Front end suspension harsh.

[Weisebar]

Hi everyone.
I have a question relating to my '95 525 E34. As this is the only BMW I have owned I have no way to compare. The suspension is very harsh in the front end. About 10,000k's ago I upgraded to lowered Eibach springs and adjustable Koni's. Love the height now and it no longer handles like a boat, but when driving (particularly on highway at speed) any raised sections of paving result in a very hard 'crash' response. Have also replaced tyres about 5,000 k's ago. Is this indicative of the E34 front end design or can you suggest a possible issue that may require rectification? Just purchased a Nissan Maxima for my wife and the contrast is huge. Cheers Weisebar.

[Bill R.]

I question the use of the word "upgrade" when talking about lowering springs and shocks/struts. Anytime you go from the original springs and shocks or an oe equivalent you are going to lose a lot of that ride compliance that soaks up those bumps and holes for you. Couple that with the typical choices that go to larger wheel diameter and lower sidewall tires with higher inflation pressures and you have a really crappy ride in my opinion.

To me the stock setup handles better than most stock sedans out there and makes it a really nice comfortable ride for old geezers like myself. I have stock springs with bilstein oe. shocks and stock 15" inch wheel size with stock size tires. My e46 touring has the sport suspension,sport wheels,sport seats package and i can only take it in small doses. In fact i'm trying to decide if i'm going to keep it. If i do i will probably order the rough road package that the south african market shows in the etk which has taller longer travel springs and shocks, I'll also go back to the stock wheels and tire size since roads here in Tucson are so crappy and only getting worse. It will save the oil pan and lower spoiler along with the temp sensor from getting scraped off regularly here.

[genphreak]

If you are getting clunks/bangs, something is wrong. Check bushes, sway-bar links, strut mounts and bump-stops. Verify the shocks are good, esp. if they might have come from a wrecked car. Tie rod ends are common but easy to test if you jack the car up and wiggle the steering. Ball joints, idler and steering box too. If there is no wear and tear down there, check the bump-stops are not too long or too short for the springs- and that the shocks are correct too...

But also, appreciate that a lot of the problem with this kind of question is perception-based.

It takes years of driving on different surfaces, and years more driving different cars to really get much idea.

e34 is basic by today's standards, but was ahead of its time (not as much as the e39) but the design/components far simpler & cheaper to maintain.

To me it is more than capable, but poly bushes, 17s and 18s are not good if you rate any road-comfort in your desires.

For my type of roads and bent, 16s on 225/55 tyres are an optimum balance. 235/45 on 17s and larger just don't compare unless on the track. Koni sports and Billies are too harsh for most but bed in given time.

Also too many people modify spring, strut and bump stops combos to just drop suspension height. They do not get the right bump-stop density/size to deal with reduced travel and the reduced height gives the new components no hope of absorbing undulations with finesse. An e34 is a limo by design, not a sports car. To make it handle the best thing to do is emulate the M-tech and M-car setups. Doing anything else takes research, care and dare I say it, engineering beyond what BMW applied in the first place when delivering the numerous combos they delivered off the line for each geographic market.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Amen to all above! Any change to BMW OEM spec will not be beneficial,all my E34`s have been changed and none then liked rough road surfaces. Then the first thing that suffered was strut top mounts in potholes, and the dreaded shimmy on anything but new tyres. Its hypocrisy to write "don`t do it" but unless you get whole suspension from a faster bimmer then it won`t work, period. The problem then is how do you sort an M5? I have one that is quicker than an XFR round the green hell but unusable in UK off motorways!