[Mollyran]

Could not find any review on F22 with Koni SA so here is a short review.

I had 220i with base suspension (and BM3 and so on but it’s not the issue here). Never liked the base suspension, sure it’s comfy on smooth roads but they get confused easily on bumpy roads, huge nose dive when braking, lots of body roll …really not impressed with them.

They have been replaced with Koni SA for M-sport, springs were replaced for aftermarket M-Sport springs (LESJÖFORS) and new M sport bump stops were also installed. Why not Eibach pro springs? I’ll explain later.

I’ll first say that I need more time with them (just few days now) but few things are already very clear.

Koni SA are rebound biased and that is what makes Koni SA and Sport good for daily drive, they are not punishing you for wanting a more sporty feel and handling. They are not soft on compression but they take out the sting of every pothole. Being rebound biased means they stop the rebound motion fast. For DD I prefer it over compression biased (like bilstein) since it handle bumps better and on public roads it means you can drive faster with more confidence, on a track I would prefer bilstein.

Nose dive is just gone and brake feel is much better (more control on brake modulation)
Body roll is much less on high speed turns but if you are looking for even less you’ll need a beefier stabilizer bar (it’s always the right way and not by springs, springs should be matched to the shocks).

The ride feels much more luxury, not in the sense of comfort but in the sense of much more solid ride over bumps. The regular suspensions just feels cheap over bumps and shake all the car.

Bottom line, I think Koni SA are great for anyone who wants a better handling and sporty feel with no compromise on comfort or the need to mess with coilovers. I wanted first KW street comfort but I knew I will not deal with the rear setting since it needs to be removed each time and I will not deal with height adjustment.

Why not Eibach pro? Maybe i should have, I just though that on the f22 its a little bit too low for my taste (from all the pictures I saw) but I am sure they will be very good on the Koni SA, maybe someday.

[GoldenWest]

Thanks for posting your experience. I have a 2020 230i with adaptive (edc) M (Technic) suspension, and since owning the car I removed the original edc dampers and have Bilstein B6 with the wired adaptive adjustment function.
The compression for front (especially) is fine on good roads, but somewhat too firm for typical daily driving on poor road surfaces. But the difference in improved cornering, road feel and overall handling is tremendous; definitely a lot firmer in both compression and
rebound strokes. I also changed to a 19mm rear anti roll bar.

Thinking about if the Koni Active might ride more comfortably on poor roads.
In particular, I’m most interested in improving feel of the front struts for rough road comfort, and still maintain improved overall handling on good and poor road surfaces.
Any thoughts?

[GoldenWest]

The Bilsteins I’m using are called Bilstein B6 Performance (DampTronic) dampers, described as “a performance upgrade to OE dampers designed to be paired with OE factory springs. All of the active features of the factory electronic suspension, along with the factory controls, will be retained with the installation of these dampers.”

[John in VA]

I have Koni SA on both the E39 (sport suspension, 150k) & E46 ZHP coupe (also sport suspension, 60k). The Koni setup works great with the stock sport springs. We only have 40k on the 228i MTech but I will consider the Konis for it when it's time.

[GoldenWest]

Thanks for the reply and info.
Do you feel the both compression and rebound strokes for the Koni SA have improved overall handling and still maintain a reasonable level of comfort?

I’m just finding the Bilstens too firm, even in comfort mode.

Front struts on my 2017 X1were blown out and leaking at only 43K, so I replaced front and rear with bilstein B6, non edc. Vastly improved road feel , cornering, stability, etc, But the rear “jumpy”, reacting too fast on rough roads in the rebound stroke. So I removed the rears and installed Koni Actives. Problem solved; handles even better and very smooth over poor surfaces.

[John in VA]

Originally Posted by GoldenWest

Do you feel the both compression and rebound strokes for the Koni SA have improved overall handling and still maintain a reasonable level of comfort?

Precisely why I opted for them.