not going to argue with their opinion of the best choice

Ok, great.

Yeah i know, i'll just trust in the all powerful M-Technik knowing more than me....as preposterous as that may be.

Where abouts did you get your from? ECP stocked a whole host of shock absorbers 2 months ago when i got my rears and now they don't stock ANY.

 

[Gaygle]

this is gonna sound mad, but do you know what dampers do and if not, why are you trying to "upgrade" them. if you knew what their function was you wouldnt be asking!

I'm not claiming to be a shock absorber guru or anything, but i thought "uprated" shocks could offer less body roll and better feeling and stability in long high speed corners?

 

[Gaygle]

I had to import them from a supplier in Europe. Nobody in the UK seemed to sell the correct dampers for M Sport II fitted E39's.

Oh right :/

The Sachs ones i got on my rears were listed as for "M-Technik" suspension and were "Sach's Super Touring" - which i am fairly certain were OEM parts.

Did you experience any improvement after you got the shocks done?

OEM is matched to the rest of your OEM chassis and suspension components. There is no point uprating these parts unless you are doing it properly, getting a supporting geometry setup for the settings you have chosen for want you want to achieve. You will be miles off even attempting this with mixed shocks and doing all 4 "just 'cus" would be a questionable endeavour.

No such thing as a "bolt on" upgrade in this area really. Not a fire and forget kind of thing.

I would consider changing out parts on my S2000 as part of a lower (Not just springs) and a full geometry/setup with a hope of stiffening up some other parts of the car and trying not to make the ride too crashy or harsh.

Ok - thanks for the info!

 

[Gaygle]

Define "uprated".

Better construction? I think you are confusing the ability to change various settings on or buy at a certain setting after-market units.

Better construction does not transpire to better handling and feel.

Uprated being, for lack of a better word, "sporty"? Ie. the Sach's Supertouring's are listed as being for a more comfortable ride, whereas the "uprated" Sachs' shocks (Sachs Advantage) are listed being set up to deliver a more "sporty" ride/performance.

 

[Gaygle]

Ok, thanks for everyone's input.

Decided to get the Sachs ones but i literally can't find anywhere which sells them in the UK :/

 

[Gaygle]

Your car is a 2002 isnt it? Are you absolutely sure Sachs Super Touring is the OEM fit on your car and not Sachs Advantage?

Did literally 3 hours of research this afternoon that involved me crawling under the car in the pouring rain to check the serial numbers on the shock absorbers.

Turns out on the E46, Sach's Advantage stopped being used on the M-Tech II suspension after 09(?)/2001 and were replaced with Sach's Super Touring (of which there were 3 sub-types) with M-Tech springs for the rest of the E46 lifetime.

In the US they have 3 different suspension types - Standard, Sport and M-Tech.

If i understood it correctly:

Standard used standard springs and Sach's Super Tourings.

Sport (ZSP - this wasn't brought to the UK) used standard springs and Sachs Advantage.

M-Tech (or ZHP in the US) used M-tech springs and Sachs Super Tourings (after 2001).

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=375239&d=1284228518

This is the Sach's catalogue and the number on my rear shocks where 556 882, which is listed as "MT" (M-tech II).

More good info in this first post:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=398977

So confused but i think i got it? :/

Where did you get your shocks from Fox?

EDIT: Also, the E46 M3 apparently uses Sach's Super Touring as standard.