I'm considering upgrading my suspension.... somehow. I spent some time this afternoon looking at the archives and didn't see much that I could use.
I don't like the "soft" feeling of the M5's suspension. The body roll is not a fav as well. My car seems to "track" down the tarmac and wander with the 'Lops. I don't like any of this.
I've been on the Dinan site and saw the S2 suspension upgrade. Tried to see what the ACS and DFC (whatever those are), and didn't see any responses that were applicable. What are these anyhow?
I don't want to spend $5Gs (US) to do this as I lease the Beast, but want to do something to make it feel better without sacrificing the ride of the big sedan.
Lemme know what I can do. TIA
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2003 Titanium Silver BEAST
Tubi Exhaust, otherwise stock
I love this car...!!
Much depends on how you use your car. If you track it extensively, you'd want an aggressive suspension, with adjustable camber plates, for instance. If it's a daily driver with lot's of freeway miles you'd want minimum camber for even tire wear.
I have considered the Dinan Stage 3 suspension since I bought my car in 01. Never pulled the trigger as I realized I really want a coil over system where I can adjust ride heights, stiffness, and other parameters.
There are coil overs on the market, but none stood out heads and shoulders above the others. Come Tuesday, I will put Ground Control coil overs on my car. While Ground Control is THE suspension of choice for M3 owners, this is their first kit for the E39 5 series. I will post a detail thread on the new suspension as soon as I can. Hoep it's worth the wait.
.....I don't like the "soft" feeling of the M5's suspension.
.....The body roll is not a fav as well.
......My car seems to "track" down the tarmac and wander with the 'Lops.
TIA
Have you considered that your struts may be worn?
1) A soft, poorly controlled sensation can come from weak struts with inadequate damping. The factory Boge's are notoriously weak. They soften in a couple years, even with low miles. Koni Sports will provide a remarkable change and they are adjustable.
2) If you want less body roll, you might consider the $380 Eibach 28/18mm swaybar kit in place of your original 27/16.5mm units.
3) Tracking and wandering are signs of poor alignment settings, oddly worn tires or non-stock wheels with improper offset.
General Caution:
Be advised that stiffer ride with less body roll does not necessarily equate to better performance and handling. Most aftermarket BMW spring and strut packages offer radically progressive rate springs to lower the ride height with an acceptably smooth ride on the typical road. This is what 90% of buyers want...slammed looks and smooth ride. Only a progressive spring can nmeet these two goals. The shortcoming of these progressive spring systems is they do not offer predictable handling at the limit of tractions, so the car may actually be slower than stock, when driven aggressively. They also provide an odd bouncing sensation as the tightly-wound spring coils at one end go into bind and the spring rate jumps. The damping rate of the struts is not similarly progressive, so it can not and does not jump to compensate...so it kinda goes boing boing down the road like a slammed Honda. Progressive springs get stiffer when compressed. As a result, the car will shift between understeer and oversteer and lose traction as suspension goes up and down during transient maneuvers. Imagine what happens when your car is entering a turn, tires squealing at 98% and the suspension suddenly experiences a small bump in the pavement and the front spring rate suddenly jumps by 30%? Well...the car will suddenly plow/understeer. It'll begin an uncontrolled, flat skid and visit the gravel/sand pit or guard rail. Many owners are not seeing such severe duty & will not notice...and there's usually no stopwatch involved to accurately measure performance.
This is precisely why M3 and other sports car track enthusiasts overwhelmingly choose Ground Control with it's linear, firm & predictable spring setup. The notoriously predictable (albiet soft) BMW handling is the result of linear stock springs. Ground Control is finally releasing their long-anticipated kit for the E39, as Chunpng noted. Due to overwhelming demand, the E46 M3 track enthusiasts got their GC kit first. These kits are not for folks who want the look. It's for real performance enthusiasts only. It truly offers genuine slot car handling...with some con's. If you install Ground Control, the Eibach swaybar bandaid for roll control will not be necessary or even helpful. This can save money.
My ongoing investigation has not turned up any other aftermarket manufacturers of M5 high performance linear coil over spring setups.
Last edited by Lscman; 11th January 2004 at 13:38.
I spent some time this AM looking at the Dinan site. What do you think of the Stage II suspension kit to do the following: Lower the car a bit (more in the front), improve handling and reduce body lean? Also, will this continue with a ride that is not "harsh", like feeling all the tar strips on the tarmac?
This kit is only about $1700 (US) and installation doesn't look all that expensive either...whatever 100 units of time is.
Lemme know what you think, or if anyone has this Stage II kit installed. TIA
The Dinan Stage 2 isn't bad. That actually was my choice for a long time. Thing is that is still not a coil over which gives you the added advantage of corner balancing. Also for the installed costs of roughly $3,000 (we pay 8.5% tax in CA) I can attain much better results than the Dinan Stage 2.
The DFC is an incredible system, with on-the-fly cook pit adjustments. A few thing to consider, it's $6k+ fully installed. There aren't too many shops who have done many of these, so the installation will be an adventure unto itself. There are good shops who can do them, but bet you they have not done 10 systems in the past. If you finish your lease term (in your particular case) you have to return the car to stock, and that's another huge expense, unless you buy your car at the end of the day.
Yes, I agree with regards to the FDC install numbers. Not many shops in the US have had the chance to install these. But in all reality, it is not that different from a regular suspension install besides for running the wires from the electronic modules at each corner to the switch in the dash. Not that difficult, just time consuming.
Bagger:
There are a couple options out there for you. I would advise against installing the DFC as it does have a control panel that is screwed/placed into the dash with permanent side effects as far as I know. Not a good idea on a lease car. While the system performs great, you can get 90% of the handling from a less expensive handling. Anyway, here are your options...
- Dinan Stage 2
-KW Coilovers varient 2
-FK coilovers
-Ground Control
-Kelleners Sport Suspension(fixed)
-ACS suspension (fixed)
-ACS adjustable suspension with DFC
All systems are very good for what they are. You need to determine if you want to adjust the dampening and heights of the suspension or if you just want to lower the car and improve handling. If that is the case, you should just look into the Kelleners and ACS suspension. Hope this helps.
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