If comfort is of great concern to you, I'd stick with Boge. I've heard from Bilstein TC owners that the ride is harsher than OEM. But you also want better struts and shocks, so you might want to consider a combo of Koni adjustable struts with Bilstein shocks; you'd be able to tweak the Konis to your liking while having better shocks than OEM. Add iPd anti-sway bars, even an OMP strut brace, and you've got significant improvement in handling.

Assuming that your friend's '97 T5-R is of an 850 branding, you might just be comparing apples and oranges with your S70. I hear that the suspension on the S/C/V70 is better in terms of comfort than its predecesor, the 850. But this you'll have to take with a grain of salt, and do more research.

Hope this helps.

Luck,
Ed.