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      01-27-2020, 12:06 PM   #1
chicolax2
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Tune or Suspension?

In the process of improving my 2016 328i sportline that I recently purchased in the fall. Found a great deal on wheels and tires and started there. Next I upgraded the to M Sport bumpers all around. Looking at one more mod in the next six months and was wondering what is going to give the better driving enjoyment. A new suspension kit or a tune like Dinan stage 1?

The car is my daily driver for work so while I want a better driving experience, I can't slam it or don't care too much about aggressive engine noise. I do get to enjoy the car on a lightly traveled back road that I can drive aggressively on most days. Any thoughts would help? So far I'm loving the car and each modification is fueling the want to make it even better.
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      01-27-2020, 01:39 PM   #2
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Suspension and brakes before power.
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      01-27-2020, 02:09 PM   #3
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      01-27-2020, 03:03 PM   #4
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As long as you understand your car capabilities then I'll go with a tune.
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      01-27-2020, 03:37 PM   #5
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For the 335i I felt the M Sport suspension was a big fail compared to the engine. So I sorted out the suspension (M Performance suspension) first, then the tires, then I got a conservative tune and supporting mods.

Story might be different for the 328i. I've always felt the N20/B48 was pretty smooth and fast, but it could be much faster. It just depends on what you enjoy more: twisties or straight line speed.
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      01-27-2020, 03:50 PM   #6
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Thank you for the responses, I feel like I'm leaning to the suspension. Any thoughts on the following? Looking for the car to feel firmer, have a minimal drop in stance, something that is going to hug a turn. However because my wife drives the car as well and I do drive clients in the car, will not feel like you need a mouth guard in to drive on Bay Area roads.
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      01-27-2020, 04:10 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by chicolax2 View Post
However because my wife drives the car as well and I do drive clients in the car, will not feel like you need a mouth guard in to drive on Bay Area roads.
What kind of clients? The kind that would expect E-Class ride comfort, or would be fine with the common uber econobox? What's the budget?
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      01-27-2020, 04:51 PM   #8
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Executive level clients at different ages that will spend 6 plus hours riding in the car in one day. I might be looking for the white elephant. Budget is probably 2 to 3K with install. Could be more if necessary. Car has 10K miles and I keep cars typically well past 100K if they allow it, so in my mind I can justify the, buy once cry once, approach. Thank you
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      01-27-2020, 08:55 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chicolax2 View Post
Executive level clients at different ages that will spend 6 plus hours riding in the car in one day. I might be looking for the white elephant. Budget is probably 2 to 3K with install. Could be more if necessary. Car has 10K miles and I keep cars typically well past 100K if they allow it, so in my mind I can justify the, buy once cry once, approach. Thank you
Read your requirements and they match quite a few of mine. I have a daily driver that I share with my wife. Plus we take long trips in it. The stock suspension had too much teeth rattling and highway road seams made me want to loose my mind.

You don't say xDrive so my assumption is that your car is RWD. Also you don't indicate Adaptive suspension so my assumption is that you have the standard suspension.

My experience has been that about half of ride comfort can be improved by getting rid of the old wagon wheel runflats. You replaced stock wheels and tires but you don't say what size or model of tires? 18", 19", 20" wheels? Square or staggered setup? It's also possible to choose poorly and end up with less improvement than you might.

For example, without knowing what you have already chosen, if you had stock runflats in 225/45-18, you may have wanted to choose non-runflats in 245/45-18. The wider 245's would had provided better handling on those curves. Plus maintaining the 45 sidewall ratio in 245/45 would have been even more comfortable than using the stock 225/45 size in non-runflats. The 245/45-18 also fills the wheel gaps more, providing a slightly dropped look.

I gave an 18" wheel example. Road conditions also affect ride comfort. Their are many rough roads and potholes in my area. 19" wheels and tires might ordinarily provide better handling on smooth roads. But guys with 19" wheels/tires near me often complain of rough ride on rough roads along with higher risk of tire damage. 20" wheels/tire look great but ride rough and are likely for a blow out.

The other half of ride comfort gain can be had by choosing the right combination of springs and shocks. Springs that are slightly stiffer (~10%) than stock provide more handling control. But springs that are much stiffer, start to sacrifice comfort for handling. The same goes for springs with moderate drop of <1.0". They can add to handling. But when you start dropping further towards 1.5", you are moving more towards handling and away from comfort.

Based on your priorities, I would tend to recommend Koni Yellow shocks. They can handle any of the springs that you may consider. Plus Koni Yellows are adjustable so that you can fine tune to the level of handling/ comfort that you wish. Most of the others are not adjustable so if the factory setting isn't perfect for you then you are stuck.

HaHa, having said all that, if I were you I'd install the BootMod3 Stage1 tune first. You don't need any hardware changes. You can install it from your laptop in your driveway in 20 minutes. It's a smooth, powerful tune that enhances your experience. It will give you more of an idea of what the car is capable of so you can then make choices about suspension mods.

Hope this helps!
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      01-27-2020, 10:56 PM   #10
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Tune or Suspension?

Suspension or tune? Both will offer noticeable differences. It sounds like what you use the car for sort of splits the difference. With a budget of $2-3k, you could potentially do both. Something like KW Street Comforts and BM3 flash tune should be doable. But I agree, no point in adding power if your suspension isn't set up to take advantage of it. You can get to a corner faster, but then your car is sloppy and not confidence-inspiring in that corner, it's more frustrating than fun.

If you have no problems with how much power you have and want to drop most of your budget on suspension, you could go with Ohlins Road & Track coilovers; one of the best non-custom, out-of-box setups available. Just keep in mind, without adaptive dampers, there's always a sacrifice. Difficult, if not impossible, to get soft/compliant/comfortable ride for the clients & commutes and solid/planted/sporty handling for the backroads. The cars that do all of it the best tend to have adjustable dampers. The F3X seems to have been engineered with more comfort in mind than previous gen 3-series.

You mentioned you got a deal on wheels and tires but didn't mention what size/model of tires you got. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's are pretty much the benchmark for street performance tires. Good tires will give you better handling, better ride, better braking performance.
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      01-27-2020, 11:13 PM   #11
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I went with the AC Schnitzer sport suspension for my 328i sport line and love it. I find it perfect for everyday driving. Its not too low and not too harsh. It's a little on the pricier side but I felt it was worth it. I'm also riding on their staggered 19's with the recommended spacers. For tune I just have the DINAN stage one which I like how linear the power is.
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      01-27-2020, 11:15 PM   #12
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I actually did both to my car, but If I had to choose one over the other, it would be the suspension IMO. I get the most satisfaction from it, and it also improves the overall look of the car. I did suspension first, then I did the tune.
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      01-27-2020, 11:43 PM   #13
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I don't think any coilovers will offer the ride an executive client is looking for, for extended periods of time. It'll probably be separate springs/dampers that aren't too much firmer than stock and really making sure you have sufficient damper travel before bump stop engagement.
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      01-28-2020, 12:15 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FaRKle! View Post
I don't think any coilovers will offer the ride an executive client is looking for, for extended periods of time. It'll probably be separate springs/dampers that aren't too much firmer than stock and really making sure you have sufficient damper travel before bump stop engagement.
So would you recommend separate (but matched) springs and dampers in this case?
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      01-28-2020, 12:45 AM   #15
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Thank you all for the great responses. I'm really enjoying all of the help in these forums, it's great community. A ton of excellent information to process. Responding to a couple of questions people asked about. car is RWD. Wheels, I was able to find a set of 513m's, in excellent condition, tpms and with tires at 9/32" Bridgestone Potenza S-04 on the rears. Was looking for 18's for ride quality. Cornering on the backroad I take everyday already feels like a massive difference and losing the rft's alone might be why I'm getting the itch to see what else the car can do.
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      01-28-2020, 01:18 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chicolax2 View Post
Thank you all for the great responses. I'm really enjoying all of the help in these forums, it's great community. A ton of excellent information to process. Responding to a couple of questions people asked about. car is AWD. Wheels, I was able to find a set of 513m's, in excellent condition, tpms and with tires at 9/32" Bridgestone Potenza S-04 on the rears. Was looking for 18's for ride quality. Cornering on the backroad I take everyday already feels like a massive difference and losing the rft's alone might be why I'm getting the itch to see what else the car can do.
You mentioned you had S-04s in the rear. Are they mismatched to the fronts? Just a heads up, as it's an X Drive, there's a narrow window of staggered sizing you can safely run. Having front and rear tire circumferences equal is ideal, but I think BMW allows for up to something like 4% variance. Don't quote me in that figure.

But yes, nearly all accounts indicate that going from RFTs to standard tires is a definite improvement in handling and ride.

Lastly, be careful with mods because it is a deep, dark abyss that you can easily get sucked into once you start. I don't really know anyone who says, "I'm just gonna do this one thing and that's it" and doesn't end up doing 4-5 other things.
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      01-28-2020, 01:28 AM   #17
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      01-28-2020, 08:05 AM   #18
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tune... 328's can use the extra pep for sure.
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      01-28-2020, 08:11 AM   #19
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Jh f30 fixed the typo above the car is RWD
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      01-28-2020, 09:07 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chicolax2 View Post
Jh f30 fixed the typo above the car is RWD
Got it. Disregard. I still say suspension first. One of the biggest knocks on the F3X platform was the suspension tuning (in addition to the lack of feel from EPAS). I think if you go with a moderate spring/damper set up as Farkle recommends, you'd still have room in your budget to flash tune (BM3 & MHD are both highly recommended here), as well as some supporting mods.

I personally like to upgrade in stages so I can see/feel how each mod affects the car. Suspension first, drive it for a while to get a sense of how it changed the ride & handling, then add power if you feel the need. To me, it's a more interesting experience than going all in and modding everything at once; the result can be fun, but less informative to you as the owner IMO.
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      01-28-2020, 02:40 PM   #21
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Thank you all for the advice this was exactly the help I was looking for. it seems like the suggestions on the suspension are a slightly firmer spring and damper system.
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