installed Monroe OESpectrum shocks/struts - wow!
 

Hi everyone,

At 115k miles, my wife's 2003 E53 X5 was due for some serious suspension attention. The rears were starting to clunk over bumps, the car felt very loose and uncontrolled, "crashed" over potholes on the road, etc.

I installed Bilsteins on my own E91 (and my E36 before that) because I liked the lifetime warranty, but I admit they stiffened the ride a bit more than I liked for a daily driver. Looking around for alternatives, I found Monroe has a line of premium OESpectrum shocks designed to match the factory valving of certain foreign cars:

MONROE SHOCKS & STRUTS :: OESpectrum® Shocks & Struts

It turns out Monroe also offers a lifetime warranty. I decided to order a set. I got a great price through RockAuto.com, plus I used a 5% discount code.

Wow, what a difference! The car is very well controlled, suspension is perfectly behaved on rough roads, no funny noises or clunks. I never drove a brand new E53, but this is how I would expect a new one to drive. It feels solid and planted in that BMW way without feeling overly harsh. I'm very happy with the purchase - just right for a daily driver, and the driving experience still lives up to the roundel.

Thanks for the review. At that mileage, the springs and the bushings are tired too. Replace them and you would be close to how the X5 handle when new.

So you were into the new shocks for ~$400? I am thinking about going back to OEM, from my current Bilsteins.

A bit less because there was also a rebate going on at the time, but that's about right for the non-rebate price. Check the end of this thread for a current 5% discount code:

www.RockAuto.com (Parts for cars)- immediate 5% discount

I've traditionally gone with Bilsteins for the lifetime warranty (and the German name for the snob factor). On my 1995 E36 M3, they stiffened the ride. I tolerated it because it was still somewhat in the character of the car, although it never handled rough roads as gracefully as the factory suspension. On my 2003 E91 wagon, the Bilsteins definitely made the ride harsh and degraded the character of the car (runflats too!). I was leery of doing that to my wife's daily driver, but the factory stuff is (A) spendy and (B) doesn't have a great lifespan. The Monroes win on (A) and (B). I regret not knowing about them when I did the wagon, but oh well.

Looking on Monroe's website, I see they also have Strut-Mate mounting kits that I did not purchase. I probably should have thrown those in there too. My mechanic said everything was still good enough to get by, and we're on a bit of a budget these days with a second kiddo on the way. Again, oh well.

I had a 95 M3 with Koni's, nice "factory" ride even with lowering springs.

The Billys are great on that perfect road, or off ramp, or high speed run. Daily driven, they are simply too harsh.

Did you ever use the warranty on the Bilsteins? Mine have about 30k miles, and I'm sure they're fine, but I wonder what a re-built or re-valved set would feel like. I gotta think that it can be tricky to get them re-done under warranty.

Twice on the E36! Both times it was the rears, and both times it was a completely routine process - fax them a copy of the invoice as proof of purchase, then they give you an RMA number and shipping address. Removal was trivial thanks to the aftermarket RSMs I ran on that car, so it was easy to pull one to check them out. I eventually sold that car with 192k miles on the clock, and it still ran great.

Darn. No receipt with them. How many miles did you get out of yours each time?

did you just do the rears?

I'm getting that crashing over bumps in the rear as well. I am at 95K. I am just afraid of having to redo all the bushings :(

On the E36, the Bilsteins went on somewhere around 87k miles, the first time I did the rears was somewhere around 130k, then I did them when I started considering selling at about 185k.

We did fronts and rears. At 115k, I told the mechanic to replace any mounts/bushings if they looked worn. He decided they were good enough to keep going. I would have proactively replaced them if money weren't such a factor, but for what it's worth, the car feels tight with no play or clunks, so they're good enough (for now).

Nice review,thanks for sharing:thumbup:
My x5 only done 47,000 miles ,so a bit early to think about changing.I am very happy with the ride and handling of my OE Bilstein sport ,even on 20"s but when the time comes ,its nice to know that we have an alternative :)