It's time to replace my 24 year old shocks, but what with?

[Nickanator8]

Hey guys, in my seemingly never-ending list of projects for my little sportscar utility vehicle it's time to look at the shocks. Mine are old and floaty and just feel really sloppy whenever I hit any kind of deformity in the road.

I spoke with my local Porsche mechanic and he recommended Bilstein B4 shocks, but I've done some reading on the Bilstein website and I think the B6 shocks might be better for me. The reason I feel this way is because I like pushing the envelope of what my car was designed for and, as my avatar picture suggests, I sometimes haul things like kayaks, mountain bikes, and other heavy objects with my Boxster. According to the website, the B6 shocks are ideal in situations where the suspension is under additional load like e-bikes, caravans, etc. LINK

The majority of the actual driving I do with the Boxster is weekend fun in the mountains and hopefully some autocross events this year. That being said, I also hope to use it as a road trip car because I live in Colorado and every road trip goes through the Rockies and it would be a shame to let those roads go to waste in a boring hatchback.

So yeah, any thoughts or insights into what kind of suspension setup I should go with? Any other options I didn't mention that I should consider?

[KevinH1990]

I'm pondering the same issue. My Boxster will be 25 in September, and I expect it will achieve 150,000 miles before its birthday. Please provide updates as you work through the process.

FWIW, I replaced the shocks and struts on my 2005 Mercedes C230 Sports Sedan about a month ago. The car had about 194,000 miles on the odometer at the time. I used Bilstein B4's and I've been pleased. The consensus among Mercedes enthusiasts was that the B4's are slightly firmer than the OEM shocks which are made by Sachs. The sports suspension that Mercedes used on the C230 is firm for a sedan, and I didn't see a need to make it any firmer.

[Nickanator8]

I'll be sure to make a post with my choice, as well as the installation process and how they feel after I've driven on them for a while.

While we are on the topic of suspension components, does anyone know what the OEM alignment information is? I have searched high and low on this forum, rennlist, reddit, and google in general and I can't seem to get a solid answer on camber, caster, and toe measurements. Since I'll be fiddling with suspension components I'll be doing an alignment myself as well and this is now need to know info for me.

[10/10ths]

…..I have a 2004 “50 Years of the 550 Spyder Edition” Boxster S that had the factory M030 sport suspension.

I just replaced all of it at 80,000 miles and 20 years with the ROW M030 sport suspension.

It’s perfect.

These are factory B4 struts.

I’ve run B6 type Bilsteins on a Miata I used to own.

I did lots of track days in that car and those were great.

I think if you do a lot of daily driving, the B4’s are better.


If you are REALLY a track rat, then get the B6’s.

Good luck.

[Robert993TT]

I also own a 550 spyder edition 986 S and think the OEM suspension is nicely balanced for the cars overall performance and usage. It good on spirited drives, long road trips and can absorb less than perfect roads in a nice way for a low sports car. I would buy that setup again for the car when the time comes.

[Nickanator8]

It sounds like the B4 suspension is the way to go.

In other news, I have been doing a string box alignment for my car because I recently completed a wheel bearing job. Unfortunately, the rear suspension does not have enough adjustment to get within spec.

I've tried adjusting both the toe and camber adjuster but I can't seem to get it into spec, any suggestions? The best I've gotten was a -7mm difference, which is better than it was to begin with but toe out, especially that much toe out, is not what spec calls for.

[Luckyman01]

B6 struts and lowering springs

[Lowski]

Originally Posted by Nickanator8

While we are on the topic of suspension components, does anyone know what the OEM alignment information is? I have searched high and low on this forum, rennlist, reddit, and google in general and I can't seem to get a solid answer on camber, caster, and toe measurements. Since I'll be fiddling with suspension components I'll be doing an alignment myself as well and this is now need to know info for me.

Found this in my copy of the Porsche Workshop Manual. Hopefully it's still accurate as it's dated 1996.

[Lowski]

Found some info dated 1999 for the 2.7L and the 3.2L.

Alignment 99 2.7L


Alignment 99 3.2L

[Nickanator8]

Lowski, that is exactly what I needed! I'll have to save those files in a dozen places to make sure I always have a copy, lol.

I went out to my string box and made adjustments but I'm having issues with my rear left wheel. I recently did the wheel bearing and I can't seem to get the alignment to fall within spec using the provided adjustment methods. Right now I have toe out of 7mm, not sure how that translates to degrees but I know it's not what I want.

I've tried adjusting the camber as well to get better toe alignment but I've maxed that out as well and still no luck.

Any other routes I can try to take?

[Rick_22]

I replaced the struts last year on my 99 base model with Koni Special Active. I love them so far. Still rides nice but they will stiffen up in corners for better handling.

[986andmx5]

I installed Koni Special Actives on my '99 and would recommend them for real world (USA?) conditions. They ride great over poor roads and performance comes out once you start hitting corners on backroads. I have the Koni yellow sports on my Miata and they beat me up over broken pavement. SAs give the best of both worlds and are one of the cheaper option for the Pcar. I don't have any experience hauling gear with them. They used to be called FSDs and there are good tech articles on the science behind them.