Another Bouncy S550

[Nomad350Z]

bjstang - thanks for providing the quick links to Mike’s adventures. That is an impressive C.V., and I’m in the same boat - I can only dream of driving on those roads.

Curious that he’s going to the Bilsteins after the ProActions. I did see his previous post commenting on the need for more compliance now that he’s stateside. I wish our roads were as refined as the majority of Alpine passes!

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[Roadway 5.0]

Hi Mike,

thanks for the input. Do you mind following up after your install? I’m not in a particular rush, and would certainly value more input on the subject.

thanks,
Garrett

No problem bud, and I’ll for sure follow-up. I admit, however, there’s a possibility I may jump into a BMW this week even before I install the Bilsteins.

I’ll share two more points of caution:

#1: if you benchmark the Mustang to the 340i, I think you’ll always be longing. I’ve been chasing the BMW feel for my Mustang for three years, and while I think I nailed the steering, there is just nothing that can replace the better chassis and weight distribution of the BMW. The Mustang’s nose is just too heavy, and the nose is too long for to give you the perception of immediacy in turns.

#2: stiffer springs are common modifications, and are recommended on most every Mustang message board. I firmly believe staying in the OEM PP spring rate range with better dampers is the key for most daily drivers and occasional track use folks if comfort and refinement are paramount. In perspective, our OEM PP rates are almost the same as E92 M3 rates—these two cars are in the same weight ballpark too. Heck, the best handling car I’ve ever driven had much lower rates than the PP (albeit the car weighed 300lbs less). Spring rates aren’t the only factor for ride quality, there are actual wheel rates, frequencies, vehicle weights, tires and so on, but it is very safe to say that the more spring rate you go with, the more imperfections in the road you feel and at a higher frequency (high rate suspensions essentially never stop moving...even when perfectly controlled by dampers).

Hopefully these thoughts can save you some time in the rabbit hole. Have a good one,

-Mike

 

[Roadway 5.0]

Thanks for the back-up brother, I appreciate it.

bjstang - thanks for providing the quick links to Mike’s adventures. That is an impressive C.V., and I’m in the same boat - I can only dream of driving on those roads.

Curious that he’s going to the Bilsteins after the ProActions. I did see his previous post commenting on the need for more compliance now that he’s stateside. I wish our roads were as refined as the majority of Alpine passes!

I wish the roads in Alabama and Georgia were refined like Austria and the Alps too! I seriously can’t believe how bad the roads are here; driving through Atlanta on the interstate is potholed like Highway 1 in Afghanistan. Dangerous at 70mph. The roads in my immediate area are so harshly wavy that I feel seasick at times.

Anyway, I’ve loved the ProActions and they were great in Europe. At autobahn speeds I felt in total control. Since being back in the US, it’s a whole other story. 40mph and below (how I sadly spend most of my drive) just doesn’t have the necessary control on these terrible roads with my higher rate springs (at least for the rear of the car). My logic for the Bilsteins is that a monotube damper, while generally harsher than a twin tube, can react faster and thus control the ride better. I think Ford had the same thought considering they paired a twin tube strut with monotube shock on the PP.

It’s really a roll of the dice considering how little of information is available on the Bilsteins, but I’m a risk taker in that sort of way. We’ll see how it goes. No kidding though, my wife is pushing me to test drive a 340i Xdrive today.

- Mike

 

[Cobrakit]

Last time i checked, the Koni yellows were only adjustable in rebound, not compression like most think. And on my 2013 GT they were stiff. Stiffer than stock track pac shocks and probably equivalent to Ford Racing (non adjustable) that i also ran.

 

[Roadway 5.0]

Those are some photos of the month! And yes, fixed ProActions here.

 

[Nomad350Z]

We’ll see how it goes. No kidding though, my wife is pushing me to test drive a 340i Xdrive today.

- Mike

We just test drove a 2016 340i 6MT yesterday. I was quite impressed, though it was lacking in features that the GT premium has and I would expect in a used $30k German “compact luxury sedan” (no heated seats, no rear view camera, etc.) Looking forward to your feedback - both on the B6s and on the 340i!

 

[GregO]

We just test drove a 2016 340i 6MT yesterday. I was quite impressed, though it was lacking in features that the GT premium has and I would expe

I breakout in cold sweats when thinking about BMW, Audi, Porsche repair costs, I’m around enough of them to know. Nice cars don’t get me wrong but the costs are real and expensive. Then again this all comes down to disposable income.

 

[offroadkarter]

I think next year I'm going to look into struts (and maybe springs) as well as rear shock mounts (as long as people don't keep ripping the sheet metal out of the car). I've long noticed how bouncy and unsettled this car can get at speed. Its bizarre how Ford set this up, compared to my M5 the Mustang corners flatter but at the same time floats more, I'm guessing from all the rubber they put in the suspension for NVH compliance.

We just test drove a 2016 340i 6MT yesterday. I was quite impressed, though it was lacking in features that the GT premium has and I would expect in a used $30k German “compact luxury sedan” (no heated seats, no rear view camera, etc.) Looking forward to your feedback - both on the B6s and on the 340i!

A lot of things you would expect to be standard are instead options, hell it wasn't until the past year or two that BMW started offering a remote start option on vehicles.

How did you like the manual trans setup in the 340i? I drove a 2014 435i 6spd and I absolutely hated the laggy throttle. The car also had no sport or sport + mode so I couldn't ramp up the the throttle response. I noticed while I was out test driving the car with my friend (he works at the dealer) I could slam the pedal to the floor and say "floored" before the RPM's started to come up. My manual swapped 85 745i with a 70's era turbo on it had snappier throttle response.

The 2015 M4 6spd I drove was much more what I expected. Car was fun to drive, just sucks they sound like a tractor and the F80 crowd is made up of a large collective of terrible people with terrible taste.

I breakout in cold sweats when thinking about BMW, Audi, Porsche repair costs, I’m around enough of them to know. Nice cars don’t get me wrong but the costs are real and expensive. Then again this all comes down to disposable income.

I won't speak to new cars (although my mother's 2015 X5 owned since new has needed nothing past oil changes) but the older stuff isn't really that DIY unfriendly. Most of the high costs comes from using dealers or indie shops, I have essentially the full service history going back 19 years on my 2000 M5. I have an invoice that shows one of the prior owners paying 1hr labor at an indie shop for installing the tools into the trunk mounted tool kit.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I think next year I'm going to look into struts (and maybe springs) as well as rear shock mounts (as long as people don't keep ripping the sheet metal out of the car). I've long noticed how bouncy and unsettled this car can get at speed. Its bizarre how Ford set this up, compared to my M5 the Mustang corners flatter but at the same time floats more, I'm guessing from all the rubber they put in the suspension for NVH compliance.

Poor selection of shock and strut damping curves (low-speed damping too soft) is nearly always to blame when the ride can be described as 'floaty'. Low speed here refers to the piston speed inside the dampers as the suspension moves, not the road speed of the vehicle.


Norm

 

[offroadkarter]

Poor selection of shock and strut damping curves (low-speed damping too soft) is nearly always to blame when the ride can be described as 'floaty'. Low speed here refers to the piston speed inside the dampers as the suspension moves, not the road speed of the vehicle.


Norm

Isn't part of the blame usually linked to the rear shock mounts as well on these cars?

 

[Roadway 5.0]

Isn't part of the blame usually linked to the rear shock mounts as well on these cars?

I wonder how much of this is true now. I just bought some new OEM shock mounts from Ford and they seem better built and stiffer than the pieces on my 2016. Sadly I don’t have a mount from a 15-17 to verify. Can anyone confirm or deny a design change to the OEM mounts for the 2018+?

 

[Roadway 5.0]

Awesome info @bjstang , I appreciate it. And yep, I have the Steeda mounts on my car now and love them; though my plan is to test the Bilsteins with OEM mounts at first, then reassess if the risk vs reward justifies aftermarket mounts.

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