Comfort Steering too heavy for traffic/town driving FIX

[snakebyte]

Hi all,

Recently bought a non zcp stage 2 f80. It has genuine X666 20" Competition wheels, been lowered and has 12mm front spacers and 5mm rear spacers. I drive 100% with steering set to Comfort.

I can't seem to get on with the steering and I can't put my finger on what it is. I find driving around town in London in start stop traffic annoying when doing 90 degree tight turns it feels too heavy for one hand.

It feels too heavy, or maybe its the angle, or maybe its the lack of forward-back adjustment, or maybe its the diameter size, or maybe its the width...

I have had an e46 m3 and e63 m6 (a long time ago) but do not remember this being an issue.

I'm not sure if I have something wrong with mine as I don't see many other complaints. Sure, everyone says its heavy, but to me its too awkward to be a daily driver in traffic with tight roads.

Could it be that the steering needs flashing as its got ZCP wheels + spacers + lowered which the car did not expect out the factory?

I see people raving about the GTS or CS steering flash, but I don't think it will make much difference in terms of what I am after. Also, most tuners do the whole GTS package: I already have GTS transmission and stage 2 tune.

Is there a way to bump up the Power assist using Protool or similar(which my friend has). I can see some settings there, but not sureif any of them would lighten the steering.

In an ideal world, I'd want to use COMFORT for town driving, and then Sport +(to feel similar to the way COMFORT is now) for spirited driving

Hoping theres a fix here!!

[NSX2M4]

Try taking the spacers off and get the GTS coding. Sport+ it will always be a super heavy feeling though and is meant for the track.

[snakebyte]

Can anyone confirm the effect of comfort mode steering weight after a flash?

[hC1001]

I think the most important thing is your istep version. Most of the earlier istep 15-17 aren't great for steering. If you already have a more recent istep on the car, you could try codng the mode to CS version or something. A lot of ppl seem to like it.

When I went from a 2017 istep to a 2020 istep, the steering got noticeably better to me. More refined feeling. I prefer comfort steering all the time. Street or track. I instantly notice the steering when I first start up the car and drive and it reminds to change it cuz its unnecessarily too heavy and artificial.

Not sure if you can only flash the steering modules istep... there are dependencies when updating istep.

[snakebyte]

What’s istep? Never heard of it. I’ve got a 2017 model. Am I updating istep or to cs/gts steering?

[jfritz27]

Another possibility is that the previous owner, in an attempt to fix a clunk from the front end, saw threads on here about one cause being the gear in the steering rack, and tightened it more (which can resolve the clunk if that was in fact the cause). But if you tighten it too much, it adds resistance to turning the wheel.

Do a google search for f80 steering gear clunk and you should find it
Problem is it will likely be impossible for you to tell visually if that was done. Youd have to untighten a bit and see

[snakebyte]

Thanks will give that a google

[N1rve]

Maybe it’s time to work on those boulder shoulders.

[alex2364]

I've had a 2017 M4 and now a 2020 M4. Steering effort in both cars were the same and harder than my previous BMWs. I drive the X3 M40i more often and whenever I get into my M4, I always feel I need to use significantly more effect to turn the steering wheel even in Comfort mode.

[snakebyte]

Read quite a few threads and just went for a drive to test some theories. I don’t think it is the heaviness that is annoying me. It feels like, when the wheel is centred, it feels like the steering is unresponsive and heavier until it gets to a certain point.

Does the cs or gts steering map alter this? Or does it tweak other aspects?

[NSX2M4]

You guys should drive an E39. Super heavy yet very direct steering. The F8X is, in my opinion pretty damn close to that.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by snakebyte

Read quite a few threads and just went for a drive to test some theories. I don’t think it is the heaviness that is annoying me. It feels like, when the wheel is centred, it feels like the steering is unresponsive and heavier until it gets to a certain point.

Does the cs or gts steering map alter this? Or does it tweak other aspects?

The GTS eps coding practically eliminates the dead zone from the steering wheel. That was one of my issues with the car when I first got it. The e92 M3s have zero dead zone on the centered steering wheel so driving the f82 after an e92, it really frustrated me.

[MotoGPWannaBe]

Let me share my story with you and see if it’s helpful. Purchased a used 2016 F80 almost 4 years ago. After test driving it several times, I ignorantly told the car dealer that the steering felt extremely heavy and artificial. It would also track uneven surfaced roads to the point that I had to counter the weight of the steering in order to follow the curves in the road. The dealer said it was normal M3 behavior and that’s just how it’s designed. I kept test driving and complaining again and again until they said they’d look into it. About 1 hour later they asked me to drive it again and immedialty the steering was a whole lot lighter and more natural than before. I asked them what they did and they told me it’s normal protocol with the F80 platform straight from BMW NA…. They said in their book or whatever…. If the customer reports that the steering is too heavy repeatedly to flash the software settings on the EPS to a newer version. I was surprised but satisfied so I purchased the car and it’s never reverted back to the way it was before. Now with all that being said… I also like the OP owned an E46 M3 previously and there isn’t anything that software or mods will do to make your F80 feel as amazing as the E46 steering IMO. Still a great platform though with a lot more power and practicality especially if you have kids. Hope this helps someone out there. Not really sure if they were completely transparent or what but it was a night and day difference that I noticed immediately.

[hC1001]

Originally Posted by MotoGPWannaBe

Let me share my story with you and see if it’s helpful. Purchased a used 2016 F80 almost 4 years ago. After test driving it several times, I ignorantly told the car dealer that the steering felt extremely heavy and artificial. It would also track uneven surfaced roads to the point that I had to counter the weight of the steering in order to follow the curves in the road. The dealer said it was normal M3 behavior and that’s just how it’s designed. I kept test driving and complaining again and again until they said they’d look into it. About 1 hour later they asked me to drive it again and immedialty the steering was a whole lot lighter and more natural than before. I asked them what they did and they told me it’s normal protocol with the F80 platform straight from BMW NA…. They said in their book or whatever…. If the customer reports that the steering is too heavy repeatedly to flash the software settings on the EPS to a newer version. I was surprised but satisfied so I purchased the car and it’s never reverted back to the way it was before. Now with all that being said… I also like the OP owned an E46 M3 previously and there isn’t anything that software or mods will do to make your F80 feel as amazing as the E46 steering IMO. Still a great platform though with a lot more power and practicality especially if you have kids. Hope this helps someone out there. Not really sure if they were completely transparent or what but it was a night and day difference that I noticed immediately.

They updated the istep of the EPS module. Its the firmware/software version of the control modules.

[b_w.]

Install thrust arm monoballs to perk up the steering.

[snakebyte]

Originally Posted by hC1001

They updated the istep of the EPS module. Its the firmware/software version of the control modules.

Is there anyway of finding out what istep version I’m on? Would I be able to book an update with bmw without having to go through troubleshooting/diagnostic etc. I’d imagine that I can’t just ring up reception saying “I heard on forums that I need to update istep, I don’t need you to diagnose”

I’ve had the car flashed to later version of idrive with CarPlay, I bought the car with bm3 which has active gts transmission and stage 2 flash. Does this complicate matters?

[snakebyte]

If I’ve had latest idrive flashed, does this come with latest istep? Sounds like it might be the same thing

[Vmohan5072]

Originally Posted by snakebyte

Is there anyway of finding out what istep version I’m on? Would I be able to book an update with bmw without having to go through troubleshooting/diagnostic etc. I’d imagine that I can’t just ring up reception saying “I heard on forums that I need to update istep, I don’t need you to diagnose”

I’ve had the car flashed to later version of idrive with CarPlay, I bought the car with bm3 which has active gts transmission and stage 2 flash. Does this complicate matters?

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1638904

This will show you your istep update

[snakebyte]

Vmohan5072 thanks for that.

So I’m on a 2017-03 istep version. This is prehistoric lol. That link to that thread is pretty old (2019), if I was to take it to bmw to update latest istep (people were making sure bm3 was compatible), now that it’s 2024, would my bm3 bootmod still work?

This is such a ball ache…

Is the gts steering flash (or any other newer flash) give you the same thing as updating istep? Or are they both independent?

[Vmohan5072]

Originally Posted by snakebyte

Vmohan5072 thanks for that.

So I’m on a 2017-03 istep version. This is prehistoric lol. That link to that thread is pretty old (2019), if I was to take it to bmw to update latest istep (people were making sure bm3 was compatible), now that it’s 2024, would my bm3 bootmod still work?

This is such a ball ache…

Is the gts steering flash (or any other newer flash) give you the same thing as updating istep? Or are they both independent?

Since you can choose to target only certain modules to update ISTEP, you won't have to worry about possible DME related conflicts.

Off the top of my head I can't really tell you if moving forward from 2017-03 with just an update will make too much of a difference in terms of steering feel, as I believe most of the differences come between 2014 and 2017. Don't quote me on that though.

GTS coding are different from istep update flashes, you have to do coding for that via ESYS/PROTOOL or have it done for you by someone else. I can't tell you off the top of my head if either CS/GTS steering flashes can help you with lightness in comfort mode, can look into it later today

[snakebyte]

Thanks Vmohan5072
So I can ask bmw to update istep and not touch the DME?

If you could find any info on whether 2017-3 istep resolved the steering would be great!

Have you flashed the steering with protool? I can’t find any walk through, would like to purchase it but not confident I’ve seen enough of a dummy proof guide on how to do it. I saw some screenshots in a forum once but have lost the thread 🤦‍♂️

[BMthusiast]

I'm in a 2018 F80 with bm3 stg1 and 2020 GTS complete flash. My I-Step has never been changed from factory. Steering in Sport+ is as heavy as HPS (which is excellent at high speeds), Sport is also pretty heavy, very intuitive and balanced, and Comfort is as nimble as a non-M car to my feel. It truly is comfortable steering. I remember when my tuner did the GTS flash I noticed how Comfort felt lighter than stock.