"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
05/19/2016 at 18:10 • Filed to: None | 0 | 16 |
My 2011 335xi M Sport, like all awd BMW E9x cars, has the base suspension, even though it’s an M Sport. Combined with already having its OE runflat tires thrown in the trash (and hopefully lit on fire) it’s very comfy! It also has lots of front wheel gap and body roll. Time to do something about that!
The upside of the stock suspension and Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires on the car right now is the huge increase in comfort over my 135is with hell-spawned Bridgestone RE050A run-flats and M Sport suspension. Just this past weekend I took the 135is to Milwaukee and my fiancee was complaining about the bumpy ride.
While I want to make the 335xi handle, and close the wheel gap for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in non-winter, I also want to keep it as comfy as possible. Both for my own sanity on Wisconsin roads, and so the car will continue to pass the wifey test. Which means coming soon to me are all of the following:
Advanti Catalan wheels, 19x8.5" +32 front, 19x9.5" +32 rear
Kumho Ecsta PS91 tires, 235/35-19 front, 275/30-19 rear
BMW center caps
Koni FSD shocks
B&G S2 lowering springs
E36 M3 front & E85 Z4 M Sport rear bump stops
Ground Control front camber plates
UUC front & rear sway bars
UUC front & Hotchkis rear adjustable sway bar end links
Strongflex front lower control arm (a.k.a. “tension strut”) bushings
Whiteline poly rear subframe bushing inserts
Monroe rear upper & lower shock mounts
While most of the stuff on this list you’d think would make the ride worse, the B&G springs have progressive rates, the Koni FSD shocks have mechanically adaptive damping to filter out sharp bumps, and the bump stops are shorter than the E92 ones to give back some suspension travel lost by lowering. The Ground Control camber plates have rubber shock mounts instead of pillow ball or spherical bearing mounts in other camber plates. The Kumho PS91 tires are supposedly in the same ballpark as Michelin Pilot Super Sports grip-wise, but comfier, and way cheaper.
This is a photoshop of the wheels on top of my stock wheels, so visualize this, but with a drop, and wider wheels, and you’ll get the idea.
Dis gon be good, I guarantee!
For Sweden
> Textured Soy Protein
05/19/2016 at 18:19 | 0 |
too Aruba for me
B_dol
> Textured Soy Protein
05/19/2016 at 18:46 | 1 |
Lookin good. Plans for the car driving-wise? That’s a lot of suspension work solely for the commute and parking lot!
Textured Soy Protein
> B_dol
05/19/2016 at 19:01 | 0 |
There’s this sweet hairpin turn at the end of the off ramp for my office.
But this question touches on a pet peeve of mine which is the “do you even autocross and/or track day bro?” talk out there. Not saying that’s exactly where you’re going here but kinda.
I enjoy having a car that handles nicely. I like being involved in the driving experience even if it’s putzing around town. I go out on the plentiful twisty back roads near me and have fun. I might do an occasional autocross or track event but it’s just not my primary focus and I don’t feel like those activities are the only reason to have, out justification for, a nice suspension setup.
This is very much a street-oriented setup. I’m just adding a few bushings and things like camber plates and sway bar end links to get everything really optimally dialed in while staying comfy.
GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
> Textured Soy Protein
05/19/2016 at 21:05 | 0 |
I have a similar plan albeit slightly more aggressive in the shock/spring combo for my M3. Just got a set of 18" E9x 260m wheels and planning on running Pilot Super Sports. Not sure what I'm gonna do for the winter though...
Textured Soy Protein
> GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
05/19/2016 at 21:40 | 0 |
Yeah I intentionally went not very aggressive. The sway bars will get me additional roll stiffness without the ride penalty. I went with the B&G springs mostly because looks-wise they gave the closest to my ideal drop. Eibach ones have slightly less drop, and H&R has a really uneven drop on the awd car with a bunch of gap in the front and yet the rear is dumped.
I thought about coilovers to get my perfect drop but ride quality and longevity were my main priorities.
AM3R shamefully returns
> GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
05/19/2016 at 22:53 | 0 |
You got wheels?? Nice!
AM3R shamefully returns
> Textured Soy Protein
05/19/2016 at 22:53 | 1 |
If the car is a daily driver just get the Dinan camber plates. They are much quieter and more compliant.
B_dol
> Textured Soy Protein
05/19/2016 at 23:17 | 0 |
My intent wasn’t to troll hard (came off that way). Genuinely curious and glad to see you get out to the twisties once in a while.
Agreed that it makes sense to have the car set up how you want it at all times. If the 335xi is anything similar to my fiancee’s 228i, there is a whole lot of room for improvement... somewhat boxy and disengaging..
Textured Soy Protein
> AM3R shamefully returns
05/20/2016 at 09:13 | 0 |
Ground Control are already ordered and shipped. They are still street focused with rubber bushings.
I thought about Dinan but since they go between the strut and the body of the car, they could potentially raise the front a bit. I saw conflicting opinions about that but since the xi already sits higher and I am doing springs not coilovers, I wanted to avoid any possibility of that happening.
Textured Soy Protein
> B_dol
05/20/2016 at 09:15 | 0 |
I’ve driven an M235i and the steering is very light on it. The 335xi is much better. It’s a bigger car but feels more engaging. It’s fun and you can drive it like a dolt, just the stock suspension is pretty soft.
GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
> Textured Soy Protein
05/20/2016 at 10:25 | 0 |
Originally I was going to go with the Bilstein B12 pro kit but now I’m leaning towards the Eibach Pro Street S w/ 7 in front springs. My main goal is to eliminate most of the body roll and be able to swap springs as the Eibach kit are linear. I have read mixed reviews of sway bars on E46 M3 street cars so that’s why I’m trying to compensate w/ the coilovers.
GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
> AM3R shamefully returns
05/20/2016 at 10:27 | 1 |
Yeah now I just need to buy tires...
Textured Soy Protein
> GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
05/20/2016 at 10:39 | 0 |
Have you looked at the Ground Control coilovers? For the E46 M3 they have a kit that uses shortened, custom-valved Koni yellows plus Eibach ERS springs, and camber plates. They do custom spring rates per order. I’m sure they could come up with some spring rates for you that work with the stock sway bars and strike a good balance of body roll and comfort. Also if you’re keeping the stock sway bars you can at least upgrade them with poly bushings and adjustable end links.
AM3R shamefully returns
> GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
05/20/2016 at 12:34 | 0 |
Oh man those look perfect. What tires are you going with?
GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
> Textured Soy Protein
05/20/2016 at 13:00 | 0 |
My mechanic hates Koni's says they blow out w/ no warning, brackets crack and tear, and the general quality has dropped in past few years. I need to get something soon as my OEM setup has limited time left, heard some good things about Bilstein HD shocks with CSL springs so may go that route.
Textured Soy Protein
> GTRZILLAR32-Now saving for Godzilla and a condo
05/20/2016 at 14:26 | 0 |
I’ve never really heard that about Konis but hey if you’re worried about it then Bilstein works as well. The knock against them is a somewhat rougher ride.
Not sure how low the CSL springs go but generally if you’re going Bilstein and lowering your best bet is to go with the B8 sport shocks as they’re shortened compared to stock to help you regain some suspension travel lost from lowering springs.
Personally I think the drop from the B&G springs for the E46 M3 looks perfect, combine those with some Bilstein B8s and you could be set.
For your car if you want to keep the stock sway bars, and just do shocks/springs, I would go with whatever shocks/springs you choose, plus poly sway bar bushings and adjustable sway bar end links front and rear. The M3 bars at least on the E92 are a common upgrade for the 335i folks so your stock bars are probably fine.
Whiteline and Turner Motorsports, among others, make the adjustable links for the E46 M3.
Definitely also replace the rear upper shock mounts.