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[jeddo45]

Hi all

Like the title states, my suspension and tires are due pretty soon here. My question is simple, what suspension is the best paired with run flat tires, and what is the best suspension paired non- run flat tires? I know most of you do not like RFTs, however I like the peace of mind but my ride is a little bit on the bumpy side right now with stock suspension and RFT's.

I'm not counting out the idea of non-RFT's either. I'm looking for a quiet, comfortable ride.

Not trying to start an argument. Your opinions are more than welcome. Thanks.

[Lshaw]

Originally Posted by jeddo45

Hi all

Like the title states, my suspension and tires are due pretty soon here. My question is simple, what suspension is the best paired with run flat tires, and what is the best suspension paired non- run flat tires? I know most of you do not like RFTs, however I like the peace of mind but my ride is a little bit on the bumpy side right now with stock suspension and RFT's.

I'm not counting out the idea of non-RFT's either. I'm looking for a quiet, comfortable ride.

Not trying to start an argument. Your opinions are more than welcome. Thanks.

No matter what suspension route you choose. Ditching the run flats will give you a more comfortable ride.

I understand your peace of mind aspect, but for me I have AAA.

[jeddo45]

Originally Posted by Lshaw

No matter what suspension route you choose. Ditching the run flats will give you a more comfortable ride.

I understand your peace of mind aspect, but for me I have AAA.

Fair enough. What suspension with non- RFT's would give the best comfortable ride? I heard that the stock suspension feels mushy rather than comfortable, so not sure if thats the best option...

[Lshaw]

Originally Posted by jeddo45

Fair enough. What suspension with non- RFT's would give the best comfortable ride? I heard that the stock suspension feels mushy rather than comfortable, so not sure if thats the best option...

What are your goals other than comfort?

[jeddo45]

Not much. Just a comfortable quiet ride. Not looking for anything sporty or crazy.

[calicolorado]

Go with the Bilstein B12 ProKit. Make sure you select the correct part number for your car, the spring rates differ a little for the different E90 configurations. It is, in my experience, the best overall performance/ride option. It drops the car a little (1.25-1.5") which improves the appearance as a bonus. I switched to non-run-flats shortly after and the car has a taut, silky ride.

I'm about to buy a set of Bilsteins for another car soon.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by calicolorado

Go with the Bilstein B12 ProKit. Make sure you select the correct part number for your car, the spring rates differ a little for the different E90 configurations. It is, in my experience, the best overall performance/ride option. It drops the car a little (1.25-1.5") which improves the appearance as a bonus. I switched to non-run-flats shortly after and the car has a taut, silky ride.

I'm about to buy a set of Bilsteins for another car soon.

This will not be comfortable. Th b12 kit is based on the monotube dampers whos sole purpose is performance. They may be comfortable to you, but they ride much stiffer than the original equipment, apples to apples.

The only Bilstein damper that's comfortable will be the B4. Other than that, new stock equipment without run flats will be comfortable and responsive.

90% of the owners on here (including myself) never experienced the car as new and would be shocked how good a new oem set up would be.

Just leave out the run flats.

[deadlyrhythm]

I just bought a new set of RFT's. The price always hurts on my e92.

I drive a shitty single lane highway everyday to work, and in one year I had 3 nail punctures. It's a road to a large construction site so my luck will likely never improve.

For the wife's X5, I keep the RFTs too. I really don't want a call at work with a crying wife and a screaming baby in the backseat all bc of a flat tire. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind.

If you don't have situations that will continuously put you in crappy situations with a flat tire, go for it. For me, the balance didn't equate to having non-RFTs

[NitroKing]

To me, the run flats are excellent, ride is great.

Just my opinion...

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by tlow98

This will not be comfortable. Th b12 kit is based on the monotube dampers whos sole purpose is performance. They may be comfortable to you, but they ride much stiffer than the original equipment, apples to apples.

The only Bilstein damper that's comfortable will be the B4. Other than that, new stock equipment without run flats will be comfortable and responsive.

90% of the owners on here (including myself) never experienced the car as new and would be shocked how good a new oem set up would be.

Just leave out the run flats.

Well I can chime in on this, because I've had my car since new (mile 3) and I got rid of the runflats after they wore out at 22,000 miles. The E90 factory suspension is tuned for runflats. BMW's literature and magazine articles at the time of the E90 introduction state so. That said, when I swapped to non-runflats I went to a +1 non staggered set-up. My car has the sport package. I didn't notice any difference in ride quality with my swap other than ultimate grip. I went to an all season ultra high performance tire. The loss of grip was not devastating and the grip was far more than needed for elevated levels of driving on the street. Since then I've switched back to the original 17" staggered sport package wheels without runflats and still there really is no truly noticable difference. On my E86 Z4, I've switched to UHP All Seasons after running the OE runflat Summer tires, and again, other than ultimate grip, there is no change in ride quality.

To the OP. If you bought a 3-series BMW for ride comfort then you bought the wrong car/brand. Comfort is a relative term of course, but BMW 3-series have never been known for it (until the F30). The E90 suspension is designed for a sport sedan and not a Lexus warmed over Camry. Even the non-sport package suspension on the E90 is sports oriented because of the geometry built into it. IMO any BMW without a sport package is pointless to own and not what the Brand was originally produced for.

To qualify my opinion, I drive on most-excellent back country roads every day, the kind of roads BMWs were designed for. And I drive my car like BMW intended. I've had at least 12 different sets of tires on my car, all UHP All Seasons, and there is very little noticable difference between them for street driving. Even elevated levels of street driving.

The answer is choosing a new suspension is really not critical to use of runflats vs. non-runflats.

My 2 cents.

[Ozzie335i]

The green tire goop, along with the mini compressor works fine for emergency flat repair. Contrary to what people say it is not all that hard to clean.

As far as the B12 and comfort, I just bought a set. Will take the car out early next week and report back. I have PSS, and those tires were always a tad floaty with the sport suspension.

[CTinline-six]

I had more issues with the run-flats than any other tire I've ever owned. Bubbles, tire noise, harshness, etc. Terrible tires. The only peace of mind run flats provide is you can drive maybe a mile on a flat tire at 14 mph. That's it. My dad had the same experience with the run flats on his Benz GL450. They got bubbles, and if they went flat you could drive maybe 2 miles at slow speed before they shredded.

Since switching to regular tires I had one nail, and it didn't even deflate the tire enough for it to go flat.

[vladmury]

B12 is not harsh, I had sport suspension and replaced the shocks with bilstein b8, installed M3 subframe bushings, M3 control arms and non rft tires. The setup is great and still comfortable on 18 inch

[jeddo45]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Well I can chime in on this, because I've had my car since new (mile 3) and I got rid of the runflats after they wore out at 22,000 miles. The E90 factory suspension is tuned for runflats. BMW's literature and magazine articles at the time of the E90 introduction state so. That said, when I swapped to non-runflats I went to a +1 non staggered set-up. My car has the sport package. I didn't notice any difference in ride quality with my swap other than ultimate grip. I went to an all season ultra high performance tire. The loss of grip was not devastating and the grip was far more than needed for elevated levels of driving on the street. Since then I've switched back to the original 17" staggered sport package wheels without runflats and still there really is no truly noticable difference. On my E86 Z4, I've switched to UHP All Seasons after running the OE runflat Summer tires, and again, other than ultimate grip, there is no change in ride quality.

To the OP. If you bought a 3-series BMW for ride comfort then you bought the wrong car/brand. Comfort is a relative term of course, but BMW 3-series have never been known for it (until the F30). The E90 suspension is designed for a sport sedan and not a Lexus warmed over Camry. Even the non-sport package suspension on the E90 is sports oriented because of the geometry built into it. IMO any BMW without a sport package is pointless to own and not what the Brand was originally produced for.

To qualify my opinion, I drive on most-excellent back country roads every day, the kind of roads BMWs were designed for. And I drive my car like BMW intended. I've had at least 12 different sets of tires on my car, all UHP All Seasons, and there is very little noticable difference between them for street driving. Even elevated levels of street driving.

The answer is choosing a new suspension is really not critical to use of runflats vs. non-runflats.

My 2 cents.

This is extremely insightful. What specific suspension would you recommend based on the points you brought forward?

[TemjinX2]

if you live in a major city...ditch the run flats. The chances you getting a flat is low and if you have AAA or something they usually can show up within 30min.

Also performance summer tires are still cheaper then run flats so you save money and get a more comfortable ride.

I would start there before you start changing the suspension. I would just stick with the stock suspension if your looking for comfort, maybe replace the shocks if your over 80k.

[maddmatth]

If you dump runflats, ANY suspension will give you a much better ride that what you have now.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by jeddo45

This is extremely insightful. What specific suspension would you recommend based on the points you brought forward?

Funny you should ask because I'm going through the same decision process right now. My car has 332,000 miles on it and I replaced the dampers (shocks) at 182,000 with BMW original sport suspension parts in July 2012. Back in December 2010 BMW was having a fire sale on the suspension kit that converted a non-sport suspension to sport (which were just factory parts for my car) for $150, so I bought that kit and about 18 months later redid my suspension. Now at 332,000 I'm ready for a 2nd rebuild. I have done a Bilstein/H&R suspension on my Wife's Z3, which I absolutely love. I may go that way with the E90.

Based on my research, the consensus is the Bilstein B12 Kit is a good upgrade. All I can say is I've switched to bilstein on two of my BMWs (my E30 and the Z3) and was quite happy with the outcome. IMO you can't go wrong with a suspension that has Bilsteins in it.

Regarding runflats, I don't see much of a point to them. When I swapped to 18" wheels the sidewall ratio drops 5%, which gets pretty short on a 225 tire. One time I hit road debris that put a hole in right rear tire, about 25 miles out from my house. It was just after midnight Christmas morning, cold, and my wife was 3-sheets to the wind. Out where I live there is no traffic and spotty cell service, so the chances of getting help was thin. The chances of a state trooper coming to aid was good, which was the last thing I wanted with the Wife juiced up, so I decided to drive home on it. The tire was a Yokohama ADVIN UHP All Season with an "XL" load rating. The tire got me home safely without any drama (it was at 0 pressure). When you get to 35%/40% sidewall heights and an XL load rating, tires have pretty robust sidewalls close to a runflat at a far better price. I just run with a Continental flat repair kit (compressor and goop) and I keep a plug kit in the trunk too. I've had to use the compressor once (not with the goop).

Good luck with the decision.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Well I can chime in on this, because I've had my car since new (mile 3) and I got rid of the runflats after they wore out at 22,000 miles. The E90 factory suspension is tuned for runflats. BMW's literature and magazine articles at the time of the E90 introduction state so. That said, when I swapped to non-runflats I went to a +1 non staggered set-up. My car has the sport package. I didn't notice any difference in ride quality with my swap other than ultimate grip. I went to an all season ultra high performance tire. The loss of grip was not devastating and the grip was far more than needed for elevated levels of driving on the street. Since then I've switched back to the original 17" staggered sport package wheels without runflats and still there really is no truly noticable difference. On my E86 Z4, I've switched to UHP All Seasons after running the OE runflat Summer tires, and again, other than ultimate grip, there is no change in ride quality.

To the OP. If you bought a 3-series BMW for ride comfort then you bought the wrong car/brand. Comfort is a relative term of course, but BMW 3-series have never been known for it (until the F30). The E90 suspension is designed for a sport sedan and not a Lexus warmed over Camry. Even the non-sport package suspension on the E90 is sports oriented because of the geometry built into it. IMO any BMW without a sport package is pointless to own and not what the Brand was originally produced for.

To qualify my opinion, I drive on most-excellent back country roads every day, the kind of roads BMWs were designed for. And I drive my car like BMW intended. I've had at least 12 different sets of tires on my car, all UHP All Seasons, and there is very little noticable difference between them for street driving. Even elevated levels of street driving.

The answer is choosing a new suspension is really not critical to use of runflats vs. non-runflats.

My 2 cents.

Interesting! Did you have the new generation of run flats? Recently swapped Conitnental CSCSSSSS(?) (first generation) run flats for Continental DWS on a 328xi and the difference was night and day.

The weird rocking motion at low speeds disappeared and impacts at any speed were lessened considerably.

I know the suspension was "designed" for the run flats but the only indication of that design implementation I see on these cars are the super squishy rear shock mounts and fluid-filled control arms. of course, im sure the spring rates and dampers were adjusted, but ahhhhhh well, anyway, 10 year old platform blah blah.. haha!

Good talks, as ever.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Interesting! Did you have the new generation of run flats? Recently swapped Conitnental CSCSSSSS(?) (first generation) run flats for Continental DWS on a 328xi and the difference was night and day.

The weird rocking motion at low speeds disappeared and impacts at any speed were lessened considerably.

I know the suspension was "designed" for the run flats but the only indication of that design implementation I see on these cars are the super squishy rear shock mounts and fluid-filled control arms. of course, im sure the spring rates and dampers were adjusted, but ahhhhhh well, anyway, 10 year old platform blah blah.. haha!

Good talks, as ever.

It's an '06 325i with sport package, so it had 1st Gen Bridgestone RE050 shoes.

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by tlow98

I know the suspension was "designed" for the run flats but the only indication of that design implementation I see on these cars are the super squishy rear shock mounts and fluid-filled control arms. of course, im sure the spring rates and dampers were adjusted, but ahhhhhh well, anyway, 10 year old platform blah blah.. haha!

I never bought that "we designed the suspension for run flats". When I replaced my RFT's (16" standard wheels) to regular tires, the difference in ride harshness was day and night.

Fluid filled control arms as far as I know were used in previous platforms as well that didn't come with RFTs, or even on similar years but different model BMWs that did come with a spare tire and not RFT.

I had been keeping a tire plug repair kit (Stop and Go pocket kit) but didn't have to use it so far. And the BMW scissors jack package that they sell still.
https://www.stopngo.com/pocket-tire-...ubeless-tires/

If you want you can get full spare tire kit, a bit pricey:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/36112159860/

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Interesting! Did you have the new generation of run flats? Recently swapped Conitnental CSCSSSSS(?) (first generation) run flats for Continental DWS on a 328xi and the difference was night and day.

The weird rocking motion at low speeds disappeared and impacts at any speed were lessened considerably.

I know the suspension was "designed" for the run flats but the only indication of that design implementation I see on these cars are the super squishy rear shock mounts and fluid-filled control arms. of course, im sure the spring rates and dampers were adjusted, but ahhhhhh well, anyway, 10 year old platform blah blah.. haha!

Good talks, as ever.

I agree - the ride of the stock Continentals that came on my '11 was perfectly fine. I have driven the older cars on the older tires and they really were very, very harsh. I ditched the runflats when I wore out the originals and the new Nokian Z-lines ride about the same. They are higher performance tires and have noticeably more grip.

I disagree with Efthreeoh's about these cars needing the sport package. Living in a place where the roads are best described as corrugated, the sport suspension just makes the ride harsher with no real benefit to handling in my opinion. Now the F cars, I do think need the sport package, BMW really did soften the base suspension quite a bit. Or if you live on a racetrack, I guess. And I too very much drive my car like BMW intended, on roads that are quite delightful (other than the surface treatment).

So my opinion is the best suspension is the one that BMW spent millions engineering for the car. The one it came with. New stock parts for the win, either flavor to taste.

[850CSi]

Guys, anyone have any advice they'd be willing to share for a guy with a non-sport E90 with a totally dead suspension?

As with most places in the upper midwest, the roads near me are mostly straight, and riddled with potholes. I live in the city. I run M3 18s and all-season tires for most of the year.

(I've been running non-RFTs for more than a decade now and no plan to switch back)

Just replace my dampers with B4s, keep the OE springs, and call it a day? Or is something like a B12 worth the trade-off in comfort? I want something that will perform well on the highway when I take my car on trips.