Just installed Eibach lowering springs w/Sachs dampers - notes inside

[e39_touring]

I finally gave up waiting on a set of Bilstein B6 shocks/struts and ordered a set of Sachs. For the 2 vendors that seem to have the Billy's, I just couldn't justify spending over $500 over the price of the Sachs to get them, especially when so many have reported that they ride harshly.

A few interesting things I found performing this 'upgrade'"

1) The drop from the Eibachs is much less than I thought. I'm happy because I didn't want the truck slammed and, in fact, would have bought stock sport (I had std susp) springs but the Eibachs were much cheaper. The drop from stock non-sport turned out to be only 3/4 inch in front and 11/16 inch in rear. (if anyone cares, the specific measurement from 20in wheel lip to fender well went from 28 7/16 to 27 11/6 in the front and 28 7/8 to 28 3/16 in the rear). These are very close to the ride height specs for OEM sport springs - bottom line, if you already have sport, Eibachs will net you <~5mm drop! I only drove about 5 miles on the new setup but did hit some bumpy roads - maybe it'll settle more?

2) Stock, my truck came with Bilsteins in the rear and Delphi struts up front. The Sachs replacement shocks for the rear are quite a bit taller than the factory Billys but have more range. Measuring from the center of the mounting hole to the tip of the rod, the Billy measured 21.5 inches while the Sachs measured 23.5 with the rod fully out. Fully contracted, the Billy measured 18 inches while the Sachs was 17 3/8 inches.

3) The fronts were easy to change. The rears were a pain as almost all the rear links had to be disconnected to get the old coils out.

Here are some before/after pics: