[Josspeed]

Hi everyone!
I have just both a second hand BMW 320xi Touring Luxury. I used to drive sporty but now with two kids an wife I don't do that but I like to feel the car.

My "new" car feels floaty in highways from the front-wheel drive. I don't feel the front tires. By the way, on road mountains, it's good enough.

The car came with Bridgestone Potenza S001 225/50R17 94W

Any suggestion?

THANK you in advance for your thoughts!

[alohasurftoad]

the base suspension is junk and the F-series electronic steering basically does not have "feel".

if you want it to feel less floaty and hold to the road better, you'll need to swap the dampers(struts+shocks) and springs to the oem sport suspension, or oem m-performance suspension, or bilstein(or koni) dampers with eibach springs, or an entry level coilover such as bilstein b14 pss.

if you want to get some "feel" back you'll need to change some other components of the suspension.

[Josspeed]

Thanks!!!

I'¡m waiting for my B6... let see how I am going to feel with that.

[EDWYER]

Yeah and the Bridgestone's should be replaced too.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by ProjectBoost

Yeah and the Bridgestone's should be replaced too.

+1 Bridgestone Potenza S001 are near the bottom of all run flat tires. If you prefer run flat tires, Pirelli P Zero are much better.

[Josspeed]

Originally Posted by cfm56d7b

+1 Bridgestone Potenza S001 are near the bottom of all run flat tires. If you prefer run flat tires, Pirelli P Zero are much better.

GREAT! Thanks... so Pzero much better than B S001

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by Josspeed

GREAT! Thanks... so Pzero much better than B S001

To caveat the "much better" statement ...

- All run flat tires generate more noise
- Some run flat tires produce a harsher ride. In this case, S001 tires are harsher than P Zero tires. I've owned both
- As the mileage increases, run flat tires generate more noise as the tread wears off. It's normal. The only question is whether the driver is willing to tolerate it
- In average driving, P Zero tires will probably last 25K to 28K miles. Or less. I am replacing the OEM set at 24K miles.

Yet the convenience of run flat tires is attractive. For me, P Zero tires represent a good compromise and a much better option than S001 which were exorbitantly harsh even when new.

[Josspeed]

Sorry, what do you mean with harsher?

[exE36M3]

FWIW - the thrust arm/control arm bushing is about 95% of the floaty feel. If ANY F30/F32/F36 has over 50k miles... upgrading to the Monoball (Dinan, Turner, KMAC) or even Poly will get rid of that float fast. But the compromise is a little more road noise.

I swapped out the bushing for the Turner Monoball... car now corners and feels closer to my old E36 M3.

[Josspeed]

RFT or NON-RFT ???

[Josspeed]

With RFT just Pirelli P7 or Continental Conti Sport Contact 5 or Goodyear F1 asymmetric 3

[Josspeed]

Very interesting... thanks!

[Josspeed]

Originally Posted by percychow

FWIW - the thrust arm/control arm bushing is about 95% of the floaty feel. If ANY F30/F32/F36 has over 50k miles... upgrading to the Monoball (Dinan, Turner, KMAC) or even Poly will get rid of that float fast. But the compromise is a little more road noise.

I swapped out the bushing for the Turner Monoball... car now corners and feels closer to my old E36 M3.

Very interesting, thanks!