canysmc said:
Dinan Enthusiast:
What is the mileage "life expendency" of these shocks/struts? 20K miles? 30k miles? more or less?
And can Koni rebuild or revalve like Bilstein?
The Koni's sometimes only last 70K to 100K mi before the seals begin degrading or leak. Most see 125K or more. If the Koni is old stock, it will fail more quickly because the seals slowly harden from age. STAY AWAY from ebay Koni's unless they are willing to tell you the date code stamped on the housings.
They are guaranteed for life of original owner...unlimited free replacements. If the strut is a discontinued item, they will rebuild it in their race shop forever for free. I own a former track car with 283K mi and I had the Konis rebuilt twice for free.
The M5 Koni struts have very aggressive damping rates that should be adequate for any spring, incl 550/450 track Eibachs found on the track GC kit. The rebuild prices generally apply if damping rate change is requested.
I once talked them into increased damping rate for free, during a warranty failure rebuild. I told them I thought bottoming from low damping rates led to failure. This was a Ford car.