Hello all
tonight when I was backing my car out of the driveway I heard a loud cracking sound like something broke or snapped. I was too afraid to drive my car so I jacked it up and this is what I found!

What you are looking at is my left front wheel looking straight into the wheel well. And as you can see, the part of the droplink that attaches to the coilover is dangling freely. The metal that connects the droplink to the coilover has been completely ripped off!

 

Here are more pics.

 

my finger is where the tab that holds the droplink used to attach to the coilover



I'm really upset right now since Bilstein has a history of denying warranty claims. I purchased these coilovers from an authorized dealer and had a very experienced installer (somebody who has installed Damptronics for many 6speed Turbo owners) so I have no reason to believe that it was an installation issue. Help!!!

 

does anyone know how the warranty process works? I've had the damptronics on the car for about 18 months now. Do I take the car to the installer and wait for 6 weeks to deny the claim? In the meantime I have no car to drive??

 

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Good luck...

 

I seem to remember reading something about this issue with the Bilsteins for Porsches. Do a search on this site and RennTech.org. I know Sharkworks had a post on 8-31-2009 about failures regarding the droplinks and the Bilstein coilovers but not sure if it's same issue you're having. ( haven't a clue how to add that post into my response ) Given the nature of the problem I can't imagine Bilstein not stepping up to get you a replacement and upgrading the droplinks to eliminate any further issues with the product.

 

I would take them back to the installer that put them in and find out what he will do for you, he is the dealer and the installer, he needs to find a solution for you.

I am surprised that these failed, I haven't had an issue with mine in almost4years of usage.

 

unfortunately it is not as simple as replacing the droplinks. the part that the droplinks attaches to on the coilover side has been torn off of the coilover body.
drkbrent had a different issue and initially bilstein refused to cover his coilovers under warranty. it took many months for him to eventually resolve the problem so IMO, Bilstein does not have the best track record with regards to customer service.

 

Your problem is that h&r sways are too stiff. They are the only solid sways on the market. I had the same problem with my BMW and kw housing. Kw did honor my warranty claim but only because of a relationship I had with the distributor. If you had stock sways or even eibach sways it might be different. Good luck.

 

I had my Bilsteins with H&R sway bars. They weren't a problem for me. Recently removed them from my car when I traded it in, perhaps it was a manufacturing flaw, or a minor collision that took some time to finally break the CO?

 

Real bummer indeed! I would talk to the place that you bought the parts from and show them this:
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-advisory.html

 

Interesting, so this is an issue with the AWD versions only?

 

surprise surprise...Bilstein is the worst POS company I have ever dealt with in the auto industry...they dont stand by their product even out of the box!...will never ever buy Bilstein product ever again....see this link below.

BTW, my drop link popped off too and had to replace it after a week driving around with no drop link attached from sway to shock.

Given all their issues(broken drop links, etc) and horrible customer service I am amazed they still sell the damptronics coils...now I did have PSS 10's on a M3 in the past and that product worked out ok.


https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ease-read.html

 

I remember seeing that post before. Thanks for re-posting. I have a 2wd version (C2S), so I think I'm set. Also, I have RSS Drop Links. I think that's why I ignored this in the past. Should I be concerned?
Thanks again!
Jack

 

In my case the problem was NOT with the droplink. The droplink is intact. It's where the droplink attaches to the coil over where the failure is. Which is very disturbing since Ive never tracked the car and I was just backing out of the driveway. I really hope bilstein steps up to the plate on this.