RE: Shed Of The Week: BMW 320ci (E46)

[3795mpower]

Kawasicki said:

I'm not sure there is much of a difference in the body stiffness of an E36 to the equivalent E46. Also, the suspension is clearly very similar in layout. So any strong difference comes down to things like steering rack gearing, damper tuning, spring and anti-roll bar tuning.

There's gonna be a increase in stiffness per model (I can certainly feel it jumping between the two).
But yes, spring rates, rack speed & roll bars all play their part.

[buggalugs]

Kawasicki said:

3795mpower said:

I frequently drove both cars back to back over several years and chassis wise there
Was nothing that would make me choose the E36 over the E46.
The E46 had better body control, less roll, faster steering and really benefitted from a stiffer shell.

I'm not sure there is much of a difference in the body stiffness of an E36 to the equivalent E46. Also, the suspension is clearly very similar in layout. So any strong difference comes down to things like steering rack gearing, damper tuning, spring and anti-roll bar tuning.

The 46 has extra chassis bracing, there's a big bracing structure that ties the front end together and it's different at the rear. Also less unsprung weight due to greater use of alloy parts. Though overall I think the 46 weighs a bit more due to more sound insuation, and more metal in some parts of the chassis.