ROW M030 kit

my 99 996 needs shocks after 56K miles. my shop, parts manager at Farnbacher Loles Motorsports says that the OEM shocks were crappy Monroes, with a history of failure. i don't want to give up the supple, comfortable ride of the original suspension. is it safe to upgrade to the M030 kit, without degrading the ride ? i am not going to track this car as i did my 964. thanks bob

Never heard that the OEM shocks have a history of failure. With that said though, the RoWM030 kit will actually improve your ride not degrade it. I added it to my CAB and the ride was smoother and more planted at the same time. Definitely the best 1K (plus install and align) I spent on the car.

I've heard the OEM shocks have short life time, but not history of failure. They are made by Boge, not Monroe. M030 will firm up the ride and handling, but will probably improve the ride quality as Dell said above. Understand a firm ride does not equate to a rougher ride. A well designed shock will control the spring with out translating road noise and harshness to the cabin. The M030 and x74 kit use dampers made by Bilstein. I have used Bilstein in several vehicles over the years and have never been disappointed. If you simply want to replace your shocks and do not need the springs, swaybars, etc. you can just by Bilstein HD shocks and have them put into replace your stockers. However the M030 kit is really a bargain for all that you get. Sources for Bilstein: www.shox.com www.shockwarehouse.com

So which bilstein is better for handling purposes, the HD or the sport? I am putting them on row M030 springs.

The OEM shocks should be Bilsteins. I too am surprised if there is an actual issue with them as they are not known to wear out. The easy way to tell is if they are leaking or to perfrom the bounce test: compress a corner of the car and see how many oscilations it takes to settle. It should be only 1. ROW M030 will certainly degrade ride, not improve it. There is little difference in ride up front as the dampening and springs are only about 7% stiffer, but out back they are closer to 30% stiffer. This makes small bumps that were completely soaked up with the stock suspension immediately noticeable with the ROW M030. Larger bumps are about the same.

The OEM shocks are monroe and they are ****. Until 1995 Porsche used Boge shocks in the standard suspension. Boge was an "open" supplier that would sell shock/strut bodies to Bilstein and Koni. Hence you could order a Porsche with either of those three struts or get them after market. Boge shocks where black, Konis where yellow and Bilsteins where orange. Once Monroe got the OEM contract they got Porsche to agree they would not sell shock/strut bodies to after market manufacturers. Hence you can only get factory struts from Porsche/Monroe. Koni has stopped making struts for post 94 cars. Bilstein just ignored the whole system and developed the PSS9 system without factory support. It's a shame you can no longer order a Porsche and specify what brand shocks you want on the car.

I don't think that OEM shocks are ****. You must consider that 35.000 miles schocks are at the end of their life. Porsche is a sport car and not a daily little car. The shocks begin to wear progressively, and we usually don't notice any suddenly failure or wear . How many miles do you think they must wear well?

Thanks for posting a lot of extremely false information. For the older cars, Boge was the OEM manufacturer for the stock shocks. Boge was self-branded as a standard OEM component. I also have an older 911 S/C that came with the factory "Sport Shocks". They are red Konis. Yellow Konis are the Koni Aftermarket Sport Shocks, not the OEM option. The reds as an option were not adjustable, but all Yellows are. The Boge shocks were physically different in mounting and dimensions than the Bilsteins or the Konis, so Bilstein today makes a "Boge Replacement" so you don't have to buy additional hardware. The Bilsteins are Green for the older cars OEM. These referenceable on a number of sites and there are references to these in both the 911 Performance Handbook and 101 Projects for Your 911. Although there are pictures, they still mention the colors in the text for the color blind. Last, Bilstein is the current OEM supplier for all 996s. Here is a link to ordering replacements with part numbers from Pelican: http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...SUSshk_pg1.htm The pictures are wrong, as the current OEM Bilsteins only come in black. Bilstein not only makes the stardard shocks, they make the sport ones in M030 and ROW M030 suspensions.

I just put an M030 suspension on my car. The existing shocks were Bilsteins front and back (see photo). The suspension was not worn out after 100k miles (was not soft or bouncy) but did sound a bit clunky. As it turns out the clunk is from worn out drop links not soft shocks. The links are in pretty bad shape including torn boots. The rear shocks on the M030 are noticably stiffer with the fronts being about the same. New front and rear M030 are also Bilsteins. IMHO the M030 is a worthwhile upgrade.