[dankatz]

I have a 2009 335xi with stock non-sports suspension. It only has 76k miles and I already replaced suspension parts 2 or 3 years ago. I have owned it since 2012. I drive in Boston where there are terrible pot holes. My current tires are Bridgestone DriveGuard RFT tires 225/45/17. I am almost ready to sell my car and get a new GTI just to get rid of the harsh impact. I look for potholes to avoid. It is better than it used to be on the original continentals. I have a dedicated winter setup which is softer since they are not RFT. Any known fix? Should I switch out of RFT tires? Any known suspension improvements to soften the ride? I love my montego blue manual car and will likely not be able to get a similar old school BMW in a similar condition, but the ride is killing me. Thanks for advise.

[tcphoto]

What is the condition of your shocks, struts, bushings and springs? I switched my RunFlats for PS4S and wonder why BMW thought that it was an improvement, is it so difficult to carry a spare, road hazard kit or roadside service?

[dankatz]

I replaced 4 struts a couple of years ago. It was a marked improvement - likely I was overdue for the change. But the roads are just terrible. Your suggest just ditching the RFT's? They are only half way through their tread since I also use dedicated snows and generally don't drive a ton. I'll take it to our mechanic and see what he suggests. It's a dedicated German performance car place and they know their stuff as well.

[ny325]

I’m ditching my OEM runflats. Going with Michelin AS Pilot Sport. My friend who is a Bmw foreman recommended them. I actually rode in a M3 that had them on. Difference is night and day. And half the cost, longer tread wear.

[dankatz]

Originally Posted by ny325

I’m ditching my OEM runflats. Going with Michelin AS Pilot Sport. My friend who is a Bmw foreman recommended them. I actually rode in a M3 that had them on. Difference is night and day. And half the cost, longer tread wear.

That's what I am considering as well. Just read on the tirerack and they got awesome reviews.

[floydarogers]

Originally Posted by ny325

I’m ditching my OEM runflats. Going with Michelin AS Pilot Sport. My friend who is a Bmw foreman recommended them. I actually rode in a M3 that had them on. Difference is night and day. And half the cost, longer tread wear.

Originally Posted by dankatz

That's what I am considering as well. Just read on the tirerack and they got awesome reviews.

I've been running the PS2 ZP for 10 years on my sport package 335d, but decided to go with the AS/3 because I really don't need the HP tires. It's a needless expense. Before he sold it, my son did the same on his 2007 E92 335i, and reported the same.

I've only driven a limited amount; maybe a bit less impact harshness, maybe a bit quieter, a bit less cornering traction. I can perhaps safely leave them on a bit longer and take them off a bit earlier rather than drive on my winter set.

The price can't be beat at Costco, btw. They come in around $10 less per tire than tires.com (discount tire) or tirerack.com, due to the cheaper mount/balance/stuff.

[CTinline-six]

Ditch the run flats, they ride like garbage. It was the first thing I did when I bought my 328i. Even with 16" wheels and lots of sidewall I noticed a huge difference between the run flats and regular tires.

[Bobh59]

Originally Posted by dankatz

I have a 2009 335xi with stock non-sports suspension. It only has 76k miles and I already replaced suspension parts 2 or 3 years ago. I have owned it since 2012. I drive in Boston where there are terrible pot holes. My current tires are Bridgestone DriveGuard RFT tires 225/45/17. I am almost ready to sell my car and get a new GTI just to get rid of the harsh impact. I look for potholes to avoid. It is better than it used to be on the original continentals. I have a dedicated winter setup which is softer since they are not RFT. Any known fix? Should I switch out of RFT tires? Any known suspension improvements to soften the ride? I love my montego blue manual car and will likely not be able to get a similar old school BMW in a similar condition, but the ride is killing me. Thanks for advise.

I had the exact situation with my 2008 335xi a few years ago and mine only had 38k miles at the time. Loved the car but the ride was unacceptable to the point where I was going to get another vehicle if that couldn't be addressed.

First I replaced the original Contis with Driveguard's which was an improvement, but nowhere near enough and made it clear that this was much more than a tire issue. So I started looking into suspension upgrades and decided to go with a Dinan Stage 1 - Dinan springs, Koni Yellows (adjustable), supplemental ride/handling kit and all new mounting bits.

This made a huge difference and really transformed the car - better handling, less dive/squat and a greatly improved ride. And I suspect there would be some additional improvements if you ditched the rft's but they work fine for me.

I ordered everything from Chris at StrutMonkey who was extremely helpful and is also a fellow enthusiast.

[tlow98]

ditch the runflats first. upgrade the shocks to higher quality dual tube untis, a la, Koni.

[jt335i]

As what everyone else mentioned, get rid of those RFTs.

Bought my 2010 E92 335i brand new. I ditched the OEM RFTs when it was time to replace them and never went back. Had my ride for 9 years, 8 months, and 114,500+ miles now and since the day I replaced those OEM RFTs, I’ve gone thru 2 sets of non-RFT Michelin PSSs and now have the new PS 4S. Never had issues with the PSSs or the PS 4Ss and they ride/handle much better and grip very well on wet and dry roads. I have also have a 2005 Mustang GT and currently have the PS A/S 3+. Great tires too! They’re just about worn out so I’m getting ready to replace them with the same A/S 3+ very soon.
The Michelin PSSs and Continental DSWs, were recommended by a good friend who’s a professional race car driver and who also owned a 2008 heavily modded M5 with the PSSs, so, I went with Michelin since I’ve used that brand on other vehicles I own and previously owned.

Whatever you decide, its non-RFTs or nothing.

[mecheng77]

I second the ditch the RFT; I couldn't be anymore happier that I did and got rid of the ugly 16" rims for 17". Car handles and rides so much better on Pirelli P7 and they are just all seasons, once they are worn I will switch to summer tires.

Sell your RFT, thats what I did on Kijiji, they are expensive so ppl look for used tires.

[type-dRew]

You're concerned with ride but purposely have run flats on the car?

Yeah, trash those. Start there.

Standard, sport, m sport for xdrive. All the same suspension, they all ride the same. Poorly. I have new Bilstein B4 all around, bushings are fine, run flats. Ride is crap.

[drawz]

Fellow Boston area resident here. The only way to fully address this issue is to move IMO, but I realize that may not be an option (or so says my wife). Still on RFTs here. Recently replaced rear shocks with Koni Special Active and noticed a significant difference. Front struts are waiting to go in and I'm hopeful that will do the trick. Make sure you replace all the mounts, bump stops, etc. while you're in there. Mine are toast at 80k miles.

Having ridden in newer 3 series cars, it is possible to have RFT and reasonable ride quality. I'm sure ditching the RFTs makes a big difference too.

[ppointer]

Like most other posters, I suggest ditching the run flats. I just added an e91 to the garage and it came with run flats -- has all the harshness that my e90 did when I bought it with run flats as CPO. I have three other BMWs that are running some model of non-run flat Michelin (AS3 or regular Pilot Sports); the transformation of the ride from run flats to conventional tires cannot be understated. With my e90, I probably would not have kept it if run flats were my only option. The e91 will get conventional AS3's next month.

[dankatz]

Originally Posted by drawz

Fellow Boston area resident here. The only way to fully address this issue is to move IMO, but I realize that may not be an option (or so says my wife). Still on RFTs here. Recently replaced rear shocks with Koni Special Active and noticed a significant difference. Front struts are waiting to go in and I'm hopeful that will do the trick. Make sure you replace all the mounts, bump stops, etc. while you're in there. Mine are toast at 80k miles.

Having ridden in newer 3 series cars, it is possible to have RFT and reasonable ride quality. I'm sure ditching the RFTs makes a big difference too.

Haha - tried that. She said no to moving. :-)

I'm also in Newton, Chestnut Hill to be exact. Seems like the consensus is to ditch the RFT tires. I do have winter tires on wheels that I picked up last year so will see how much of an improvement these will be. If it's marked, I will just get some non run flats.

[M40i4me]

I put Michelin premier run flats on mine about 20,000 miles ago and immediately noticed the difference from the OEM Continentals i was driving on. No more pot hole explosions.

[drawz]

Originally Posted by dankatz

Haha - tried that. She said no to moving. :-)

I'm also in Newton, Chestnut Hill to be exact. Seems like the consensus is to ditch the RFT tires. I do have winter tires on wheels that I picked up last year so will see how much of an improvement these will be. If it's marked, I will just get some non run flats.

Hi neighbor! Auburndale here.

Keeping the RFTs for my wife's benefit too. I'd really love to swap them out, but I like knowing that she won't be stuck somewhere shady or in bad weather with the kids and a flat tire (with no spare).

[dpaul]

Brookline native here, with a 335xi. The AWD front suspension is very different than the RWD so pay particular attention to those who are reporting about their experiences with AWD.

Sorry to say that swapping out run flats (from 17" OEM to 18" square Conti DW) did not eliminate pothole explosions for me. It might have made it a little better but not much.

What really worked was to get rid of the awful, awful struts (which only had 46K miles on them at the time and were definitely not leaking or damaged in any obvious way).

I first tried Koni FSB with stock springs, which made a more noticeable improvement than non-RFT tires, although the pothole issue was still far from perfect. What really did the trick was KW V1 coilovers. You might think that coilover installation would increase ride harshness but my experience was that both ride quality and the ability to handle potholes improved immensely with the KW's. It is hard to overstate just how big a difference it made.

Full disclosure, by that time I'd upgraded to 19" staggered Conti DW but I hardly think that would improve the ride since the sidewall is so much shorter. Also, for the record, I tried Fortune 500 coilovers before the KW V1's - they were sprung way too stiffly for the street and I couldn't stand them.

[type-dRew]

Originally Posted by drawz

Hi neighbor! Auburndale here.

Keeping the RFTs for my wife's benefit too. I'd really love to swap them out, but I like knowing that she won't be stuck somewhere shady or in bad weather with the kids and a flat tire (with no spare).

The only tire problems I have ever had in my 17 years of driving were on run flat tires.

I've driven standard tires with sidewall bubbles to a repair shop, both cars ive had with run flat tires i've had a impact hard enough that the tire stayed in one piece but it obliterated the wheel into pieces and the car couldn't be driven.

They are zero help in the real world unless you cant be bothered to have a nail or screw repaired same day ,not worth the trade off

[dankatz]

cross post from another thread. drawz
I am thinking of ordering the Koni special active shocks and struts as well as the Michelin Pilot sport all season 4 from the tirerack. After 8 years I am fed up with my car. Its a 2009 335xi with manual and in a beautiful blue color. I only have 79k miles as I usually ride my motorcycle to work. I am so fed up with the ride comfort of the car over the terrible Boston roads that I had enough! I have switched the suspension around 60k miles at Firestone (didn't know better) and the stock tires to Bridgestone driveguard RFT. There was improvement but still, wife's GTI's ride was better. I love everything else about the car - the heavy and direct old school steering, manual transmission, handling, braking, etc...

Any feedback? How much should it cost to install the tires and suspension bits approximately? Anybody from the Boston area can recommend a shop for this?

Thanks!

[drawz]

Originally Posted by dankatz

cross post from another thread. drawz
I am thinking of ordering the Koni special active shocks and struts as well as the Michelin Pilot sport all season 4 from the tirerack. After 8 years I am fed up with my car. Its a 2009 335xi with manual and in a beautiful blue color. I only have 79k miles as I usually ride my motorcycle to work. I am so fed up with the ride comfort of the car over the terrible Boston roads that I had enough! I have switched the suspension around 60k miles at Firestone (didn't know better) and the stock tires to Bridgestone driveguard RFT. There was improvement but still, wife's GTI's ride was better. I love everything else about the car - the heavy and direct old school steering, manual transmission, handling, braking, etc...

Any feedback? How much should it cost to install the tires and suspension bits approximately? Anybody from the Boston area can recommend a shop for this?

Thanks!

I know this is late, but I'm just seeing this so hopefully it's still relevant. I would say the Koni Special Active (formerly known as FSD) make it feel like a much newer car - a lot like the loaner F30 that I got at some point. The rear shocks were completely blown and leaking fluid on our car at about 80k miles. The fronts struts themselves were in better shape, but had a broken spring and collapsed mounts, which obviously didn't help. Also did new strut/shock mounts, bump stops, etc. all around. Also make sure your control arm bushings are in good shape too.

For a shop, I highly recommend Eurotech Motorsports in Natick. It's a short drive, but worth it for the level of service and pricing. There's a commuter rail station right there if you need to get home and back. I think he quoted me $300-400 labor for a suspension install, which is very reasonable. I ended up doing it myself because I like working on the car. If you want to try DIY, I have a good spring compressor with an adapter plate that goes over the strut mount, which really helps on the xi struts.

[dankatz]

Originally Posted by drawz

I know this is late, but I'm just seeing this so hopefully it's still relevant. I would say the Koni Special Active (formerly known as FSD) make it feel like a much newer car - a lot like the loaner F30 that I got at some point. The rear shocks were completely blown and leaking fluid on our car at about 80k miles. The fronts struts themselves were in better shape, but had a broken spring and collapsed mounts, which obviously didn't help. Also did new strut/shock mounts, bump stops, etc. all around. Also make sure your control arm bushings are in good shape too.

For a shop, I highly recommend Eurotech Motorsports in Natick. It's a short drive, but worth it for the level of service and pricing. There's a commuter rail station right there if you need to get home and back. I think he quoted me $300-400 labor for a suspension install, which is very reasonable. I ended up doing it myself because I like working on the car. If you want to try DIY, I have a good spring compressor with an adapter plate that goes over the strut mount, which really helps on the xi struts.

Hi, thanks for your response. I took the car a couple of weeks ago to German Performance Services. They also mounted 4 new snow tires on separate wheels for me and did all the work on the car: koni active shocks, bump stops and a bunch of other suspension parts. Cost a ton, but boy was it worth it! The car drives better than it ever drove in the 8 years I have owned it! I love the ride. I'll see when spring comes about keeping the Bridgestone Driveguard or switching to non run flat tires. I don't need to replace them, but will get a more comfortable ride as well as better performance out of non run flat tires.