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      01-18-2017, 10:54 AM   #1
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Improving Steering feel

I have a f36 gran coupe w x drive- no track package or dhp. The steering on comfort is super loose and the steering on sport/sport + is okay but not great.
Any mods/coding to improve this?
Dropped on hr sports and swapped out the runflats for Michelin uhp tires made some difference but not a lot. Coming from b8 s4 which had great steering and handling.
Any suggestion are appreciated.
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      01-19-2017, 07:25 AM   #2
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Hi,
I can recommend front strut bar & F80 bottom reinforcement plate+F32 tension V-strut (if can be mounted on GC as F30 takes it with no problem).
And the most important- do replace the shocks with Koni Sport or Bilstein B8, as the stock shocks are too soft and loose.
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      01-19-2017, 11:36 AM   #3
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try different air pressure in your tires. changing tires if the biggest improvement and youve done that already, not much more other than that
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      01-19-2017, 01:23 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajg.esq View Post
I have a f36 gran coupe w x drive- no track package or dhp. The steering on comfort is super loose and the steering on sport/sport + is okay but not great.
Any mods/coding to improve this?
Dropped on hr sports and swapped out the runflats for Michelin uhp tires made some difference but not a lot. Coming from b8 s4 which had great steering and handling.
Any suggestion are appreciated.
The steering feel is unfortunately from the electronic steering, there's a "dead" spot in the middle.
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      01-19-2017, 01:24 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajg.esq View Post
I have a f36 gran coupe w x drive- no track package or dhp. The steering on comfort is super loose and the steering on sport/sport + is okay but not great.
Any mods/coding to improve this?
Dropped on hr sports and swapped out the runflats for Michelin uhp tires made some difference but not a lot. Coming from b8 s4 which had great steering and handling.
Any suggestion are appreciated.
The steering feel is unfortunately from the electronic steering, there's a "dead" spot in the middle.
James- I know you did sways and springs on your GC, has that helped at all?
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      01-20-2017, 12:17 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajg.esq View Post
James- I know you did sways and springs on your GC, has that helped at all?
It helped handling significantly. I always run "sport" for my suspension setting, which stiffens the steering. This, with my mods, makes it handle well, makes it "acceptable" to me. It doesn't erase the steering issue, but it puts enough things in the cars favor that it's much easier to overlook it. I'd imagine it's similar to what the guy did above. None of those will get rid of it either, but might increase turn in response, etc.
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      01-20-2017, 03:37 PM   #7
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what tire sidewall do you have? a stiffer/smaller/RFT tire sidewall will improve steering feel.

perhaps an f30 was not the best choice in this regard.
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      02-05-2017, 12:27 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesNoBrakes View Post
It helped handling significantly. I always run "sport" for my suspension setting, which stiffens the steering. This, with my mods, makes it handle well, makes it "acceptable" to me. It doesn't erase the steering issue, but it puts enough things in the cars favor that it's much easier to overlook it. I'd imagine it's similar to what the guy did above. None of those will get rid of it either, but might increase turn in response, etc.

Did you install the front and rear bars?
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      02-05-2017, 09:50 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M47 View Post
Did you install the front and rear bars?
Yes.

And to reinforce what I said. These mods, shocks, springs, bars, make the suspension what I wanted from the beginning. Probably close to the "sport suspension" on the non x-drive models, but makes the car fun to drive, like a sports-saloon should be. The electronic steering is "meh" in these cars, the sports mode helps, but the real travesty is the suspension in general. It sits high with the x-drive, swaybars are extremely weak, especially the rear, stock suspension/comfort mode with adaptive is bouncy as hell, and the run-flats transmit all kinds of shock due to their construction and unsprung weight. Almost every aspect of the suspension is the opposite of what would lead to good handling. Weight distribution is ok though, now with these mods I can get some nice slip in turns, even like rwd on sport+. I'm driving on ice/snow during the winter. If I did anything else, I'd get some bilstein shocks possibly. I do use the comfort suspension setting occasionally, but only on really rough roads at slow speed (chunks of ice in these parts).
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      02-28-2017, 03:30 PM   #10
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I went to a 19x8.5 Apex ARC-8 with 255 Michelin Pilot Super Sport setup and it helped with steering feel a little. The combination of 11.15 lbs per corner weight loss and better tires is what contributed to that I am sure. I still miss the E90 hydraulic steering :-(
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      02-28-2017, 03:31 PM   #11
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As an update, traded 435 for an M3. Happy now. Track package may have helped with the 435 but decided to just go all out and do m3.
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      03-01-2017, 02:50 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmitry83 View Post
Hi,
I can recommend front strut bar & F80 bottom reinforcement plate+F32 tension V-strut (if can be mounted on GC as F30 takes it with no problem).
And the most important- do replace the shocks with Koni Sport or Bilstein B8, as the stock shocks are too soft and loose.
completely agree, the shocks do improve steering feel, ( I felt quite dramatically) Ive owned a b8 s4 with full audi drive select and can say my f31 steers and rides better with the bilstein b6 and havnt changed the rf's yet.
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      03-03-2017, 06:10 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajg.esq View Post
As an update, traded 435 for an M3. Happy now. Track package may have helped with the 435 but decided to just go all out and do m3.
Good move, can't go wrong with the M3 and it's exactly what I would do if it were financially feasible right now. The M3 has so many improvements down to the way the subframes are mounted to the body, the bushings and control arms themselves, etc. that just make it feel so much more solid and planted than the normal 3s.

As an owner of an F30 with the Track Handling Package & M Sport, I wanted to say that it actually does not help improve steering feel at all. I like the package overall but compared to my family's previous Sport F30s (without M Adaptive suspension), I feel the biggest benefit of the M Adaptive suspension is the addition of quite a lot of ride comfort and smoothness. I often drive my 340i w/ M Adaptive back-to-back with our 2015 328i w/ passive Sport suspension and my car is definitely a lot smoother BUT the passive suspension gives better steering feel and feels more traditionally sporty. Steering response just off-center is much better with the passive setup. We actually have the exact same tires on both cars, too.

M Adaptive in Sport mode is firmer than the passive Sport setup but it becomes overly bouncy in my opinion, you start to feel bumps in the road that you didn't even think were there so its actually not very useful in the real world. My previous car was an E92 M3 and I loved the EDC setup in that car, the middle setting was by far my favorite and I feel that a middle setting between Comfort and Sport on the F30 would be hugely useful.

Anyways, with all of that said, in my pursuit of increased sharpness and responsiveness in addition to better steering feel, I'm putting on Ohlins Road & Track coilovers and will be sure to post up a full review in a few weeks.
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