New 2009 2010 BMW Z4 - ZPOST - View Single Post - Bilstein B16 Coilovers and ISC V2 coilovers Review

ray7792 · 10-18-2022, 10:54 PM

Hi,

Writing a quick review on the rare coilovers available for the E89 Z4.
I ordered both Bilstein B16 and ISC street coilover kits from Bimmerworld.

Firstly, I would like to say to avoid ISC coilovers, they absolutely do not test out their product and the ISC coilovers kit is not compatible with the e89 z4.
Wasted numerous hours of my life installing and adjusting the ISC coilovers only to find out the struts were bottomed out and springs were binded the moment the car was on the floor. ISC stringed me along for over a month saying they'll send a revised kit but in the end those sheep fucking incels never kept their word. Wasted over a month of not being able to drive my car and many hours of my blood and sweat in labor. Garbage company, avoid at all costs. I will say that they were pretty decent for my old Subarus though...

Now onto a product that actually works, Bilstein B16 - overall they are pretty damn great, very happy with it.

Install:
The Bilsteins reuses the OEM top hat for front and rear, that means it does not come with adjustable camber plates.

The rears were straight forward, I put the spring perch to its lowest setting to fit it in the car more easily and then readjusted the perch for ride height after it was on the car. Shock is super easy to put in.

The fronts were a little more annoying...Bilstein uses a 22mm nut for the tophat to mount onto the shock and spring, but you still need a 5mm passthrough for counterhold, it's like impossible to find a 22mm socket with a passthrough unless you order it online. I ended up just using a weak impact on it and had an indy shop double check the torque spec when I went in for alignment.
Only major struggle I had was with fitting one of the front strut into the knuckle collar thing. One side went in easily using a spreader socket tool, but the other side I had to slowly pry it open by wedging coins and washers in with the spreader tool to get the knuckle wide enough for the strut to seat into it properly.

Height and Damper Adjustments:
It has 10 damper adjustments that are at the bottom of each strut tower which makes it pretty easy to adjust, especially on the rear because otherwise you'd have to cut holes out of the trunk lining to adjust it from the top.

Adjusting ride height is simple using the spanner tools included. On the highest setting you can be higher than stock by quite a bit. At the lowest you can get the fenders to go over the tires by maybe 2 fingers so you have a good amount of room to work with. However, if you're looking to go super low, this is not the kit for you.

Ride Quality
I believe the springs are progressive so they are very comfortable driving around normally. On the softest setting, the ride comfort is close to the M adaptive suspension on comfort mode. The Bilstein handles bumps and uneven surfaces without issue and certainly not jarring. Even on the softest setting, the car is sharp and definitely a notch above OEM. It feels planted, definitely less body roll (new endlinks proably helped too, OEM ones were super loose), it makes the heavy z4 feel lighter, and it seems easier to just point the nose and place the car where you want it to.

Settings 1-6 are perfectly compliant and comfortable enough as a daily driver. Anything above that starts to get a little too harsh for me but by no means bad.
Once you start getting higher up on the damper setting it is stiff but it still feels a lot better than the M suspension in Sport/Sport+ where its just stupidly stiff for the sake of being stiff.

EDC delete
I took out the EDC module located in the DME box and then used Bimmercode to deactivate EDC. This guide here for how to do it:
https://www.spool[remove]street.com/threads/diy-coding-out-edc-on-e89-z4-with-protool.5719/

The code to search for in Bimmercode is EDCK_ID_MONITOR and EDCK_ALIVE_ZAEHLER under Interior-->Kombi (Instrument Cluster)
Set value to 0x00 nicht_aktiv on both.

My car is currently sitting on OEM style 326 Wheels (stock wheel for 35is, 35i wheel has same exact specs)
F:19x8 +29 | PS4S 235/35/19
R:19x9 +40 | PS4S 265/35/19
With 12mm spacers all around

Ride height is currently at 1 finger gap in front and 1.25 finger gap in rear. No rubbing in the front at all. Rears will only rub if you go over a very large dip or bump at speed, >90% of the time no rubbing.

View post on imgur.com

Links to the products mentioned. You don't have to replace the front endlinks but I recommend it.

Don't buy this trash:
https://www.bimmerworld.com/ISC-N1-S...et-E89-Z4.html

Bilsteins B16
https://www.bimmerworld.com/Bilstein...48-169998.html

Front Whiteline Endlinks
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...8i-135i-klc154

10-18-2022, 10:54 PM	#1
ray7792 Private 12 Rep 65 Posts Drives: '14 35is Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: NJ iTrader: (0)	Bilstein B16 Coilovers and ISC V2 coilovers Review Hi, Writing a quick review on the rare coilovers available for the E89 Z4. I ordered both Bilstein B16 and ISC street coilover kits from Bimmerworld. Firstly, I would like to say to avoid ISC coilovers, they absolutely do not test out their product and the ISC coilovers kit is not compatible with the e89 z4. Wasted numerous hours of my life installing and adjusting the ISC coilovers only to find out the struts were bottomed out and springs were binded the moment the car was on the floor. ISC stringed me along for over a month saying they'll send a revised kit but in the end those sheep fucking incels never kept their word. Wasted over a month of not being able to drive my car and many hours of my blood and sweat in labor. Garbage company, avoid at all costs. I will say that they were pretty decent for my old Subarus though... Now onto a product that actually works, Bilstein B16 - overall they are pretty damn great, very happy with it. Install: The Bilsteins reuses the OEM top hat for front and rear, that means it does not come with adjustable camber plates. The rears were straight forward, I put the spring perch to its lowest setting to fit it in the car more easily and then readjusted the perch for ride height after it was on the car. Shock is super easy to put in. The fronts were a little more annoying...Bilstein uses a 22mm nut for the tophat to mount onto the shock and spring, but you still need a 5mm passthrough for counterhold, it's like impossible to find a 22mm socket with a passthrough unless you order it online. I ended up just using a weak impact on it and had an indy shop double check the torque spec when I went in for alignment. Only major struggle I had was with fitting one of the front strut into the knuckle collar thing. One side went in easily using a spreader socket tool, but the other side I had to slowly pry it open by wedging coins and washers in with the spreader tool to get the knuckle wide enough for the strut to seat into it properly. Height and Damper Adjustments: It has 10 damper adjustments that are at the bottom of each strut tower which makes it pretty easy to adjust, especially on the rear because otherwise you'd have to cut holes out of the trunk lining to adjust it from the top. Adjusting ride height is simple using the spanner tools included. On the highest setting you can be higher than stock by quite a bit. At the lowest you can get the fenders to go over the tires by maybe 2 fingers so you have a good amount of room to work with. However, if you're looking to go super low, this is not the kit for you. Ride Quality I believe the springs are progressive so they are very comfortable driving around normally. On the softest setting, the ride comfort is close to the M adaptive suspension on comfort mode. The Bilstein handles bumps and uneven surfaces without issue and certainly not jarring. Even on the softest setting, the car is sharp and definitely a notch above OEM. It feels planted, definitely less body roll (new endlinks proably helped too, OEM ones were super loose), it makes the heavy z4 feel lighter, and it seems easier to just point the nose and place the car where you want it to. Settings 1-6 are perfectly compliant and comfortable enough as a daily driver. Anything above that starts to get a little too harsh for me but by no means bad. Once you start getting higher up on the damper setting it is stiff but it still feels a lot better than the M suspension in Sport/Sport+ where its just stupidly stiff for the sake of being stiff. EDC delete I took out the EDC module located in the DME box and then used Bimmercode to deactivate EDC. This guide here for how to do it: https://www.spool[remove]street.com/threads/diy-coding-out-edc-on-e89-z4-with-protool.5719/ The code to search for in Bimmercode is EDCK_ID_MONITOR and EDCK_ALIVE_ZAEHLER under Interior-->Kombi (Instrument Cluster) Set value to 0x00 nicht_aktiv on both. My car is currently sitting on OEM style 326 Wheels (stock wheel for 35is, 35i wheel has same exact specs) F:19x8 +29 \| PS4S 235/35/19 R:19x9 +40 \| PS4S 265/35/19 With 12mm spacers all around Ride height is currently at 1 finger gap in front and 1.25 finger gap in rear. No rubbing in the front at all. Rears will only rub if you go over a very large dip or bump at speed, >90% of the time no rubbing. View post on imgur.com Links to the products mentioned. You don't have to replace the front endlinks but I recommend it. Don't buy this trash: https://www.bimmerworld.com/ISC-N1-S...et-E89-Z4.html Bilsteins B16 https://www.bimmerworld.com/Bilstein...48-169998.html Front Whiteline Endlinks https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...8i-135i-klc154 Last edited by ray7792; 10-18-2022 at 11:14 PM..
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