Here's a pic to show what I'm talking about.
One thing I did noticed was the total strut length on both of the bilstein's was longer too. Like almost 3 inches longer! I initially thought maybe my original struts had lost some of the length due to age (118,000 miles). I checked the ride height of my sisters car (same year and model and age, different tires and only 55,000 miles). Measure from ground to the bottom of the front bumper, her's was 8.5 inches. Mine is almost 9.75 inches. So definitely higher. I slid my low profile jack under and it definitely has more room.
I can't recall how far the original strut was in the knuckle but pretty sure it wasn't all the way in since there was some rust at the bottom of the knuckle and I sanded it to hopefully have it slide in easier (I did not sand enough). I stuck my finger in the bottom of knuckle (approx 1 inch) and it seems the bilstein was at approx the same depth into the knuckle as my original.
Hopefully you haven't put on your winter tires yet and can take a gander at the strut and post back
Edit: attachment should work now
I will see the car on Wednesday (it is sitting in airport parking lot), and I can report back then.
Winter tires? I live in 72F year round weather. It runs super sticky 225 width rubber.