Confirmed! M5 Front Sway Bar fits 535xi

Confirmed!! The M5 front sway bar is a direct fit for my 2013 535xi!!

All I have to say is wow and everyone must do this. This is how the car should have came stock. My car has DDC and ACS springs and I am in sport mode 99.9% of the time. Before the M5 sway bar I would rate the handling of my F10 a 4 or 5 out of 10 at best compared to my previous E46 and E90 on coilovers but now its a solid 7.

The suspension just feels tighter and more solid up front and you notice this when going over bumps and uneven roads. The car is flatter during turns and the steering feels alittle more direct/precise during high speed lane changes. Before I would anticipate the roll/sway movement but now the car just points to where you want it. It isn't a track car by any means but that wallowing feeling is pretty much gone or barely noticeable anymore. Nothing negative about doing this mod at all so far. Very pleased.

Another member already verified it also fits his 550i so it is safe to say this works on all F10's regardless if its rwd or awd.

Alan

The M5 part # is 31352284460

It comes with the bushings already mounted on the bar. You reuse your existing bolts and endlinks.

The install is a breeze. Once the underbelly pan is off there's only 6 bolts to remove the bar. You can do it easily yourself on ramps or let your shop do it. They should not take more then 20-30mins tops.

Alan

Originally Posted by Alan L.

The M5 part # is 31352284460

It comes with the bushings already mounted on the bar. You reuse your existing bolts and endlinks.

The install is a breeze. Once the underbelly pan is off there's only 6 bolts to remove the bar. You can do it easily yourself on ramps or let your shop do it. They should not take more then 20-30mins tops.

Alan

Thanks for the info Alan, this is definitely going to my to do list.

How much did you paid for it?

Will this fit a 528i?

Great upgrade.

I know that on my old Volvo VR, I swapped in stiffer lowering springs and hated it. Looked good but the ride go worse and the handling didn't get much better.

Put the stock springs back on and I swapped in stiffer roll bars front and rear. Wow, what a difference. The car just turned in with no hesitation, and the ride was fine.

Makes me wish that I didn't have active anti-roll bars, or I'd be all over this.

^^ cross refrence the 528i and Xi stock bars to see if they share the same part numbers with the 535/550. If they do then you know it will fit.

I did all of my research on www.realoem.com

I picked up the bar from Tischerbmw for about $260.

Alan

nice to know it fits.

with the thicker bar up front, won't it have a stronger tendency to understeer? I would think upgrading to a thicker rear to achieve a more neutral ride to be desirable.

Nice mod! Very creative.

Put a new inter cooler + meth on that bad boy and you won't be far off the M.

Thicker rear bar is next. Confirming if the 550GT Msport bar will fit or not first. Stock rear is 14mm while the 550GT one is 18.

I'm sure in extreme maneuvers the car is more likely to understeer the way it's setup now but all I know is that the car just feels more connected and reacts with less delay/wobble when changing lanes or turning at a decent rate of speed now.

For those who are familiar with the NJTPK most people are driving between 65-80 on average and although the pavement is pretty smooth there are a lot of long bends/turns with dips from expansion joints etc... Usually when I am traveling about 80 there all of those would cause the car to sort of bounce around or wobble especially if I am changing lanes at that speed and especially hitting a dip/expansion joint at the same time. I just drove on it and the car just felt awesome and stable. Stayed more flat, steering felt more immediate and the car felt solid.

The difference I feel when hitting dips or bumps is like comparing a feather filled pillow (stock) vs a tempurpedic pillow (M5). Both still very comfortable but yet feels very different. The M5 FSB just feels solid compared to before.

Alan

Originally Posted by Alan L.

Thicker rear bar is next. Confirming if the 550GT Msport bar will fit or not first. Stock rear is 14mm while the 550GT one is 18.

I'm sure in extreme maneuvers the car is more likely to understeer the way it's setup now but all I know is that the car just feels more connected and reacts with less delay/wobble when changing lanes or turning at a decent rate of speed now.

For those who are familiar with the NJTPK most people are driving between 65-80 on average and although the pavement is pretty smooth there are a lot of long bends/turns with dips from expansion joints etc... Usually when I am traveling about 80 there all of those would cause the car to sort of bounce around or wobble especially if I am changing lanes at that speed and especially hitting a dip/expansion joint at the same time. I just drove on it and the car just felt awesome and stable. Stayed more flat, steering felt more immediate and the car felt solid.

The difference I feel when hitting dips or bumps is like comparing a feather filled pillow (stock) vs a tempurpedic pillow (M5). Both still very comfortable but yet feels very different. The M5 FSB just feels solid compared to before.

Alan

Like your analogy with M5. With your ACS and M5 front bar, would you say your car closer to M5 in term stability now? If stock suspension is 1 and M5 is 10, would you say your car is 7?

I loved M5 stability when test driving last time.

This is interesting. I think an f10 535 probably pulls around ~.84 g's in a circle. This relatively simple mod probably gives you 2 or 3 extra 10th's of lateral gforce without changing the ride characteristics of your car for like 99.99% of everyday driving. My understanding is that the f10 is a very stiff chassis to begin with...

great bang for the buck.

This is a perfect "NYC" modification!

In this case, I'm not even certain that you'd need to stiffen the rear set-up. On the track, sure, but sometimes it's better if the back-end doesn't start skipping around on say the FDR.

The reason I stopped driving 911's is exactly this reason. The ass used to kick out on our ****ed up streets a little too much for my nerves and my patience. Great for the track: downright scary at say 34th street when there's a car in the lane next to you...

Originally Posted by mryakanisachoad

This is interesting. I think an f10 535 probably pulls around ~.84 g's in a circle. This relatively simple mod probably gives you 2 or 3 extra 10th's of lateral gforce without changing the ride characteristics of the the car for like 99.99% of everyday driving. My understanding is that the f10 is a very stiff chassis to begin with...

great bang for the buck.

This is a perfect "NYC" modification!

In this case, I'm not even certain that you'd need to stiffen the rear set-up. On the track, sure, but sometimes it's better if the back-end doesn't start skipping around on say the FDR.

The reason I stopped driving 911's is exactly this reason. The ass used to kick out on our ****ed up streets a little too much for my nerves and my patience. Great for the track: downright scary at say 34th street when there's a car in the lane next to you...

I agree. It is better/safer for a car to understeer than oversteer. We do have some of the worse roads in the united states and sometimes it can really toss your car around causing an accident if you are driving too fast hitting a pothole, massive dip during a turn or a expansion joint or even all of those at the same time while traveling highway speeds. The F10's suspension is too soft and the car bounces as if its out of control for a split second but now that is either eliminated or significantly reduced. I was hauling a55 on I95 and the car felt so good for the first time!

Alan

Originally Posted by bodonx

Like your analogy with M5. With your ACS and M5 front bar, would you say your car closer to M5 in term stability now? If stock suspension is 1 and M5 is 10, would you say your car is 7?

I loved M5 stability when test driving last time.

I never test drove the M5 so i can't compare how the car handles compared to it but all i know for about $260 it was well worth it for me. I just feel more in control of the car now and it is more predicable in the way I am use to a BMW should be.

Id say if my car was 100% stock with DDC in sport its a 3 in terms of handling. With the ACS springs it went to maybe a 5. Now i'd say its a solid 7 in MY scale from 1-10. Now idea where that falls in comparison to the M5 though. I notice the affects of the bar the most during highway maneuvers and it reminds me of how my old 335msport felt. Not quite the same but more in that direction instead of being a Lincoln.

Alan

Good info, will look into this

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

Makes me wish that I didn't have active anti-roll bars, or I'd be all over this.

I am getting active roll stabilization on my 550. I thought there was only an active bar in the rear. Is there also one up front?

How is ARS?

Originally Posted by cordoor

I am getting active roll stabilization on my 550. I thought there was only an active bar in the rear. Is there also one up front?

How is ARS?

According to realoem.com ARS is in the front and the back. When i was at the shop they had a previous gen 650 there with ARS and I saw how both the front and rear bars had it.

Alan

Originally Posted by cordoor

I am getting active roll stabilization on my 550. I thought there was only an active bar in the rear. Is there also one up front?

How is ARS?

Honestly, I suggest you drive both types if possible.

IMO, ARS is an attempt to add some luxury, not sport. Had I to do it again, I'd probably forgo it. Although in 2011, you had to get it in order to get active dampers. IMO, it makes things a bit soft and floaty, even though it is remarkably composed while turning in.

I want to so this on my wife's 535i!

From my research there is two options for the rear. The M550dX's rear bar is 16mm and the F07 550GT Msport is 18mm. Stock is 14mm. Cars without sports package might even have a smaller bar but not sure. Going from 14mm to 18 is a huge difference. Joe@ptech is trying it out next week on his 550i so i'll wait and see what his finds are first. I may go with the M550dx's bar because i don't want the car too 1)decrease ride quality and 2) be too tail happy. My goal isn't to make this thing handle like a track car but just make it handle like how i've come accustomed to a Bmw should handle.

Alan

Originally Posted by Alan L.

From my research there is two options for the rear. The M550dX's rear bar is 16mm and the F07 550GT Msport is 18mm. Stock is 14mm. Cars without sports package might even have a smaller bar but not sure. Going from 14mm to 18 is a huge difference. Joe@ptech is trying it out next week on his 550i so i'll wait and see what his finds are first. I may go with the M550dx's bar because i don't want the car too 1)decrease ride quality and 2) be too tail happy. My goal isn't to make this thing handle like a track car but just make it handle like how i've come accustomed to a Bmw should handle.

Alan

Alan, this is very interesting stuff. It would be great if someone could try how the car with sway bars installed handles on the track. I understand you are not trying to convert your car into racing machine, but making sure that the suspension is well balanced after the mod would bring comfort to others ready to try that improvement too.

Originally Posted by cordoor

I am getting active roll stabilization on my 550. I thought there was only an active bar in the rear. Is there also one up front?

How is ARS?

F10 works same way.

Thanks Alan L...your report is going to make a lot of us without ARS happy. My thoughts the same on the M550dx bar. 16mm is a tad over 10% roll stiffness. Maybe just enough to balance the effect of the new M5 bar without adversely affecting ride. Just curious...do you know what the M5 bar diameter is? Realoem didn't indicate the size.
BTW: You might of already heard this 1000 times...Your car looks GREAT!

Thanks Alan for the tips and suggestions! Always looking forward towards your detail feedback.

Does upgrading the sway bars help solve the floaty boat-like feeling that many of us are facing? Or will we need springs and shocks as well to counter that?

The floaty boat-like feel is a result of soft springs and dampeners. Adding lowering springs (typically higher spring rates) reduce the floating feel a bit, but proper dampeners (tuned for sport instead of comfort) well tame the float. Sway bars by themselves will not cure the float. Where sway bars come in is when you're turning and feel the car plow and give that roll over effect. Upgrading your bars to larger (torsionally stiffer) will aid in reducing your roll center, thus causing the car to corner flatter.

If you already have DDC, then your shocks are electronically controlled and can be stiffened by just selecting Sport or Sport +. You then need only to add lowering springs to control float and sway bars to control roll.

There is also the coil over option that upgrades springs and shocks all in one shot.

Several solutions out there depends on what you want and how much you want to $pend.