Koni SA vs Sachs (OEM)

[lforter]

Hey, so im in the process of looking for comfortables shocks for a 135i, Ive been looking at Koni SA shocks and im wondering how much of an improvement in ride quality are they compared to Sachs OEM original shocks? is it really worth double the price?

[NorthernDancer]

My opinion, no.

[lforter]

Why not?

[Blau]

Look at the Bilstein B4's over the Sachs kit. The Koni's are nice but you lose stock comfort. You do gain a bit of a handling advantage tho.

[lforter]

Originally Posted by WeShallCallHerBlau

Look at the Bilstein B4's over the Sachs kit. The Koni's are nice but you lose stock comfort. You do gain a bit of a handling advantage tho.

With the special active? I thought they were the most comfortable shocks around, I already bought them and will be installing them at the end of january. will post updates.

[WrathOTM]

was curious about the Special Active ones but read that they weren't compatible with lowering springs which I would like to do.

[scratchgolf135]

I went with the Str.t (orange) because they're softer than yellow and support lowering springs. Might check those out.

[djacinto]

As far as I am aware, for Koni, their STR.T line is O.E like qualities, so just replacing the standard damper. I don't know how they account for the differences in non sport and sport suspensions for bmw, so it may result in a much softer ride if you are used to the msport suspension.

SA is the renamed FSD, or frequency selective damping, is the middle of the road for sporty and comfort driving. I just installed these on my f32 and am in love with the ride after my sad and wallowy xdrive ride.

Compared to the e82, my car is still feels softer in many scenarios, so I may end up doing the same upgrade to the e82 later on. To answer OP's question if it's worth it or not, is certainly to the driver. I bought my kit from FCP, so once my struts go again, I will simply replace them through fcp's warranty.

[scratchgolf135]

Originally Posted by djacinto

As far as I am aware, for Koni, their STR.T line is O.E like qualities, so just replacing the standard damper. I don't know how they account for the differences in non sport and sport suspensions for bmw, so it may result in a much softer ride if you are used to the msport suspension.

SA is the renamed FSD, or frequency selective damping, is the middle of the road for sporty and comfort driving. I just installed these on my f32 and am in love with the ride after my sad and wallowy xdrive ride.

Compared to the e82, my car is still feels softer in many scenarios, so I may end up doing the same upgrade to the e82 later on. To answer OP's question if it's worth it or not, is certainly to the driver. I bought my kit from FCP, so once my struts go again, I will simply replace them through fcp's warranty.

That’s actually backwards. The SA is closer to stock and is not compatible with lowering springs. The STR.T (or Koni Orange) is more aggressive than stock and is the same valving as the Yellow set on 1/4 turn from the softest setting.

https://www.koni.com/en-US/Cars/Products/Sport-Tuning/STR-T/

https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Technology/Which-color-KONI/

“ The STr.T is not an original replacement type damper, they are a performance damper engineered to be stiffer and perform better than your car’s factory shock absorber—similar to the KONI Sport on its softest setting. ”

[djacinto]

Originally Posted by scratchgolf135

That’s actually backwards. The SA is closer to stock and is not compatible with lowering springs. The STR.T (or Koni Orange) is more aggressive than stock and is the same valving as the Yellow set on 1/4 turn from the softest setting.

https://www.koni.com/en-US/Cars/Products/Sport-Tuning/STR-T/

https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Technology/Which-color-KONI/

“ The STr.T is not an original replacement type damper, they are a performance damper engineered to be stiffer and perform better than your car’s factory shock absorber—similar to the KONI Sport on its softest setting. ”

Weird. Watched a video by koni, that’s what they mentioned. This is the one I watched.

I see what you mean though. Orange and yellows are more in line of the same category of sport, with yellows being adjustable, and the red special active, being a weird hybrid of the two, but being geared more towards comfort for a daily driver.