My personal opinion, I've never liked a single product that Monroe has made, and I've used their shocks on a few cars in the past. I've heard the Bilstein touring are decent, not nearly as good as their other products though, apparently they are made for Bilstein by another manufacturer. Not sure if this is true, it's just what I've read on this board.

I'm doing mine this weekend to. I went with the OEM Sachs parts, price was good and I don't want anything special handling wise from this car, it's just my daily driver. I got new rubber mounts for both the back and front to go with them. I would agree that the sway bar end links are a weak spot on this car. Mine were replaced right before I bought it, so I can't really say what they are like when bad, but I've heard a few people say they wear out regularly and make an awful clunking noise in the front end when bad. I've got a motor mount to replace while I'm under there as well.