[Beet]

Originally Posted by johnung

The VAC's are much better because they are actual stock control arms made by Lemforder who makes them for BMW. So you get a brand new Upper Control arm with a brand new Ball joint on one end and a brand new custom monoball bushing in the other end.

So your suspension geometry remains exactly the same. And your stock alignment specifications stay exactly the same. There are exact matching versions for F30 RWD and F30 xDrive.

F80 M3 Upper Control Arms have a different suspension geometry than F30 UCAs. In fact if you install them on an F3x xDrive, the car won't make it more than a few feet without snapping a front drive shaft.

When M3 UCAs are installed on an F3x RWD they actually push the entire wheel forward in the wheel well and screw up the alignment. Guys who track in the past, have been throwing M3 UCAs on the F3x's to gain greater camber adjustment. But now camber plates will do the same. I've talked the guys with M cars who have been ditching their stock M bushings for these Monoballs, saying there is no comparison.

These VAC UCA's from Kies Motorsports make the vague F3x steering so much more precise. If I was only allowed 3-4 mods on my car this would be one of them!

Cool stuff! I wouldn't want my wheel being pushed towards the front of the wheel well. I also didn't know that the upper M3 control arms were so bad for the xDrive cars! A lot of stuff I'm learning on this thread thanks to you.

Would you recommend going for camber plates, or is that too much for a car that's gonna be my daily?

Are the upper and lower control arms from VAC just plug and play?

[AspektUSA]

Originally Posted by Beet

I'll probably just end up buying 7 quarts of 0W-30 from the dealership then because BMW spec oil is so hard to find (especially 0W-30) unless you're buying it online. I'm not sure about the fuel quality here in CT, but I'll look into it.

That article is pretty informative. It says that LL-14 is BMW's latest, but it's not a good oil for performance. Does that mean they still use LL-01 in the M cars?

You shouldn't be running 0w-20 LL-17 in your track car, no.

For daily drivers it's fine.

If you're one to drive super aggressively, then consider 0/5w-30 that's LL-01/LL-01 FE.

M-cars I'm not sure, I know at one stage they used 10w-60 but I think that era is long gone. The M4 GTS uses LL-04 5w-30.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Beet

Cool stuff! I wouldn't want my wheel being pushed towards the front of the wheel well. I also didn't know that the upper M3 control arms were so bad for the xDrive cars! A lot of stuff I'm learning on this thread thanks to you.

Would you recommend going for camber plates, or is that too much for a car that's gonna be my daily?

Are the upper and lower control arms from VAC just plug and play?

No need for camber plates on a daily. Yes, the VAC control arms from Kies Motorsports are direct swaps, just replacing the original stock control arms.

[Beet]

Hey all, now I've had the car for a little bit and took it on a 15 hour road trip from SC to CT! I haven't taken any good pictures of it yet, but I will soon.

The first thing I did is get a window tint, 20 all around except for the windshield.

I bought a Liqui Moly LL-01 5W-30 kit with a Mann filter, but after buying it I found out the '18+ manuals no longer say 0/5W 20/30/40, now they only say 0W 20/30. It's definitely for fuel economy, because the engines haven't changed. I guess they made that change when they rolled out the LL-17 rating.

Do you think I should just go ahead and use the 5W-30 anyway?

[AspektUSA]

Originally Posted by Beet

Hey all, now I've had the car for a little bit and took it on a 15 hour road trip from SC to CT! I haven't taken any good pictures of it yet, but I will soon.

The first thing I did is get a window tint, 20 all around except for the windshield.

I bought a Liqui Moly LL-01 5W-30 kit with a Mann filter, but after buying it I found out the '18+ manuals no longer say 0/5W 20/30/40, now they only say 0W 20/30. It's definitely for fuel economy, because the engines haven't changed. I guess they made that change when they rolled out the LL-17 rating.

Do you think I should just go ahead and use the 5W-30 anyway?

LL-01/LL-01 FE is listed as technically compatible for the B58 in North America, so you're fine really.

There's some mention of the LL-17 FE spec being not only for CAFE fleet ratings, but also to reduce risk of LPSI - how true that is I simply don't know.

[CajunBMW]

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful suggestions on how to improve the f30. I think now I have to do something? Brakes first for me.

[2017F30]

Originally Posted by Beet

Hey all, now I've had the car for a little bit and took it on a 15 hour road trip from SC to CT! I haven't taken any good pictures of it yet, but I will soon.

The first thing I did is get a window tint, 20 all around except for the windshield.

I bought a Liqui Moly LL-01 5W-30 kit with a Mann filter, but after buying it I found out the '18+ manuals no longer say 0/5W 20/30/40, now they only say 0W 20/30. It's definitely for fuel economy, because the engines haven't changed. I guess they made that change when they rolled out the LL-17 rating.

Do you think I should just go ahead and use the 5W-30 anyway?

I would stick with the Twin Turbo 0W-20 LL-17+ or Liqui Moly TopTec 6600 0W-20 LL-17+ while you’re under warranty.

That round trip sounds amazing!

[AspektUSA]

Originally Posted by CajunBMW

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful suggestions on how to improve the f30. I think now I have to do something? Brakes first for me.

Wheels/tires, then brakes.

If your brakes can overpower (lock up) your current set of tires, then bigger brakes aren't going to do anything.

Big brakes are for endurance and resisting fading, not for X% more "stopping power".