Ground Clearance

[s0ul]

Originally Posted by ex o

Did somebody say "so low that is submerges into the road"?

I want to say lower but this cuts the cake lol

[Jim B]

Originally Posted by ex o

Did somebody say "so low that is submerges into the road"?

Photoshop!

[ciaranob]

Totally depends on where you live and drive regularly. The highways, toll roads and interstates are generally the best roads in the Houston area especially if we are talking about inside the loop! If you live inside the loop or a short distance outside in the older neighborhoods then you know how bad Houston minor roads are - horrible! You especially know if, like me, you also ride a motorcycle - lethal - really have to be on the ball with the raised pavements especially parallel to direction of travel.!!

Most of the newer (<15 year old) subdivisions outside the loop, as far out as Katy, have of course infrastructure that is still new although there are plenty of old satellite neighborhoods in between absorbed by the greater Houston blob that qualify for overall crappy roads too .

In regards scraping I have the Lightweight lip and only scraped it a few times, always on bad entry ramps which is the biggest issue by far here - agree that in general as bad as the roads are I am certainly not bottoming out or scraping anything on the poor quality roads - before I had the lip it was the stone/water guard rubber lips that got wore down again on entry ramps. Long story short, if you are not lowering your ride you are good to go imo!

Originally Posted by Damasconian

Houston guy here as well. ..........
I know a lot of the Houston crowd complains about the roads here but I don't get it. Yes, some parts of the city are bad but most of my driving happens along I-10 between the beltway and downtown and don't often come across "bad" roads. Maybe its me though, two of our mayoral candidates are running on fixing the roads here so something's going on.

[sydenfareren]

Anyone have a Picture? i also am concidering an M4 and i will have a front lip on it. Anyone have Pictures or som mesurements in Centimeter ..... Please

I now have a E92 335I M-sport With a front lip. And the clearense is about 10cm. And that is jus enought to get over the speed bumps here in Norway-.

[Fast4d]

the days of lowered rides are over for me. yeah I am old and tired of worrying whether I will scrape on a driveway or speed bump. driving in so cal has taught me I need that inch of suspension travel.

that s why I got the CF roof to lower center of gravity even at stock height!

[boss2k]

Is the M4 lower than the M3?

[dds007]

Just avoid:

Midtown
Westheimer
Steep declined exit out of galleria
290


And you should be fine

[california]

The m4 is low to the ground.

Lower than any e9x m3 and be aware of it you have little space between the ground of your car and the flimsy bumper.

[W///]

Originally Posted by gtr

The low riding is one of the things I sold my F80. Being 4 doors and riding about the same as my R8 is ridiculous. I have to admit the F80 rides a tad higher than it's replacement the GT4 which has more of a purpose to be low.

I wish it was higher or has the same approach angle as the E36.

Is it really that bad enough that you got rid of yours? I'm not about having cars slammed to the ground, but I absolutely despise the front stock ride height (tire to fender gap).

[gtr]

Originally Posted by W///

Is it really that bad enough that you got rid of yours? I'm not about having cars slammed to the ground, but I absolutely despise the front stock ride height (tire to fender gap).

The low riding is one of the reasons. It makes it impractical and kinda ruin a good 4 door car. The problem is that I catch myself thinking, the car feels too digital to me, I wish the steering had more feel, or the throttle profile and power deliver is not where I like it. If I sacrifice everyday convince, I would need a whole lot of sport to make up for it. I just realize that I'm not satisfied with the F80.

The solution for me was the Cayman GT4. The driving dynamics just feel like it's in a different league. As for the car feel it's almost perfect. Yes the GT3RS or 987 Cayman R had better steering feel but that is being too picky. If they can only make a car that drive like this in a 4 door and decent ride that would be the ultimate car.

[ChipB]

I don't believe it's been stated yet in this thread, perhaps because it's obvious, but ... be careful in parking lots that have those concrete barriers at the front of each parking stall. People who are used to driving trucks and SUVs often get in the (bad) habit of pulling forward until their front tires hit the barrier. Try that in an M4 or other sporty car and you will do damage to the front bumper or splitter. Every once in a while on forums like this someone will complain about how they (or their wife) just nicked the front bumper parking at the grocery store, and how negligent BMW must be for making a car that rides so low, which is both humorous and sad. So - get used to judging where the front of the car is relative to the barrier and be sure to not run into it.

[yaymitch]

Originally Posted by jgoldsmith729

I live in Houston. Went with the 18's and adaptive. It's awesome and I don't have too much trouble with curbs, transitions, etc.

Ditto

[Devonrex]

I live in Houston and I am very concerned about the front clearance.

First, I live in an older section (Meyerland) the roads have issues but I know where the problem areas are and I avoid them. Not any more or less worse than other cities I have visited. Back to the thread...

My issue is my driveway has a steep inital slope, great for all the flooding, but will be a daily issue. My current Honda Accord scrapes if I take it fast. However, I really want to install a Lightweight front lip.

I am waiting for my car (arrives soon), but I found one at BMW Houston West and measured a stock car. See pictures below, but the side clearance measured at 6" and the center is 6.5". FYI, my Honda is at 8" and 7.5".

Guessing the Lightweight Lip will reduce the clearance to 5.5", but sticks out more so it will further reduce the angle of approach.

[mercedesc63]

Originally Posted by Devonrex

I live in Houston and I am very concerned about the front clearance.

First, I live in an older section (Meyerland) the roads have issues but I know where the problem areas are and I avoid them. Not any more or less worse than other cities I have visited. Back to the thread...

My issue is my driveway has a steep inital slope, great for all the flooding, but will be a daily issue. My current Honda Accord scrapes if I take it fast. However, I really want to install a Lightweight front lip.

I am waiting for my car (arrives soon), but I found one at BMW Houston West and measured a stock car. See pictures below, but the side clearance measured at 6" and the center is 6.5". FYI, my Honda is at 8" and 7.5".

Guessing the Lightweight Lip will reduce the clearance to 5.5", but sticks out more so it will further reduce the angle of approach.

I think this is some useful info

[BwoodBMW]

Originally Posted by Carl L

I'm 100% fine with the ground clearance, though it does sit a little lower at the front than the E92 M. I live in the hills and the incline for the garage scrapes it every time on exit. I'm fine with it as it's the bottom of the bumper and they're going to get scraped one time or another no matter what unless you are completely obsessed with babying your car. That said, I need every mm so any lowering or Comp pkg wouldn't work for me right now.

One thing for sure is the incline on this house means I certainly can't get another 911. I'd love to add one but it would be totally unnecessary, annoy the wife and I should sell some cars before I buy another. Now, how to I plane down that incline...

My same situation... Scrape slightly every time in and out of my driveway but it's just the rubber pieces and now they are wind down enough it hardly scrapes

[///M-er-gized]

You have to be careful with ground clearance, but it's manageable.

With that said, some of the modded cars I see on this forum would be problematic for me (i.e., lowered cars with front lip). I could never drive one of those around here.

[Bt31st]

My driveway has a slightly steep initial slope as well so this concerns me a little for when my F80 arrives. I measured my E90 335Xi and my son's 2015 mustang GT and both were about 7.5" on the sides and 8" in the center. I've had a 2000 Boxster and an 07 Vette in my driveway before though so hopefully it will be ok.

[BwoodBMW]

Originally Posted by Bt31st

My driveway has a slightly steep initial slope as well so this concerns me a little for when my F80 arrives. I measured my E90 335Xi and my son's 2015 mustang GT and both were about 7.5" on the sides and 8" in the center. I've had a 2000 Boxster and an 07 Vette in my driveway before though so hopefully it will be ok.

If those cars were ok you'll be fine I'd wager.

[CookMaster]

Originally Posted by Fast4d

the days of lowered rides are over for me. yeah I am old and tired of worrying whether I will scrape on a driveway or speed bump. driving in so cal has taught me I need that inch of suspension travel.

that s why I got the CF roof to lower center of gravity even at stock height!

I second that notion. I had an e82 with awesome m sport suspension, but it always boiled down to can you maneuver without damage. I'm good with better clearance with an awesomely tuned suspension. I'm done with low riders.

[zhan28]

After switch to kW HAS kit, I found sport plus keeps the suspension stiff enough to not scrap going over some vicious speed bumps. Comfort is too soft and allows the car to dip low enough to scrape on the way down.

[Gig 'em]

Originally Posted by Devonrex

I live in Houston and I am very concerned about the front clearance.

First, I live in an older section (Meyerland) the roads have issues but I know where the problem areas are and I avoid them. Not any more or less worse than other cities I have visited. Back to the thread...

My issue is my driveway has a steep inital slope, great for all the flooding, but will be a daily issue. My current Honda Accord scrapes if I take it fast. However, I really want to install a Lightweight front lip.

I am waiting for my car (arrives soon), but I found one at BMW Houston West and measured a stock car. See pictures below, but the side clearance measured at 6" and the center is 6.5". FYI, my Honda is at 8" and 7.5".

Guessing the Lightweight Lip will reduce the clearance to 5.5", but sticks out more so it will further reduce the angle of approach.

Any chance someone can take a similar pictures with the M-Performance lip installed? Or does anyone know how much ground clearance is left on a car with stock ride height?

[mercedesc63]

Originally Posted by Grouser

I'm about to pull the trigger on a M4, but during the test drive I was surprised at how easy it was to scrape the bottom front of the car. I'm in the Houston area and while this is probably the flattest place on Earth, I can't say the same for our roads.

I spent so much time focusing on what was on the roads and driveways, that it was taking away from enjoying the drive. After I got back I did an eyeball measurement of the ground clearance under the front bumper and it looks like it's 3 and 1/2 inches.

Is this a legitimate concern or was I in a particularly nasty neighborhood? Keep in mind that I've been driving full size trucks for the last 30 years and normally I just drive over whatever is in the road

Thanks for the help,
Lee

I think it's 6 in same as a 997 turbo S.

I never once scratched it in my 15k Miles of driving it.

Go slow and go at an angle. If possible avoid places where it may scrape.