Bilstein B4 shocks

[Stu B]

Hi Kev, I fitted a set of B4 shocks, new top mounts and various other bits to my old 850 T5, I got the parts from ‘Parts for Volvos’ as you mention above. Massive difference in ride quality, handling, comfort and I would imagine safety. Would recommend.

I’ll find a link to my thread and add it so you can enjoy photos of a dismantled car and spring compressor fun


Edit: post #9 onwards here…

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=283304

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Stu B

Hi Kev, I fitted a set of B4 shocks, new top mounts and various other bits to my old 850 T5, I got the parts from ‘Parts for Volvos’ as you mention above. Massive difference in ride quality, handling, comfort and I would imagine safety. Would recommend.

I’ll find a link to my thread and add it so you can enjoy photos of a dismantled car and spring compressor fun


Edit: post #9 onwards here…

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=283304

Hi Stu! That's great to hear, I'll check your thread. Thanks for posting.

Have you ever fitted control arms from Parts for Volvo's?

[Stu B]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Hi Stu! That's great to hear, I'll check your thread. Thanks for posting.

Have you ever fitted control arms from Parts for Volvo's?

No problem and yes, I’ve fitted ‘heavy duty’ control arms from them to my 850 and possibly my previous P2 V70. I’ve had various parts from them over the years, never had any issues.

Stu

[Kev0607]

I had a good read of your 850 thread, Stu. I really enjoyed it... great pictures and explanations, as usual.

I've been looking on the PFV website and come across these.. a set of shock absorbers for the front and rear.

https://www.partsforvolvosonline.com...d33d9862727ff7

Front strut top mounts (bearing and top mount in one)
https://www.partsforvolvosonline.com...d33d9862727ff7

Rear mounts -

https://www.partsforvolvosonline.com...d33d9862727ff7

Is this the part that you referred to as a spring seat in your 850 thread?

https://www.partsforvolvosonline.com...d33d9862727ff7

I also noticed that PFV sell control arm bushings and ball joints individually, which as far as I'm aware, Volvo don't do. It works out around £115 for all the bushes for the control arms. If you can picture a control arm, it would consist of a ball joint, a little circle joint and a larger joint known as a rear bush... x2 (nearside and offside).

Obviously the old bushes would have to be pressed out and new ones pressed in, but considering new arms are £180 for a pair on there, its still a slight saving. Maybe a few beer tokens to the mechanic to press them in... not saving much, but still... ? Or is it worth the hassle?

I also had a look at the polybushes, but they're dearer than buying new control arms!

[Tatsfield]

Although my experience of Bilstein B4 shocks wasn't on a Volvo, it is worth taking note. I needed to change a complete set of shocks and went for Bilstein B4s as they had an offer and I believed that they were a premium brand. I noticed no difference whatsoever in the running performance of the car and others said that the B4s are just the low end run of the mill product and that only the expensive top end of the Bilstein range show any extra performance and that at the high price these were only worth considering for track usage.

I didn't worry as they were fitted and I had faith in the brand. When the next MoT came around after about 6 months of using these shocks the tester pointed out that the front pair were leaking and failed the car. He is a long term acquaintance and his testing judgement calls always give me the benefit of the doubt and so this decision was to be taken seriously. I had the full set of shocks removed and replaced with Monroe which turned out to be the OEM suppliers for the car.

I sent the Bilsteins back to the outfit that supplied them and they returned them to Bilstein who contacted me and said that they would put them through their testing facility. A month later they informed me that they couldn't find any leakage. The retailer who had sold them confirmed that he had seen leakage, I had seen leakage and the MoT tester had seen leakage. It took several months of correspondence with Bilstein to convince them to refund my money and I have never considered buying their products again.

German engineering can be very good but their marketing is like anyone else's. The lower end of their product ranges, like the B4s, are generally made to sell cheaper than the all singing and dancing products that we perceive at the top end of their ranges. The best options for Volvo owners is to buy either genuine Volvo parts or parts made by their OEM suppliers to the same spec as fitted to their cars. If you cannot verify that these parts are truly identical, buy the Volvo part.

To add to an already long posting, my experience with poly bushes was that I went mad and replaced all the rubber bushes with poly bushes and without doubt the handling improved greatly at the expense of comfort. However they just didn't last and it seems to me that these are track use components where the vehicle needs outstanding component performance but where it doesn't actually cover much mileage. The vehicle developer will have spent development costs on having rubber bushes that perform with an acceptable compromise between performance, comfort and longevity. I returned to the OEM rubber bushes and accepted that I was running a road car and not a track car.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

Although my experience of Bilstein B4 shocks wasn't on a Volvo, it is worth taking note. I needed to change a complete set of shocks and went for Bilstein B4s as they had an offer and I believed that they were a premium brand. I noticed no difference whatsoever in the running performance of the car and others said that the B4s are just the low end run of the mill product and that only the expensive top end of the Bilstein range show any extra performance and that at the high price these were only worth considering for track usage.

I didn't worry as they were fitted and I had faith in the brand. When the next MoT came around after about 6 months of using these shocks the tester pointed out that the front pair were leaking and failed the car. He is a long term acquaintance and his testing judgement calls always give me the benefit of the doubt and so this decision was to be taken seriously. I had the full set of shocks removed and replaced with Monroe which turned out to be the OEM suppliers for the car.

I sent the Bilsteins back to the outfit that supplied them and they returned them to Bilstein who contacted me and said that they would put them through their testing facility. A month later they informed me that they couldn't find any leakage. The retailer who had sold them confirmed that he had seen leakage, I had seen leakage and the MoT tester had seen leakage. It took several months of correspondence with Bilstein to convince them to refund my money and I have never considered buying their products again.

German engineering can be very good but their marketing is like anyone else's. The lower end of their product ranges, like the B4s, are generally made to sell cheaper than the all singing and dancing products that we perceive at the top end of their ranges. The best options for Volvo owners is to buy either genuine Volvo parts or parts made by their OEM suppliers to the same spec as fitted to their cars. If you cannot verify that these parts are truly identical, buy the Volvo part.

To add to an already long posting, my experience with poly bushes was that I went mad and replaced all the rubber bushes with poly bushes and without doubt the handling improved greatly at the expense of comfort. However they just didn't last and it seems to me that these are track use components where the vehicle needs outstanding component performance but where it doesn't actually cover much mileage. The vehicle developer will have spent development costs on having rubber bushes that perform with an acceptable compromise between performance, comfort and longevity. I returned to the OEM rubber bushes and accepted that I was running a road car and not a track car.

Thanks for your input. Volvo don't make shock absorbers, so when you buy "genuine", its not actually made by Volvo. Its cheaper to buy the same part, but not in a Volvo box.

For example, my Dad's V70... we ordered "genuine" Volvo parts. The shocks arrived and they had a Sachs sticker on them with a Volvo part number, but they were literally double the price. I believe, for these era of cars, Sachs were the actual supplier to Volvo. The same with oil filters... buy a genuine one and it'll have a "Mann" stamp on it. Volvo sell the Mann filter, put it in a Volvo box and charge you more for it. I've had an aftermarket Mann filter in my hands and a genuine Volvo one... there's absolutely no difference, apart from the packaging it comes in.

Being honest, the car is 17 years old. I'm not that fussed about fitting overpriced parts from Volvo on it. I use genuine belts, water pumps and brakes, but that's it. Filters etc etc are aftermarket. Never had an issue.

I've also read that poly bushes have an affect comfort. I don't want that.

[Tatsfield]

I understand that Volvo don't make a great many of the components fitted to their cars but the point I intended to make, and perhaps didn't, was that the blue box tends to indicate that the parts inside had been tested by Volvo to a spec which they either wrote or coopted from the component manufacturer as being suitable for fitting to their cars to deliver OEM performance in keeping with what had been fitted on the assembly line. Some parts really matter and others don't matter so much. However, a fancy brand name like Bilstein doesn't automatically guarantee that the part will meet the vehicle manufacturers' ideal specification.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

I understand that Volvo don't make a great many of the components fitted to their cars but the point I intended to make, and perhaps didn't, was that the blue box tends to indicate that the parts inside had been tested by Volvo to a spec which they either wrote or coopted from the component manufacturer as being suitable for fitting to their cars to deliver OEM performance in keeping with what had been fitted on the assembly line. Some parts really matter and others don't matter so much. However, a fancy brand name like Bilstein doesn't automatically guarantee that the part will meet the vehicle manufacturers' ideal specification.

The parts that come in non-Volvo packaging have also been tested. They're the ones that made the parts in the first place and supplied it to Volvo and others. Buying aftermarket, you're cutting out the costs that Volvo/other manufacturer's add onto the same parts.

Its an old car. I'm not paying double the price for shock absorbers because they come in a Volvo box. Sachs are the OE supplier to Volvo... I may go with them, but Bilstein's are a decent price and many have had good experiences with them.

Its unfortunate what happened your car, but I guess that can happen. Just because something is new doesn't mean it isn't defective. I suspect shocks leaking so soon was a defect in manufacturing. I bought brand new top mounts from Volvo for my Dad's V70 P3... they're already knocking and were professionally installed. They've only lasted about 2 years.

Bilstein's are used on all sorts of cars from the assembly line, such as Porsche and Mercedes.

[simboc2004]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

Where did you buy them from?

arksglobal through Ebay - £105.75 each side. They're in Birmingham - free postage.

[simboc2004]

It's also worth looking at equivalent Ford parts (Galaxy, Mondeo, etc.) as they are often the same parts, but cheaper! The hard bit is finding the equivalent part number. I fitted all Ford top mounts and rubber anti-squeak parts to go with my Bilstein shocks and they are all going perfectly 3 years and 40,000 miles later. They were much cheaper - and some were stamped Volvo... And some Volvo parts you buy in a blue box are stamped FoMoCo...

Someone on another Volvo forum for V40s said that genuine Volvo front springs would be better than aftermarket ones because of all the testing they have to do. Well, my genuine Volvo front springs on my V40 had both snapped at just over 50,000 miles. I have refitted with Eibachs all round - to my mind a German manufacturer that only makes one component cannot afford to have parts fail. I'm told that most cars since 2017 have had their standard springs made in China - hence all the breakages. I have fitted Hibachis to three cars now and done well over 100,000 miles on them with no problems at all. And, in my opinion, the ride is better, more compliant , despite the 25mm height reduction. They put an extra thick plastic coat around the bottom of the rear springs and fully paint the ends of the springs too - attention to detail that is lacking on new standard springs. The Sachs shocks I have just bought are made in Romania.