Having done a few miles this first week of ownership I gotta say I really need to sort the ride of this car it's not conducive to confident driving on bumpy B roads, it just gets thrown all over the place with the smallest of undulations and bumps, it is certainly not as planted as I remember the 3.0 was......what opinions are out there as to suspension set ups to cure this,,,I know there's a terrific chassis in there somewhere.... :x
Not happy with my ///M ride....solutions..??
- Thread starter plowy
- Start date
Before writing off the suspension suggest you check these first. How old are your tyres and what make are they? When was the last time you checked the pressures? Consider changing them as tyres do go off. Get a proper ego setup. All should be good after that. The car isn't the pinnacle in ride/handling refinement though, it seems to get better the quicker you go 
plowy said:Bing said:
Bing....this int an alignment issue but granted a KDS set up would be of benefit I'm sure, on another note I've known this car from new as the good friend I bought it from drove it out of the showroom,,
Well you have answered your own question then. The car will probably drive perfectly well if you took it to a smooth circuit like millbrook, our bloody dreadful roads don't help either, I dread to think what they will be like after another hard winter. As I said above the best thing is to change the rubber and get a geo done and learn to drive around it.
Should have mentioned...rubber is the OEM conti sport contacts, fronts 5/6mm, rears are new..so on that basis do people have bad experience of this tyre on the ///M,,??,,,,it's a supposed BMW developed tyre and what left the factory with but I know that don't mean it's perfect.....
Merrsh1 said:
All Zeds come with Eibachs as standard, they are the manufacturer of the OEM springs...
I think Exdos has spent a lot of time and money tweaking his cars for the road rather than make a track demon, might be worth pinging him.
Liverpool
Yes it was a BMW 'developed', but it was developed for the e46 M3 over 13 years ago, and tyre technology has moved forward a little.plowy said:
They're not ditchfinders, but they're also not Continental SportContact 5s, Michelin Pilot SuperSport., or Goodyear F1A2s. I've been through the SportContact M3, Michelin PS2, and am now onto Michelin Supersports which I'm more than happy with.
Saying that, the Z4MC is a bit fidgety on rough roads (although I've got used to it after 85k miles), so you either have to speed up, stay on smoother roads or put some aftermarket springs/dampers on.
Did you good friend not mention the 'terrible' ride, or did he just get used to it too?
We have some crap roads near me.....Especially the B roads,but the suspension is all a compromise on the Z4..
You cant have a lot of travel because of design,but if springs are all you need i would fit a set of aftermarket ones..Eibach or H&R.....
They are a lot more compliant than OEM springs......If you want to get more than that the go for coilovers...KW's are the usual weapon of choice.
Just remember.....They dynamics of the Z4 will never make it ride comfortably....Its a very small sports car,you sit on the diff and the spring lengths are tiny....
You cant have a lot of travel because of design,but if springs are all you need i would fit a set of aftermarket ones..Eibach or H&R.....
They are a lot more compliant than OEM springs......If you want to get more than that the go for coilovers...KW's are the usual weapon of choice.
Just remember.....They dynamics of the Z4 will never make it ride comfortably....Its a very small sports car,you sit on the diff and the spring lengths are tiny....
plowy said:
The OEM suspension is simply "all wrong". The rear is way too stiff and the front is way too soft. I knew this before I bought my Z4MC and I planned and budgetted on fitting aftermarket suspension as soon as I got the car. I now have AC Schnitzer Racing suspension and it has transformed the car and it is superb at all speeds on rural twisties and on track. Sorted.
