F11 Sport Touring suspension advice
Discussion
Hello all. I recently bought a 2015 F11 535d. It has 35k miles on the clock and I am very happy with it, except...
The ride was absolutely awful. Every minute road imperfection was transmitted directly to one's spine, and I found it actually quite unbearable to drive. To compound this it made a huge fuss over any road imperfection. As the mileage is low I figure the dampers are OK. It has the 19" wheels.
I got rid of the Runflats and fitted Pilot Sports, so another £560 later the car is much much better, however it still isn't what I wanted from a 5 series. My e46 M Sport was nowhere near this harsh and even my S1 Elise doesn't make such a wallowy fuss at low speed
Whilst it goes very well around corners for such a huge barge, most of the time is spent not going round corners in an enthusiastic manner so I need to get this sorted. The options I can think of are:
1. Sell it and wait for one with VDC or AD.
2. Fit SE springs and dampers then code the rear ride height accordingly.
3. Fit KW DCC coilovers: https://www.kwsuspensions.co.uk/shop/_/-/-/3902003... (I cannot find a single review of these on an F11).
4. Combine one of the above options with 18" wheels.
5. Get rid of it and find something else (except I can't find anything else I like! Is the 3ltr TDI A6 any better? The E class doesn't tickle my pickle).
Any thoughts on the above would be greatly appreciated. I've done 3k miles in the car in the past month and whilst it is now bearable on the proper tyres I just don't feel happy with it.
Cheers!
The ride was absolutely awful. Every minute road imperfection was transmitted directly to one's spine, and I found it actually quite unbearable to drive. To compound this it made a huge fuss over any road imperfection. As the mileage is low I figure the dampers are OK. It has the 19" wheels.
I got rid of the Runflats and fitted Pilot Sports, so another £560 later the car is much much better, however it still isn't what I wanted from a 5 series. My e46 M Sport was nowhere near this harsh and even my S1 Elise doesn't make such a wallowy fuss at low speed
Whilst it goes very well around corners for such a huge barge, most of the time is spent not going round corners in an enthusiastic manner so I need to get this sorted. The options I can think of are:
1. Sell it and wait for one with VDC or AD.
2. Fit SE springs and dampers then code the rear ride height accordingly.
3. Fit KW DCC coilovers: https://www.kwsuspensions.co.uk/shop/_/-/-/3902003... (I cannot find a single review of these on an F11).
4. Combine one of the above options with 18" wheels.
5. Get rid of it and find something else (except I can't find anything else I like! Is the 3ltr TDI A6 any better? The E class doesn't tickle my pickle).
Any thoughts on the above would be greatly appreciated. I've done 3k miles in the car in the past month and whilst it is now bearable on the proper tyres I just don't feel happy with it.
Cheers!
It's a heavy car with firm suspension and 19" alloys with stiff side-walled tyres; even though they're not runflats
Dropping to 18s (if you can, if they have them that fit over the brakes) will give you more in sidewall re the tyres; but you'll still have firm suspension. Tyres such as the Uniroyal RainSport 3s, Kumho KU39s, Eagle F1s, Toyo T1s etc have softer sidewalls; but they're on the midrange tyres really, not premium like you've just fitted.
You could start to faff with the suspension but that could also start to cost you an arm & a leg and it might just be easier to sell up and look for an SE, as you'd already stated.
It's all down to how long you can put up with the car and how desperate you are to sort this
BMW cars are much firmer now; suspension wise and generally come with larger alloys. So if it's a soft wafty ride you're after, maybe look at Jags or alternative suspension like air etc
I personally don't think that the F11s are that firm in their ride at all; so you must be more sensitive to it than most
Dropping to 18s (if you can, if they have them that fit over the brakes) will give you more in sidewall re the tyres; but you'll still have firm suspension. Tyres such as the Uniroyal RainSport 3s, Kumho KU39s, Eagle F1s, Toyo T1s etc have softer sidewalls; but they're on the midrange tyres really, not premium like you've just fitted.
You could start to faff with the suspension but that could also start to cost you an arm & a leg and it might just be easier to sell up and look for an SE, as you'd already stated.
It's all down to how long you can put up with the car and how desperate you are to sort this
BMW cars are much firmer now; suspension wise and generally come with larger alloys. So if it's a soft wafty ride you're after, maybe look at Jags or alternative suspension like air etc
I personally don't think that the F11s are that firm in their ride at all; so you must be more sensitive to it than most
d_a_n1979 said:
I personally don't think that the F11s are that firm in their ride at all; so you must be more sensitive to it than most
I hire a lot of cars through work, then sit back in my F11 afterwards; sublime seats, build quality etc, but I'm back to avoiding drain covers and minor road imperfections (locally, as I know where they are). The F11 is a hard ride. Mine came on factory-standard 17in run flats, and I have EDC. I changed to 18in non-run flats, and things improved a little. I lowered it on Eibach springs as the SE spring ride height is comedy, and the ride stayed the same. I'm back on 17in run flats currently (winter tyres) and it's a hard ride again. The M-Sport, on 19in run flats (or not), is not something I would enjoy.Apologies for the thread revival, but just in case it helps anyone else in the same quandary...
I ended up trading my 535d for another F11 535d with the VDC damping and a few other options I wanted, including pro nav, Pano roof, speed limit info, digital dash etc..
The difference between the VDC and standard msport suspension is vast. No longer does the car jiggle about and transmit all road imperfections, it's properly wafty on the motorway in Comfort+. I wouldn't consider an F10/11 without the VDC or, even better, Adaptive Drive if you can find it!
I ended up trading my 535d for another F11 535d with the VDC damping and a few other options I wanted, including pro nav, Pano roof, speed limit info, digital dash etc..
The difference between the VDC and standard msport suspension is vast. No longer does the car jiggle about and transmit all road imperfections, it's properly wafty on the motorway in Comfort+. I wouldn't consider an F10/11 without the VDC or, even better, Adaptive Drive if you can find it!
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