[s-cars] Bilstein Service Information

[Taka Mizutani]

Jason-
While the Konis are adjustable, the ones sold for the $550 you mention are
single-adjustable, with compression and rebound adjusted in tandem.

The revalve that was mentioned done by Bilstein typically adjusts the
compression and rebound valving in different amounts, so this is not
something you can accomplish with the stock Konis.

Furthermore, I don't know if the Konis can adapt to a significantly higher
spring rate or not- the V8 and S6+ H&R springs are much stiffer than the OEM
springs. If you need to revalve the Konis for optimum damping, they're going
to cost you a lot more than the Bilsteins- Bilstein is super cheap when it
comes to custom valving.

Note, this is NOT necessary to do at all. The reason you or anyone else
would revalve the shocks is so that they work optimally with the springs and
chassis that you have. The off-the-shelf parts work just fine, but could be
better.

The lifetime warranty does apply to blown seals and such, but that's not
going to give you a free revalve to your spec.

Double-adjustable Konis are far more expensive and I'm not even sure if they
make them for an Audi application.

I have to stress, this is NOT necessary, just a procedure that would make
the car better if you're willing to spend the time, money and effort.

If you want an argument to buy the Bilsteins, the monotube design is
superior to the double-tube design of the Konis and the relatively
inexpensive revalving service is another plus.

Taka
I have no vested interest in either Koni or Bilstein- my next set of shocks
will probably be either KYB AGX or Tein Basics.

On 4/20/06, Jason Mawhinney <jmawhinney at skybest.com> wrote:
>
> I'm not sure that its all that attractive to me.  I would need to buy the
> Bilsteins (~$450) and then have them revalved to work with the H&R springs
> at $75 each, from what the Bilstein webpage referrenced lists.  That's a
> total of $750 to buy and revalve all the struts.  As for the attraction to
> Koni, AFAIK there is no need to revalve since they're adjustable.  Am I
> wrong?  I can get a set of Konis for ~$550.  I was also under the
> impression
> that both Bilstein and Koni have a lifetime guarantee so as long as you
> own
> the car, there's no need to pay to have them refreshed.  Am I missing
> something here?  I'm planning to buy the Konis b/c they're cheaper,
> adjustable, and offer a lifetime guarantee just like Bilstein.  If
> somebody's got a good argument to buy the Bilsteins, I'd love to hear it.
> TIA,
> Jason Mawhinney
> '95.5 S6a