HOW DOES YOUR E89 HANDLE?

[Anonymous]

Out of interest I’m picking a 35i up next month off Player1, Sam has added M3 control arms, new springs and dampers from Bilstein I think they are, stiffer anti roll bars. He reports a significant improvement in taming the E89’s wayward handling. Looking forward to picking it up, I’ll report back if it’s of interest once I’ve got it.

I’ll be interested in your view on player1’s car...he’s spent quite a bit of time fettling it..

 

[john-e89]

Out of interest I’m picking a 35i up next month off Player1, Sam has added M3 control arms, new springs and dampers from Bilstein I think they are, stiffer anti roll bars. He reports a significant improvement in taming the E89’s wayward handling. Looking forward to picking it up, I’ll report back if it’s of interest once I’ve got it.

I’ll be interested in your view on player1’s car...he’s spent quite a bit of time fettling it..

He did indeed, I spoke to him a while ago and he was very enthusiastic about the improvement. He’s done a 360bhp map the same as Jollyjoiners 35i which I’ve been in, pulls much harder than my 35is’s so it should be quite a car.

 

[flybobbie]

Electric steering totally disconnects you from the car, weirdest steering on any car i have owned.

Not owned an Audi then ???? ... the award for the most sterile cars ever...

I had a Audi 80, didn't keep that long, barge.
It wanted to exit the roundabout at the first turn off when i wanted the second.

 

[BadgerDog]

I personally feel that my '16 35i handles great. As I said in the other thread where this came up I am coming from a '10 MX-5, and I feel that this handles as well as the MX did. Its a bit less... peppy (I suppose is a good word), I'll admit, but its got a lot more weight to throw around. But its still quite responsive, and can handle as much speed into a corner as my MX I believe. The feel is definitely different, though. Less raw, more refined. Less feedback from the road. That may be a lot of what people who dont think it handles well are reacting to, but I dont consider it that big a deal.

Mind you it ALSO doesnt have runflats on it. Previous owner had some nice rubber on it already. That may be a big difference right there. I will definitely continue that practice... though the first time I have to pay for new tires I may develop a much lighter foot... haha.

 

[flybobbie]

Always fancied MX 5, i sat in a new one recently.
Felt as though i had gone form a palace(zed) to the gate house.
Not impressed at all.

 

[Maria1]

Thanks you for your replies. I think I have an answer - for me at least. I don't want a car to go around bends faster. I am looking for a car that feels good when it is being driven reasonably enthusiastically and is reasonably comfy at the same time. It's all about feel not outright speed. So, for example, i still have an unrestored 50,000 mile Talbot Samba cabriolet (don't laugh) that I have had since 1989. Being French, it leans like hell but grip is prodigious even on 165/65 14s and I have a whale of a time in it in France - within its limitations. Steering's a bit heavy too compared to nowadays. But I still enjoy it when it is clearly outclassed by everything else on the road. There was a time when its 80bhp engine was likened to being a warm-hatch (despite the roof)!

Different cars engender different feelings with their handling. I have good memories of my Lancia Beta HPEie but not of my Cavalier SRi (too hard). Really good memories of a Porsche 924S and 968 but not of a 911SC (even though a purist would tell you I didn't try hard enough). Crap first Nissan 200SX (that looked like a 944) but not the one that came after it (that looked like a 325i Coupe).

Because I am not looking for mods to the standard MSport suspension (and the car has only done 19000 miles), I will try non-RFTs next year and see how it changes the car. By all accounts (other than one) it seems transformational.

 

[3.0Rich]

Went out earlier today for my 1st "spirited" run since I've had it, 5 weeks.
The drive on the decent parts of road was brilliant, wasn't expecting any more from it, I see it as a good GT. The rest of it at any decent speed left me hanging on to the wheel to keep it on the road.
Mind you these Fen roads are criminally under-maintained, tramlining doesn't apply here, the road edges are so badly broken up. Sweeping through the curves on decent surfaces it was exhilarating though.....

 

[Maybach_man]

I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong... :?

 

[mr.tourette]

I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong... :?

Not going over 80? When I picked mine up it was on runflats and it felt ok mostly but as soon as you got upto 70/80 it felt all over the place

 

[Maybach_man]

I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong... :?

Not going over 80? When I picked mine up it was on runflats and it felt ok mostly but as soon as you got upto 70/80 it felt all over the place

No....like its on rails always....

 

[mr.tourette]

I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong... :?

Not going over 80? When I picked mine up it was on runflats and it felt ok mostly but as soon as you got upto 70/80 it felt all over the place

No....like its on rails always....

Lucky you, I take it they are not bridgestones ? like I said mine didn't feel too bad mostly..still feels a lot better on regular tyres though

 

[Stevo1987]

I seriously need to get someone else to drive my car...i have runflats and i get no tramlining or ditchfinding or anything,, what am i doing wrong... :?

I have the Bridgestone runflats and I also don't have those problems. Maybe I just don't drive it fast enough. It does crash over drain covers and anything similar though.

 

[Maybach_man]

Not going over 80? When I picked mine up it was on runflats and it felt ok mostly but as soon as you got upto 70/80 it felt all over the place

No....like its on rails always....

Lucky you, I take it they are not bridgestones ? like I said mine didn't feel too bad mostly..still feels a lot better on regular tyres though

Bridgestones from the factory.... wife has Pirelli's on her 2 series and no issues there either....its all very strange...

 

[3.0Rich]

As previously mentioned, mine got a bit agitated over that speed. Can be doing some silly speeds in these cars with that power delivery, a bit deceptive.

 

[3.0Rich]

Oh, and I thought I'd see which tyres are on the front after 6 weeks and yes, they're run flats.....on the ball, me. :?

 

[Lazza]

To be fair, when I bought my 35i it had the Bridgestone RFs and I thought it was fine. It had decent grip in the dry, ok in the wet, was a bit crashy on rough roads and a bit noisy but nothing too bad. I didn’t hate them.
But I upgraded to non-RF anyway and was amazed at the difference! More dry grip, way more wet grip! Much quieter (it seemed like the exhaust was louder as I could actually hear it!) the crashing over rough roads was gone and it didn’t lose any feedback.
So if you think your car is fine on RF tyres, it can be so much better!

 

[engine killer]

E90 M3 steering suspension parts

Will that make a very significant difference?

 

[mcbutler]

E90 M3 steering suspension parts

Will that make a very significant difference?

Probably not Peter, how different can they be? maybe stiffer bushes and lighter material thats all I can think of, oh and a higher price of course...

 

[Anonymous]

E90 M3 steering suspension parts

Will that make a very significant difference?

Quite a few people have dine this mod..of course depends on how ‘switch on’ to the telemetry coming from the steering you are...

Player1 documented in detail this set of mods on his 35is on this forum..

Others have documented it on US forums too..

It’s a very common mod on 3 non m series too...there is now a standard kit available from one of the poly bush handling companies for the 3 series..

There is an issue that,yet again,the E89 has its lighting / pitch sensor on the opposite side to the 3 series so a mod is required to handle this..again others have documented that..I sawed off the bracket on the old linkage and used aerospace glue to bond it to the new arm..

I found it, like many others, removed a slight wishy / washy feel from the steering, many have said that all BMW electrical steering lacks feel / feedback..the E89 updated heavily the E85 version..

So the combo of new linkages with the normal EPS resulted in a marked improvement when ‘hooning’..

Especially on the edge, in the wet, trying to turn , bumpy roads etc..plus at very high speed on rapidly switching bends..

Like all mods the cost/time /benefit combo is something only the person doing it can decide..

 

[JoeZed]

Bought my e89 with Continentals - non RF. Handling and cornering grip - superb ! Epic !
Had to replace the rear tyres due to unrepairable puncture and figured I’d try non RF Falkens. Well - what fun I had for the first 1500 miles. At 80 mph , the car felt I was towing a snaking caravan . The slightest steering correction resulted in over correction . I had to keep both hands on the steering wheel. The car did not feel safe.
On country roads - Entering corners with the slightest of down hill gradient at speeds I was used to with conti’s , resulted in DSC kicking in . Too easily .
After 1500 miles and plenty of burn outs , the Falkens came good. Throwing the car into the corners and getting the car weighted on the back tyres was the way to go. The car drives in a perfect straight line over at 80+ now and I feel safe again and am quite happy with the ride.
If you put Falkens on your car - bare with them - they need about 1500 miles to run/bed in and several burn outs.