Help: ZHP (SSII) suspension v. reg. sport suspension

I have a 2003 330Ci with the M3 Appearance Package, which comes with Sport Suspension II (same as ZHP Suspension). After a year, and 5,000 miles, I find the ride a bit stiff. I have Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. Searching the archives I have found numerous discussions on the differences between the ZHP suspension and the regular sport suspension. If I wanted to soften the ride of my car, what components of my suspension would I change (springs only, springs & shocks, spring, shocks & bushings, tires, ect...). I will order regular sport suspension parts from BMW. Thank you in advance.

Try here . ..

http://bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48604

yeah, my apology to everyone who sent me VIN's, going through the EPC is tedious and time consuming, will try to complete it soon, basically there is very little difference, the only outstanding question in my mind are the springs and even with the VIN's it may not be so easy to determine how comparable they are. All I can do is plug in various combinations of options and compare spring part numbers, BMW does not readily provide free lengths, rates, etc. Even if the part numbers are different that doesn't mean the difference between two sets of springs is anything meaningful.

The only meaningful thing that could come out is if all the spring part numbers are identical, then we could reasonably deduce that they are all the same. Kind of like a Carfax, if there's an accident listed you can be pretty sure it happened but it doesn't necessarily list any and all accidents that actually occurred.

just to recap, the swaybars are the same for all, shocks are same between Sport & ZHP but different from std, the ZHP and M Sport get a different front control arm, but the bushings, etc are the same as the other 330i's. That only leaves the springs left to determine. FWIW, the pre April/01 330 Sport got the biggest swaybars, since then they have all been the same and just slightly smaller diameter (0.5mm).

What kind of wheels do you have? Going with 16" wheels and 55 profile tires will help the ride tremendously...

Originally Posted by TeamZ4

just to recap, the swaybars are the same for all, shocks are same between Sport & ZHP but different from std, the ZHP and M Sport get a different front control arm, but the bushings, etc are the same as the other 330i's. That only leaves the springs left to determine. FWIW, the pre April/01 330 Sport got the biggest swaybars, since then they have all been the same and just slightly smaller diameter (0.5mm).

I coulda sworn that BMWNA's response cleared this up, i.e., perf pkg struts, shocks and control arms are different from the spt pkg (and sport suspension is on base model and with sport package option). See

http://bimmerfest.com/forums/attachm...chmentid=23824

Gatsby98; we had some warmer weather here the last little while so I took off my snow tires and put on my summers. There is a huge difference in feel. You might want to look at softer sidewall tires, or like what was already suggested, go to a 50 or 55 series tire. Just be ready to accept some loss in steering response and feel. My ride can be harsh on poor roads and I need to hold on with both hands on rutted roads but when I put my snow tires on, the feel is too numb.

You could also look into an adjustable coilover suspension. I've heard some can be set as soft as the standard suspension (PSS9??).

Originally Posted by Gatsby98

If I wanted to soften the ride of my car.

Continental Sport Contacts aka Conti's is what you need. IMHO they suck performance-wise, but a soft ride is what you get.

I think the recommendation to change to a smooth and quiet tire (like Cont SportContacts) could really help, also just changing the air pressure can make a nice difference.

If you want to go another step, since you have a 330, there are only acouple of 16" wheels (no factory wheels?) that will fit, but pretty much any 17" 3-Series will work, and you should be able to find someone who will swap you for free with some nice new conti tires. By switching down to a 17 you'll get some more sidewall to take the edge off of the ride. I would try that first.

Finally, there should be someone with a 325 SP, or 330 (base) that would be willing to swap you. Those parts are different and do have a more compliant ride.

Originally Posted by wrwicky

I think the recommendation to change to a smooth and quiet tire (like Cont SportContacts) could really help, also just changing the air pressure can make a nice difference.

If you want to go another step, since you have a 330, there are only acouple of 16" wheels (no factory wheels?) that will fit, but pretty much any 17" 3-Series will work, and you should be able to find someone who will swap you for free with some nice new conti tires. By switching down to a 17 you'll get some more sidewall to take the edge off of the ride. I would try that first.

Finally, there should be someone with a 325 SP, or 330 (base) that would be willing to swap you. Those parts are different and do have a more compliant ride.

In Canada the M3 appearance Package comes with 17" wheels and not 18" as with the ZHP. Do you think going to a smaller width wheel /tire combo but still with a 17" wheel would work?

I have the regular sport suspension. Would you be interested in swapping parts?

Ride's too stiff? I heard that there's still a few of these beauties available:

Originally Posted by Jspeed

I have the regular sport suspension. Would you be interested in swapping parts?

Possibly. How many km's do you have on your car? Also, I notice that you have a 330i. Mine's a 330Ci. Would the componets be comptable?

Originally Posted by Gatsby98

In Canada the M3 appearance Package comes with 17" wheels and not 18" as with the ZHP. Do you think going to a smaller width wheel /tire combo but still with a 17" wheel would work?

Sorry I thought you went the full route with the 18" wheels.

To answer your question, You would only gain an incremental improvement in ride quality since wheel and tire weights would decrease but you would be stuck with the same amount of sidewall to soak up bumps. You could certainly go to one of the few 16" wheels that fit your car like the AT Italias, then you'd get more sidewall and comfier tires. But I think you would get a lot of what you want from a simple tire swap to a better riding tire.

I'm assuming you have the M68 wheel 17x7.5 and 17x8.5. So looking on Tirerack I found Touranza LS-Z which is a very soft and quiet tire with good all season performance grip and can be bought 225/45 and 235/45. They are the best riding Grand Touring A/S tire (a very comfort oriented category) on the rack's chart. There are also a couple of suitable Contis and Michelins that would probably work significantly nicer than your Pilot A/Ss.

If that's not enough, There will be plenty of people who will trade for your suspension, if not here then, certainly on fanatics. The fronts are interchangeable between coupes and sedans but ask a smart guy like Kaz or MrPaddleShift about the back end.

[QUOTE=wrwicky]
I'm assuming you have the M68 wheel 17x7.5 and 17x8.5. So looking on Tirerack I found Touranza LS-Z which is a very soft and quiet tire with good all season performance grip and can be bought 225/45 and 235/45. They are the best riding Grand Touring A/S tire (a very comfort oriented category) on the rack's chart. There are also a couple of suitable Contis and Michelins that would probably work significantly nicer than your Pilot A/Ss.
QUOTE]

I do. How did you find the Touranza LS-Z? When I used T/R to find tires, It only came up with the Pilots (which I have) and the Sumitomo HTR+ as suitable HP A/S tires for my car. The rears on my car are 245/40/17. I take that I can decrease a size to 235/45/17? If so, I will look at the Touranza LS-Z.

[QUOTE=Gatsby98]

Originally Posted by wrwicky

I'm assuming you have the M68 wheel 17x7.5 and 17x8.5. So looking on Tirerack I found Touranza LS-Z which is a very soft and quiet tire with good all season performance grip and can be bought 225/45 and 235/45. They are the best riding Grand Touring A/S tire (a very comfort oriented category) on the rack's chart. There are also a couple of suitable Contis and Michelins that would probably work significantly nicer than your Pilot A/Ss.
QUOTE]

I do. How did you find the Touranza LS-Z? When I used T/R to find tires, It only came up with the Pilots (which I have) and the Sumitomo HTR+ as suitable HP A/S tires for my car. The rears on my car are 245/40/17. I take that I can decrease a size to 235/45/17? If so, I will look at the Touranza LS-Z.

I found the Touranzas, Contis et al. by just searching your more common front tire size. You can definitely mess around alittle with the numbers on the sidewall as they are only approximate. It's a lot more important to go to the specs page and try to stay away from the smallest or largest rim the tire will mount on (which is why I wouldn't use 4x225s) and just stay within 2% or so on the revs per mile (You probably won't notice any differences smaller than that).

In this particular case your Pilot 245/40s are 834 revs per mi and the LS-Z 235/45s would rev 820 per mi (a little less than 2% no big deal about 50 RPMs on your tach at freeway speed) plus you'll get a little more sidewall, and your rim is wider than the 8.0 they measured that tire on so it will probably mount very close to stock height on your wheels.

When you search for our staggered sizes there are very few choices that will come up. There are alot of options once you start by searching the easiest size to find, then delve into the specs page and see what will meet your goals.

Originally Posted by Gatsby98

Possibly. How many km's do you have on your car? Also, I notice that you have a 330i. Mine's a 330Ci. Would the componets be comptable?

Does anyone know if the parts (springs, shocks, front control arms) are interchangeable between a coupe and sedan? I vaguely recall that they're not...

Originally Posted by Jspeed

Does anyone know if the parts (springs, shocks, front control arms) are interchangeable between a coupe and sedan? I vaguely recall that they're not...

The front stuff is interchangeable, but the rear stuff is probably not. Hopefully one of the parts swapping experts (Kaz, MrPaddleShift, etc.) will weigh in