Bilstein makes oem parts for some (most?) German car brands, I know they make oem BMW M suspension, so they might make our oem stuff too.

I have seen threads about KW suspension rusting and failing after a few years so I'm not convinced there is any "safer" choice here.

If this is a production defect shouldn't Bilstein get the feedback?

1) Bilstein had FIVE previous issues with this suspension in under 16K miles. The first time under warranty they replaced it . Second time they repaired it . Number 3 was changing the drop links . Number 4 was the wire issue. Now this !! They are not under warranty (after 6 years) and even if they offered me a free set of anything (which I feel is dreamland) who wants it ? I don't .

2) OEM springs are a completely different category . The coils are larger , not as compressed and are less subject to rust . If an OEM part had the types of updates(like drop links) and failures like this system one might imagine the possibility of a recall . Either way mass produced cars with longer term warranty (than one year) is an apples to oranges comparison.
My post and concern is only about MY car and my experience with this specific system . I am apparently not alone as one can read on this thread .

3) On top of my concerns I also respect the shop who does my car's work. When they are faced with holding my car up on a lift for a month waiting for a part it inconveniences them too .

4) The most important reason is my own peace of mind . I have to feel safe in my car . I look at this break and I don't feel safe with it.

Bilsten had a 6 year chance on my car . This is where I am with it today .
Tomorrow it is KW who gets the chance on my car. It was the part suggested by my tuner who had kept my cars in impeccable shape for years and has my confidence and trust .

I'd probably just do gmg springs if I were you.

Hey Larry, glad you are okay too. Weird to have something fail without having been touched recently.

Time to throw out the armchair quarterback theories. I'm still pointing to over torqued top nuts, which will put too much stress on the shaft. Easily done and you have no way to know how much stress has been applied until it breaks. The design is similar for all struts, so a KW wouldn't be immune to the same kind of failure.

Speculation on the failure. I've heard of several LOW speed failures. I'm going to speculate that a bump at low speeds could unweight the suspension, completely extending a strut. Couple that with sideways force on the fully extended strut and you would have maximum stress on the shaft. Perhaps that's why we don't hear about failures while driving, the struts are typically under some degree of compression.

I would love to know the torque specs on shaft nuts of the units that have failed.

I believe they are like 30ft lbs, but nothing should be that fragile.
I'll venture to bet that there are a lot more spring only installs out there, done by a wide range of mechanics (ie over tq city), I've never once heard of an oem failure.
Remember the am division and oem division are different, not even sure the am stuff is tuv.
C

As others have mentioned, I am very happy to hear that this did not result in an injury for you or anyone else.

If you would like to reach out to Jose Gonzalez, Product Manager at Bilstein directly, PM me for his contact info.

I'm sure bilstein has Larry's contact info by now, they need to be reaching out to him not vise versa. Jmo

No Bilstein's going on my cars. Way to many stories and issues for me to deal with.

1) They have been on the car for 6 years .

2) I drive over that speed bump daily . Even my 09 car made the famous "clunk" noise. Tons of threads on this .

3) Too many issues to even consider repair or replace .

4) If the KW's fail the car will go back to stock and be traded in . But they have not even been installed yet so I see no reason to condemn them . Thus far I have not seen post after post of problems with them and they are what's being suggested to me at this point .

5) I don't believe its an over torqued bolt. If i were the only person facing an issue I might have more doubts .

The "why" of trying to explain why my car faced PSM failure with no warnings at 5MPH after 6 years doesn't really matter to me .I am OK and so is the rest of my car .

6) One more thing . When we discussed the next step it was geared towards my peace of mind about my car . I happen to like the idea of the KW noselift and the memory of the broken strut has already begun to fade .

In short --I am not happy about facing this problem but have accepted it and am moving forward .

I have forwarded this thread to my tuner . I'll leave it up to them but I speculate that they faced waiting a month over the last simple repair on my car . By then the KW's will be on my car and I hope to be driving it rather than watching it collect dust on their lift .

But thanks for offering. I sincerely mean it .

this nails it for me, sticking w/ my gmg springs/sways and stock shocks

Years ago I did have Techart springs on the car before i opted for the coilovers . They were very nice . No clunking , cheaper, and functional .. but they did not feel as good as the coilovers in terms of road feel .

On a side note I do have a 2013 Boxster S with PASM .The stock PASM suspension in the new Boxster is AMAZING . I realize its a totally different car .My point in bringing this up is that even though Porsche does charge more for their new cars they are coming very nicely equipped in bone stock form .
There's a lot of things about the 991 which keep me clinging to my 997 but I do find the suspension improvements in the new cars very appealing .

I'm just looking ahead at all my future choices but in the present I do hope to continue enjoying my 997tt when its back on the road.

Everytime I read one of these threads, I cringe. I have had my Bilsteins on for approx four months, 1500 miles. I have had them checked/checked them myself at least four times. Anytime I hear a noise or clunk, my heart sinks as I pray that I am not having a suspension failure. Keep in mind that everything is fine at the moment but I have no piece of mind with all the issues I have read about.

I am seriously contemplating just switching to KW for piece of mind.


-Vin

WOW! What a fear factor this thread has started. I've had my Damptronics for about 4 months also and definitely NOT thinking about switching to KW. I personally know 4 Porsche Techs in the DFW area that do installations and all assure me that the return rate on Damptronics IS EXTREMELY LOW. Possibly because they know how to do a proper install?

In fact, I think the majority of problems are due to an improper install.

Famous "clunk noise" I don't have it.

Want to change them out, go ahead. If I had a problem with mine I would get to the bottom of it with Bilstein and if they told me it was an improper installation I would look further into that with my installer.

Walt

I would love to see a comment from Bilstein to the community addressing the issue. Reaching out to Bilstein is pointless as some have had failures and simply needed to send the failed part for analysis and wait for a replacement.