Adaptive Suspension - reliable?
- Thread starter craigdm
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Anonymous
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craigdm said:
The vin decoder will show it…very unusual on a N20 variant..
On the lighter N20 powered cars I personally would doubt that it offers much..with the heavier and more powerful 35is it needs all the help it can get..
They seem, to start leaking at around 50k ish miles onwards..
Very expensive to replace..little if no re-furbishment available..£600+ a leg..
Can be coded out and replaced with ‘normal’ shocks ..obviously you have to buy a full set of new shocks..
1. You can visually check for an electrical connector on the shock but that's tricky without a ramp. It's quite evident while driving if you put the car into sport you should feel the suspension get harder. Checking the cars spec sheet is easy enough but there's no guarantee that the previous owner didn't remove them to save money if there was a issue.
2. It's a pretty big upgrade over the standard dampers. You notice when driving cars with and without it back to back. Cars with adaptive suspension ride really well in Normal mode whereas the standard suspension is a bit jarring. The ability to choose when you want firm suspension and when you just want comfort is great
3. The front shocks are notorious for leaking. I don't know if this was fixed on newer cars but certainly on 2009 and 2010 vehicles I've seen a lot of reported failures.
4. Current prices from BMW are £400 per shock at the front and £250 each at the rear. Fitting would probably be 2hrs labour all round, so that depends on the rate at your local garage. Those hardware prices are about double what the normal suspension would cost to replace.
2. It's a pretty big upgrade over the standard dampers. You notice when driving cars with and without it back to back. Cars with adaptive suspension ride really well in Normal mode whereas the standard suspension is a bit jarring. The ability to choose when you want firm suspension and when you just want comfort is great
3. The front shocks are notorious for leaking. I don't know if this was fixed on newer cars but certainly on 2009 and 2010 vehicles I've seen a lot of reported failures.
4. Current prices from BMW are £400 per shock at the front and £250 each at the rear. Fitting would probably be 2hrs labour all round, so that depends on the rate at your local garage. Those hardware prices are about double what the normal suspension would cost to replace.
As R.E says they’re well worth having, quite surprising how much difference they make. Just imho I’d be putting a few quid away each month ready to pop some new ones on if they do fail as they’re much much better than standard springs and shocks which can be harsh and obvs no adjustment unless you go for coil overs.
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R.E92 said:
That’s not that unreasonable a price…maybe the £600 was an early figment of someone’s imagination….
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Seems like £600 ish and £400 ish front and rear are the current going rates…
Pbondar said:
Prices fluctuate a lot with parts. The front shocks were £600 each a few years ago and hard to get hold of but those prices I quote are from BMWs July price list that they publish to dealers.
They might go up again in future. Things like injectors started out at around £250 each then were available for about £120 each direct from BMW for about 6 months then went back up to £250. The drivers side engine mount is another example, BMW seem to be charging £200 for the 35is mount which was a much cheaper part originally, possibly because of production ending or supply issues.
As far as I am aware the adaptive Msport suspension was standard on the 35iS and an option on the 35i.
My 35i has it an gives a very comfortable ride in comfort mode but no idea how it compares to standard.
Mines a dec 2009 and has ha both front shockers replaced under warranty at 52k in April 2017
But Electronic damper control unit was replaced at15k miles in June 2013 no idea of cost but would gesss at £1.5k
Since then offside rear damper has shown as light misting at April 17 , sept 18 and sept 19 MOT's but has gone through 3 health checks since all of which says it does not need replacing.
Still under warranty so if rears get done hopefully will outlast my ownership.
Seems a common problem on 2009/10 registered cars maybe improved after then and I have improved dampers on my car.
My 35i has it an gives a very comfortable ride in comfort mode but no idea how it compares to standard.
Mines a dec 2009 and has ha both front shockers replaced under warranty at 52k in April 2017
But Electronic damper control unit was replaced at15k miles in June 2013 no idea of cost but would gesss at £1.5k
Since then offside rear damper has shown as light misting at April 17 , sept 18 and sept 19 MOT's but has gone through 3 health checks since all of which says it does not need replacing.
Still under warranty so if rears get done hopefully will outlast my ownership.
Seems a common problem on 2009/10 registered cars maybe improved after then and I have improved dampers on my car.
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R.E92 said:
All noted..
Does seem to pay and spend some time shopping around as you say…I’ve found that my normally best vale supplier is not always the case..
Sometimes BMW is actually better priced..
Pbondar said:All noted..
Does seem to pay and spend some time shopping around as you say…I’ve found that my normally best vale supplier is not always the case..
Sometimes BMW is actually better priced..
Typically anything that you can find the OE equivalent of is cheaper from the likes of Autodoc but some things are a bit crazy. For the M3 control arm upgrade on my 335i it was actually £80 cheaper to buy one of the arms from BMW instead of buying the TRW part from Autodoc. Same with transmission mounts for the DCT, the Corteco OE part is more expensive than the BMW stamped version from the dealer.
R.E92's right. That said, the bills - which I don't pay, of course - always seem to be whacking great things. I'm near to losing track, but I think I've had 2 new sets of front adaptives, 1 rear set and a damper control unit.R.E92 said:
When it works, it's a very good system, though. :wink: