So this is an update on the last step of the transformation of my 07 R52 from a teeth breaking oxcart into a semi-decent daily driver.

First I did the X-brace which helped with the chassis spaghetti-like rigidity (we went from cooked to uncooked pasta). I also added ECS strut tower plates which saved the car's tinfoil-like towers from mushrooming just in time (passenger was just starting). Now this: Koni FSDs.

I'm very impressed with these shocks. Of course it's hard to tell how good they are vs. new factory shocks, because mine has 49K rough miles on the potholed streets of Moghadishu (a.k.a San Francisco).

The ride is transformed. Again I'm not a 20y old mod-crazy guy with a boost gauge on the A pillar (actually there is a boost gauge in the car, but stock, ha!). I'm going for measured improvements, and this is one. Compared to before, the car feels like a magic carpet on the small stuff now... I'm doing the same drive, and the little bumps and ripples that used to cause my teeth to shake and the car to fall apart are seemingly gone, I know they're there because I can hear the car still rattle a little over them (Hey, it's a cabrio!) but I almost *can't* feel them at all... The big stuff obviously is still there - only the wife's Land rover can ignore those. Poorly laid metal plates on the roads and potholes are still gonna be felt, but also less harshly. Body control wise, the car feels the same as before, so the softness and absorption did not happen at the detriment of the fun ride and direct response. With the car at rest and my kids fighting in the back, the car is not shaking anymore either.... Those were sold to me as the best of both worlds, and it seems they are. Even my mechanic was impressed after putting them on, said he'd recommend those to his customers...

So again, no clue how stock units perform when new, but those are very nice replacements for the money. $600 to buy, $400 to install. I'm now done... Thanks to everyone on the board for the good advice...

 

Glad it worked out so well for you.
In an effort to spend more of your money. At some point you may want to replace the rear lower control arm bushings. I just did that last week and the big bumps are now acceptable vs. scary crashes. The best part of the change was that I got my warranty company to pay for them 3 days before the warranty expired.
Cheers,

 

Nice try, and good tip... But I did have my guy check those and he pronounced them serviceable... ACtually if I ever accidentally find a nice 16" wheel +tire FS I might do that too, I think the rest is the low profile tire... It's honestly good enough now - fun, zippy, economical, less rough over bumps, wife and kids love the top down rides... I don't want to keep spending on this car (seat airbag, water pump, plus all those mods in a month) - I have other interesting cars that have more pressing needs and get their turn to be spent money on ;-)

This needs some MFI fuel distributor tuning




This needs a last coat of paint and reassembly



The MINI (can't believe you guys got me to spell it all caps) needs to behave for a while now ;-)

 

Sweet Porsche. Interesting colour on the Beemer.
One must spell new BMW/MINIs with caps or the old skool BMC guys get very very upset.

 

If we're gonan do MINI, that's a Bimmer, beemer is a bike ;-) It's primer... It'll be Inka orange, much brighter orange ;-)

 

Would you consider 15"? I have light weight forged 15x7 SSR Competition off my 2006 R52 (recently sold). Pics in my gallery. I'm in San Francisco. Shoot me a PM if you want to consider.

BTW, my R52 also had Koni FSD, and it made a nice difference.