[izaazk]

hey all..

So i drove my friends 328 with regular suspension for a few days and it felt AMAZING compared to my 335 with m adaptive suspension..

we have the same wheels tires etc...

When i turn at 20 mph or pull into a parking spot in a mall.. his car just TURNED with no sway or feel of the car turning..

my body / car swings when i turn at 20mph or higher... highway ramps feel like im gonna fly off my seat going up or down the curves....

I have 60k miles on my car (bought it used)... he has 55k...


Are my shocks worn? I've checked sway bar bushings they seem fine...

No wierd noises except every bump is felt / heard inside cabin

[Lancelot]

You?re probably close to the end of the life of your dampers indeed, so an option is getting them replaced.

However our suspensions aren?t great regarding roll control, even more so considering adaptive suspension comes with weaker anti roll bars than stock, but they?ve been designed to be comfortable and compliant.

So I went with KW DDC aftermarket coilovers, as i like the adaptive suspension idea, but with stiffer springs and dampers.

In the US you can get Dinan shockware too, which reprograms dampers to be stiffer than stock, and is comparatively inexpensive.

Lastly you can get springs but i don?t think that?s a great idea to mismatch springs and dampers.

[goj]

Yea once car has that many miles on it it's apples to oranges. Pot holes, road condition, driving style all affects the shocks. I think if you replaced dampers you'd be in awe.

Also consider getting the dampers from the 340i since they appear to be 10-15% more firm in my estimate from the 335i. If they are compatible on the 335i I would definitely try it

[perryo91]

Originally Posted by Lancelot

You?re probably close to the end of the life of your dampers indeed, so an option is getting them replaced.

However our suspensions aren?t great regarding roll control, even more so considering adaptive suspension comes with weaker anti roll bars than stock, but they?ve been designed to be comfortable and compliant.

So I went with KW DDC aftermarket coilovers, as i like the adaptive suspension idea, but with stiffer springs and dampers.

In the US you can get Dinan shockware too, which reprograms dampers to be stiffer than stock, and is comparatively inexpensive.

Lastly you can get springs but i don?t think that?s a great idea to mismatch springs and dampers.

Dinan springs were developed to pair with stock dampers

[goj]

Originally Posted by perryo91

Dinan springs were developed to pair with stock dampers

Yes but the stock dampers were not optimized to be paired with dinan springs...

[perryo91]

Originally Posted by goj

Yes but the stock dampers were not optimized to be paired with dinan springs...

But.... you can say that about anything...

"Hey I bought a pure stage 2 turbo"; "Hey I bought bm3" ; "Hey I bought dinantronics" ; "Hey I bought an AP racing brake kit"

"Yeah but the n55/f30 wasn't optimized to be paired with it"

[goj]

Originally Posted by perryo91

But.... you can say that about anything...

"Hey I bought a pure stage 2 turbo"; "Hey I bought bm3" ; "Hey I bought dinantronics" ; "Hey I bought an AP racing brake kit"

"Yeah but the n55/f30 wasn't optimized to be paired with it"

Springs often result in poor dynamics because shocks are soft in comparison, especially when they wear out faster due to being compressed more than they're designed to be.

[perryo91]

Originally Posted by goj

Springs often result in poor dynamics because shocks are soft in comparison, especially when they wear out faster due to being compressed more than they're designed to be.

The dynamics offered in a dinan/stock combination would be better than stock/stock. Regardless of the "worst case scenario" you just mentioned.

[goj]

Originally Posted by perryo91

The dynamics offered in a dinan/stock combination would be better than stock/stock. Regardless of the "worst case scenario" you just mentioned.

For a short amount of time before shocks wear out. Then ride becomes bouncy due to shocks being too soft and overly compressed.

The fact is that the shocks weren't designed for the springs. FYI there's a reason dinan has their Shockware product because it matches dampers to springs

There are many unsatisfied buyers of lowering springs. Most driving enthusiasts understand you should always buy dampers and springs that are matching when upgrading suspension.

[Bestodabest]

Originally Posted by izaazk

hey all..

So i drove my friends 328 with regular suspension for a few days and it felt AMAZING compared to my 335 with m adaptive suspension..

we have the same wheels tires etc...

When i turn at 20 mph or pull into a parking spot in a mall.. his car just TURNED with no sway or feel of the car turning..

my body / car swings when i turn at 20mph or higher... highway ramps feel like im gonna fly off my seat going up or down the curves....

I have 60k miles on my car (bought it used)... he has 55k...


Are my shocks worn? I've checked sway bar bushings they seem fine...

No wierd noises except every bump is felt / heard inside cabin

Sounds like the fault lies with soft springs. They provide support for the chassis; the shocks are primarily responsible for controlling oscillation and rebound.

Unlikely that its a result of wear; more likely that your springs happen to be softer than your friends'.

Were you driving in Comfort or Sport when comparing?

[anotheran]

If everything is the same and it's just suspension difference, i'd have to guess weight difference. Would you happen have the 2 vins to compare? Assuming both cars aren't modded

[JJS]

Originally Posted by izaazk

So i drove my friends 328 with regular suspension for a few days and it felt AMAZING compared to my 335 with m adaptive suspension..

we have the same wheels tires etc...

When i turn at 20 mph or pull into a parking spot in a mall.. his car just TURNED with no sway or feel of the car turning..

my body / car swings when i turn at 20mph or higher... highway ramps feel like im gonna fly off my seat going up or down the curves...

It's no secret the N20 engined F30 turns in better than the N55 variant because it has less mass up front. That's the compromise I made for all the other goodness of 6 cylinders.

[RM7]

Originally Posted by perryo91

Dinan springs were developed to pair with stock dampers

You realize that’s not actually possible, right?

[akgambino]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

You realize that’s not actually possible, right?

Agreed. I drank the kool aid thinking oh its dinan they know what they are doing lol! I put the dinan springs and bump stops on my 13 335 xdrive non-dhp and the rear end bounciness has driven me to utter madness and made me think something was seriously wrong with the car.
Full disclosure, the rear suspension of the non-dhp cars is a joke the shocks are way too soft but at least they were matched to the soft progressive springs to try to minimize spring oscillation.
With the stiffer linear dinan springs the back of the car seems to just ride on the spring content to just subtly bounce along and wag its tail feeling like the car is towing a trailer at all speeds and on the smoothest of newly paved roads. It is terrible to have such a nice car I love so much feel so unsettled and wobbly and bouncy.
Currently waiting for koni yellow rear shocks to arrive in hopes that the additional stiffness on shock rebound will keep the back end of the car from bouncing.

[perryo91]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

You realize that’s not actually possible, right?

Honestly I have no idea... that's just what I read from their website. I keep reading more things showing that they're not as good as I had imagined. I guess that's one reason why they're so cheap.

[RM7]

Originally Posted by perryo91

Honestly I have no idea... that's just what I read from their website. I keep reading more things showing that they're not as good as I had imagined. I guess that's one reason why they're so cheap.

If you are going to mod cars, it helps to have a little base-knowledge. In the area of suspension, you need some basic suspension theory understanding. There are books on this and it might be best for you to read up on it first. Increasing the spring force overpowers the damping. Lowering springs that do not bottom out need to be a higher spring rate. Lowering springs that start at the same spring rate as OEM will require a much more progressive spring rate later in the travel somehow, with aggressive bump-stops or progressive winding, which will still overpower the damping, but now it'll happen in the most extreme situations, which will probably lead to even more damage. Unless you have adjustable shocks with knobs that you can turn for high/low compression and rebound, stiffer springs will overpower the damping. Even then, often times the adjustments only allow fine-tuning and can't deal with a massive change in spring rate, that usually takes modifying the shim-stack/oil valving springs inside the shocks. You can't get something for nothing. You can't put stiffer springs on there and expect them to work perfectly, the damping needs to be increased.

[lens]

Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes

If you are going to mod cars, it helps to have a little base-knowledge. In the area of suspension, you need some basic suspension theory understanding. There are books on this and it might be best for you to read up on it first. Increasing the spring force overpowers the damping. Lowering springs that do not bottom out need to be a higher spring rate. Lowering springs that start at the same spring rate as OEM will require a much more progressive spring rate later in the travel somehow, with aggressive bump-stops or progressive winding, which will still overpower the damping, but now it'll happen in the most extreme situations, which will probably lead to even more damage. Unless you have adjustable shocks with knobs that you can turn for high/low compression and rebound, stiffer springs will overpower the damping. Even then, often times the adjustments only allow fine-tuning and can't deal with a massive change in spring rate, that usually takes modifying the shim-stack/oil valving springs inside the shocks. You can't get something for nothing. You can't put stiffer springs on there and expect them to work perfectly, the damping needs to be increased.

Exactly why Dinan has their shockware. It matches perfectly with the springs, I had a bit of bounce with springs only, until I had Dinan Shockware flashed and it solved everything. Little to no bounce, and around 60% less body roll than stock. I believe sway bars should solve all my body roll problems.