[cjheywood13]

Advice needed please from fellow UK owners and our terrible roads. Ive had the car for 6 months and it has done 118k now. I came from an A6 Avant BiTDI with 155k which had brilliant suspension and I did 80k in it, never replacing a part, so assume all original. Currently BMW is a bit of a let down.

The 535d is terrible and bounces and floats, with lots of knocks from front end and a sagging back end some day.

I have begun the expensive job of changing parts, and fitted a good quality Meyle HD front arms and wishbone kit. This has helped a little, but still feels like much more needed.

I plan on fitting some Koni Special Active dampers (formerly FSD). I was going to just go o/e but wanted to have improved dynamics without sacrificing daily abilities as it is a family car, so these seem to be good.

Now, questions are:

*Does anyone have experience of these
*What alternatives are there
*Do I keep standard springs, or what would you advise (dont want to go much lower)
*What other parts would you change (top mounts, bump stops etc)

Many thanks. Chris

[bk_mike]

Not from the UK but NYC has pretty shit roads. I went with Bilstein B6 dampers. I swapped out the springs with Dinan ones as well but I am sure the stock ones would work with the B6.

According to TIS the front top mounts are one time use so I would swap them. Depending on the condition of thr rubber spring pads and bumpstops I would change them as well. Keep in mind a lot of thr suspension hardware is one time use so replace that as well.

[cjheywood13]

Thanks for reply. I think your advice on changing everything is good as i wont be doing it again.

What is ride like? Does it still have good compliance for daily use.

[bk_mike]

Compliant but much firmer. I suspect the springs have a lot to do with thr firmness. The B6 shocks are awesome. Much better than the OE Sachs.

[cjheywood13]

Great. Thanks. I may keep standard M sport springs. Not sure if they deteriorate to same extent as damper so could possibly reuse. Air on back so only front to think about.

[bk_mike]

Originally Posted by cjheywood13

Great. Thanks. I may keep standard M sport springs. Not sure if they deteriorate to same extent as damper so could possibly reuse. Air on back so only front to think about.

They absolutely don't deteriorate like the damper. The might sag over time with many miles but your more likely to see corrosion damage them before that.