[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by F30AM

Congratulations that your suspenders are no longer overly elasticated.

At last a lowered hearse. Easier to get the stiffs loaded. Glad it is more like an sDrive. Can it be as good? Now just imagine if an sDrive was lowered. That would really be something.

You might now just be able to keep up with a 7R on the twisties. Make sure you unload the stiff first.

Are you not glad you can ogle at my quad exhausts when I fly past you on a winding country road?

Red Tornado and I aim to please.

Yes it is technically "lowered" but I tell you what, this is the least of my concerns! When I tried out GTSussex's car on Monday I completely forgot to even look at the ride height! It is better for sure, probably could be even lower, especially at the front, but I would still have made this change even if it made no difference to the ride height at all, but I still got all the driving improvements.

Ps. I didn't know there were any winding country roads in West London! And no, Richmond Park does not count!

[badders74]

Originally Posted by Lorcan

Great to meet you Tengo and glad you got the result you were looking for



The ride height thing is a marketing decision from BMW - customers "expect" AWD cars to ride higher, so that's what they get.

Regarding the warranty it sounds like someone at Oldbury has stuck their oar in in response to your email Badders. I've emailed Andrew at Oldbury a letter from BMW Group HQ to all dealers which clearly states the rest of the car remains covered by BMW as usual, hopefully that will help clear things up.

ACS is not approved by BMW GB, they only "approve" stuff they distribute (and they were the distributors for 10 years until BMWMP came out), but that doesn't affect the warranty situation. Your warranty remains in place.

Hope this helps...

Thanks Lorcan, hopefully it'll allow me to still get it fitted for Wednesday or Thursday next week. How long will it take for the springs to be delivered? Thanks

[Tengocity]

I was just looking at the report from the alignment check and what caught my eye is that for the ride height check you can see that anything 2cm below or 4cm above the target is acceptable, and to which my car sits comfortably within. It looks as if it's saying its a touch lower at back compared to the target, and a touch higher still at the front.... Which is also what i'd say just looking at it.
Hopefully that should reassure anyone concerned that there may be a technical reasons why they can't be lowered.

[Lorcan]

Originally Posted by badders74

Thanks Lorcan, hopefully it'll allow me to still get it fitted for Wednesday or Thursday next week. How long will it take for the springs to be delivered? Thanks

Yours will be there on Monday.

[Pablo68]

That looks a lot better , and I would hope rides a lot better...almost makes me think of an LCI 335i with xDrive could be worth a possible look

And yes, it is lovely and sunny over here in Wales...I shall be somewhere around Abergavenny and Monmouth later having a blat, so if you happen to see a black 335i tootling around give me a wave.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Pablo68

That looks a lot better , and I would hope rides a lot better...almost makes me think of an LCI 335i with xDrive could be worth a possible look

And yes, it is lovely and sunny over here in Wales...I shall be somewhere around Abergavenny and Monmouth later having a blat, so if you happen to see a black 335i tootling around give me a wave.

I have to say that now that the car is set up properly it just handles like a great 3 series should, feels completely like it's driven at the rear, but now I don't have a flashing orange light when I boot it!

[badders74]

Originally Posted by Lorcan

Yours will be there on Monday.

Excellent news. Ill call Andrew up now and see what he says!

[Apl440i or 335d?]

Looks great Tengo!

Threads like this are making my wait very painful!

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by Pablo68

That looks a lot better , and I would hope rides a lot better...almost makes me think of an LCI 335i with xDrive could be worth a possible look

And yes, it is lovely and sunny over here in Wales...I shall be somewhere around Abergavenny and Monmouth later having a blat, so if you happen to see a black 335i tootling around give me a wave.

Where you on the M4 port talbot - Cardiff last Saturday morning in that horrendous rain?

If so you passed us lol

[NISFAN]

Lorcan, are the sDrive 330d MS springs the same as being fitted to these 335d's?

Tempted to try them. I was going to go the PSS10 route, but perhaps springs matched to the stock damper rates will be enough.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

Lorcan, are the sDrive 330d MS springs the same as being fitted to these 335d's?

Tempted to try them. I was going to go the PSS10 route, but perhaps springs matched to the stock damper rates will be enough.

Did you ever get round to trying the E400 coupe? Evo reviewed it recently and weren't exactly bowled over... assume you're going to try and stick with the F30 for a bit?

If you were considering redoing the whole suspension then might be worth looking in to the ACS full kits.. If this is what they can do with just springs I'm awfully curious to know what their coilovers can do!

[Pablo68]

Originally Posted by Brigand

Where you on the M4 port talbot - Cardiff last Saturday morning in that horrendous rain?

If so you passed us lol

I was definitely on the M4 near Cardiff (most weekends I am). I have a personalised number plate if that helps.

[Ross_T_Boss]

This is supposed to be the car that doesn't get touched at all - I should really stop reading these threads...

Looks great, definitely prefer the stance on the ACS springs and interested to hear the write-ups. Dopper - what dealership are you getting this done it - I recall you're close to me?

I don't think I'd be doing this for a few months but this is tempting me towards it!

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

Did you ever get round to trying the E400 coupe? Evo reviewed it recently and weren't exactly bowled over... assume you're going to try and stick with the F30 for a bit?

If you were considering redoing the whole suspension then might be worth looking in to the ACS full kits.. If this is what they can do with just springs I'm awfully curious to know what their coilovers can do!

No, the demo car I was lined up for to test drive was sold prematurely, they got a punter wanting one right away. I'm not sure what MB are playing at, but there are only a handful of E400's on the demo fleet or in showrooms countrywide.

Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that one car is not the answer and I really can't better the 330d for a daily....the combo of power and economy is nothing short of phenomenal......although another 100bhp would be nice

I was passing an area where I used to live, and took my F30 on a bit of a tarmac rally section that used to give me lots of fun in previous 'toys'. The going on the F30 was quite poor, quite ponderous, more so than it deserves for it's weight. Everything seems have a delay built in, from turn in to throttle application, so the car just doesn't flow.....quite frustrating.
There is a section with crests that you can get airborne on, and you just can't trust the F30, it is quite likely to get you into a tank-slapper as the front and rear spring rates are out of tune with each other, as well as rebound and compression rates not being that good. Plus it is too softly suspended, very often hits the bump stops, which is not pleasant. I would have gone the PSS10 route, which although would improve things greatly suspension wise, still wouldn't make me want to grab the keys at 10pm to go for a 'lusty' drive...they don't sort out the gearbox or the dead steering system. So for what the upgrade costs, is not really an option. £300-£400 on better springs might be 'enough' in a bang for buck way.

We should all approach BMW demanding a spring upgrade for free......(where's the pitchfork smiley???)

[DazC]

Not that i have a massive criticism of my cars handling but if AC Schnitzer were a bit closer i'd definately be considering this.

Almost bought a set of 20's of Lorcan but they didnt fit my X-drive.

They did seem like s good bunch though.

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by Pablo68

I was definitely on the M4 near Cardiff (most weekends I am). I have a personalised number plate if that helps.

Lol never checked out your behind, was flipping chucking it down and was pushing it.

If it was you, then were definitely going some

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

I was passing an area where I used to live, and took my F30 on a bit of a tarmac rally section that used to give me lots of fun in previous 'toys'. The going on the F30 was quite poor, quite ponderous, more so than it deserves for it's weight. Everything seems have a delay built in, from turn in to throttle application, so the car just doesn't flow.....quite frustrating.
There is a section with crests that you can get airborne on, and you just can't trust the F30, it is quite likely to get you into a tank-slapper as the front and rear spring rates are out of tune with each other, as well as rebound and compression rates not being that good. Plus it is too softly suspended, very often hits the bump stops, which is not pleasant. I would have gone the PSS10 route, which although would improve things greatly suspension wise, still wouldn't make me want to grab the keys at 10pm to go for a 'lusty' drive...they don't sort out the gearbox or the dead steering system. So for what the upgrade costs, is not really an option. £300-£400 on better springs might be 'enough' in a bang for buck way.

We should all approach BMW demanding a spring upgrade for free......(where's the pitchfork smiley???)

I haven't driven a standard sdrive in anger for a while, but recollection at the time (2 years ago in a 328i) was that I preferred how my E90 was to hustle on the twisties, but the overall balance of ride and handling was better on the F30.

Having just been out today on some more familiar roads I would say that it is now easily a better handling car than any E90. I just drove the road from Whittlebury down to Aylesbury (you're not that far from there I think, so probably know it?), and it was a joy to really hustle through there, certainly up to just beyond speeds that some may consider anti-social. Beyond that, the kind of area where an M3 would come in to it's own then it's not quite going to have that body control.

I think the springs have really improved the steering... not sure I would call it feel as such, but no mistaking that my confidence in the steering precision has gone up massively, and I was really quite happy to throw it around too.

And now you can mash the throttle on the exit and really feel the car moving around in a most pleasant manner!

I do agree thought that there isn't really a cure for that throttle delay, though I only find that a real pain when you brake from quite high speed for a relatively slow corner and then it's like the turbo is completely off the boil.. only way round it is to use the paddles and keep it revving high, though it's not a particularly natural way to drive.

I do actually think I would take the car for a drive just for the sake of it now. Doesn't cure my biggest issue which is no decent, quiet roads within 100 miles!

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by DazC

Not that i have a massive criticism of my cars handling but if AC Schnitzer were a bit closer i'd definately be considering this.

Almost bought a set of 20's of Lorcan but they didnt fit my X-drive.

They did seem like s good bunch though.

They've got arrangements with a few dealers in Scotland, so distance needn't be an issue.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Ross_T_Boss

This is supposed to be the car that doesn't get touched at all - I should really stop reading these threads...

Looks great, definitely prefer the stance on the ACS springs and interested to hear the write-ups. Dopper - what dealership are you getting this done it - I recall you're close to me?

I don't think I'd be doing this for a few months but this is tempting me towards it!

If you're coming from an RS6 then I think you really may want to change a few things!

[gtsussex]

Glad you're loving it Terry (though that's no great surprise).

Really does bring out much more in the car....

[DazC]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

They've got arrangements with a few dealers in Scotland, so distance needn't be an issue.

Interesting. May have to inquire further.

[Lorcan]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

Lorcan, are the sDrive 330d MS springs the same as being fitted to these 335d's?

Tempted to try them. I was going to go the PSS10 route, but perhaps springs matched to the stock damper rates will be enough.

No, the 330d s-drive and x-drive kits are different. The kit for the 330d x-drive and 335d x-drive is the same.

We do a kit for all variants though. Tengo's kit was different to GT's as we have separate kits for tourers too.