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How to improve E90 ride quality?

28K views 33 replies 21 participants last post by  sonitm 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

I have a 2006 330i Sports Package, already changed to non-run flat tire.
However, the suspension is still pretty rough/uncomfortable for my taste.
Since this is my daily commute car also for taking kids to school, is there
way to make the car ride quality better?

I have heard that Koni FSD can improve the ride qualtiy without changing
the spring on E90 sports package. How much improvement will I get by
changing just the stock sprorts shocks to Koni FSD? What else should I
change to make the car more comfortable and possibly raise the ground
clearnace by 1-1.5 inch without buying a new car or change the rim size?
Please advise. Tks.

Dave
 
#2 ·
Hi Guys,

I have a 2006 330i Sports Package, already changed to non-run flat tire.
However, the suspension is still pretty rough/uncomfortable for my taste.
Since this is my daily commute car also for taking kids to school, is there
way to make the car ride quality better?

I have heard that Koni FSD can improve the ride qualtiy without changing
the spring on E90 sports package
. How much improvement will I get by
changing just the stock sprorts shocks to Koni FSD? What else should I
change to make the car more comfortable and possibly raise the ground
clearnace by 1-1.5 inch without buying a new car or change the rim size?
Why, yes it can.

How many miles are on your existing suspension?

Don't change ride height and expect a better ride....
 
#6 ·
Place CA H20 Boi & BJ together in the trunk & the ride will improve greatly. :thumbup:
 
#8 ·
Put pillow on driver seat and sit on it
Or drive a camry for week then return to your car and smile and appreciate
 
#11 ·
I am considering a move to 16" wheels on my wife's '07 328 xi wagon. From what I've read the xi isn't a real sports package so I don't think the Koni's would be the answer, and I don't think they are available for the xi. I'm struggling with the thought of non RFTs since it is the wife's car. I bought a used set of 16s today but the tires are shot so I won't truly be able to evaluate the effect of the wheel change until I replace the tires.
 
#18 ·
Why not OEM Non sport shocks and springs? IIRC the early models had progressive springs
That's a possibility but if he's going to swap out these components I suspect he'd find more value / satisfaction replacing them with the Koni FSDs. Even the stock non-sport suspension gives a fairly harsh ride. From what CA has said the Koni's go a long way in improving the ride (wrt comfort) over both the non-sport and sport suspension.
 
#16 ·
I feel the same way about my 2011 320D. I replaced the original run-flats with 17 x225x 45 Bridgestone ER300's. There is some improvement over the run-flats but I still get the rumble over coarse pavements. I am considering changing to 16 x 225 x 55 tyres. This is the first bmw that I have owned but on other cars I have noticed that the 16 inch wheel with a 55 tyre is quieter than the 17 inch wheel with a 45 tyre. There is quite a bit of money involved in the new tyres and wheels so I would like to think it is the right way to go. Does anybody with E90 and 16 inch wheels feel disappointed with the tyre noise?
 
#17 ·
I would suggest finding a non-sport equipped car and doing a test drive. It will likely have smaller rims, correspondingly larger (taller sidewall) tires, the different shocks/struts and springs - in other words, it will probably be a good representation of the "best case scenario" with regard to ride quality. Two examples:

We purchased a Volvo XC60 R-Design for my wife back in March and quickly realized it was just too rough riding for us (20" rims, lower profile tires, and firmer springs/shocks were all part of the RD package on that car). We got a loaner with the base suspension (17" rims, softer shocks and springs) one day for comparison and while still not perfectly smooth it did give us an idea of what it could be "best case" from Volvo. After driving the car for a couple more months and really paying attention to the source of the rougher ride I decided (on that car) that the rear suspension was inordinately harsh. I then swapped out only the rear springs and shocks for the base suspension units which made a significant improvement. Enough so that I haven't really considered doing the fronts or swapping to smaller rims. The car does not have RFTs, but does have a comparatively heavy Pirelli tire. When they wear out, I'll be going with a set of the Continentals which weight about 4 lbs less a tire (in hopes of an incremental improvement).

Prior to the Volvo, I had swapped rims on her NON-SPORT 530i from 16" to 17" with a correspondingly lower sidewall height. This worsened the ride quality, but not that much (which I was happy about). My guess is that gong to a smaller rim size might not generate as much of an improvement as you would like.

In short, I'd check out the non-sport packaged cars and consider non-sport springs/struts first. You will have more wheel well gap, but there is no free lunch.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Get slightly higher wall tires. I got 225/45/18 instead of 225/40/18. This helped tremendously. My winter wheels (225/45/17) gave me a smooth ride, but 2 sets of summer tires (225/40) gave an horrible ride on bad pavement. No wonder that BMW updated their 18" on the F30 with 225/45 profile. Much better.

Check for any sign of seepage on the shocks. If there is any, they may not doing their job. My car wasn't bouncing excessively yet there was some sign of a leak. I changed the front shocks; one of them was clearly shot. BTW, I have a lowered car and ride with the changes I just mentioned is very good.
 
#20 ·
I think some here are making this very overcomplicated. I say change out the shocks for Koni FSDs and be done with it.
 
#21 ·
IMO tires ( specifically RFTs ) and suspension ( shocks or dampers ) affect ride more than wheel size. Going from 16" RFTS to 18" non RFTs I noticed barely a difference in ride. Driving a loaner with sport suspension and 17"RFTs for a few days seemed fine until I got back my base suspension 18"non rft, so much more supple and smoother. While I love the look of the lower sport suspension ( jealous of you guys ) I prefer the comfort of my setup. I'd do what u did, ditch the RFTs ( if u get a flat, you're gonna call AAA anyways, who changes tires on their own anymore? Plus replacements will be so much cheaper, especially if u r getting new left and rights ), then maybe shocks? Or keep your setup and drive wifes/ girlfriends car when the family goes for a spin. My brother in law has a sport suspension and 18" non rft, but family still prefers sisters car, they say that the choppy ride gives them anxiety, oh brother! ;)
 
#23 ·
What psi are you running? 17" wheels without runflats at a lower psi has to help. Mine are at 35psi but might be too high - need to investigate. Certainly I doubt they need to be as high as the stock low profile runflats which are 42psi in the rear IIRC.
 
#24 ·
I found that with the sport suspension and 18" Non-RFTs the ride quality actually improved when I ran higher pressures. I realize this is completely counterintuitive but my wife made the same observation and when I posted my impression here (thinking we may have been imagining it) there were others who had expericenced the same thing.

CA
 
#27 ·
Did you have the DWS tires before you got the FSDs? I'm considering that for my next summer tire. That, or the Pilot Super Sports (which I had on my RS4 and were fantastic). I know the DWS have a very soft sidewall and I'm worried that the ride might be too soft combined with the FSD. Thoughts?
 
#29 · (Edited)
I had the FSDs installed whild I had Pirellis on the car. Installed the DWS about a year after the Konis.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Sport suspensions are not a good match for the ravaged roads of the urban areas in the Northeast U.S. When I have to drive to Boston or NY I take the Cayenne.
 
#31 ·
When I first was interested in FSDs for my 07 335i E93 with sport package I was told they were not available for the E93. I asked if they were the same as the ones for the E92 and was told they were not. Some time later I found that they were finally avaiable for the E93. When I checked I found that they were the same part number as the ones for the E92.
 
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