Best suspension upgrade that maintains ride quality

[ShocknAwe]

I'd go with FSD no more. I put them on my X5D. They're very capable and comfortable.

[E13]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

I'd go with FSD no more. I put them on my X5D. They're very capable and comfortable.

Would you say they feel sporty? My only problem with the car is that the handling doesn’t feel “sporty”. Turn in, body roll, floaty, bouncing are all current issues

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by E13

Would you say they feel sporty? My only problem with the car is that the handling doesn’t feel “sporty”. Turn in, body roll, floaty, bouncing are all current issues

FSD sport springs and work on stiffening things up.

You just need to have dampers that can keep up with the springs installed. Too much valving makes the car feel harsh and will perform badly.

[E13]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

FSD sport springs and work on stiffening things up.

You just need to have dampers that can keep up with the springs installed. Too much valving makes the car feel harsh and will perform badly.

Got it. So current plan is Koni FSD, HR sport OE springs (does anyone know their spring rate and lowering compared to 135i springs?) then various suspension and bushing things

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by E13

Got it. So current plan is Koni FSD, HR sport OE springs (does anyone know their spring rate and lowering compared to 135i springs?) then various suspension and bushing things

It's been a while but I remember issues with the H&R OE springs being uneven.

Find some performance springs even if you have to get them from an E90.

[mkeiser]

H&r sport springs are a relatively large drop compared to stock m-sport. The springs themselves are progressive so spring rate is hard to determine.

View post on imgur.com

[E13]

Originally Posted by mkeiser

H&r sport springs are a relatively large drop compared to stock m-sport. The springs themselves are progressive so spring rate is hard to determine.

https://imgur.com/a/d4l33zG

Oh wow ok. Is there anything out there comparable to the BMWPS? Just like, slightly sportier and lower than m sport.

[E13]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

It's been a while but I remember issues with the H&R OE springs being uneven.

Find some performance springs even if you have to get them from an E90.

Awww man 😭 man if only I had ohlins money lmao.
Appreciate your help

[ShocknAwe]

Did the site I sent you in the other thread not have them in stock despite the listing?

Other suggestion would be to put msport springs on and call it good for now while you save for Ohlins.

[E13]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Did the site I sent you in the other thread not have them in stock despite the listing?

Other suggestion would be to put msport springs on and call it good for now while you save for Ohlins.

Nope :/ unfortunately they aren’t made anymore. My shop reached out too and there aren’t even any left over in Germany. I’ll do some looking at options

[mkeiser]

Originally Posted by E13

Oh wow ok. Is there anything out there comparable to the BMWPS? Just like, slightly sportier and lower than m sport.

I just found out OE Sport is different from Sport. I have the Sport springs installed on mine.

Sport = Average lowering of 1.8"F 1.2"R

OE Sport = Average lowering of 1.0"F 0.75" R.
"OE Sport Springs are designed with OEM-style spring rates for a lowered stance and factory handling characteristics. OE Sport Springs offer a mild lowering to cleanup that "too high-rally-stock look." Stock ride comfort is retained. These are the springs your "S" or "Sport" option must have!"

[E13]

Originally Posted by mkeiser

I just found out OE Sport is different from Sport. I have the Sport springs installed on mine.

Sport = Average lowering of 1.8"F 1.2"R

OE Sport = Average lowering of 1.0"F 0.75" R.
"OE Sport Springs are designed with OEM-style spring rates for a lowered stance and factory handling characteristics. OE Sport Springs offer a mild lowering to cleanup that "too high-rally-stock look." Stock ride comfort is retained. These are the springs your "S" or "Sport" option must have!"

Confusing naming system, and they don’t even say if they lower that much from stock or m sport springs.

Can anyone else comment on the HR springs being a little uneven? Or anyone else have an OEM+ spring recommendation?

[andysantoro]

I believe the Koni FSD are now called Special Active, and are intended to be paired with close to stock spring height. My plan is to run them with factory M sport springs. I am in search of the same goal, better ride quality over poor road surfaces, and don’t want to lower the car.

[cerealwars]

Originally Posted by E13

Would you say they feel sporty? My only problem with the car is that the handling doesn’t feel “sporty”. Turn in, body roll, floaty, bouncing are all current issues

Stock comfort shocks will fix this, your stuff is just blown out. Note I'm not actually recommending that. Just that whatever you go with, I'm pretty sure you won't regret it because it sounds like whatever's on there now has no fluid in it, which is a lot like removing the strut entirely.

Another thing about the H&R springs, they tend to create a pretty good rake on some cars.

[cblock406]

I refreshed my suspension with the Koni SA's earlier this summer and have been extremely pleased with them. Even my wife thinks the car rides nice. Good mix of comfort and performance.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...4&postcount=53

[E13]

Originally Posted by cerealwars

Stock comfort shocks will fix this, your stuff is just blown out. Note I'm not actually recommending that. Just that whatever you go with, I'm pretty sure you won't regret it because it sounds like whatever's on there now has no fluid in it, which is a lot like removing the strut entirely.

Another thing about the H&R springs, they tend to create a pretty good rake on some cars.

What would you recommend? I realized that I am ok with a stiffer ride after getting to drive an f type r and m3. It’s mostly the noise and vibration that I am trying to avoid. A little stiffness is ok, I don’t mind a firmer ride. Appreciate the help

[cerealwars]

My car is just a little guy, a base 128i that I converted to sport package with used sport springs, and all new bilstein b4 shocks. Very mild, but it's firm enough for my daily use case. Good mix of backroads, highway, and detroit surface streets. I found that tuning with sway bars and camber has been very effective and that I'm actually very happy with stock sport package stuff. I actually have the smaller base model bar on the front and I find it is better balanced than the sport bar. I imagine BMW's lawyers may have vetoed this setup.

I have tracked my car a few times, and though I'm not willing to sink the $4k required to have it be a competent dual-duty car, I didn't think it was all that bad. For reference, I have had some other fairly hardcore but lower-powered track cars, and this is part of why mine remains a daily.

It sounds like you'd be open to something on the firmer side. Bilstein B6 or B8 maybe? One of the most important things is replacing all of the mounts and bumpstops when you're in. there. These cars have some additional stuff compared to my other Macpherson strut Japanese cars.

Dinan camber plates ($120) and RSFB inserts (i did the aluminum 034 Motorsport ones) were two very big helpers that were cheap(ish) and easy to do.

TL;DR:
For a daily, I would refresh with high quality (OEM) parts as much as possible, and tune with sway bars/camber settings/RSFBs. Also note that I am a cheap bastard and your resources may vary.

[E13]

Originally Posted by cerealwars

My car is just a little guy, a base 128i that I converted to sport package with used sport springs, and all new bilstein b4 shocks. Very mild, but it's firm enough for my daily use case. Good mix of backroads, highway, and detroit surface streets. I found that tuning with sway bars and camber has been very effective and that I'm actually very happy with stock sport package stuff. I actually have the smaller base model bar on the front and I find it is better balanced than the sport bar. I imagine BMW's lawyers may have vetoed this setup.

I have tracked my car a few times, and though I'm not willing to sink the $4k required to have it be a competent dual-duty car, I didn't think it was all that bad. For reference, I have had some other fairly hardcore but lower-powered track cars, and this is part of why mine remains a daily.

It sounds like you'd be open to something on the firmer side. Bilstein B6 or B8 maybe? One of the most important things is replacing all of the mounts and bumpstops when you're in. there. These cars have some additional stuff compared to my other Macpherson strut Japanese cars.

Dinan camber plates ($120) and RSFB inserts (i did the aluminum 034 Motorsport ones) were two very big helpers that were cheap(ish) and easy to do.

TL;DR:
For a daily, I would refresh with high quality (OEM) parts as much as possible, and tune with sway bars/camber settings/RSFBs. Also note that I am a cheap bastard and your resources may vary.

I’m a cheap bastard too. Or at least I try to be. I just realized that dampers and springs will cost about as much as some coilovers, so I started to wonder if there any any coilovers I should look at. I think the only two that might work are the ISC street comfort and the redshift street. Neither of which are talked about much on here.
So looks like a refresh plus slightly sportier dampers and m sport or spec r springs is the way to go? And then from there, various suspension stuff (roll bar, control arms, etc)
Appreciate the help again btw

[cerealwars]

The quality of coilovers has improved over the years, but I still just don't think they last as long as a conventional setup. Also, shocks should be the only thing that could fail prematurely, so if you do have a problem, it's not sending them out to be rebuilt - it would just be to order new stuff and drive on yours in the meantime. More straightforward to change too.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I would recommend. I like my Bilstein OE replacement stuff. I could see going up one level to the B6s or whatever on your case.

Anything will feel night-and-day better than blown out stuff.