Bilstein B4 (or Bilstein Touring):
These are meant to be OE factory replacements for a vehicle and are built to reflect the ride and handling of the factory suspension components from when the vehicle was new. Bilstein will sometimes manufacture the actual factory part, depending on the car. Bilstein B4s are exclusively designed to work with factory springs and suspension components - lowering springs are not recommended. If your goal is to have the vehicle ride as it did off the showroom floor, then the B4 is your go-to.
Bilstein B6 (or Bilstein HD:
The B6 is a step up in terms of performance because the ride is noticeably stiffer and sportier than the B4 suspension. However, B6s are still not designed to work with lowering springs, so it's not generally recommended to mix the two. The B6 is for someone looking to upgrade their damping to a more sporty nature without compromising ride height.
Bilstein B8:
The B8 is fundamentally a shortened Bilstein B6 because it's designed to be used with lowering springs. Shortening the stroke allows lowering springs to be used without changing the spring preload, and while maintaining suspension travel. If properly-sorted performance is a top priority, then Bilstein B8s paired with a set of lowering springs is the way to go.
If you're interested in finding the proper shocks and struts for your vehicle, head over to fcpeuro.com and start by entering your vehicle into our vehicle selector.
Once your car is added to the selector, there are a couple of important ways that we advise correct fitment.
The first is the "fitment indicator" shown on the Product Page after selecting a part. This box is below the "add to cart button" and has two states. It will either say " Yes this part fits" or "Part may not fit, click to verify".
Sometimes the green box will be accompanied by extra fitment notes. These notes may be independent of the information gathered by the vehicle selector. IE: VIN-specific options, need to be taken into account when determining overall fitment.