[donkey]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

My car has the Sport Auto. I feel like my car does fine with open diff. Now, I do agree that an LSD would be nice, but I do not think it absolutely required.

I have a highly modded GLI (Nearly as quick as my 335) and I chose to keep it open diff because I never tracked the car and I felt I did not need it. Granted it could have been quicker with it. I have had LSD FWD cars in the past and while LSD in a FWD car helps more so than in a RWD car, I felt it would have been a waste of 1000 bucks. MY 335 under hard straight line acceleration and even cornering rarely breaks the tires loose. Maybe you need better tires.

Now if I was tracking the car an LSD would have been totally justifiable.

I am still on the run flats that came with the car, so you may be onto something there. I'm planning to change them out for non-RFTs (and downsize from staggered 19's to square 18's) in the summer. I'm hoping that reduces some of the wheel hop, but that won't address the e-diff.

Just because your tires aren't breaking loose doesn't mean that you couldn't benefit from an LSD. That likely means that the electronic/simulated LSD is doing it's thing and applying the brakes to prevent slippage. Most people won't ever notice that sort of thing though so I can see your point.

I agree that it's not necessary if you don't track the car, but an LSD can help if you drive spiritedly. Whether that's justifiable or noticeable will depend on the person

[AGONXF30]

Originally Posted by drive335

I am still on the run flats that came with the car, so you may be onto something there. I'm planning to change them out for non-RFTs (and downsize from staggered 19's to square 18's) in the summer. I'm hoping that reduces some of the wheel hop, but that won't address the e-diff.

Just because your tires aren't breaking loose doesn't mean that you couldn't benefit from an LSD. That likely means that the electronic/simulated LSD is doing it's thing and applying the brakes to prevent slippage. Most people won't ever notice that sort of thing though so I can see your point.

I agree that it's not necessary if you don't track the car, but an LSD can help if you drive spiritedly. Whether that's justifiable or noticeable will depend on the person

I have 18 squared with UHPAS BF COMP-2 A/S and I have yet to experience wheel hop. My electronic LSD is not interfering and I do not see/feel activate. I run the same tires on the GLI and I have no wheel hop on the dry (Wet or snow is a bit diferent). I drive the cars in severe snow conditions and I have yet to feel I would benefit from an LSD there also.

I also noticed that you said you have a GTI MKVII, is this with the PP and the VAQ diff?

[donkey]

Originally Posted by AGONXF30

I have 18 squared with UHPAS BF COMP-2 A/S and I have yet to experience wheel hop. My electronic LSD is not interfering and I do not see/feel activate. I run the same tires on the GLI and I have no wheel hop on the dry (Wet or snow is a bit diferent). I drive the cars in severe snow conditions and I have yet to feel I would benefit from an LSD there also.

I also noticed that you said you have a GTI MKVII, is this with the PP and the VAQ diff?

Yep! Absolutely love it. It makes a huge difference in heavy acceleration or when the traction isn't so good. Also no torque steer or one tire fires

That said, if it didn't come with it from factory, I'd probably never have added it (just like I haven't yet for my 335i).

[JaredG_F30]

Going from an E36 M3 to a Jeep GC (5.7L Hemi) to a F30 335i, I feel like my world is finally back in balance with the F30. I miss the rawness of the E36 (better steering response, LSD, linear power band from the 3.0 I6) but the 335i puts a smile on my face every day. I'm definitely glad I went with the M-Sport with 6MT. I've driven some 8AT 335s and 340s (the 340 is def quick) but not a fan of the paddle shifters. 6MT is more natural to me and keeps me more engaged. The hardest thing for me to get used to has been the seats. At first I couldn't drive more than an hour before my lower back was killing me. My chiropractor made some recommendations on my seat adjustment and since then I've dialed it in pretty good but still get lower back pain on 3+ hour drives.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by jmg

I've never noticed any power sapping with the DSC on in any of my F30s that I can remember, nor my F80. Someone with a 340 please correct me if I'm wrong.

In my f30 335 I felt the dsc big time in 1st gear. (On the stock s001 tires)

In my f80 I felt the Dsc also in 1st and 2nd and sometimes flooring it in 3rd

I think the Dsc (even euro Mdm) is really restrictive and was one of the things I wish BMW did better (e.g. Be more like PSM in Porsche or ptm in corvette)

OP, I never warmed up to f30 ('13 335 with 704 suspension, latest steering software update and s001 rft) for really hard driving. It was not fun the one time I tracked it (I had waaay more fun in my old e90 328.. both cars showroom stock down to rft). In the end I had to just accept it's a street car and treat it as such, and I was really happy with it. In the end I went to f80 then to Porsche in order to get the sports feeling I wanted

[jmg]

Originally Posted by nicknaz

In my f30 335 I felt the dsc big time in 1st gear. (On the stock s001 tires)

In my f80 I felt the Dsc also in 1st and 2nd and sometimes flooring it in 3rd

I think the Dsc (even euro Mdm) is really restrictive and was one of the things I wish BMW did better (e.g. Be more like PSM in Porsche or ptm in corvette)

OP, I never warmed up to f30 ('13 335 with 704 suspension, latest steering software update and s001 rft) for really hard driving. It was not fun the one time I tracked it (I had waaay more fun in my old e90 328.. both cars showroom stock down to rft). In the end I had to just accept it's a street car and treat it as such, and I was really happy with it. In the end I went to f80 then to Porsche in order to get the sports feeling I wanted

Are you talking about DSC being a big brother by kicking in, or power sapping even when you have traction? There is a difference. DSC will kick in on 1-3, and sometimes 4th gear in the F80 if I'm close to flooring it. The OP described his DSC power sapping his 528i.

Either way, I'm going your route. Next car will be a Porsche with a F30 daily. Maybe a 330 Wagon.

[SoDiezl350]

Originally Posted by JaredG_F30

Going from an E36 M3 to a Jeep GC (5.7L Hemi) to a F30 335i, I feel like my world is finally back in balance with the F30. I miss the rawness of the E36 (better steering response, LSD, linear power band from the 3.0 I6) but the 335i puts a smile on my face every day. I'm definitely glad I went with the M-Sport with 6MT. I've driven some 8AT 335s and 340s (the 340 is def quick) but not a fan of the paddle shifters. 6MT is more natural to me and keeps me more engaged. The hardest thing for me to get used to has been the seats. At first I couldn't drive more than an hour before my lower back was killing me. My chiropractor made some recommendations on my seat adjustment and since then I've dialed it in pretty good but still get lower back pain on 3+ hour drives.

Care to share his recommendations? My back is also killing me. Thx!

[nebatuga]

Dang. That makes three of us on the lower back. I have sport seats (m-sport), and I can't be sure these seats have anything to do with lower back pain. Could be something else. I mean, we're all getting older. But seems aggravated by sitting in car for even short drives.

I tilted seat so it's more parallel with floor, raised the seat back more upright, and adjusted for more lumbar support. So, less recline and more sitting up straight. Hoping it will help.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by jmg

Are you talking about DSC being a big brother by kicking in, or power sapping even when you have traction? There is a difference. DSC will kick in on 1-3, and sometimes 4th gear in the F80 if I'm close to flooring it. The OP described his DSC power sapping his 528i.

Either way, I'm going your route. Next car will be a Porsche with a F30 daily. Maybe a 330 Wagon.

You'll love that setup. We are thinking almost along the same lines, except our "wagon" is a '15 X1 35 (hydraulic steering + n55) and p car is old school (996TT with mild mods)

I'm not sure I get the distinction you are making. I experienced power reduction when there's traction on corner exit and during straight line WOT (likely when there would have been a lot of wheel spin)

I don't regret any of the f platform cars we got.. f30 was my wife's daily and she loved the light steering and cushy 704 optional suspension. F80 was an amazing euro delivery experience. It's just important to be clear the Bmw are commuter first and sports second. The 996 forces many trade offs to be used as a dd (road noise, trunk space, fuel Econ, zero infotainment) and I can see why some wouldn't daily drive it and why Bmw didn't go this root of sports first with the current f30 and f80

[JaredG_F30]

Originally Posted by SoDiezl350

Care to share his recommendations? My back is also killing me. Thx!

Originally Posted by nebatuga

Dang. That makes three of us on the lower back. I have sport seats (m-sport), and I can't be sure these seats have anything to do with lower back pain. Could be something else. I mean, we're all getting older. But seems aggravated by sitting in car for even short drives.

I tilted seat so it's more parallel with floor, raised the seat back more upright, and adjusted for more lumbar support. So, less recline and more sitting up straight. Hoping it will help.

Watch these two YoutTube videos. It's basically the same thing as what my chiropractor said. In summary, tilt the horizontal seat cushion down so it is parallel with the floor and tilt the vertical cushion so it makes an angle of between 110 and 130 degrees to the horizontal cushion.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Honestly I need to put a track day in to feel totally confident flirting around the limit.

[squeeze3]

Coming from an E90 IMO the F30's handling is arguably more capable than the E90 but the feeling just isn't there. At the same time this isn't a fair comparison because I went from RWD to xdrive.

The car is overall more comfortable and the fun to drive factor is definitely getting better and better as it breaks in.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

Honestly I need to put a track day in to feel totally confident flirting around the limit.

How is your car configured? You might be better off not doing that

My wife's 335was a '13 with 19s (contisportcontsct 5p rft) option 704 suspension and sport line (no auxiliary radiator and only 600w cooling fan)

It went into power reduction and had little steering feel and tires overheated very quickly. It was such a mess and I went home after 2 sessions.

[ChubbyWilly]

Originally Posted by jmg

Have you tracked the car prior to the H&R Springs?

I only ask because most people interchange getting accustomed to a car with KNOWING the car. You don't really know the car until you have pushed it to it's limits. Highway driving and high speed off/on-ramps aren't enough to know the car. The only way to "trust" a car is if you have been at the edge of control and can push it all the way until you know it's limits.

So I see a lot of people complaining about the steering, it's not as good, poor feedback etc... yet the F30 is consistently quicker around the track than it's E90 counterparts. So while it may not feel as nice, in the end its a better performing car. So what's the problem? We're just not used to it yet.

Race car drivers can toss the F30 around a track with no problem, so I doubt the steering feel is going to really effect us when we are speeding on our daily commutes.

That being said, aftermarket suspension will improve the feedback and overall handling characteristics of the car... I just don't think the stock setup is as bad as everyone likes to point it out to be.

To answer your question, no I never tracked my F30. I do drive on some uneven roads and with the stock suspension the car felt unstable and unpredictable. The front end dives when going over humps on the road and you can feel the rear end of the car do something different.

With the stiffer springs the car feels a lot more planted, very similar to my E90, and there's significantly less body roll and nose dive. There's also the fact that there's a bit less squat when taking off and on hard shifts which also help the cause.

On a side note, if I was looking to track this car I wouldn't have gone with the stiffer springs route, I would have just replaced everything with adjustable coils. Anywho, that is what it took ME to feel confident with the way the car handles on the roads I drive in.

[F30_SixSpeed]

Wow some of you bitch like crazy

Didn't read the whole thread... but perhaps some of you should have gotten a 6 speed MT. IMO, its much more engaging then all of the autos I've driven.

The F30 is a great all around car... but there are a few things I do not like about it.

1. The road feel and steering - the stock RF tires are absolute garbage... I swapped out my wheels and tires with continental DWS06s and its loads better. Don't know why BMW decided to go with those shitty tires... but if you are questioning the feel... trust me, swap out the tires for something better. It makes a tremendous difference.

2. Suspension is floaty at highway speeds and a little too soft (I have an m sport as well.) This is being alleviated by getting some KW coil overs. Going on this month

3. Sometimes I feel like the car has too much tech in it... stability control, traction control, etc. It doesn't feel as engaging as some older cars I've built and driven over the years. But its not a major complaint as I've noticed when driving hard these features do help. I think the general trend of future cars is less driver involvement and more car features. We see it with almost every other car brand now as well... even their sport line/racing trims.

Now I understand not everyone wants to buy a car and throw different parts and spend money on it... but remember, the car manufacturers cater to the general public, not so much people like us. They aren't going to put stiff suspension and sportier tires because a lot of other people may not like that feel. They lean towards pleasing the general public... meaning more sales = profit.

[zerreissen]

I went from an E36 M3 that I'd had for 10 years to my current F30 335i. As much as I loved my E36, I love my F30 way more. It's just a better car for daily commutes, and it's still a lot of fun during spirited driving.

Engine: No comparison here. I feel like we got the shaft with the US E36 M3's S50B30US/S52B32. I much prefer the power delivery of the N55, specifically the torque, though I wish the N55 had better top-end performance.

Transmission: I certainly enjoyed the manual transmission in the M3, however, with a toddler and a long commute (often in traffic) the 8AT just made more sense, and I have no complaints about the smooth and quick shifts of the 8AT.

Handling: I have no complaints about steering feel with VSS, and I love the dynamic handling package. Now that I replaced the stock RFTs with MPSS, I like the handling even more. Yes, there certainly is the desire to tweak suspension components, but I'm just fine with where it's at now. I'm glad that I no longer feel every bump like I did in the E36. My largest complaint regarding handling is the large amount of understeer, hopefully I can dial that out in the future.

Interior: For a 90's car, I really liked the interior of the E36. The F30, however, is significantly more comfortable, and is just a better place to be. The sport seats in the 335 are far more comfortable than the Vaders on long trips, and overall the interior materials and fit and finish seem to be much better. Hopefully the door cards won't peel, the headliner won't separate, and the "leather" will stay in better shape longer.

It did take a few weeks to get used to all of the different/new things, but honestly I feel like the F30 is a superior car in just about every aspect, and I'm completely happy with it.