Choosing between Koni vs. Bilstein vs. Sachs Shocks/Struts

Ozark Lee » If you can afford them (I can’t) the Koni Yellows are great since they are adjustable. I have replaced two sets, the Platinum got Bilstein TCs and I put Monroe’s on my son’s car. As was pointed out the TCs are slightly harsher than stock but the handling is great. The Monroe’s ride OK but the handling really isn’t much better than worn out Sachs/Boge. The OEM Sachs stuff isn’t bad at all. It all depends on what you are after – ride or handling. My ’94 now has over 240K one the originals and the handling is getting kinda poor, I think I will go either Sachs or Bilstein TCs on it.

polskamafia mjl » The base Konis are great. I unfortunately got screwed over by IPDs warehouse as I need to redo my suspension this weekend but they are out of stock of the set of 4 konis; they are much too expensive when sold in sets of 2. If you can wait until IPD gets them back in stock, go with those.

hrahn » If you need to replace both front and rear shocks and you’ve got the money, go for the Koni FSD-kit. The golden Konis offer adaptive damping, if you go harsh in a corner they stiffen up more than when you go soft. They are a bit stiffer than the factory setup and just drive great.
I didn’t use them for one reason only: I have almost brand new Nivomats in my wagon and need them because I’m often hauling a lot of stuff around. The Sachs OEM front shocks are oil dampers btw and a bit wobbly, the rear Sachs standard are gas though.
Bilstein seem to be a good compromise between Koni and OEM, heard a lot of praise for them. B6 are a little stiffer than standard and offer great control (and are not too expensive).

Beware of Monroe, I have Monroe Reflex as front shocks and after 25000km they are all rusty, the rubber shock protectors have actually worn the paint off the tubes, and they don’t seem very responsive at all. Pulled a set out of a (much lighter) Opel Astra after 100.000km, they were completely bad. As a contrast, the Nivomats I pulled out of my car at 250.000km were still working, although not nearly as good as they should.

gobies » I had Bilsteins on a 2001 V70 T5. They were great until I’d put about 40k miles on them. I expected them to loosen and soften with age, but they became rock-like. Still well controlled on highway/smooth roads/at speed, but small abrupt changes like a manhole cover or expansion joint were jarring. Passenger side front went through spring seats at 10-15k each, even punched hole in the hood. Replaced them with new Bilsteins (only Konis at the time were cutastrut), problem “mostly” went away with new, but things like a small drop on a manhole cover felt like a small curb. I suspect that the “gap/free play” described below, over time, damaged the struts internally resulting in their eventual rock-hard performance. Should mention that the top sheet metal where the struts, bearing and spring seat mount, bulged slightly from the pounding.
Saved them with intention of sending them to Bilsteins for evaluation.

Have since read on one of the forums (off-hand, don’t remember which), that the problem is apparently a slight difference in effective length of the strut, a little gap of free play, before the strut compresses and after it rebounds. Volvo strut has a separate bump stop, Bilstein’s is built in. Solution apparently is to place a large washer between strut and spring seat, taking up gap, and spreading load across the seat (or something like that). Didn’t get a chance to try it out, as my car was totaled(Volvo did it’s job, lightly bruised driver).

Koni vs. Bilstein vs. Sach

Last Updated on June 1, 2021