[ais]

Guess what.

There is NO INFORMATION anywhere on a Bilstein B12 upgrade on our beloved Polo. Not here on Team-BHP.com, not on any other forum, not on YouTube. For once, Google can't find something. Not anymore!

Here is what I learnt in my search/research over the last month or so, finally leading up to the installation today.

While some Team-BHP.com members have tried a Bilstein B6 with stock springs and KW Street Comfort coilovers and posted details on Team-BHP.com, it seems nobody had even tried a B12. Since the day I got my Polo Highline Plus MT in April, I knew one of the early upgrades has to be a lowering suspension as the car looks odd from the outside, and worse on the drivers seat. Driving it felt like I was driving a schoolbus. The comfort reminded me of my antique sofa with mushy springs. However, I had a more 'pressing' (my tailbone) matter to deal with first. The terrible hump at the rear of the seat base (as shown in pic) made my tailbone hurt so bad, I had to keep folded towels under my bums to minimize the elevation. So after ordering seat changes and leather seat covers from Saddles India, I started checking what suspension would work best.

After some guidance from Graaja, I was sure I wanted lowering, but having the issue of oil leak in KW, I wasn't too keen. I needed rock solid reliability too. And preferably Fit and Forget arrangement.

Tien ADFC needed alteration to the chassis, so I ruled it out.

Then I sought advice from Karan Shah (KS Motors). He has guided me accurately earlier on my BMW 330i M Sport, when I mentioned it felt floaty- so he arranged B6 for it with fantastic results. For Polo he said any out of B12 of KW, whichever becomes available first given slow imports. B12 he could arrange, not KW since he doesn't deal in KW. We decided to order B12 as it was fit and forget. Cheaper too!

After placing the order, I happened to meet Nikhil of Polo GT Club. He mentioned that for some reason, B12 does not suit Polos. He showed me a video of his test drive on someone elses Polo and the judder and bounce made even recording the video difficult. (That car probably has the stiffer red Eibach springs or not installed correctly.) Rattled, I asked Karan to try canclling the order, but it was too late- the B12 was already in transit! Plus, though Karan was concerned, he had installed a B12 on another Polo, so we decided to take a chance.

Today we did the installation.

I'm delighted to report that-

A. The lowering is about 30mm
B. The handling is fantastic now
C. There was no underbody scraping on any speedbreakers between Ballard Estate and Andheri East (Mumbai), or the steep decline in my society's automated tower car parking.
D. The rolling/coasting is way better now
E. The seating is really comfortable now perhaps due to the lowering and better seating position
F. Now my cheeks (face) are hurting from grinning non stop, instead of my tail bone!

No wheel alignment adjustment was needed.

The tyres are Michelin Primacy 4, which again were swapped on Day 1 on advise of Karan as he knew in anticipation that B12 would make the setup stiff and Primacy would offset that for city driving. Tyre pressure is 2lbs below recommended, but I'll increase it and see results now (Nitrogen). Seat covers have 10mm foam and 2.5" thigh support added.

Overall feel is stiffer by about 20% as expected. Braking is confident now but needs an upgrade. Undulations are felt in a good way- not sure my mom would agree. Shockabs are way more silent than stock. Roll and bounce and vagueness of stock suspension are gone.

Ill post pics in a full post about all upgrades after a remap. Considering Wolf Stage 1+.

Ping for details or for riding in my Polo if considering the same swap.

[ais]

Here are the relevant pictures.

Front ground clearance. Do note that the underbody is lower than the bumpers lower edge. I reckon the actual GC is about 160mm.


Front wheel arch. Original distance from centre of hub was 39cms.


Front mud guard


Side


Rear wheel arch. Notice the even gap all around. The original gap before lowering looked odd.


Side view of car. Sorry about the dark pic- no sign of sunlight for the next few day. I'll post a better pic after the next car wash.

[AKSarkar1]

Looks absolutely smashing man! Must say that this completely changes the look of the car, personally I have never liked the excessive gap in the wheel well of the Polo/Vento.

What are your initial impressions on the ride quality and handling? How about the steering feel?

Would love to see more photos!

[anb]

Originally Posted by ais

Guess what.

There is NO INFORMATION anywhere on a Bilstein B12 upgrade on our beloved Polo. Not here on Team-BHP.com, not on any other forum, not on YouTube. For once, Google can't find something. Not anymore!

Here is what I learnt in my search/research over the last month or so, finally leading up to the installation today.

While some Team-BHP.com members have tried a Bilstein B6 with stock springs and KW Street Comfort coilovers and posted details on Team-BHP.com,

Congratulations. Bilstein B12 is an excellent choice of coilover for Polo. There is a thread already about Bilstein B12

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...st-19-a-3.html (Pete's Tuned VW Polo GT TSI - A Little Hot Hatch! Sold in - August '19)

I suggest installing a rear antiroll bar as well. I was using KW street comfort. It got damaged and now using Bilstein B6 along with a whiteline rear antiroll bar. Installing a rear anti roll bar eliminates understeer and the car turns in much better.

[ais]

Originally Posted by AKSarkar1

What are your initial impressions on the ride quality and handling? How about the steering feel?

The ride is stiffer as expected. At speeds below 20kmph over bad surface, it gets harsh, but not to the point of discomfort. At higher speeds, its just fine. Handling is sharper of course! Steering feel is enhanced too.

Originally Posted by anb

Congratulations. Bilstein B12 is an excellent choice of coilover for Polo. There is a thread already about Bilstein B12

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...st-19-a-3.html (Pete's Tuned VW Polo GT TSI - A Little Hot Hatch! Sold in - August '19)

I suggest installing a rear antiroll bar as well. I was using KW street comfort. It got damaged and now using Bilstein B6 along with a whiteline rear antiroll bar. Installing a rear anti roll bar eliminates understeer and the car turns in much better.

Missed the thread! It doesn't show on searches. But I'm glad Philip also found the B12 works perfectly on Polo. B12 is not a coilover (B14 is).

Will go for a antiroll bar in due course. Thanks! Im glad I didn't go for KW as your's is the 2nd report of it being damaged, in addition to Graaja.

[Gannu_1]

The lowered stance looks killer! Enjoy the setup.

Originally Posted by ais

Guess what.

There is NO INFORMATION anywhere on a Bilstein B12 upgrade on our beloved Polo. Not here on Team-BHP.com, not on any other forum, not on YouTube. For once, Google can't find something. Not anymore!

You didn't search properly.

https://www.drive2.ru/l/584541064329722490/

https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid...blog/30898576/

https://minkara.carview.co.jp/userid...827/parts.aspx

http://blog.ishikawa-engineering.com.../50888004.html

http://blog.ishikawa-engineering.com.../50814653.html

Pro tip - Do a google translate to Dutch, German, Russian, Japanese and check for Polo related jobs/mods. Will show up results from the forums/blogs of those countries too.

[rageshgr]

Congrats on the B12! Well balanced package.
Many GTI and Polo owners in my circle have upgraded to B12 too. They are happy with it.

[ais]

I've reduced tyre pressure below recommended. The car is really comfortable now. Pic of pressures shown on Sensairy TPMS attached.

[ThePoloDriver]

Hi @ais!

I would love to see the photos post the upgrade, been waiting for them!

[ais]

Originally Posted by ThePoloDriver

Hi @ais!

I would love to see the photos post the upgrade, been waiting for them!

Pics are in the 2nd post! In addition, once all upgrades are completed, I'll post a new thread detailing all the upgrades. Presently working on the music system.

[sabareesh10]

Thank you so much for write up. Yours was the only thread that came up when I searched for the B12 pro kit for the polo! Your car looks like a million bucks!

Couple of quick questions:
1. How much did the whole thing cost you? If you don't mind sharing?
2. I'm not someone who chucks the car into corners and is looking for performance at the cost of comfort. So how much of a compromise would I have to make in terms of comfort?

Thanks a bunch!! And happy motoring!

[ais]

Originally Posted by sabareesh10

1. How much did the whole thing cost you? If you don't mind sharing?
2. So how much of a compromise would I have to make in terms of comfort?

About 1.30 lakhs. There are more things to consider that will add to the cost. After installation, there was a knocking (kat kat) sound in turning at low speed or from standstill starts. That turned out to be from the Sway bar link rods. So I changed those, as well as the Mounting Bushes to Bilstein. The Mounting Bush bearing was opened and greased by VW to remove the grinding noise on steering inputs. This could probably be avoided by following the instructions on Bilstien website- the Arm bushes need to be de stressed when ride height changes, by loosening and then tightening the control arm nuts AFTER the car is brought back on the ground (or wheel alignment ramp) with car's weight on the suspension.

There is also an Aluminum spacer that is supplied with the kit. We were unsure of what it's for, and what torque the top piston rod nut should be tightened to. Since we had installed incorrectly and I felt the suspension had hardened after adding the spacer, I removed the B12 and re installed the OEM temporarily. In the process, we found the OEM spacer had cracked, and the spring plate scratched. So I'm changing these too.





So add cost of all this.

The reply from Bilstien regarding the spacer is-

"You will find in the attachment picture of the mounting assembly.

Please note that the listed vehicles are produced country specific, so we recommend checking the pin dimensions of the OE shock absorbers and compare them with the BILSTEIN B8 shock absorbers.
If the OE shock absorber is designed with a longer pin and has the spacer, it is identical to our BILSTEIN B8 shock absorber.
If the dimensions are identical, it is not necessary to install the spacer."

Pic below is of the location of spacer we tried.

Attachment 2401287

The tightening torque for the top nuts are in pic below.



I'm awaiting the Pass Through Torque Wrench to arrive at KS Motorsport before reinstalling the B12 next week.

Comfort is subjective.

While using the reinstalled OEM suspension again, the difference is starkly obvious. The car is like a rowboat in Dal Lake. Many will like it, but I'm hating the body roll and bounce. B12 makes the car like a Jet Ski. The bodyroll is nil, and rebound is controlled- that's why we install B12 in the first place. The car does become stiffer. I like it, but an elderly passenger may not. In my personal view, Polos are meant to have B12s, else one should have chosen a comfort oriented car like a Baleno.

[sabareesh10]

Appreciate the super detailed reply ais! Thank you!

But the more I read, the more I realise that I'm out of my depth technically here to make the right calls and identify issues. So I think I'm going to stick to the stock shocks and springs!

[dealer]

Originally Posted by ais

About 1.30 lakhs. There are more things to consider that will add to the cost. After installation, there was a knocking (kat kat) sound in turning at low speed or from standstill starts. That turned out to be from the Sway bar link rods. So I changed those, as well as the Mounting Bushes to Bilstein. The Mounting Bush bearing was opened and greased by VW to remove the grinding noise on steering inputs. This could probably be avoided by following the instructions on Bilstien website- the Arm bushes need to be de stressed when ride height changes, by loosening and then tightening the control arm nuts AFTER the car is brought back on the ground (or wheel alignment ramp) with car's weight on the suspension.

Hey Ais! Coincidentally I have the same knocking and grounding noise after installing Bilstein b12s on my f30 a couple of days ago. Did you need to install new sway bar end links or can I just reinstall them with the car under load? Also, is it the mounting bracket that you changed or some bushing in the strut top hat?

[ais]

Originally Posted by dealer

Hey Ais! Coincidentally I have the same knocking and grounding noise after installing Bilstein b12s on my f30 a couple of days ago. Did you need to install new sway bar end links or can I just reinstall them with the car under load? Also, is it the mounting bracket that you changed or some bushing in the strut top hat?

You'll need to go by trial and error, checking step by step. I changed the sway bar links as VW aren't high quality anyway. I also changed the top mount bearings to Bilstein, but then the VW mechanic said that's not necessary and regreasing the OEM wil work- they did.