Long story reasonably short. Bought car 2 years ago from Independent dealer. 2011 2.0l mk3.5 PRHT SE (ie standard Mazda shocks), 26k on clock, FSH, mint condition. But within dealer’s 3 month warranty period, rear near side shock went and dealer replaced…. but just that one shock done.
The car is 85% used by wife for commuting and I use for fun the rest of the time. Handling on car has never felt right to me (particularly compared to our former 1999 NB, but that had Bilstein shocks). It’s always been very twitchy at the back on corners…and I can’t ‘feel it’, nor do I trust it.
Today it went in for a service and they said the back offside shock (original Mazda) was leaking badly. They also said the near side rear was a cheap no names shock….which explains a lot. My garage quoted £270 to replace the leaking offside shock with a middle of the road shock (no pun intended). I asked if they could source and quote for two Mazda shocks, and they’ll ring me with an all in quote tomorrow.
So I’m after some advice please folks. Since my wife drives the car more, it’s hard for me to say to her, ‘let’s spend £1500, or more, on coilovers’. It’s unlikely to fly with her. But she probably will accept replacing both rear shocks with something decent. I suspect a budget of £1000 all in (including labour) would be doable.
So should we get like for like rear Mazda shocks, or is there something better? Or is there an even better solution….like replacing all four shocks, for not too much over £1000? We’re based near Farnborough in the south, if that has any bearing on things, ie if shocks need fitting by specialised garage.
I think you’re overestimating the cost (or dealing with somewhere that charges too much). This link should take you to the prices of the standard and Bilstein shocks on MX5 Parts for a Mk 3:
A standard rear shock seems to range from just over £100 to just over £130 depending on your model variant.
You can spend what you like really on coil overs, but a full set of MeisterR ZetaCRDs cost me just over £1k for my ND.
I can’t advise you on which way to go, but do make sure you get a good alignment when you’re done.
I’m thinking of Tein Z Flex (set of) but to me it’s not high up there on the to do list yet.
Maybe read what others have first, the Tein could well fit your budget for a set fitted👍
Definitely need a matching pair on each axle if just replacing rears, how long before the fronts go though.
I doubt that’s a good idea - I’d expect having one end behaving differently to the other to upset the handling, but I’m no expert. Besides, the Bilstein’s might run different springs (I don’t know) so you’d have to change those, too.
Ask for wheel alignment recommendations near Farnborough in a separated thread - I’m based in Staffordshire so anywhere I recommend to you will be too far away (unless you really want to go to that well known tourist destination of Dudley ).
imho fit the mazda sport package for the NC 3.5 onwards which effectively are the Bilstein shocks and springs but I would change the front and back as the car is over 10y old. get a quote from Mazda but also look at places like mx5 parts.
the quote you got was fitted which IMHO is not that bad. but yes you will need a full alignment done regardless.
My NC is booked in to have Meister coilovers fitted in two weeks time. Plus a full wheel alignment. With 60 thou on the clock they need to be replaced.
I’m surprised a garage would fit one shock absorber. I’ve always understood that if you do anything to the suspension or brakes on a car (especially a sporty one) you do it to both sides, even when fitting like-for-like.
Edit: in fact, if you google “is it safe to fit one shock absorber?” The answer is a resounding NO.
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