First off, the base car:
1.4 Lounge
Dualogic
15” wheel with stock 185/55 rubbers
Glass roof
B&M
Automatic climate
The entire car is stock except for the installed Bilstein. Therefore, this is truly a “Bilstein B14 for the 500 review” because all other factors stayed constant!
Appearance
Using the factory setting by Bilstein, the B14 lowered the front slightly more than for the back. The factory setting is quite aggressive; I didn’t bother to measure the exact difference, but the visual change is significant. To clarify, the lowered ride-height (-30mm as advertised) is fixed at the rear upon installation, unlike the front where it is adjustable.
Ride Quality
Compared to the stock suspension that has a much longer travel, the B14 inevitably translates to harsher ride when road condition gets rough. However, a bumpy road condition also reflects the fact that the B14 is sophisticated; when the car is in motion, you can feel the quicker vertical movement being transferred to the cabin, however the small irregularities from the road surface that would cause vibration are completely insulated - You get more information from the road quicker, but not too much.
At higher speed, the bouncy feel is gone. When the car went over highway suspension gaps at around 100km/h, the compress and rebound were beautifully done without any excessive recoil. If you’re the type of person who’d get seasick due to a floaty ride, you’d greatly appreciate the B14 at speed.
Handling (sub 80km/h)
Thanks to the lightness of the car, the 1.4 already had great handling in her stock form. Nonetheless, the improvement brought by the B14 is substantial, especially when the car moves over uneven surfaces. The stiffer suspension eliminated most if not all oscillation in weight transfer among the four wheels. Control becomes a lot more predictable as the car approaches limit with respect to the corner, and the capable carrying speed over any S-bend (or any continuous change in direction) could be quite scary.
Equally important is the pitch being substantially reduced. Heavy braking would upset the car’s balance a lot less, you can late-brake and trial-brake into corners without worrying too much about the rear-end freaking out. In terms of acceleration out of corners, there is nothing much to add because the 1.4 engine isn’t powerful enough to break traction, unless you’re going uphill and off-chamber.
Handling (80km/h and up)
As mentioned above, gone is the bouncy geometry. At 140km/h the ride felt exceptionally solid and stable. With the factory suspension, the car had no problem moving and bouncing on straight at 140km/h, until you tried to change lane or corner. At higher speed, the burden of the heavy factory wheels became apparent. The unsprung weight did not allow the suspension to move as quickly as they want and the subsequent result is that the cabin took some of the vertical movement from rolling over suspension gaps.
The increase in stability at higher speed, which I consider where the money is most well spent, is staggering. The now stable contact among tyres and asphalt inspired confidence. To be honest, the performance increase brought by the B14 is so apparent largely because the factory suspension performed very badly in this department.
Overall
Normally If I can only choose to modify one part of my car, I would go for lighter wheels (better braking, better acceleration, better mpg, better look, better everything basically…). However for the 500, the factory part that deserved to be gone first must be the suspension because that is precisely where the performance bottleneck of the car is, in stock form.
An upgrade highly recommended.
1.4 Lounge
Dualogic
15” wheel with stock 185/55 rubbers
Glass roof
B&M
Automatic climate
The entire car is stock except for the installed Bilstein. Therefore, this is truly a “Bilstein B14 for the 500 review” because all other factors stayed constant!
Appearance
Using the factory setting by Bilstein, the B14 lowered the front slightly more than for the back. The factory setting is quite aggressive; I didn’t bother to measure the exact difference, but the visual change is significant. To clarify, the lowered ride-height (-30mm as advertised) is fixed at the rear upon installation, unlike the front where it is adjustable.
Ride Quality
Compared to the stock suspension that has a much longer travel, the B14 inevitably translates to harsher ride when road condition gets rough. However, a bumpy road condition also reflects the fact that the B14 is sophisticated; when the car is in motion, you can feel the quicker vertical movement being transferred to the cabin, however the small irregularities from the road surface that would cause vibration are completely insulated - You get more information from the road quicker, but not too much.
At higher speed, the bouncy feel is gone. When the car went over highway suspension gaps at around 100km/h, the compress and rebound were beautifully done without any excessive recoil. If you’re the type of person who’d get seasick due to a floaty ride, you’d greatly appreciate the B14 at speed.
Handling (sub 80km/h)
Thanks to the lightness of the car, the 1.4 already had great handling in her stock form. Nonetheless, the improvement brought by the B14 is substantial, especially when the car moves over uneven surfaces. The stiffer suspension eliminated most if not all oscillation in weight transfer among the four wheels. Control becomes a lot more predictable as the car approaches limit with respect to the corner, and the capable carrying speed over any S-bend (or any continuous change in direction) could be quite scary.
Equally important is the pitch being substantially reduced. Heavy braking would upset the car’s balance a lot less, you can late-brake and trial-brake into corners without worrying too much about the rear-end freaking out. In terms of acceleration out of corners, there is nothing much to add because the 1.4 engine isn’t powerful enough to break traction, unless you’re going uphill and off-chamber.
Handling (80km/h and up)
As mentioned above, gone is the bouncy geometry. At 140km/h the ride felt exceptionally solid and stable. With the factory suspension, the car had no problem moving and bouncing on straight at 140km/h, until you tried to change lane or corner. At higher speed, the burden of the heavy factory wheels became apparent. The unsprung weight did not allow the suspension to move as quickly as they want and the subsequent result is that the cabin took some of the vertical movement from rolling over suspension gaps.
The increase in stability at higher speed, which I consider where the money is most well spent, is staggering. The now stable contact among tyres and asphalt inspired confidence. To be honest, the performance increase brought by the B14 is so apparent largely because the factory suspension performed very badly in this department.
Overall
Normally If I can only choose to modify one part of my car, I would go for lighter wheels (better braking, better acceleration, better mpg, better look, better everything basically…). However for the 500, the factory part that deserved to be gone first must be the suspension because that is precisely where the performance bottleneck of the car is, in stock form.
An upgrade highly recommended.
