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warranty replacement for rear Bilstein TCs that rattle?

mattd1205

mattd1205

Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2014
Location
Harbor City, CA
I replaced my blown out Sachs rear shocks about 6 months ago with some Bilstein B4s but they started rattling about a month later. I finally replaced the B4s yesterday and they still have the poorly sized eyelet problem that has plagued them for years. Has anyone successfully gone through Bilstein and had them replaced under warranty for this issue?
 
mattd1205 said:
I replaced my blown out Sachs rear shocks about 6 months ago with some Bilstein B4s but they started rattling about a month later. I finally replaced the B4s yesterday and they still have the poorly sized eyelet problem that has plagued them for years. Has anyone successfully gone through Bilstein and had them replaced under warranty for this issue?
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funnily enough I just contacted IPD about that and they said that production issue was done with 4-5 years ago. Possibly you got old stock, possibly they (bilstein) have goofed again.
 
the_hairy_baboon said:
funnily enough I just contacted IPD about that and they said that production issue was done with 4-5 years ago. Possibly you got old stock, possibly they (bilstein) have goofed again.
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I put some bilstein B4s on my wagon in about 2014 and it was the same deal. I heard that they resolved the issue so I decided to give them another chance and was sorely disappointed. Could be old stock like you said. I guess I?ll reach out and see what they can do.
 
I am so fortunate to have never bought them. I tried to install several sets of the B4 for friends and they have never worked out. I would go back to the Sachs super touring or try the Swedish car parts shocks. I'm pretty happy with them. Gabriel ultra are good if you can find some old stock.
 
I put some new B4?s on my 244 6 months ago and they rattled immediately from the very first drive. I have tried to eliminate every possible issue like bushings and making sure every nut and bolt it torqued and tight, I even checked the upper eyelet like people say but mine is a very snug fit on that upper mount, it?s not the eyelet ratting but the actual shock I?ve concluded since the nut and shock upper mount have clearly not been chafing on each other, zero moment. I?ll probably just fork over the $600 and buy Konis since I have a ?90, and the Sachs stuff isn?t as good as it once was. I?d be interested to try the Volvo OE ones made by Monroe (?) they are selling right now.
 
It's a big chunk of money but the Konis are worth every penny. Not only that they upheld their warrant without question. I'd get them from BNE. The other sport shock I've seen over the last couple years is the GAZ ones from Yoshifab and Classic Swede.

Volvos Monroe shocks will be good for completely stock grandmamobile. I've used Monroe shocks once and they worked for awhile but didn't last that long before they were
worn out.
 
dl242gt said:
I am so fortunate to have never bought them. I tried to install several sets of the B4 for friends and they have never worked out. I would go back to the Sachs super touring or try the Swedish car parts shocks. I'm pretty happy with them. Gabriel ultra are good if you can find some old stock.
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The sachs ones blew out in less than 2 years and they were kinda rattly too but that might have been due to loose hardware. I bought some KYB Excel Gs and they seem to be ok in the rattle department but I?m not terribly optimistic they?ll last very long. I?ll probably go with Gabriel ultras next. I guess finding decent but not overly stiff rear shocks for these cars is a process of elimination.
 
OVERDRIVE said:
I put some new B4?s on my 244 6 months ago and they rattled immediately from the very first drive. I have tried to eliminate every possible issue like bushings and making sure every nut and bolt it torqued and tight, I even checked the upper eyelet like people say but mine is a very snug fit on that upper mount, it?s not the eyelet ratting but the actual shock I?ve concluded since the nut and shock upper mount have clearly not been chafing on each other, zero moment. I?ll probably just fork over the $600 and buy Konis since I have a ?90, and the Sachs stuff isn?t as good as it once was. I?d be interested to try the Volvo OE ones made by Monroe (?) they are selling right now.
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I was tempted to try the OEM ones but couldn?t stomach paying $150 for a set of standard shocks. When did they make Monroe OEM?
 
Had the same experience with B4's on my 740 this past year. Rockauto warrantied the first pair after 6 months, but for the second pair 6 months after that, they instructed me to return them for credit & buy something else.

Never heard of any OEM Monroes for anything other than the S60R....
 
mattd1205 said:
The sachs ones blew out in less than 2 years and they were kinda rattly too but that might have been due to loose hardware. I bought some KYB Excel Gs and they seem to be ok in the rattle department but I?m not terribly optimistic they?ll last very long. I?ll probably go with Gabriel ultras next. I guess finding decent but not overly stiff rear shocks for these cars is a process of elimination.
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Konis work pretty well on the lowest setting. Bilstein HDs are too stiff for a daily.
 
I can confirm I have taken apart plenty of 240 cores that have Monroe / Volvo badged inserts that we have binned.
 
blkaplan said:
I can confirm I have taken apart plenty of 240 cores that have Monroe / Volvo badged inserts that we have binned.
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Interesting. Were these the 90-on 240's? I don't recall anything blue-boxed marked Monroe for standard replacement 240 shocks when I worked in the parts division from 84-93. 273704 was the el cheapo insert de jour, which I think went to 271579 towards the end of the line.
 
Volvo also used Monroe for the 122S shocks as the OEM. Long standing use of mediocre shocks for stock purposes. :lol:

Those KYB Excel G are better than the Gas Adjust and last about 50k miles in my experience. I think what you are looking for is Konis on the softest setting as suggested. Well worth it and you can firm them up anytime you want even better handling.
 
dl242gt said:
Volvo also used Monroe for the 122S shocks as the OEM. Long standing use of mediocre shocks for stock purposes. :lol:

Those KYB Excel G are better than the Gas Adjust and last about 50k miles in my experience. I think what you are looking for is Konis on the softest setting as suggested. Well worth it and you can firm them up anytime you want even better handling.
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I?d love it if they lasted 50k miles. I?ve been through 3 pairs of rear shocks in the last 50k miles alone but then again the roads in Los Angeles are absolutely horrific as far as potholes go.
 
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