A question on ride comfort

[Carl L]

Adaptive suspension makes these very comfortable, I'm sure the F8X will be even more so. Comfort is also the fastest (read "confidence inspiring) setting on city streets as it absorbs mid corner ridges amazingly.

Compared to an S-Class, the ride is rough, compared to just about anything else it's plenty smooth.

[Jedi_M]

Originally Posted by stressdoc

Hmmm... Having a 335 week one build with ZSP, my fix was to dump the runflats and stiffen everything up further. I never thought the original ride was "buckboard" but the runflats seemed wooden. Regardless I expect a superb enthusiast suspension on the F8x. I don't want a Lexus.

I thought that the cars come standard with run flat tires, tire pressure monitoring system and no spare. How can you switch out the run flats for conventional tires without the risk of getting a flat and being stuck?

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by OnYourLeft

I thought that the cars come standard with run flat tires, tire pressure monitoring system and no spare. How can you switch out the run flats for conventional tires without the risk of getting a flat and being stuck?

M3 have been delivered with with high performance non-runflat tires for quite a while now. There is a useless "mobility" repair kit in the trunk instead of a spare, so if you get a flat, you need to call a towing (don't ask how I know ).

[aus]

Threads like this make me sad.

[stressdoc]

Originally Posted by OnYourLeft

I thought that the cars come standard with run flat tires, tire pressure monitoring system and no spare. How can you switch out the run flats for conventional tires without the risk of getting a flat and being stuck?

I keep an electric tire pump and plugger kit for repairs in the trunk. Plugs are pretty easy to use once you have done it a few times. I have a tractor, and when hauling thorny locust trees around got dozens of flat tires. Plugging was easy. Grab thorn (or nail...) with pliers, pull it out. Put sticky rubber plug in plugger tool. Ram it into hole, pull back out carefully, leaving both ends of plug emerging from hole. Snip excess if necessary. Reinflate tire. Pour beer or whatever over repair to check for bubbles. Any hole in sidewall, or anything that cut through structural cords = new tire; but simple in the tread repairs are pretty safe at any speed.

[JoeFromPA]

Originally Posted by aus

Threads like this make me sad.

Why? It's an all-season car, a cross-trainer. Some people want their car to be a bit more track oriented, some care a bit more about comfort.

I drive 15-20k miles a year and ALOT of those miles are on very poorly maintained highways. Even in such a setting, I enjoy the lithe agility of a smaller and lighter vehicle with plenty of power on tap, great braking, and alive steering.

But I also enjoy a car that can take the rough edges off.

Let me give a really timely analogy: My e39 m5 is on a dinan stage 2 suspension, which is a fairly soft suspension that is more oriented to track use than the stock suspension, but without much ride quality sacrifice. I just had continental DW tires put on.

It now has probably the best ride quality I could ask for - it is low and connected to the ground, with amazing weight control/balance. However, these tires do an excellent job absorbing small bumps and taking harshness out of larger bumps/potholes.

If I spend $70k on a brand new m3, I'd like it to offer me superior handling and better ride comfort than my 13 year old, modified M-series sedan of similar proportion. And I don't want to have to tweak anything more to get that.

[aus]

We're talking about a car from BMW. It's NOT going to rattle your teeth- there is NO WAY BMW would release such a car. If anything, it's going to be a little softer than is should be. I'd be more concerned about the suspension leanng too far towards comfort than sport. As was obviously the case for your E39 M5.

.

[JoeFromPA]

Absolutely, though for instance the e46 m3 was pretty close to 'teeth rattling'.

BMW has long been one of the only car manufacturers that combined very nice connectedness with a velvety smooth suspension that managed to both react quickly and stay in touch with the road while taking off all harsh edges.

The f30, for example, is more of a bank vault than my e39 in terms of feel. It's also more tossable (though my e39 is far more "germanic" in heft of movements). However, I wouldn't exactly say the f30 is super in tune with the road.

Anyway, I feel I've gotten an answer to my question about the e90 m3 and ride comfort. The biggest difference appears to have been tires alone.

[tisme]

I'm curious. I have an MSport 330d, how does the suspension in comfort mode on existing M3s compare to the MSport models? I'd expect it to be similar.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by tisme

I'm curious. I have an MSport 330d, how does the suspension in comfort mode on existing M3s compare to the MSport models? I'd expect it to be similar.

Based on my experience with the E9X ///M and non-M models, I believe there will be little similarity between the F8X and F3X even in M-sport guise. The suspension on the F8X is significantly modified (wider track, different suspension arms lengths and weight, different subframes and attachments, and different spring and shock tuning.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Anyway, I feel I've gotten an answer to my question about the e90 m3 and ride comfort. The biggest difference appears to have been tires alone.

One note on that. We put non-RFT all-season tires on my wife's E90 335i Sport for the last year or so we had it, but the E93 M3 (which is non-EDC, even) still had the more comfortable ride. So it's not all the RFT, though I will certainly agree with others that the 335i without RFT was definitely less harsh than it was with RFT.

Now, both cars had 18" wheels, so the M3 had the taller sidewall. I'm sure that makes a difference as well. Same would be true for the F3x vs. F8x because again the latter have more sidewall for a given wheel size. And obviously if you go with the 19" wheels instead of the 18" ones that gives you a shorter sidewall as well.

In any case, I honestly think the car will be just fine for you. My E93 M3 is much less jolting than the E46 M3 was, and I suspect the F8x will further improve the situation.