I'm looking for coilovers for my 2000 A4 1.8T Quattro. I searched and found a bunch of old threads, some citing products that are no longer available so I figured I'd post and see what the consensus in 2018 now that there are some new products and some favorites that are no longer available.

My A4 is at just over 150k miles and has had Bilsteins with Eibach springs and ECS add-on threaded adjustable perches all around for about 100k miles. I had no real complaints about this setup and thought the ride and handling balance was decent. The rears are definitely shot and I just destroyed the no longer available ECS threaded collars in the press trying to get them off the old shocks last night so I need to go in a different direction. The Eibach springs sagged quite a bit on the driver rear so just using non-adjustable circlip and perch on new rear Bilsteins probably isn't an option since it will likely not sit very even from side to side in the rear and I'd have no way to adjust that.

I don't plan to ever track the car. I just want the same stance I had, maybe a 2-finger gap all the way around with 225/45/17s and decent ride quality for a daily driver. Cost is definitely a factor considering the car is probably only worth $3k and who knows how long everything else will last. I was first tempted by the Solo Werks coilover set from ECS due to the price, but after reading the link at the bottom I've ruled them out.

Solo Werks review that scared me off:
https://cleanaudi.com/2018/01/20/sol...r-review-p3-2/

 

I saw a few favorable reviews for ST coilovers and that's what one of the reps from ECS recommends for an affordable daily driver option so that's where I'm leaning.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-suspensi...ng/90603~st50/

 

I ordered and installed the ST coilovers from ECS.

If anyone is familiar with installing these on a Quattro B5 A4, I have a question. When installing the front upper shock mount (attaching it to the shock) the diameter of the hole in the mount is larger than the shock piston rod. The OEM bump stop nestled in the mount and centered the rod. I removed the OEM bump stops and used the ones that came with the STs since I wanted to avoid having double bump stops and the OEM ones are 18 years old and falling apart. Is that the correct approach? The solid rubber mount on top of the steel plate seems to somewhat center the shock but probably less than it was originally centered with the tight-fitting bump stop.

 

I called ECS and they verified that the OEM bump stops are to be removed when installing the ST coilovers and the front shock piston rods being slightly off-center in the upper shock mount is not an issue.