quick update.
Bilstein hasn't done anything let. The installer faxed the receipts and my car has been sitting at the shop while I waste money on a rental car. Had a feeling that Bilstein would not be terribly responsive.

 

i really question Bilstein's commit to their customers or service. My car has been at the installer for over a week and Bilstein has done nothing! I finally spoke to someone at Bilstein today and was told that coilovers "don't break" and that they did not think that this would be covered under warranty. However, I could purchase another one if one was in stock. Guess what, not in stock. They did have 10 sets of coilovers but refused to break the set. Therefore I have to wait???? That is total BS. Furthermore, they are closing on Thursday until the end of the year which means more delays.

Can anyone help??

 

Terrible that they're dragging this out. But AGAIN, I'm not surprised. They gave me the exact same canned answer. After enough telephone assault by the guys at EVOMS, they finally relinquished a single coilover....for $800.
Guess what? That one didn't work either! AND they wouldn't take it back! Are you kidding me?!?!?

Of all the companies falling into bankruptcy, it baffles my mind that Bilstein isn't there with them. Terrible products, even worse customer support. I'm not the lone wolf here; there are many unhappy customers in this forum alone.

I'm suggesting this in all seriousness: Cut your losses and throw the Bilsteins away and go with ANY OTHER aftermarket company.

GL.

 

Hi Ed I feel your pain but wasn't main problem with your set was you bought it second hand and the set came to you damaged (it never worked from day 1)? Bilstein denied warranty becaue you were not original owner and there was not a receipt from authorized dealer or something like that?
Had you bought it new, not only would the set work, but if there was any problem the replacement would have been whole set replacement from the very first day.

For the particular problem here, dk hasn't told the whole story yet and I'll let him fill in when he feels like it. The story is more than just backing out the garage and all of sudden Bilstein broke. dk's Bilstein has been on his car for a year and a half and there were things done recently. Very likely, the problem is in dk's signature, the sway bar.

Bisltein is not perfect, but then no one else is. I think majority of all suspension problems have to do with one, installer, and two, other components and altered geometry that people add to the set that cannot be anticipated. This thread has just proven my theory right again.

 

You are correct, Can. But the OP is getting the same run around, despite being the original owner. I don't see a brand new replacement set in his hands, do you? All I see is a company ignoring the inquires of a paying customer, only taking the time to try denying a claim based on one picture.

For his sake, I hope he does get satisfactory resolution. But IMO, a new set of Bilsteins won't provide that. They're a ticking time bomb for something else to go wrong. Again, just my opinion.

 

Hi Ed,

..Info deleted....

That kind of damage, shearing of mounting point, is seen with binding/frozen sway bar. After market sway is larger in diameter than stock. The D-clamp that holds the sway bar was designed with smaller bar diamater - when we change to larger after-market sway bar, the bushing is changed, but the small size D clamp is not, making binding a distinct possibility. Binding of sway bar is not an unknown problem http://www.google.com/search?q=bindi...e=&safe=active

Could Bilstein be held liable for a sway bar that is frozen in place? The people at Bilstein are no dummies - they have seen it all and this is a classic example of why they get so defensive. Many claims are legit, but the *overwhelming* majority is from people's errors, and other components that people add that they don't know about.

 

still getting BS from Bilstein. Same fat lady in a different dress, ie consumer has a problem with product and no speedy resolution. At this point I just offered to buy a new CO and call it party so I could go on with my life. NO JOY! They won't even sell me a single CO so that the customer can be "satisfied". Even though they have 10 kits in the warehouse. What kind of BS is that?? Furthermore, those are not sold as single units so nobody has any that I could buy. This is absurd.

I am seriously thinking about going back to stock. This sucks.

 

Info deleted...

I should like to emphasize again, that no, Bilstein is not perfect. But .... is a classic example of overwhelming majority of problems that arise are installer's error, or interaction with other components that we add. For those reading this, all I could say is this: mine (Bilstein and GMG sway bar) has been on close to 4 years not a single problem. No one but Porsche expert has touched my car, and that's the key IMHO.

 

I don't know what goes on with a tire alignment to comment if what was done caused the sway bar to bind or not ( and even if it did, can that cause a catastrophic failure). however, it doesn't seem to me that they should be related. regardless, Bilstein expects their customers to have the cars in the shop while they investigate?? Doesn't seem reasonable. Most companies would send out a replacement and investigate in parallel. In my case, and in others, (see threads by mact3333 and drkbrent and probably others that I don't know about) , not only was a replacement not sent out, a replacement could not be purchased leaving owners with crippled cars.

 

Exactly. Can, sounds like you're reaching a bit. An alignment and a simple aftermarket sway bar causing structural failure? If that's the case, then the design and/or materials are shoddy at best.

OP, if the adjustability of PASM is what you're looking to preserve, go with KW as I believe they now offer a PASM-compatible system.

 

I've deleted information regarding my diagnosis per request.

Hi Ed, yes after-market sway bar most definitely could cause damage. Not dk's car but for all cars: The sway bar is connected to Bilstein CO with the drop link. In front wheel, when you turn steering wheel, the Coilover moves laterally, pulling and pushing laterally on the drop link, which is connected to sway bar. If your sway bar freezes, it will cause a shearing force because it is a non-moving object. Basically, steering moves, coilover moves, but drop link and sway bar don't. Therefore breaking.
This is a known problem and I did not come up with it on my own.

This makes for a great discussion regarding suspension though: coilover designs with the sway bar in mind, they could not have predicted the design of the other components we match with the coilover. And no matter what they do, when another component fails, for example coilover, the CO will fail.

 

Total BS
now they say that aftermarket sway bar voided the warranty!

 

Hi Dave, for the sake of accuracy, please don't ask me to stop posting, and then continue with bashing and blaming Bilstein. You didn't mean it, but posting this kind of thread without releasing all pertinent information makes the thread essentially useless and a waste of everyone's time. Now could we call an end to this while I go back and delete the stuffs you want me to?

I've posted multiple times and it doesn't seem to get through about relationship between CO and a frozen sway bar. What doesn't make sense?

 

Enough said. Think I've made my position pretty clear. I'm done posting on this thread. Can, your prerogative to make excuses for them as much as it is mine to do the opposite.
GL to the OP.

 

Hey Bonehead whats up, remember me?...hope the osteopenia rates up in AZ....

I agree 100% with Bonehead...Bilstein is the worst POS I have ever dealt with...whats happening with the OP isnt a surprise at all...they strung me along for 1-2 wks last yr with cut PASM wire out of the box and my vendor had to buy a coil from them on his dime cause Bilstein would not cover it...and they too felt like I was asking them for their children when they didnt want to break up a set even after my vendor was willing to pay 700.00 for one!

Funny thing is this, when my obligatory drop link failure happened, Bilstein was friendly and shipped one out asap...so for a 10.00 part they will fling them out no questions asked but for a coil, you need to hire a metal expert and a lawyer to get any help...their lack of character really shows when they have to replace an entire coil.

DRK Brent had to wait like 6 months to have his 2 coils replaced after the rod snapped in half...pathetic really.

Seriously, I wouldnt take a set of Bilstein coils if someone gave them to me for free...how they stay in business I have no idea.