F31 335d XDrive Handling

F31 335d XDrive Handling

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Discussion

wakaday

Original Poster:

24 posts

173 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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A owner of a F31 335d MSport with non-adaptive suspension & 19" wheels, previously owned 535d, X540d. Completed a few thousand miles now. It's a fast , but flawed car. Point a shoot in a straight line, very impressive , grip is amazing, but set it up a few bends and the body control is poor. It appears to me that the car is over sprung , particularly in the rear and under damped both ends. It crashes over pot holes, but can't control the body at high speed. Worst of both worlds. First BMW I've been disappointed with the handling, doesn't deserve an M badge.
I expect it could be a great car with a re-map and chassis sorted, but I wouldn't remap the car without updating the suspension.
There doesn't seem to be many options on the upgrade route:
ASC do springs or coil overs, KW do coil over, and Birds do a B3X fixed rate kit of Billies and matched springs (a lot softer on the rear).
Does anyone have any experience of tuning the chassis on the car please?

Osinjak

5,453 posts

120 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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If you believe that an M Sport badged diesel estate will suddenly transport it into an uberhoonmachine then you are living in la-la land. It's decoration, nothing more. If you want M car handling, buy an M car.

silent ninja

862 posts

99 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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Osinjak said:
If you believe that an M Sport badged diesel estate will suddenly transport it into an uberhoonmachine then you are living in la-la land. It's decoration, nothing more. If you want M car handling, buy an M car.
Doesn't address OP's concerns and it's not his first BMW either.

wakaday

Original Poster:

24 posts

173 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
quotequote all
Not exactly sure what a uberhoonmachine machine is? , but in any case its only a small M badge. I would appreciate is anyone has any real knowledge on the subject.

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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I've got a pre-LCI F31 335d with adaptive suspension and even with that in Sport mode I think the chassis leaves much to be desired - some way short of the ultimate driving machine IMO! However, for more information and opinion I'd suggest having a look on f30post (see link below) as there's plenty on the subject on there; the consensus seems to be that ACS springs make a big difference (roughly £500 fitted) but I daresay the Birds upgrade will be pretty decent as well.


http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?...

Osinjak

5,453 posts

120 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
quotequote all
wakaday said:
Not exactly sure what a uberhoonmachine machine is? , but in any case its only a small M badge. I would appreciate is anyone has any real knowledge on the subject.
I'm sure you're bright enough to work out what I mean. As JNW1 has said, trot on over to the UK forums of f30 post, they are positively evangelical about ACS springs.

rhinochopig

17,932 posts

197 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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Even the proper M cars struggle on Britain's b roads.

Kawasicki

13,031 posts

234 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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rhinochopig said:
Even the proper M cars struggle on Britain's b roads.
Yep, and an old base model E36 is great. Weird isn't it?

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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rhinochopig said:
Even the proper M cars struggle on Britain's b roads.
Perhaps (although my M3 CS coped pretty well) but nevertheless the OP's point about the X-Drive chassis is a fair one in my view; from what I understand the later model LCI cars are an improvement but pre-LCI X-Drives are not great IMO. I did realise before buying that all X-Drives come with SE suspension (even the M-Sport versions) and for that reason opted for adaptive suspension; however, that doesn't fully address the shortcomings and with the wisdom of hindsight I probably wouldn't have bothered with it and would have spent the money on ACS springs instead (or better still a RWD 335i!). Quite why you should need to spend money on after-market parts to make an expensive sporting car handle properly I don't know but BMW seem to have dropped the baton on this occasion and no doubt people like ACS and Birds have been laughing all the way to the bank as a result!

Sohlman

590 posts

253 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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My advice is go and speak with birds or rossiters. Both of these companies are excellent and you won't go wrong. They will both be able to show you a test car which you will be able to trial out. It won't be cheap but they will get it right first time. They know what they are doing and get involved with developing suspensions for BMW's for English roads.

Sohlman

590 posts

253 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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My advice is go and speak with birds or rossiters. Both of these companies are excellent and you won't go wrong. They will both be able to show you a test car which you will be able to trial out. It won't be cheap but they will get it right first time. They know what they are doing and get involved with developing suspensions for BMW's for English roads.

Helicopter123

8,831 posts

155 months

Saturday 23rd April 2016
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Can the adaptice suspension be retro-fitted?

Should be the very first option when speccing one of these, it makes a massive difference IMO.

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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Helicopter123 said:
Can the adaptice suspension be retro-fitted?

Should be the very first option when speccing one of these, it makes a massive difference IMO.
Not sure whether adaptive can be retro-fitted but my car has it and even in Sport mode it can still feel a bit soft if you're pressing-on over a twisty, undulating, road. From what I've read the ACS springs improve things significantly even if you already have adaptive and I daresay the Birds springs will do the same; however, if you opt for the Birds Sports Suspension Kit I think that replaces both springs and dampers and therefore if you have adaptive it gets rid of it and returns the car to passive set-up (with Bilstein dampers I believe). If I was the OP personally I'd be looking at either ACS or Birds for a solution; I wouldn't even consider fitting the adaptive dampers retrospectively as IMHO they won't fully resolve the problems he's been experiencing!

ZX10R NIN

27,459 posts

124 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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Go for the ACS springs or the Birds set up if you don't mind paying the extra

CarsOrBikes

1,135 posts

183 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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M Performance suspension kit? Or brakes too? The suspension on LCI cars is different, but would suspect the M performance kit still improves them.

JNW1

7,696 posts

193 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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ZX10R NIN said:
Go for the ACS springs or the Birds set up if you don't mind paying the extra
Yes, think I'd go for springs first and see if that resolves the situation; for a lot of owners they seem to and that modification can be done at a relatively modest cost (around £500 fitted I think). In the event the springs on their own aren't sufficient then both ACS and Birds offer more comprehensive suspension kits but you're obviously talking a lot more money to go that route and it's probably unnecessary expense unless you're a very spirited driver!

smashy

3,030 posts

157 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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My suggestion get the ACS springs drops things by 25ml and transformed my standard SE floating blancmange suspension I got the dampers as well but you have the adaptive anyway talk to Lorcan at Rossiters really good bloke,I went there from london £600 or so

Wills2

22,612 posts

174 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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rhinochopig said:
Even the proper M cars struggle on Britain's b roads.
Truth is they don't honestly they really don't....went for a blast on the b6255 last week Ingleton-Hawes past the Ribblehead viaduct, that road throws everything at you and the car is great on it, even with me at the wheel.

None of my 5 M cars I've had have ever struggled on a b road.





RS Grant

1,416 posts

232 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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Sohlman said:
My advice is go and speak with birds or rossiters. Both of these companies are excellent and you won't go wrong. They will both be able to show you a test car which you will be able to trial out. It won't be cheap but they will get it right first time. They know what they are doing and get involved with developing suspensions for BMW's for English roads.
No experience of Rossiters but Birds Garage are a long way from excellent, in fact, they're amongst the very worst companies I've ever had the misfortune to deal with. That said, the Quaife and Bilstein parts they stock are good... just keep your fingers crossed that you have no problems or issues post-purchase.


Cheers,
Grant

Wills2

22,612 posts

174 months

Sunday 24th April 2016
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I can vouch for Rossiters (ACS UK) good set up, know what they're doing, very good to do business with.