[eleven11]

I recently picked up a 2017 330i F31 (B46, xDrive) with the M Sport Package and M Adaptive Suspension. I'm aiming to change out the wheels and suspension, and need some input.

Vehicle Purpose:

• Daily Driver
• Weekend aggressive fun (but not tracking)

Goals:

• Change to 19 inch wheels
• Lower vehicle - optimal fender gap, without performance issues
• Improve handling

Current Wheels:

• Stock 400M Squared - 18x8 ET34
• Stock RFTs

Planned Wheels:

• These are the OEM winter set from my F10 M5 (408M)
• Front - 19x9 ET32
• Rear - 19x9 ET25
• Tires - Likely Pilot Sport 4S

Planned Suspension:

• Ohlins Road & Track
• Possibly Sway Bars

Questions:

1. Per my calculations, I'm thinking of going 255/35 squared on the new setup. I'm taking them to the shop next week to see how they fit/look (the winter rubber is 255/40, so same width). Thoughts?
   
   
2. Ohlins sells an EDC cancellation kit for ~$500. Can coding achieve the same thing, or are there downsides? I don't care to purchase the kit, but won't if coding accomplishes the same goal.
   
   
3. Most people I've talked to recommend getting upgraded sway bars. Finding solid information about applicable products on the wagon is challenging (at least in the US). H&R is the only manufacturer I've found that explicitly lists the F31 on their website. According to RealOEM, the OEM sways on the F30 and F31 xDrive models are the same. So, I assume Dinan will work. However, Dinan informed me that since they haven't tested this part for the wagons, they cannot confirm. So my questions here: definitely get the sways now or first see how the OEM sways do with the Ohlins?; and, can anyone confirm other companies sways work on the F31?
   
   
4. Finally, most specialists I've talked to do not recommend I get camber plates or bushings for my use (daily driver). Is there any other suspension item for the F31 you recommend at this stage?

Much appreciated!


Update (5/12/2018): Despite researching this stuff extensively over the recent weeks, it appears that I've overlooked the fact that the Ohlins R & T do not work on xDrive vehicles. Alternatives exist, it seems, but I was very excited to try the Ohlins. This is correct, yes?

[FaRKle!]

Why did you get the adaptive suspension if you weren't going to use it (or did you get this car used)? Seems like a bit of a waste to get rid of it.

Will this car be tracked at all?

If you need more camber the options are the -30min (-0.5deg) steering knuckles (~$550 for both), and Superpro camber adjustable bushings (-0.5deg). With the stock components I was only able to get -0.6deg of camber on the front. The track absolutely kills the shoulders of my tires.

Swaybars require dropping the sub frames to install them. Lots of $/time for a cheap part.

I have shockware on my EDC suspension wagon, and will be putting some Eibach Pro springs on there this weekend and having the Superpro bushings installed next week. Will let you know how it goes.

[eleven11]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Why did you get the adaptive suspension if you weren't going to use it (or did you get this car used)? Seems like a bit of a waste to get rid of it.

Will this car be tracked at all?

If you need more camber the options are the -30min (-0.5deg) steering knuckles (~$550 for both), and Superpro camber adjustable bushings (-0.5deg). With the stock components I was only able to get -0.6deg of camber on the front. The track absolutely kills the shoulders of my tires.

Swaybars require dropping the sub frames to install them. Lots of $/time for a cheap part.

I have shockware on my EDC suspension wagon, and will be putting some Eibach Pro springs on there this weekend and having the Superpro bushings installed next week. Will let you know how it goes.

It's a CPO, so I didn't select the suspension option.

I might track it in the future, but nothing planned at this time.

Every expert I've talked to (Vorshlag, Dinan, local shops, dealership) recommended against springs alone for my goals. They all felt the Ohlins was the best choice.

Thanks. Let me know how it goes.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by eleven11

I might track it in the future, but nothing planned at this time.

Every expert I've talked to (Vorshlag, Dinan, local shops, dealership) recommended against springs alone for my goals. They all felt the Ohlins was the best choice.

For a car that's really not going to see the track I think you can achieve your goals with springs and shockware.

After putting on my Eibach springs this weekend the wagon rides much flatter with significantly less body roll. With just shockware alone and the stock springs, the body roll was still too much in comfort mode, and I always drove it in sport mode. After the Eibach springs, the car has less body roll in comfort mode than it did previously in sport mode, and interestingly, the gap between comfort and sport modes seems a lot less.

[eleven11]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

For a car that's really not going to see the track I think you can achieve your goals with springs and shockware.

After putting on my Eibach springs this weekend the wagon rides much flatter with significantly less body roll. With just shockware alone and the stock springs, the body roll was still too much in comfort mode, and I always drove it in sport mode. After the Eibach springs, the car has less body roll in comfort mode than it did previously in sport mode, and interestingly, the gap between comfort and sport modes seems a lot less.

Thanks for the feedback.

I considered getting Shockwave. However, lowering springs alone will lead to premature degradation of the suspension. I understand what your saying about not tracking the vehicle.

Now that I've learned that Ohlins aren't applicable to xDrive vehicles (waiting to hear from them for final verification), I've decided to go with the KW DDC Plug & Play setup.

[Sweeney921]

Not sure if this helps, but I installed the H&R rear sway bar on my 2017 M-sport F31. I'm a fairly experienced wrench turner and this one was the single most difficult DIY I've ever done. Still, it was worth the effort because body roll is significantly reduced with slightly less understeer.

The hardest part of the install is figuring out how to get the new bar into position. The larger diameter bar is just enough to make clearances difficult. Lesson learned, don't take the bubble wrap off until it's in position. Mine got pretty scraped up in the process.

[B58 parts]

Yeah the ohlins kit doesn't fit, which sucks as I'd have bought it too. I ran bilstien B16s briefly which were nice but had a few issues (too stiff even for me, front cannot go low enough, unfixable noise developed); so I moved to KW v3s which are great, but still not without issue as I have to get the 'spring spacer' for the rear to get them UP to the proper height.

I believe it's only a minor difference in the front shocks between AWD / RWD ... It'd be nice if someone could figure out what's different and get the ohlins to fit. Really they should make the kit, this is probably the 10th time myself included that we've seen "no ohlins for xdrive".

I guarantee you will want to do the sway bars. The body roll is still bad. There's not a lot of bracing on the chassis either, it still has that slop feel and doesn't have that nice tightness you'd get from a car that handles well. And it still understeers a bit, but that should be addressable without too much work.

My next move is camber plates and the spring spacer. And then a strut bar of sorts, and some other chassis bracing, whatever is available. Poly bushings would also be nice. And I may have to pay a shop $$$$ to install sway bars. Pretty much tear down the entire car...

I am not willing to drop subframes on jackstands, I would die. Sweeney921 curious if you could talk a bit about how long it took etc etc

[Sweeney921]

Originally Posted by YuminNuman

I am not willing to drop subframes on jackstands, I would die. Sweeney921 curious if you could talk a bit about how long it took etc etc

Replacing the F3x's rear swaybar should not be attempted on jackstands, but I guess it could be done if necessary. I highly, highly recommend renting a lift bay and can't emphasize enough how much of a PITA it was to wiggle the new bar into position. It took about an hour to remove the old bar, but the new bar's slightly larger diameter made it almost impossible to maneuver into position without completely removing the subframe. I'm sad to say that it took a buddy and me almost 6 hours to install, plus the time we took walking away from the car to have a beer and de-stress.

newTIS.info was an invaluable resource and very clearly laid out the steps to perform this DIY. It's important to pay attention to the many torque values and notes, because much of the hardware is torqued to yield and thus cannot be reused. Several of the torques must be applied with weight on the wheels, as well.

[Logicoeur]

Rwd suspension will fit xdrive. Couple users on here went and attempted the swap. Suspension parts differ by spring rate for the f30 due to slight weight differences in the vehicle applications. One user used rwd KW his xdrive. You'll be fine. You can adjust for the weight delta with the adjustments on the coils (height and r/c)

[eleven11]

Originally Posted by Sweeney921

Not sure if this helps, but I installed the H&R rear sway bar on my 2017 M-sport F31. I'm a fairly experienced wrench turner and this one was the single most difficult DIY I've ever done. Still, it was worth the effort because body roll is significantly reduced with slightly less understeer.

The hardest part of the install is figuring out how to get the new bar into position. The larger diameter bar is just enough to make clearances difficult. Lesson learned, don't take the bubble wrap off until it's in position. Mine got pretty scraped up in the process.

Thanks for sharing your experience. This will be something I'll pay to have installed. I'll tell them your suggestion with bubble wrap.

Originally Posted by YuminNuman

Yeah the ohlins kit doesn't fit, which sucks as I'd have bought it too. I ran bilstien B16s briefly which were nice but had a few issues (too stiff even for me, front cannot go low enough, unfixable noise developed); so I moved to KW v3s which are great, but still not without issue as I have to get the 'spring spacer' for the rear to get them UP to the proper height.

I believe it's only a minor difference in the front shocks between AWD / RWD ... It'd be nice if someone could figure out what's different and get the ohlins to fit. Really they should make the kit, this is probably the 10th time myself included that we've seen "no ohlins for xdrive".

I guarantee you will want to do the sway bars. The body roll is still bad. There's not a lot of bracing on the chassis either, it still has that slop feel and doesn't have that nice tightness you'd get from a car that handles well. And it still understeers a bit, but that should be addressable without too much work.

My next move is camber plates and the spring spacer. And then a strut bar of sorts, and some other chassis bracing, whatever is available. Poly bushings would also be nice. And I may have to pay a shop $$$$ to install sway bars. Pretty much tear down the entire car...

I am not willing to drop subframes on jackstands, I would die. Sweeney921 curious if you could talk a bit about how long it took etc etc

Thanks for sharing. According to the rep I spoke with at Ohlins, he expects an xDrive option at the end of 2018 or early 2019.

Originally Posted by Logicoeur

Rwd suspension will fit xdrive. Couple users on here went and attempted the swap. Suspension parts differ by spring rate for the f30 due to slight weight differences in the vehicle applications. One user used rwd KW his xdrive. You'll be fine. You can adjust for the weight delta with the adjustments on the coils (height and r/c)

Interesting. The rep at Ohlins told me that if I installed their F30 kit, the front end will be "lifted 8 inches." My suspension knowledge is limited, so I'm not sure how that happens exactly, or what he meant.