 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Bilstein B6 dissappoinment |
 
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| fogbank Member Since: 30 May 2024 Location: Daylight Savings Posts: 26  
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I found them very firm on my old double cab, great when towing and racking up the road miles which to be fair is what it did a lot of. I wouldn’t have wanted them as my off road option.
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2nd Jul 2025 7:01am |
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| DAZ110 Member Since: 06 Dec 2007 Location: East Sussex Posts: 2064 
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Yeah, they were hard and harsh when I had them on my 90.
I went back to original factory fit shocks.  |
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2nd Jul 2025 10:51am |
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| MK Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: Santiago Posts: 2478  
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24-065290 is the stiffer model on tht B6 league compared to 24-002530. Puma 110" SW
............................................................. Earth first. Other planets later |
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2nd Jul 2025 1:25pm |
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| MercianRover Member Since: 07 Apr 2022 Location: Culworth Posts: 158 
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Perhaps "tested on the NURBURGRING-NORDSCHLEIFE" should have been a give-away before you fitted them?
I've posted this elsewhere but will reiterate: From what I've read Bilstein use digressive damping whereas Fox are linear. Digressive seems to suit road use better while linear damping is better for rougher surfaces.  Click image to enlarge Digressive has a high rate of damping at low shaft speeds resulting in poor compliance on rough surfaces. Linear has significantly lower rate of damping which helps the wheels follow the terrain without transferring the motion to the suspended vehicle. Here's a bit of tech on the subject: https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/digre...ETP88Qa-9z |
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3rd Jul 2025 11:26am |
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| steveww Member Since: 05 Jan 2022 Location: Malton Posts: 607 
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I fitted Fox to my 110 and they are an improvement over the original factory items. Definitely more compliant and less bouncy. The only downside is that it gets a bit floaty when fully loaded.
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3rd Jul 2025 12:10pm |
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| Chicken Drumstick Member Since: 17 Aug 2020 Location: Near MK Posts: 923
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Many thanks and very interesting. Sort of goes against the description Bilstein give as an "off-road shock absorber" https://www.bilstein-shocks.co.uk/products/24-065405 Click image to enlarge |
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3rd Jul 2025 12:44pm |
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| MercianRover Member Since: 07 Apr 2022 Location: Culworth Posts: 158
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Maybe a topic you need to discuss with Bilstein 😉
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3rd Jul 2025 1:40pm |
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| rustandoil Member Since: 08 Sep 2012 Location: Cotswolds Posts: 852  
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The Bilstein chap who I've seen at Prescott hill climb is very helpful and knowledgeable, he can build custom shocks in the back of his fully fitted van 😎
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3rd Jul 2025 4:18pm |
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| MercianRover Member Since: 07 Apr 2022 Location: Culworth Posts: 158
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Same is true of Fox - be interesting to compare what's available from both (I understand Bilstein now own Fox) as OEM replacement, rebuildable dampers and compare costs.
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3rd Jul 2025 4:57pm |
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| Naks Member Since: 27 Jan 2009 Location: Stellenbosch, ZA Posts: 2672  
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I've had Bilsteins on my 90 for about 12 years now, and they are simply superb.
The first set I had were custom, long-travel ones, which were incredible off-road, and now I have B6s. I see on the invoice it says 'B6 BILSTEIN OFF-ROAD' Again, superb road-handling and off-road as well. I am running OEM HD springs though. -- 2010 Defender Puma 90 + BAS remap + Alive IC + Slickshift + Ashcroft ATB rear 2015 Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged
Defender Puma Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zZ1en9 Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zXrtKO Range Rover/Sport L320/L322/L494 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zc58JQ |
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3rd Jul 2025 5:01pm |
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| Chicken Drumstick Member Since: 17 Aug 2020 Location: Near MK Posts: 923
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Glad you like them Naks. I would suspect that either your ones are a different spec or you maybe haven't been able to compare to other vehicles. Or that there is something wrong with the ones I have (although others above seem to have similar issues with them).
I'm fairly fortunate to have access to multiple Land Rovers and have driven them back to back on various terrains. The B6's I've fitted simply seem to offer no benefits anywhere and plenty of negatives. At the farm between my instant family we have 7 Ninety's to compare too, a classic RR, p38 on air and coils and a 4th Gen Jimny on aftermarket suspension. Subjectively I'd say the B6's are the worse riding out of any and by a fair margin. |
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3rd Jul 2025 7:45pm |
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| Peabod Member Since: 05 Jan 2018 Location: Lancashire Posts: 9 
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Totally agree had them on my old 90 fitted with progressive road springs (standard height) and they were awful. Too hard in the road and bouncy off road. Once I went back to genuine standard shocks they were better by a noticeable amount.
When I come to replace the standard ones on my 110 I think after some reading I’ll try the fox dampers and some alive standard height springs. I’m sure someone will come along that has that set up and be able to give a view of what they are like. |
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3rd Jul 2025 8:56pm |
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| Naks Member Since: 27 Jan 2009 Location: Stellenbosch, ZA Posts: 2672
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Sorry, if I came across as disparaging your experience - I really did not mean to, and my apologies if I did, I'm just finding our differing experiences with the same product quite strange. Checked the invoice again: the part numbers are 24065405 & 24065290. The springs are Front: LREB500200/220, and Rear: LRKB500310/270 You are quite right that I only have my 90 to base my opinion on. Well, I also have an L494, but you can't compare these two. Wifey's aunt has a stock standard 110 2.2, which I've driven a few times, and i find that way too wallowy for my liking. My 90 is also remapped, so I do tend to drive it more like a sportscar than one really should - maybe the hard ride suits my driving style better? And you have all seen my various off-roading videos, and it's not like the vehicle struggles. -- 2010 Defender Puma 90 + BAS remap + Alive IC + Slickshift + Ashcroft ATB rear 2015 Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged
Defender Puma Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zZ1en9 Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zXrtKO Range Rover/Sport L320/L322/L494 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zc58JQ |
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4th Jul 2025 7:41am |
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| Linds Hanson Member Since: 16 Jan 2021 Location: Cornwall Posts: 526
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We fitted Bilstein dampers for years right back in the early years of improving RRC handling when everyone thought we were mad talking about Land Rover and handling/ride in the same sentence! Bilstein was the only damper back then that you could fit to a brand new Defender or RRC and see a improvement in body control. But they always negatively effected ride quality on a normal weight vehicles and this applies to all Bilstein products for any vehicle, they are valved for good road surfaces. So yes they improve body control significantly but at the expense of poor surface compliance. This is like driving a 90's AMG Mercedes with its hard unyielding suspension which is amazing on the autobahn at high speed but crashes over British pot holed roads compared to a modern AMG Benz which manages to p[erform both tasks without compromise. We generally use Fox dampers these days with a progressive spring and smaller diameter front antiroll bar.
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5th Jul 2025 12:44pm |
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