Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hi folks,

After reading through ALOT of threads there seem to be really mixed reviews of Bilsteins for the 480, i've got -40mm SPAX springs on at the moment and i'm looking for the next step basically, i had my heart set on the Bilsteins but a fair few post mention poor fitting and knocking? can this be fixed? or does it make Bilsteins a nono as far as buying goes...?

My mrs was going to be getting the set for my upcoming birthday so naturally i don't want her wasting her money if they're rubbish!

cheers.

Hi Cranna

I had Bilstein B4s fitted to the turbo two years ago. Back and front were done to match. I may have been one of the lucky ones but they have been fine. No knocking or fitting issues and about 12k miles on them now.

They ride firmly compared with the OEM shocks on a Volvo 960, as you'd expect, and the body control is excellent, hardly any body roll. Compared with the Bilstein B6s on Volvo 240 I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference most of the time. Over poor surfaces the 240 probably jiggles a little less. One thing I have read about the B4s is that they don't last well when lowered. I've no idea whether that is true though - my 480 sags at standard height

David

Hi DAvid,

cheers for the reply! according to the advert they can cope with being lowered by upto 40 mm, thats what i'm on so fingers crossed they should be fine!

i'll go ahead with getting them i think, i guess if there are issues i can always 'engineer' a solution or return them as faulty goods?

thanks!

Old thread I know, but there's a knocking issue in the rear after I installed Bilstein shocks and lowering springs. My friend told me to just replace the bushings. Has anyone had the same problem?

gebrad wrote:Old thread I know, but there's a knocking issue in the rear after I installed Bilstein shocks and lowering springs. My friend told me to just replace the bushings. Has anyone had the same problem?

check it's not the anti roll bar bushes, they are prone to failure, on the up-side they are quite cheap to replace,

Ok, I just got my new bushings. Hopefully, the knocking sound will be gone.

Again, old thread I know but I have bilstien 4's and they are great. Lowered 30mm al round, no knocking, much firmer (rears used to rub quite often with someone in the back now rarely do) I'd definitely recommend them.

I've got them on the front and they're great. Have them ready to go on the back at some point too.

Due to a quirk with ordering I have an extra brand new front Bilstein B4 if anyone fancies it? Will list this properly when I get round to it.‎

It's good timing this post has been restarted, I've been considering getting some Bilsteins, but I'm unsure how significantly they will effect the ride comfort compared to standard?

As much as I would love the car to as firm and stable as possible I don't want to compromise my 480's ability to blast over small pot holes and un-even surfaces without the interior creaking!

Ideally, they will reduce body roll and inevitably firm up the ride, but not too much!

Whilst I'm here, it seems relevant to ask what sort of springs are recommended to accompany the dampers, I'm not looking for too much of a drop in ride height though.

I'm super pleased with mine. Yeh they firm up the ride, less body roll, but not harsh at all even though my 480 has been lowered too. Feels much more planted and handles better. Way better than the originals. Had a chat about them with the guys at Skandix when I was looking for shocks and they say they have many good reports. I have Lesfofors springs on mine.

Mine is no stiffer than‎ it was before but rides much smoother. The stiffness must be provided by the lowering springs Rachel has. I have replaced with new Monroe standard height springs. 

Sounds like a no-brainer then, I think some standard Turbo length springs might be in order as well as the front of my car is a bit high!

Hi I thought I would share something like a long term test
I installed Bilstein dampers (not sure if they were called B4 then but looks the same) on my -90 Turbo around 2002 with 40mm Lesjöfors lowering springs. I ran at least 140000km with them during 9 year before other problem made me park the car. I still have the car on the drive way and they actually still seem to be ok.

Pros.
+ Really good stable handling (saved me once when going to fast into a corner hidden behind a crest)
+ Comfortable when using 14"-15" wheels at least and I guess the progressive springs helps a lot here.
+ Good quality when it comes to durability
+ No problem for me running them 40mm lowered

Cons.
- They knocked quite a lot in the rear and that was annoying, but that seem to be fixed now.
- Me personaly I would have preferred little stiffer and shorter damper to have the car more planted when cornering but I think that would hurt ride quality.
- With a fully loaded car it would hit the bumb stops(the were cut) sometime, more an lowering issue than damper issue.