F31 335d XDrive Handling

[smashy]

ds666 said:

I have an i3 and an f10 m5 . And if i want to drive faster I have my hillclimb car ( around 500bhp/ton ) Woof Woof

woopy do

[wakaday]

smashy said:

ds666 said:

I have an i3 and an f10 m5 . And if i want to drive faster I have my hillclimb car ( around 500bhp/ton ) Woof Woof

woopy do

Where's the 335xd that your an expert on?

[ds666]

wakaday said:

Where's the 335xd that your an expert on?

I have one of those too . No expert but entitled to have an option ...

[ds666]

smashy said:

woopy do

Was just to qualify my opinion

[wakaday]

wakaday said:

smashy said:

ds666 said:

I have an i3 and an f10 m5 . And if i want to drive faster I have my hillclimb car ( around 500bhp/ton ) Woof Woof

woopy do

Where's the 335xd that your an expert on?

Not even sure a I believe the dog part.

[wakaday]

ds666 said:

I did about 450 miles over the weekend and my dog has confirmed that the ride is acceptable ( he did mutter something about run flats ) . He wasn't sick .
He says anyone who wants to drive their 335d like it was a proper M car needs to buy one of those and stop moaning .

Woof

You must drive very carefully. That i3 is definitely the car for you.

[JNW1]

ds666 said:

wakaday said:

Where's the 335xd that your an expert on?

I have one of those too .

And is it a pre-LCI model running standard (i.e. non-adaptive) suspension?

[ds666]

I take driving carefully as a compliment , thank you .Do you drive otherwise ?

My 335d is lci with adaptive suspension , ironically having searched what to spec on the car and found the op's criticism of standard suspension ...

And the dog with his take on these comments

[wakaday]

ds666 said:

I take driving carefully as a compliment , thank you .Do you drive otherwise ?

My 335d is lci with adaptive suspension , ironically having searched what to spec on the car and found the op's criticism of standard suspension ...

And the dog with his take on these comments

Why's the dog got a sick bag? But seriously you have the best factory set-up. Your opinion may differ with pre-LCI passive damper car.

[JNW1]

ds666 said:

My 335d is lci with adaptive suspension

So that's you and Osinjak telling everyone the standard X-Drive set-up's fine and to stop moaning about it when neither of you are actually running it - priceless!

[Osinjak]

JNW1 said:

ds666 said:

My 335d is lci with adaptive suspension

So that's you and Osinjak telling everyone the standard X-Drive set-up's fine and to stop moaning about it when neither of you are actually running it - priceless!

Actually, I never said that. Show me where I said 'its fine, stop moaning' and I'll buy you a beer. For the record, it's probably fine for most people otherwise the boards would be awash with tales of wallowy blancmanges and vomiting dogs. For those few who clearly prefer a more focused drive it clearly isn't and have made the necessary mods to remedy that. That ok for you?

[Welshbeef]

ds666 said:

I have an i3 and an f10 m5 . And if i want to drive faster I have my hillclimb car ( around 500bhp/ton ) Woof Woof

500bhp/tonne mmmmm now we're talking.

[smashy]

Welshbeef said:

500bhp/tonne mmmmm now we're talking.

a 35d x drive that doesnt drive like a floating blancmange mmmmm now were talking

[JNW1]

Osinjak said:

JNW1 said:

ds666 said:

My 335d is lci with adaptive suspension

So that's you and Osinjak telling everyone the standard X-Drive set-up's fine and to stop moaning about it when neither of you are actually running it - priceless!

Actually, I never said that. Show me where I said 'its fine, stop moaning' and I'll buy you a beer. For the record, it's probably fine for most people otherwise the boards would be awash with tales of wallowy blancmanges and vomiting dogs. For those few who clearly prefer a more focused drive it clearly isn't and have made the necessary mods to remedy that. That ok for you?

The boards are awash with people talking about the inadequacy of the standard X-Drive suspension set-up, especially on the pre-LCI models (just have a look on F30Post if you don't believe me!). In fairness, as has pointed out earlier in the thread, the people who frequent forums like this are probably more fussy than the average buyer but nevertheless there are plenty of long-standing BMW customers who have been happy with their previous M-Sport cars but disappointed with the handling of their F3x X-Drives.

The OP fell into exactly that category - and started this thread by asking for advice on how to improve things - and the very first response he got was to tell him his car was a diesel estate and he couldn't expect it to handle like an M-Car. If that wasn't (in effect) telling him to stop moaning and get on with it I don't know what was but no prizes for guessing who the author of that particular contribution was....

I'm also still intrigued as to a) why your car has adaptive suspension when you're happy with the standard set-up and b) how you know you're happy with the standard set-up when your car doesn't have it? Presumably you've driven a decent mileage in a passive 335d to form your opinion on the standard set-up and bought your car from stock or second-hand and it just happened to have adaptive fitted already?

[smashy]

Shame you cant like posts on here... I have got in dozens of middle of the road new company cars and never even thought about the suspension just drove the things yet the s(not X) drive luxury 3 series has se suspension and was really awful, noticeably awful it has no redeeming feature at all.

[Osinjak]

JNW1 said:

The boards are awash with people talking about the inadequacy of the standard X-Drive suspension set-up, especially on the pre-LCI models (just have a look on F30Post if you don't believe me!). In fairness, as has pointed out earlier in the thread, the people who frequent forums like this are probably more fussy than the average buyer but nevertheless there are plenty of long-standing BMW customers who have been happy with their previous M-Sport cars but disappointed with the handling of their F3x X-Drives.

The OP fell into exactly that category - and started this thread by asking for advice on how to improve things - and the very first response he got was to tell him his car was a diesel estate and he couldn't expect it to handle like an M-Car. If that wasn't (in effect) telling him to stop moaning and get on with it I don't know what was but no prizes for guessing who the author of that particular contribution was....

I'm also still intrigued as to a) why your car has adaptive suspension when you're happy with the standard set-up and b) how you know you're happy with the standard set-up when your car doesn't have it? Presumably you've driven a decent mileage in a passive 335d to form your opinion on the standard set-up and bought your car from stock or second-hand and it just happened to have adaptive fitted already?

You're a bright fellow, I've followed and exchanged opinions with you on F30 about this problem before and you will also appreciate that a tiny sample of unhappy owners does not prove anything, it merely shows that some are unhappy with the stock suspension and I don't have a problem with that whatsoever. I responded, a bit tongue in cheek, to the OP's comment about the M Badge, he felt a car shouldn't be worthy of the badge, I think it's just decoration and a styling exercise - nothing more. On a proper M car, all bets are off. I've never said I was happy with a pre-LCI set-up, how could I be? I've only ever driven one for about 30 mins as I've said previously. I've also said I'm happy with my standard set-up, LCI and Adaptive which others on F30 have said is still compromised. That I really struggle with because if you're finding the limits are compromised with LCI and Adaptive then you're either tracking the car or driving like a madman.

I've got no interest in getting into an electronic bunfight with you, life's too short and frankly it's dull. Pick what I've said apart if you want, I'm out.

[JNW1]

Osinjak said:

You're a bright fellow, I've followed and exchanged opinions with you on F30 about this problem before and you will also appreciate that a tiny sample of unhappy owners does not prove anything, it merely shows that some are unhappy with the stock suspension and I don't have a problem with that whatsoever. I responded, a bit tongue in cheek, to the OP's comment about the M Badge, he felt a car shouldn't be worthy of the badge, I think it's just decoration and a styling exercise - nothing more. On a proper M car, all bets are off. I've never said I was happy with a pre-LCI set-up, how could I be? I've only ever driven one for about 30 mins as I've said previously. I've also said I'm happy with my standard set-up, LCI and Adaptive which others on F30 have said is still compromised. That I really struggle with because if you're finding the limits are compromised with LCI and Adaptive then you're either tracking the car or driving like a madman.

I've got no interest in getting into an electronic bunfight with you, life's too short and frankly it's dull. Pick what I've said apart if you want, I'm out.

And at the end of all that I think we're in violent agreement! I've said that my pre-LCI with adaptive is ok for me most of the time which is why I haven't bothered with things like ACS springs (although I have thought about them!). The LCI cars are by all accounts an improvement and therefore I can see that one of those with adaptive will be a step ahead of mine and hence more than capable most of the time. I therefore understand completely why you and others are happy with LCI/Adaptive cars, the only point I'm making is they're not standard (adaptive is an option) and are a long way removed from a standard (passive) pre-LCI.

Anyway, the OP got the solution he was after courtesy of Birds so perhaps it's time for all of us to be out on this particular thread!

[wakaday]

wakaday said:

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?

Started this post a long time ago. The replies have varied from the ridicules to the sublime. From the original post I was asking for the best way to improve the car. I was expecting useful feedback , practical experience of tried and tested hardware. I am disappointed, I've been criticised on my vehicle handling expectation, vehicle purchase decision, vehicle body type, pet ownership, why I didn't buy an M car, why XDrive , the list goes on.....Like many I can afford only one decent car, which has to tick may boxes, with usage from family holiday, shopping to track days. I've learnt a lot in the last 6 months, and I'm very pleased with car I brought and the final modified spec. I hope other F30XDrive owners get something out of my experience. I prefer technical level discussion with like minded enthusiasts, for that reason I'm out and will 'jog on' or whatever to enthusiasts forum.

[Osinjak]

wakaday said:

Started this post a long time ago. The replies have varied from the ridicules to the sublime. From the original post I was asking for the best way to improve the car. I was expecting useful feedback , practical experience of tried and tested hardware. I am disappointed, I've been criticised on my vehicle handling expectation, vehicle purchase decision, vehicle body type, pet ownership, why I didn't buy an M car, why XDrive , the list goes on.....Like many I can afford only one decent car, which has to tick may boxes, with usage from family holiday, shopping to track days. I've learnt a lot in the last 6 months, and I'm very pleased with car I brought and the final modified spec. I hope other F30XDrive owners get something out of my experience. I prefer technical level discussion with like minded enthusiasts, for that reason I'm out and will 'jog on' or whatever to enthusiasts forum.

www.bmwlander.co.uk

You'll get a much more sensible reply over there, the opposite end of the PH 'experience.'

[ds666]

I think this thread has a lot of useful information in it .it did drift into mpg in the middle for several pages however . I never made any comments about standard suspension as I have no experience of it .I accept I didn't make it clear what my car has . However bmw chose to offer the car with adaptive suspension to offer people a choice and it is likely that bmw expect enthusiasts to give that that option due consideration prior to purchase, isn't it ? And tick the box?
Regarding the ultimate driving machine expectation the company sells front wheel drive now for goodness sake ......
It sounds like the acs springs are well worth investigating with no real down side and birds is even better but significantly more expensive .