Hi Duncan,
I'm running Bilstein B8's on my ED30 with a set of VWR springs. I had the springs fitted first, and then the shocks once the originals gave up the ghost. Originally I just had the springs and then H&R arb's, which gave some great improvement by reducing the roll. The ride deteriorated over time as the VW shocks got old and lost all damping effect.
I wasn't sure what to do - I didn't want Koni's (had them on my mkiv, and just didn't like the ride or quality), and didn't want coilovers. I didn't want the car any lower, and so was looking at replacement dampers - the reason I originally went with the VWR springs was because they gave the smallest amount of lowering (20mm), which is perfect in my eyes. So after a fair amount of searching, I found the B8's as they are marketed as being shortened dampers to work with lowering springs. I also had Bilsteins on my old mkiv (after the Koni's), so sort of knew what they would be like.
I found the whole mk6 vs mk5 B8 damper reviews on Vwvortex and got to the point you're at now!
Ultimately I went with the mk5 versions - they are hard when going over potholes / broken roads, but are no more crashy than VW dampers in my opinion. They are fantastic on compressions and sweeping bends. The car does 'feel' the road a lot more - it is now even more fun on a B-road. With these mods, there isn't much roll in the car anymore.
Still, suspension mods are so subjective - best try and get ride in someone's car if you can?
