Looking for photos of your ride height of your lowered MINI with bilstein HD's.

Pre bilsteins, lowered on Mach V springs (1.25"), stock shocks




Post bilstein HD



Granted this was right after lowering the car off the jack and installing them.
Its been about 2 months and 4-5,000 miles, so it has settled maybe 1/5".
We can say it was less than 1 finger gap before, and 1.5 fingers gap after the shock swap.

The increased gas pressure within the shocks and struts are indeed "helping" the springs hold the car up, so it does not sit as low as the weight is distributed/held up by a larger overall force now.

So, while I love how much better the HD's perform over my stock shocks, I also am a fan of appearance, and do not like the wheel gap I've gained back now.

I know a lot of people pair their HD's with NM springs, which is a 1.2 vs my 1.25" drop (on stock shocks), and am wondering if you guys had before and after photos. Other lowering spring comparisons welcome as well.

I know in theory shocks will not change ride height, but since our car does sit with the shocks partially compressed, there is gas pressure from the shock that is aiding in the upwards force (against gravity) causing the to car sit higher than where the springs would have the car rest if the car's weight were fully supported by the springs.

 

FYI- Even to this day, after my MCS is dropped from a lift my wheel gap comes back.......Maybe it's just a trait of the Bilstein struts needing to settle in after full extension ?

BTW: Since last time I saw your MINI you have been busy modding - Nice work, she looks fantastic

 

^inverted struts usually have some stiction.

Enjoy the added ride height....bump travel and gas pressure are nice.

- Andrew

 

Thank you!

And @andyroo, it is indeed, however, these springs are still very stiff, spring rate is very high, so it is still pretty jarring. Granted the absorbers do their job in keeping the wheels on the ground, but for ride, its still pretty harsh. If I keep the car I may either go CO's or swap to NM's. Of course CO's will not help the comfort much either, but at least I'd get my ride height I wanted haha

 

Bilstein HD's & NM springs.

 

Thanks, but this doesn't really help much of anything. I've already stated many people have gone NM springs with Bilstein HDs. I understand that. But my OP was asking for a photo with a mini with nm springs before and after bilstein hd install, so I can see ride height differences.

If you have NM springs and Bilstein HD's, would you mind taking some photographs?

 

I know this doesn't pertain directly to your OP question, but I thought Bilstein HD (B6) shocks were designed
for stock ride height springs and Bilstein SP (B8) were designed for lowering springs.

I'm not saying they'd sit lower with SPs, just questioning the choice.

 

The SPs simply have a shorter shaft... i'm pretty sure you DON"T want to use SPs with lowering springs... i've read in other threads that that's a very bad idea, similar to the Koni FSD and lowering springs problems that are out there... IMHO, if you're going with shocks and springs, go HD and lowering springs or go stock/jcw springs with SPs....

 

I think you have that backwards, Bilstein says the SPs are for lowered applications, not the HD.


http://www.bilsteinus.com/products/p...enger-car.html

http://www.bilsteinus.com/products/p...enger-car.html

 

BostonR56S, sorry I couldn't help with before and after pic's. I've a picture of stock height and stock 16 inchers in my gallery. I didn't want to go through all the fun of swapping springs and then adding shocks, so I just did it all at once. Sig pic is 17 inchers and overall drop was close to an inch, might settle a little more? Anyway, good luck.

 

I have the exact same setup, bilstein HD's with mach v springs

 

Did you notice the static ride height about .5-1 finger width higher? equivalent to just ~.5 inch?

 

Ah Maugre, Sorry! I have sig pics turned off at work, just looked via my Droid and I saw your sig now. Thanks!
Okay, so looks like NM + bilsteins still give about the same appearance as the mach V's.
Comparing to others' photos on this board the NM's typically drop a slight bit more with stock shocks, so def the bilsteins are playing a small role with static weight support.

Maybe its time to swap to coilovers?? =p
I know most aren't going to be any more comfortable, but were there any ones (~1k range) that stuck out with a decent ride quality?

 

Oops...Forgot about this thread. Unfortunately I installed the Mach V springs and HD's at the same time so I didn't get to see what the Mach V springs look like with the stock sport struts. I love the drop in the front, but the rear is still pretty high up in the air. I'm thinking about swapping out the rear HD's with Bilstein B8 sports to see if that'll help. As of right now, my car has tons of rake which a look I'm not that partial to.