Bistein B12 pro kit & Japsepped camber Arms Review

[Tiberious SG]

Sorry I’ve taken my time with this review:
I’ve wanted to lower my car since I purchased it in 2010, however My funds were strained by a few unexpected house repairs jobs.

But this year I finally got out in front and was ready to go ahead and lower my car.

Unfortunately my original plan of going the A-SPEC route seemed to have expired as the kit is no longer available and the dwindling supplies put me off.

I was left with the age old choice of collies or sports Dampers and coils as a choice, I did a load of googling research and even asked for opinions here on the forum and found that the entire subject is closely contended on both sides. I decided that there was no clear winner in any category (price, reliability, reviews etc).

I revisited my original plan the ASPEC kit and realised that I had opted for this due to the practicality and simplicity of the setup and also in no small part I was influenced by TA’s numerous reviews & recommendations.

So I started to look for a kit that would do the same job and eventually I came across the Bilstein B12 Kit with Eilbach Pro-springs.

The Eilbach springs are a popular mod and have many recommendations, but the Bilstein damper kit is a bit rarer on the accord i-cdti (not sure if I’m the first in the uk) as the more popular choice seems to be the BC setup.

I was not confident I could get the best out of a coil over setup as I am a daily commuter doing around a hundred miles a day on a mixture of A roads and the M6.

I work Nights permanently in shifts so playing with the adjustment of the suspension would be a problem for me.

I decided I needed something that was more plug and play and could not be compromised by my ineptitude in setting it up or failing to feel if it was not dialled in correctly.

My choice seemed to be the Koni, H&R and the Bilstein B12 kits all of which were matched Dampers and Spring setups with around 30 -40 mm drop and a good mix of sports and comfort handling.

The kits were mainly developed for the 2.4 K series not the 2.2 1-cdti

I eventually went for the Bilstein as they use the mono-tube design.

I was also swayed by the company’s reputation this was a big factor along with them now offering matched dampers with Eilbach springs for the 2.2 i-cdti my mechanic has a GTR that runs on Bilstein suspension so I decided to go for this kit.

So ordered kit from DC Performance £595 Delivered

I realised that I would need rear Camber adjustment and that I would be getting a hunter alignment after the kit was fitted so I went for the Japspeed rear camber Arms form Japspeed’s ebay shop for £99 delivered

I didn’t fit the Kit myself (Beyond my capabilities) and due to my work schedule I was not able to hang around at the Garage to watch it being fitted, although I asked my mechanic to remove and replace all the bushings whilst he fitted the suspension, Its an 04 Accord with 140 K on the clock so I’m pretty sure there was plenty of swearing and cursing as seized and corroded bolts had to be removed and drilled out.

I also had a couple of other jobs done while the car was in, Brake pads replaced, Fuel filter replaced.

And after three days I got the call I had been waiting for confirming that they had finished and the car was ready to be picked up £400 for the labour and brake brake pads (I supplied the FF filter)

Now I should add at this point that My mechanic and a number of my colleagues where very sceptical about me doing this to a diesel, and I had been told to just replace the coils or buy a sportier car, but these opinions have evaporated since the upgrade!

The first thing that was said to me at the garage was how well the car cornered and much better it handled on their test runs (yes I caught the plural in the sentence).

I drove away from the garage and my ten minute home journey strangely took about an hour and a half. (A road detours!)

The car is completely different, no brake lurch or acceleration squat, (at first it tricks you into thinking the car is slower as the sense of inertia in either case has been drastically reduced)

The corner wallow has been reduced substantially and although she is not totally flat in the corners, I have not been able to lose traction or detect anywhere near as much roll as she had on the stock setup.

I took her the next day to have a Hunter alignment done at Nigel Lang’s in Bolton (As found on www.alignMyCar.co.uk nearest and able to squeeze me in at short notice) the next morning.

This would also allow me to get a look at my new yellow struts as there isn’t much room in the arch to see

So got there pretty early and they were very helpful and did a full alignment for me £91.

 

[Tiberious SG]

Finally a look at the new suspension:

They had a little difficulty with the alignment as the car seems to pull slightly to the left and it took them a good two hours to get it within spec:

I would recommend them as it was a painless experience and they were helpful.

Might have another hunter done after the Rages go on next week just for peace of mind.

Anyway for those keeping score the total cost of taking my 9 year old stock suspension on the diesel accord form wallowing bus to what I think is a pretty good sports driving setup has been:
£600 Bilstein B12 Kit
£100 Japspeed Rear Camber Kit
£400 Labour and new bushes and brake pads
£90 Hunter alignment
£1200 total,.

The ride is a little harsher but any lowering option would have lead to this, the car does not lurch or squat under braking or acceleration (well not by much) Strangely the amount of VSA warnings has reduced to almost nothing, I could regularly get the VSA light to flash on my dash by pushing it in the corners and accelerating, but the new setup has made this a thing of the past only by pushing it in first gear can I brake traction and get the VSA light to come on.

I am very happy with the upgrade so far and I’ve driven enough company fleet cars over the years to know it’s something special as a diesel’s handling goes.
Next week I complete the job with the fitting of my Rage alloys and either Goodyear f1’s or Dunlop Maxx St’s, I may finish the works with un up rated Antiroll bar upgrade and a front and rear strut brace but those are dreams for now as the wheels and tyres are going to come in at close to 2k total.

 

[shab_the_man]

Really nice review mate. The final look with the rage wheels will look very nice indeed. How much harder would you say the ride is now?

 

[Tiberious SG]

Really nice review mate. The final look with the rage wheels will look very nice indeed. How much harder would you say the ride is now?

On the 17" epsilons using Michelin primacy S up front and toyo proxes on the rear around 3 mm at the front and 4 mm at the back

The ride is not compromised, it is a little harder but no harder than any other other sports saloon (old 5 series or current 320d Ive driven) I imagine with new good quality rubber at 8mm etc it would be much better.

Its good enough that I'm ready to pull the trigger on going to 19"s which i know is going to make the ride much harsher as sidewall will go from 45 to 35

But the handling improvement really makes any loss of ride quality a good trade on the upgrade. The accord i-cdti Si a great car but the handling was always an issue for me not too mention the amount of room in the arches, looked like it was made for off road tyres!

I drive for two hours every day on A roads and motorways and experience road conditions from seriously damaged and pothole ridden Blackburn tarmac (as documented by the Beatles) through to the monotony of the M6 and in all conditions the comfort of my car as a daily driver is still good for my taste.

 

[Tiberious SG]

Really nice review mate. The final look with the rage wheels will look very nice indeed. How much harder would you say the ride is now?

Thanks mate, I was a little aprehensive about the Bilstein and the Japspeed as they were quite untested on our cars, from what I could find online.

But i'm happy with the end result.

 

[Stevearcade]

Great write up man. Good work. And I bet the car's amazing in the corners now.

 

[mutsaip]

This is a very good review. The car will look truly awesome when the new wheels are on for sure. The ride might be a bit rougher but the handling will be superb especially on dry tarmac if the weather's good so I'm sure you will enjoy this. Any plans for the cosmetic side of things like front lip spoiler (Tomas style), will you also keep the mud flaps???

 

[Tiberious SG]

This is a very good review. The car will look truly awesome when the new wheels are on for sure. The ride might be a bit rougher but the handling will be superb especially on dry tarmac if the weather's good so I'm sure you will enjoy this. Any plans for the cosmetic side of things like front lip spoiler (Tomas style), will you also keep the mud flaps???

Cheers mate,

Once the wheels are on I'm going to try and resist any further mods while I recharge My bank account for a few months, but then I'm thinking of getting the sports lip kit front, back and side for the car.

After that maybe get it vinyl wrapped and tinted, before refocusing my attention on the internals. (So many things I want to do)

As for the Mud flaps I think they have to be removed if I put the side Skirts on.

You don't tend to see the mudflaps on many cars these days. like the city pack there a relic of the last decade, but I cant decide my position on them, some days I like them and others I look forward to removing them.

 

[Tiberious SG]

Great write up man. Good work. And I bet the car's amazing in the corners now.

Thanks for kudos.

Yeah the handling is pretty good, and kind of addictive, Its made me realize how poor the OEM setup must have been and that it must have been riding the bump stops pretty much non stop in the corners.

My cars far from Fast its stock not remapped, and now it has increased bite when accelerating, the flatter and griipy feel that inspires confidence when driving, I really want to try and finish off the handling work and look at doing some work on the engine and brakes. but all good things etc.

 

[Stevearcade]

Pardon my ignorance, but do the Bilsteins add any further to the drop than the springs? I mean is there anything in their design or fitting that further sits the car lower than stock. Or don't shocks work like that? Only I'm rocking a 4cm drop already and were I to upgrade my shocks, would it drop me any lower or just change characteristic?

 

[Tiberious SG]

Pardon my ignorance, but do the Bilsteins add any further to the drop than the springs? I mean is there anything in their design or fitting that further sits the car lower than stock. Or don't shocks work like that? Only I'm rocking a 4cm drop already and were I to upgrade my shocks, would it drop me any lower or just change characteristic?

This is the first time I've lowered or driven a lowered car (non stock anyway's) so prior to all my web research I was still very ignorant, In fact at some point I hope to compare my car to some of the other members BC or Aspec as I still don't know how my kit will satck up.

I'm guessing the drop is split between the dampers and the springs (in the same way there are photos of the Aspec kit showing the dampers are shorter than the stock ones)
The drop I've got is around 38mm to 40mm at the rear and around 44mm at the front (diesel heft) I've driven about 2k so there bedded in nicely.
I didn't get to compare the shock's length alongside the stock ones I'm afraid (really should have done that or at least measured them)

Some coilies like the BC use a threaded body so that the drop is managed between the Damper and the spring rather than just compressing the spring which is seem in some cheaper or older coiles or uprated shock kits.

As I understand it the shocks improve the handling by a better responce using a higher pressure and a much better responce using the monotube design, rather than stock or Koni style twintube design.
They also have much larger higher quality Bump stops than those found on stock kits (big blue things)

The eilback Pro-springs are matched to the dampers in the kit I bought so that the two work together (not sure how there matched? but might be worth looking inot if you plan on trying the dampers for the best results).
I did look into a more drastic drop on my car using the sportline kit (again Bilstein B8 dampers but this time matched to red Eilback Sportline Springs) for more aggressive stance and handling.
I decided that with My daily driver requirements and that I was planning on adding the skirts to the car this might be too far or low , (i'd love to know the difference though)

cant rmeber what kit you got mate is it just eilback springs at the moment?

 

[Stevearcade]

The tourer's more limited. Eibach have discontinued the tourer springs (it's just the rears, the front are the same as the CL9) and anywhere that had them was out of my price bracket. I put Apex on mine and I'm very happy with them, but they give a 40mm drop and I worry that in time my shocks will go pop, so want to plan ready for the inevitable. I reckon your Eibachs alone should give you about 35-38mm from what I've read, so the shocks will be lowering further. My main concern is that once you break the 50mm bracket, insurance goes up a lot as it's seen as a more drastic lowering. Keep it under 50mm and they're pretty lax about it, in my case, not asking anything extra on my premium (much to my surprise).

So from what you've said, and what I've read about Eibachs on stock shocks, your shocks must have added between 3-5mm. This is cool in relation to my setup, should I go for it in the future. Thanks for the info Simon.

 

[Tiberious SG]

The tourer's more limited. Eibach have discontinued the tourer springs (it's just the rears, the front are the same as the CL9) and anywhere that had them was out of my price bracket. I put Apex on mine and I'm very happy with them, but they give a 40mm drop and I worry that in time my shocks will go pop, so want to plan ready for the inevitable. I reckon your Eibachs alone should give you about 35-38mm from what I've read, so the shocks will be lowering further. My main concern is that once you break the 50mm bracket, insurance goes up a lot as it's seen as a more drastic lowering. Keep it under 50mm and they're pretty lax about it, in my case, not asking anything extra on my premium (much to my surprise).

So from what you've said, and what I've read about Eibachs on stock shocks, your shocks must have added between 3-5mm. This is cool in relation to my setup, should I go for it in the future. Thanks for the info Simon.

No probs mate one of the reasons I chose the Bilstein dampers was that I hope to run the car for a good few years (may take me another five just to finish the list of mods I have for her).
So I may need to replace or recondition them again in four or so years so unlike the Aspec, I wanted to be able to buy springs and dampers as needed.

 

[Tiberious SG]

Finally have a picture of the rear strut:

 

[Rayhoop]

Good stuff! Reading your thread, the B12 kit is looking like a strong option for my iCTDI as well. Glad to see photos with Epsilions - I'm looking to refurb mine and keep them on.

How have you found the set up after a few months of driving?