E46 (2003) Sport ride opinions?
Discussion
Hi,
I've lowered my sites a bit from an E90 M Sport to an E46 (M?) Sport. I've test driven an E90 M Sport and to my surprise it was much more comfy than some had led me to believe even on runflats. I think they were 18" wheels too. In fact I thought the ride was really nice.
Now I'm looking at an E46, and I'm wondering how much worse the ride will be if I go for a sport. I prefer the look of the sport, but don't want my to get out of the car and be bruised all over ;-) If I stick non run flats on surely it won't be that far from a E90 with run flats? The one I'm looking at does have 18" wheels unfortunately. I imagine 17" wheels with normal rubber would be the most comfortable.
Anyone had much experience with this? I obviously need to take a test drive, but it's hard for me to go trekking everywhere at the minute with no car :-(
It's either this, or my fallback plan... an "exciting" Ford Focus :-( This was almost my default choice after realising buying an E90 would break the bank a little, even a 2006 model.
Cheers.
I've lowered my sites a bit from an E90 M Sport to an E46 (M?) Sport. I've test driven an E90 M Sport and to my surprise it was much more comfy than some had led me to believe even on runflats. I think they were 18" wheels too. In fact I thought the ride was really nice.
Now I'm looking at an E46, and I'm wondering how much worse the ride will be if I go for a sport. I prefer the look of the sport, but don't want my to get out of the car and be bruised all over ;-) If I stick non run flats on surely it won't be that far from a E90 with run flats? The one I'm looking at does have 18" wheels unfortunately. I imagine 17" wheels with normal rubber would be the most comfortable.
Anyone had much experience with this? I obviously need to take a test drive, but it's hard for me to go trekking everywhere at the minute with no car :-(
It's either this, or my fallback plan... an "exciting" Ford Focus :-( This was almost my default choice after realising buying an E90 would break the bank a little, even a 2006 model.
Cheers.
The 'sport' is (IMO) a far better looking car than the non-sport models. This in the main is why I bought one (a 2003 330Ci Sport) a few years ago.
I really tried to like the car. The performance was sufficient for my needs, it was reasonably economical, for a 3 litre, the level of specification was great, the colour (in and out) was very much to my taste. However, I found the ride was just too harsh for me on the roads local to me that I use regularly.
I mention the type of roads (in my case lots of rural A’s and B’s), as if you only really use motorways and DC’s, plus smooth A roads, the ride will probably be fine. I just found it too firm on the surfaces I frequent. Add to that the tramlining issues and it made for a not particularly relaxing drive.
You of course may not think the same, this was just my experience. Test drive one and try to get on a variety of different road surfaces and see what you think.
I really tried to like the car. The performance was sufficient for my needs, it was reasonably economical, for a 3 litre, the level of specification was great, the colour (in and out) was very much to my taste. However, I found the ride was just too harsh for me on the roads local to me that I use regularly.
I mention the type of roads (in my case lots of rural A’s and B’s), as if you only really use motorways and DC’s, plus smooth A roads, the ride will probably be fine. I just found it too firm on the surfaces I frequent. Add to that the tramlining issues and it made for a not particularly relaxing drive.
You of course may not think the same, this was just my experience. Test drive one and try to get on a variety of different road surfaces and see what you think.
My experience has been that the E46 rides better than the E90 like for like (on OEM tyres). So if you're happy with the E90 Sport on run-flats you'll find the E46 M-Sport fine. Obviously it will depend on wheel-size to an extent.
ETA: Without run-flats, the E90 is significantly better.
ETA: Without run-flats, the E90 is significantly better.
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 19th June 12:07
pstruck said:
The 'sport' is (IMO) a far better looking car than the non-sport models. This in the main is why I bought one (a 2003 330Ci Sport) a few years ago.
I really tried to like the car. The performance was sufficient for my needs, it was reasonably economical, for a 3 litre, the level of specification was great, the colour (in and out) was very much to my taste. However, I found the ride was just too harsh for me on the roads local to me that I use regularly.
I mention the type of roads (in my case lots of rural A’s and B’s), as if you only really use motorways and DC’s, plus smooth A roads, the ride will probably be fine. I just found it too firm on the surfaces I frequent. Add to that the tramlining issues and it made for a not particularly relaxing drive.
You of course may not think the same, this was just my experience. Test drive one and try to get on a variety of different road surfaces and see what you think.
This /\ which is why i got rid of my 330ci and got a e90 330i. The other reason was i needed 4 doors, but i will say that the ride is alot better in the e90 than e46 and i live in a fairly rural area.I really tried to like the car. The performance was sufficient for my needs, it was reasonably economical, for a 3 litre, the level of specification was great, the colour (in and out) was very much to my taste. However, I found the ride was just too harsh for me on the roads local to me that I use regularly.
I mention the type of roads (in my case lots of rural A’s and B’s), as if you only really use motorways and DC’s, plus smooth A roads, the ride will probably be fine. I just found it too firm on the surfaces I frequent. Add to that the tramlining issues and it made for a not particularly relaxing drive.
You of course may not think the same, this was just my experience. Test drive one and try to get on a variety of different road surfaces and see what you think.
philmots said:
My old 330 Sports were super-comfy.
I'd imagine they will have a better ride than an e90 on runflats
Driven both and thats my exact thoughts. I'd imagine they will have a better ride than an e90 on runflats
I owned my E46 for about 2 years, and i have done about 4000 miles in an E90 330 and about 3000 in a E90 330 auto.
I always thought the E46 was better then the E90. But I found the E46 very sensitive to tyre pressures.
Edited by Major Fallout on Tuesday 19th June 12:16
I don't think the ride on the Sport will be as jarring as you're imagining it to be, it's still very refined and compliant. Once you've driven a Sport, the SEs feel 'woolly' in comparison. Sometimes it feels as if the car is looking for potholes, but the pay-off is superb grip and a very engaging drive, all thanks to some trickery with the dampers.
alienmuppet said:
Hi,
I've lowered my sites a bit from an E90 M Sport to an E46 (M?) Sport. I've test driven an E90 M Sport and to my surprise it was much more comfy than some had led me to believe even on runflats. I think they were 18" wheels too. In fact I thought the ride was really nice.
Now I'm looking at an E46, and I'm wondering how much worse the ride will be if I go for a sport. I prefer the look of the sport, but don't want my to get out of the car and be bruised all over ;-) If I stick non run flats on surely it won't be that far from a E90 with run flats? The one I'm looking at does have 18" wheels unfortunately. I imagine 17" wheels with normal rubber would be the most comfortable.
Anyone had much experience with this? I obviously need to take a test drive, but it's hard for me to go trekking everywhere at the minute with no car :-(
It's either this, or my fallback plan... an "exciting" Ford Focus :-( This was almost my default choice after realising buying an E90 would break the bank a little, even a 2006 model.
Cheers.
BMW must have sold millions of sport suspension equipped cars. They are perfectly fine for normal road use - ok some people won't like the ride. But it's not going to be unusable at any rate.I've lowered my sites a bit from an E90 M Sport to an E46 (M?) Sport. I've test driven an E90 M Sport and to my surprise it was much more comfy than some had led me to believe even on runflats. I think they were 18" wheels too. In fact I thought the ride was really nice.
Now I'm looking at an E46, and I'm wondering how much worse the ride will be if I go for a sport. I prefer the look of the sport, but don't want my to get out of the car and be bruised all over ;-) If I stick non run flats on surely it won't be that far from a E90 with run flats? The one I'm looking at does have 18" wheels unfortunately. I imagine 17" wheels with normal rubber would be the most comfortable.
Anyone had much experience with this? I obviously need to take a test drive, but it's hard for me to go trekking everywhere at the minute with no car :-(
It's either this, or my fallback plan... an "exciting" Ford Focus :-( This was almost my default choice after realising buying an E90 would break the bank a little, even a 2006 model.
Cheers.
The roads you test drive on will also have a huge bearing. I can, and have driven my sports car for 100's of miles without issue with the hard ride, but they were good roads. However a 2 min ride from the train station into town highlights how hard riding it is and how it doesn't like pot holes and broken pavement.
NelsonR32 said:
Took a while to get used to the ride on my E46 Sport but it's livable now. What angers me more is the tramlining due to the mismatched tyres.
Is it mismatched tyres though? I was doing my entire commute when I had my 330d sport and had to become a middle lane driver!! I thought it was tyres but when I replaced the tyres it still did it. I just put it down to the track being exactly the same as the truck tyre grooves. I would have kept that a lot longer if it wasn't for that.
I have the E90 mSport and my mate has the E46 sport. Mine handled better and was more sharp on run flats but speed bumps were rediculous on them. I'm on normal tyres now and the ride is spot on. There's a little more flex in the tyres under hard cornering but it's still good. The E46 is pretty much the same to be honest.
alienmuppet said:
I think my plan is, E46, good non-run-flat tyres, refresh bushes and dampers if need be (anything else I should check?), then probably fine. I'll probably upgrade to E90 in a year or 2. I do 15K miles a year, and I think an E46 will keep me more entertained than a focus or similar!
I think, there is a lot to say about a suspension refresh, I have a 330ci Sport and it is a bit crashy, but its 11 years old and has 160k on itGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff