Shock absorbers Bilstein or OEM Toyota

I used Bilsteins on my 97 and they are great.

I also like my W124 on cut springs with sportline spec bilstein shocks more than any close to stock E36 I've ever driven.

Sounds like you would be most happy with Bilstein Comfort/Touring shocks (B4). The Bilstein Sport and HD shocks will provide a much stiffer ride. Having tried the Bilstein HDs, I really didn't care for them at all on my W126. The Bilstein Comfort shocks still improved the handling immensely over the original circa 1987 front shocks on my 560SEL.

I have bilstien hr shocks and struts for my h&R's and I have no complaints.

I put on some Bilsteins in the back and removed the rear sway bar and it still drives quite nice.

For now sits on Bilstein PSS10's and gets driven on my days off.

I bought my 2003 with some autostore garbage in the front (Monroe or Gabriel or some such crap - don't remember now) and the rather tired OE Sachs/Boge in the back. The damned thing was scary do drive above 35. Installed Bilstein HD 24-019118 ($203.90 for the pair from eshocks) in the front and the 24-214230 ($185.50 for the pair from eshocks) in the back. Very happy with the result. Took the bus above 100 in Texas and Arizona on the way to California this past January - and what a difference this made! It sat on the road like a flatiron on the ironing board. Also, do keep in mind that Bilstein shocks carry lifetime warranty and the company stands behind it 100%. My S6 currently rides on its 3rd set of Bilstein Sport (after 2 free warranty replacements) in the 16 years under my ownership - Bilstein replaced them each time w/o a flinch. Konis are good, but they sometimes leak. Bilsteins wear out but they don't leak. At least in my experience.

I have a 1993 GL with Bilstein HDs. They are firm but I would not want them firmer. On a heavier VR6 camper I would think they'd be even more suitable for the job.

Bilstein does make an easily-obtained, affordable, heavy-duty shock absorber (front and rear) that's a direct bolt-up option for these cars. It's what I swear by.

As you all can see, the dyno showed how the TC Sport are (as also advertised) pretty close to stock, if we look at the compression. The rebound is quiet more than stock thought. But from the graphs is pretty clear that the TC is not any near the advertised 10 or 20% stiffer than stock