[mschene]

My 2011 E93 seems to have more body roll in cornering than I was expecting. I know I can throw some H&R or Eibach springs under it to stiffen up the corners a bit.

But my issues with that are:

1. I will then need to replace the factory struts/shocks as well (or do coil-overs which are out of budget for now)
2. It will lower the car more than I want

So the questions are:

1. Are upgraded sway bars worth the price if I am not going to do springs/dampers at this point?
2. Is there something else I can do to counter-act the roll in cornering (other than slowing down)?

[iDriveanXi]

What about OEM sport springs with Koni yellows?

[cpie168]

How will the koni yellows impact ride comfort?

[cdgatti]

The e93 m3 front sway bar could be a decent upgrade now, then when you upgrade the struts/shocks you could do bilsteins or konis.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Rear sway bar and stiffer bushings will probably make the most difference without lowering the ride at all. I can't speak for shocks or struts or any lowering techniques because I would never lower a convertible- plain and simple. I also have an M-sport with sport package so perhaps that helps too.

A front sway bar is probably the best choice along with the rear sway bar but it's quite a bit more money to put in due to more labor.

I run a rear sway bar only and Dinan bushings and I do quite well with my convertible.

That said, I also have mono-ball control arms for a nice steering feel and an LSD

[avocet]

E93's all seem to be on sport springs to begin with... looks perfect to me

Throw some quality dampers (koni/bils) and be happy!

Down the road you can determine what more, if any you want.

P.S. I did bils.

[Cloud9blue]

Do not upgrading rear sway bar without dealing with the rest of the suspension first... For a properly setup RWD car, you really don't need a rear sway at all...

Cheapest upgrade you can do is to use a E93 front sway and drill out the alignment pin for max. neg. camber up front. This should be noticeably improve the car's roll rate in corners.

Fyi, you can also use the BMW performance spring (which offers a very mild drop), and pair it with either the performance shocks or Koni yellow. If you want more direct handling and power delivery, you can change the front control arms to those of M3. For a 320d, the rear subframe bushing and rear control arms upgrade might not be necessary considering how underpowered the car is.

[Rick328]

Someone can correct me if Im wrong but I think all convertible cars are more prone to body roll since the frame of the car is less stiff from lacking all the superior part of the frame (top, A-B-C pillars). Sway bars could really help here.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Convertibles have about 400 lbs of extra reinforcement because of the retractable hardtop, including pop up anti roll bars in the event the worst should happen with the top down.

I got the extras to help with the handling, and believe me, it does.

[Dalko43]

Try some HPDE or track instructor lessons maybe? Even with the body roll that you observe, are you even getting the maximum performance out of this car?

[mschene]

Exactly. The car is low enough as it is. Just want to stiffen it up a bit!
I will look at the Koni Yellows and the sway bars to start.

Thanks for the inputs!

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

...because I would never lower a convertible- plain and simple.

[mschene]

Probably. I consistently run ~9m30sec BTG times at the Nordschleif in a rented (albeit race prepped) Scirocco. I know what I am doing and I know what the limits of this car are. That said, I know this is a car that I will never track. I just don't want to feel so much roll into the roundabouts, etc.

Originally Posted by Dalko43

...Even with the body roll that you observe, are you even getting the maximum performance out of this car?

[cpie168]

Speaking of body roll, does anyone know from experience how much of a ride comfort hit one would take by installing a thick front sway bar, say one from a E93 M3?

[snayko]

You can improve handling by means of using good sport tires, lighter wheels (so you will improve unsprung weight)