[Solow]

Hey all. I’ve been scraping the forum and can’t find an answer.
I bought a 2015 non DDC s1k and noticed the rear shock had a creaking / ticking noise. Well today I was playing around with the damping settings and all of a sudden the shock oil bursted out. I figure the shock is done and prob needs replacing. I keep finding shocks with DDC but not the other way around. Are these shocks interchangeable (same mounting points, spring rate, etc). If so is there any way to adjust the damping?

 

[bennymx]

The non DDC shocks are less common as most bikes were spec'd from factory with all the fruit. Some base model bikes would have been ordered for race bikes as they will be stripped down anyway or for someone who was on a budget. You can fit the DDC shocks/forks to the bike but it will need to be programmed to suit as the bike never had these installed so electronically it needs to be told they exist. The other thing you will need is the rear ride height sensor and ESA control unit which is for electronic suspension. The bike should have the same generic wiring harness with the plugs but as it was spec'd from factory without DDC it won't have a ESA control unit or ride height sensor. While you can pick up the forks and shock quite cheap, most people don't sell the ride height sensors and control unit second hand. I'd say that ordering that genuine from BMW would out weigh the cost of just fitting ohlins or similar.

 

[Solow]

This was the most helpful reply. Thank you so much for explaining this. Let’s say if someone was parting out the bike and I was able to score the needed items. Where would I be able to get it programmed? Also would I need to get the ddc front forks or could I just enable the rear shock by itself?

 

[Solow]

Just did a quick eBay search and was able to find the shock for $44, rear sensor for $23 , ESA for $60 and I also have a OEM swingarm that went to a DDC bike that I can install as well.

 

[bennymx]

I have sent you a PM to discuss this further.

 

[BMW_388]

Just to expand on this issue of NON DDC vs DDC change over.

Alot of people will remove the DDC and it is just a matter of removing the fork and shock.. Getting the ECU reprogrammed to NON DDC status, the cluster reprogrammed to NON DDC status.. Then you can just leave the ESA box and all is happy.

But, going from NON DDC to DDC typically will require a complete wiring harness change because on a NON DDC bike the ESA and right height sensor connectors are missing. The cluster will not have the DDC adjustments programmed in, so a complete programming must be done on the cluster. Then the ECU is the same way. It is a NON DDC programmed status and it will need VO/FA codes and the proper FSC to all the DDC parts of the function to the ECU.