[Jasnb]

Recently picked up a '11 328i xDrive Wagon. Had twins and had to downgrade from my previous ride, an X5 M Sport. I'm ok with it . . . less power from the engine but I like the look.

After a few weeks of regular drives, I realized that the wagon feels heavier than my X5!

One of my pain points is the steering. It feels ten times heavier than my X5 - almost to a point I want to believe my power steering might be fried! I've read reviews on the steering being heavy but a bit surprised it would differ this much. Even my current X3 steering feels like a feather in comparison.

The other strange thing is the suspension. I bought a set of 18" 193 style rims to replace the 17" 187 style donuts it came with. On my truck I had the 20" upgrades with the M Sport suspension so I'm used to the 'road run' but with this wagon's softer suspension, it almost feels dangerous as the road run feeling is delayed by the soft suspension and almost 'jiggles' the car resulting in a feeling of over-correction.

So looking for advice as I'm new to turning. Wondering if it's possible to swap out the suspension on this with an M Sport sedan suspension? The wagon is a pig in cornering - not expecting the total M feel or looking to lower the car as I plan to throw some 19" on in the future, but I just to tighten things up a bit.

Where do I start?

[edeag3]

The suspension is really very heavy and that's normal. I can measure it in pounds for you on my '08 328xi if you want to make sure.

Instead of doing M sport suspension which is expensive, why don't you just put Bilstein HDs and keep the stock springs? Turner has those for under 700 bucks for the 4. Lowering the family wagon (especially a 328) doesn't serve much purpose and IMHO will reduce functionality.