Koni or Bilstein?

[turdley50266]

I have over 120,000 on my 2003 Jetta. One of the shocks is creaking and leaking oil. Does anyone have experience with the Koni or Bilstein shock/strut sets sold on idparts.com? I'm thinking Koni red or yellow but I'm not sure. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[silverbox]

I have Koni FSD's on my 03 wagon, they are the best dampers I have ever had, great control and smooth.
In the past I have had cars with Bilstein HD's they have great control but I didn't love the ride, I found it harsh. Others on this site love them. In the VW mkiv application they have much less travel in the front than the Konis.
If I couldn't get FSD's my second choice would be Koni Yellows.

 

[pigpenracing]

I hear the same. I just lowered my beetle and I am looking for some shocks. I was told Koni's are sommth and Bilsteen ride like a bulldozer. If your not lowered get the red ones. I may go the yellow adjustables since I am lowered 2 inches on 19's.

 

[thebigarniedog]

I have over 120,000 on my 2003 Jetta. One of the shocks is creaking and leaking oil. Does anyone have experience with the Koni or Bilstein shock/strut sets sold on idparts.com? I'm thinking Koni red or yellow but I'm not sure. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Well, I can't speak as too Koni Reds or Yellows, but the Str.t are junk. Bilstein is the way I would go .......

 

[DonL]

Shocks

I have Koni Reds all around. I think they work great. At the same time I got a skid plate. It works great too.

 

[Abacus]

I have had Koni Reds for 91K now and still love them. I have them set at 3/4 full and they handle nice, but firmer than stock. I wish I'd gone with the Yellows in the front so I could adjust them without having to take them off the car. The rears don't matter since they have to come off to adjust them anyway.

 

[dieseldorf]

I have Koni FSD's on my 03 wagon, they are the best dampers I have ever had, great control and smooth.

+1. The FSD should have been OE, it's that good

 

[oilhammer]

I like them both, but the quality of the Bilstein seems superior (just hold the two in your hand and look them over). Many Koni products are not really made by them, just 'designed' by them and made in Argentina. Bilstein seems to make all their own stuff in Germany.

That said, the ride with the Billy HD is pretty stout, the TC is much less, but still probably stiffer.

The Koni product usually costs much less.

 

[dieselfueler]

+1 on the bils HD's have over 140K on the shocks on the rear of my wagon they are still working great just installed HD struts on the front they transformed the handling on the car now I need to get more rubber at the corners to take advantage of the suspention.

 

[The J]

The Bilstein Sports are very firm and not very forgiving over rough roads.
I like them a lot, but they are definitely not for most people.
I have them paired with H&R Sport springs.

I have to second Oilhammer's comment about the construction. The Bilstein's are built very solid.

 

[eb2143]

I personally wouldn't call my FSDs smooth over choppy pavement. I think they are much better than stock in all other road conditions though, especially at higher speeds when all floatyness is eliminated.

I have around 70,000 miles on them so can't really comment on durability except that they aren't total junk. I have heard some incredible accounts of durability regarding the Billy HD dampers though...I believe it may have been OldPoopie who replaced them after 200,000mi assuming they were in need of replacement and found no change in damping.

The FSDs I have were manufactured in Holland, by the way.

 

[dieseldorf]

Lots of folks complain/comment about the ride quality of Bilstein (HD). The KONI is a low-pressure design and more street-friendly. Bilstein does produce an excellent damper and they're recognized for that. However, I haven't had any issues with KONI.

I found the Bilstein TC to be a very nice match for my Mk4 Jetta. They're quoted as being 15% firmer than OE, but continue to function well with the stock springs.

If the roads where I drove were perfect and defect-free, I'd prefer the Bilstein HD in this application. However, the roads where I drive are horrific and I have found the KONI to be a better solution.

 

[geektoad]

for a daily-driven car, Bilstein all the way. I've had enough KONIs blow seals on me that i wouldn't trust them to the street duty. Dedicated track work, where things are nice and smooth all the time, sure. But other than that, The Bilsteins are just built better and handle real-world roads better.

 

[1854sailor]

Just put Bilstein TC Sports on the golf with Boraparts complete TT suspension bushing kit. The difference is amazing.

 

[oilhammer]

I have the Billy TCs with 4cyl GTI springs, TT control arm bushings, and stock size Michelin S8 tires on stock Avus wheels.... it drives fantastic and is not at all too firm to me. It handles VERY well, too.

 

[mech644]

I put 100k on a set of Koni Reds with stock springs. For the 1st 70k they were great, smooth ride and decent dampening when I got aggressive. The last 30k not so much. I think the weak springs just wore out the struts.
I installed FSD's, along with heavier Moog(#81134) front springs, and am less then overwhelmed. Initially all was well, 1st 20k. Car handled great, very controlled and capable.
Lately however the ride/response on cracked/broken pavement, expansion joints however is no better, or worse then the Reds. Very abrupt and harsh. This is supposed to be the main selling point of the FSD's, their ability to deal with the small quick pavement issues AND big bumps with equal aplomb.
At the price for the FSD's I can't junk them, but I would hesitate to buy them again. Still have my old Reds and have been meaning to inquire with Koni on the rebuild price.

 

[Johnny_Law]

I have Koni FSD's on my 03 wagon, they are the best dampers I have ever had, great control and smooth.
In the past I have had cars with Bilstein HD's they have great control but I didn't love the ride, I found it harsh. Others on this site love them. In the VW mkiv application they have much less travel in the front than the Konis.
If I couldn't get FSD's my second choice would be Koni Yellows.

^^I also like the FSD's and run them with Golf springs in the rear for a level ride height. On trips where I load down the back end, I just swap back to the wagon springs. I would also go with a full front and rear end kit if you are going to do the struts your self. This link has a video of what came with my kit:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=321708

Edit: Some are not a fan of Koni's quality, but they do offer a lifetime warranty and when I called in the past their return policy was very easy: http://www.koni-na.com/pdf/warranty.pdf

Cheers,

 

[MoldovaDIZEL]

im getting cupping on the rear insides of the tires 2sets now since iv put my koni yellow's in the back.....not pleased at all.

 

[geektoad]

Edit: Some are not a fan of Koni's quality, but they do offer a lifetime warranty and when I called in the past their return policy was very easy: http://www.koni-na.com/pdf/warranty.pdf

Cheers,

Now my daily driver is out of commission while I wait on replacement. Again...for a race car not a big deal. on my daily driver...I'll take the Bilsteins that won't need to be repaired.

 

[cevans]

For what its worth, according to my in-head-really-rough-numbers of those I've spoken to with, I think the percentage of failure between Koni and Bilstein is pretty close (I do hear from more Koni owners but we sell many more sets of Konis than Bilstein, especially during the Koni sale period).

The first batch of STR.Ts seemed to have been more problematic - that applies to those who bought the STR.T in the first year of availability. Haven't heard from customers that purchased within the last 18 months or so.

Interestingly, I've heard of more Bilstein HD failures than TC failures even though we sell probably 100 sets of TCs to each set of HDs. Among the Koni products the Yellows are the best in reliability.

 

[oilhammer]

I have never once seen a Billy that was "bad" on a Volkswagen. I have replaced a few that were OEM on GM and Toyota products, but even those I'm not really sure were really "bad", but higher mileage and the owner's wanted new.

However, we are not in a super salty area, I understand some Billy products get rust on the piston shaft which can cause the seal to leak?

You want REALLY crappy, get KYB.

 

[coalminer16]

I can only speak what brother and I have. He has OEM springs with a 1 inch lift and OEM steel rims. He has the Koni FSD's and it really is a very nice shock for the car. I have 2 inch lift, OEM alloy rims, used VR6 front springs and used wagon rear springs with koni reds (wagon rear shock-longer) and mine is great and cornering. I do hear/feel some more road noise but I think it is more to do with my tires nearing end of life. We both had the audi TT rear control arm bushings and new rear axle bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, rear strut mouts. He didn't get new front strut mounts yet as the wrong ones were sent to him and we just did the install since I was home to help and they can be changed in the car. I have the 034M front top strut bushings as well. I have the reds turned +1 from softest possition. So I like what I have either way.

 

[Johnny_Law]

Now my daily driver is out of commission while I wait on replacement. Again...for a race car not a big deal. on my daily driver...I'll take the Bilsteins that won't need to be repaired.

Every shock will eventually fail and as easy as they are to R&R I would rather have the advantages of the FSD's. For thoes without two cars and can't have any down time, they will ship you new shocks at 1/2 list price and then you just send them the old ones back once your remove them.

For someone who lives in an area without perfect roads like me and perfers minimal comprimise in dampening characteristics, the choice is easy.

 

[ROD-TDI]

Recently installed Bilstein HD's on the 2002 Golf TDI resulting in major improvement over the tired stock shocks with 107K on them. Interesting how we get used to reduced performance after driving it for so long. The Bilstein HD's with the stock springs do a wonderful job of controlling the suspension. Some say they think they are too harsh, but that has never been our experience with the HD's/stock springs on multiple vehicles for several decades. The Bilstein Sports on after market lowering springs with low profile tires are harsh, given the current condition of most of our roads. I don't see how you qualify such a street setup, unless you are tracking/auto Xing the car and don't have a daily driver to use.
my $0.02 on the subject.
STP