slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

Hi all. Ok my 01 GS430 has been pissing me off lately with the crappy suspension. For some reason, I am experiencing an abnormally harsh ride. I mean it's crazy. While taking a turn on the freeway, expansion joints make the car wiggle. Road missperfections make me sort of hop. It is very rough.

I have done quite a bit of searching, and can't find exactly what I like. I am wondering if anyone has installed H&R springs, with Billstein HD shocks? And how was the overall experience?

Why I am asking? Well because I have had other cars, and the most notable suspension upgrade I have ever done was to a 328is with H&R and Billstein. The ride became more solid, but no where near harsh. The car felt planted, great handling, I loved everything about it. Just recently I helped my brother do the same setup on his 318i BMW. He absolutely loves it. I took a ride in it, and really want the same thing to happen with my suspension upgrade. I am just concerned about billstein's and H&R's involvement with our cars.

I would like to know what you guys recommend if no one has the above setup. I was also considering doing and L-Tuned springs with Billstein shocks.

Basically I want a planted ride, much smother than the insanity that is going on right now. I don't really care much about a drop, and I don't want coilovers (since I will never want to adjust them, or corner balance this car).

Oh, and that shimmy on bumpy roads, I am hoping this is due to the bad shocks right now as well.

Please help me on these points. Thanks.

DJC

I've got Ltuned springs with Bilstein Sports. Overall, happy with the setup. Ride is firm but smooth, not harsh. Handling much improved over stock (but I also have some other goodies that assist). I think the Bilsteins have a lifetime warranty.

Keep in mind ride and handling quality is subjective and also depends on several other factors such as alignment, wheels and tires in balance, etc. If you have more questions, pm me.

Cheers,
DJC

slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

I have done like 3 allignments. I changed out my control arms, tie rods, and ball joints in the fall. Allignment after every little thing, even the new tires that I put on after the control arm job. Everything is balanced, and I am meticulous about tire pressure. Tires show no sign of wear, and it drives perfect on smooth roads. Bumps, wavy roads, expansion joints, that is another story.

The handling in these cars is crappy. Well, no, I am comparing this to a sports car. The handling is ok. My ride is very involved to put it simply. I feel like every bump wants to steer me. We have a pretty wavy section of highway going home, and that part can trow my car about half a lane to either side. I am convinced this is due to the shocks not being able to compensate to the abrupt changes.

e-man

Slickgt -- you've just described my ride perfectly. It jiggles, shimmies, shakes and shudders on the highway, particularly over those expansion joints. I've got new OEM shocks and ball joints sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

e-man

slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

I have a freind that autocroses proffesionally. He is actually recommending billstein, and looking into the rates on the HD and Sport. He thinks HD will be the best solution, but is makeing sure. Now I need to find out the height and rates that Ltuned springs have. H&R are good, but their rates are may be too stiff for a pleasant ride. I will let you know.

I will keep you guys updated.

e-man

By the way, how many miles do you have on your 01? Has it always felt this way or is this something new? I have 80k on my 99 and it just started feeling this way over the last few months. Some say I'm wasting my time replacing parts with OEM, but I just want the car to drive exactly the way it did when it was new.

slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

It started doing this at about 85k. Now it is 93k. The 8k was easy to do. I drive a lot. So yea, maybe it is just a wear issue.

And as far as replacing with stock. I don't see anything wrong with that. It is just my firm opinion that the stock suspension can be improved upon. If you want to acheive an exactly stock ride, than I think your best bet would be stock KYB and Ltuned.

e-man

Interesting. Mine started at about 75k or so, and now I'm at 80k. I've only owned the car since 65k, but there's no way the car felt this way for the first 50k miles of its life. Are you the original owner? If not, how many miles prior to 85k did you own the car?

slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

Ive had the car since 74 or something around there. And yes, it progressivly got worse. It was not like this when I got it. NYC streets probably did a number on my suspension.

e-man

Hey Slick. I was just doing some searching and came across this old thread. Now that you've done the shock/spring upgrade, maybe you could comment about how the ride has changed compared to the thoughts you posted earlier in this thread.

e

slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

To be honest with you, the car should have come stock like this. I love it now. It all settled, I redid that rear washer thing, that I put in the wrong place the first time. And everything is tight. I love it. The car is not rough, but you feel it much stiffer now. The handling is superb. I stopped shimmying on highway imperfections (could be the daizen castor bushings though). The roughness that I had was deffinatelly the damn stock shocks being blown, stuck. So as of right now, all of my problems posted above are gone. Oh, I don't have that 60mph vibration anymore either, and I did not balance my tires. But all in all, I recommend going this route. Everytime you take a turn, you will say wow.

Brennan401

What route did you go??? LTuned springs, KYB, Bushings, Please do not leave out any detail. I was looking at the same direction for my 01 GS 430. Thanks

slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

Here is the list of mods that I have done so far.

1. Daizen Rack bushings. $40 - 40 min of my own labor
2. L-Tuned Springs
3. Bilstein HD shocks with front bump-stops cut one ring.
4. Daizen castor arm bushings.

I did notice that my upper control arm balljoints looked worn, I am going to replace that soon as well.

e-man

Hey Slick. Thanks for the write-up. It's great to hear that it all worked out for you.

I know it's hard to describe in words the way a car "feels," but let me ask and see if you can answer. My car has a lot of rattles when it shakes and shimmies going over uneven surfaces. It sounds like the Bilsteins have solidified your ride in a good way. Would you say that there are more, less or about the same rattles as before? I think some people think (myself included) that more firm equates to more harsh, and the two concepts are completely different. You can have a firm but solid ride where the car behaves as it should, or you can have a harsh and loose ride where the car shimmies, shakes and jiggles over uneven surfances causing a lot of rattling. Does this make sense? How would you rate your car in this regard now?

e

slickgt1

iTrader: (1)

There are definately less rattles. I can't exactly be sure, because I am convinced my stock shocks were stuck, making it stiff and truck like, thus causing a harsh ride. Not it seems to take the same bumps in stride. Like a big bump for example; Before, my car would hop over it, causing a huge rattle. Now the car just takes the hit, still hops a little, but it absorbed much more of it, causing much less noise. Expansion joints on bridges, there is one spot here here there are two in a row, and each joing is a foot wide. Before, I had to slow down because that would make my CDs skip. Now, I go right over it, I get two thumps, and its over, doesn't make me hop all over the place. Deffinatelly much less rattles, but like I said, my stock suspension, could have been shot.