Fresh suspension, Koni shocks and H&R Springs. New front and rear shock mounts
My recommendation for street is Koni Yellows with the FM springs.
Koni Special Actives are an excellent choice for your objectives.
Have a look at some Koni sports they keep the car handling well and can lower it to close that gap up a bit and take off the blue tint.
I\u2019d personally recommend some Koni yellows off FM.
Family member has a f30 with b8s and I've had countless cars on stiff coilovers. I ended up doing koni orange (str.t) and Hr springs. Feels like a click above fresh factory suspension. Tight and responsive but never jarring. Iirc koni yellows on a lower setting can achieve the same feeling.
I have the entry level E46 Ground Control setup that includes Koni shocks. It's a vastly superior ride to the bilstein PSS kit I had before this but the kit is not perfect
It has Old Man Emu Shock absorbers on it already (no idea which or hold old as they came with the car)
I swapped them into my 2018 performance and the difference was extremely subtle.
I went back to OEM after Koni Yellows with Eibach springs on both. The freeways in SoCal were too rough and it felt like I was crashing constantly
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If choosing shock absorbers across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare shock absorbers across these categories:
In March 2026 on PartReview, shock absorbers KONI were overall better than OLD MAN EMU.
In March 2026 on PartReview, shock absorbers KONI were overall more popular than OLD MAN EMU.
By vote balance, shock absorbers KONI surpassed OLD MAN EMU:
By number of reviews, shock absorbers KONI surpassed OLD MAN EMU:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, shock absorbers KONI led more car-specific ratings than OLD MAN EMU:
KONI are chosen by owners of cars such as: Ford Mustang, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, Volkswagen Passat, Volkswagen Tiguan, and others.
Shock absorbers OLD MAN EMU have not yet taken leading positions in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding a review and specifying your car.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of shock absorbers KONI with: Bilstein, KYB, Monroe, Sachs, Rancho, Dobinsons, FOX, GABRIEL, OEM Toyota, OEM Volkswagen.
Also available: comparisons of shock absorbers OLD MAN EMU with: Bilstein, KYB, Monroe, Sachs, Rancho, Dobinsons, FOX, GABRIEL, OEM Toyota, OEM Volkswagen.
You can also see who is better among other shock absorbers manufacturers: Bilstein or KONI, Bilstein or KYB, Bilstein or Monroe, Bilstein or Sachs, Bilstein or Rancho.
