Sway Bar Upgrade

[PropellerHead]

I still think we give the engineers way too much credit here. The engineers challenge is far from building the ultimate driving machine as enthusiasts would see it. Their challenge is to try to balance what they know they can do against the profitability of the product line and ultimately the company given the near term maintenance costs that BMW is giving away.

In mainline companies, the only cars built by engineers and design are concepts. Once the bean counters get involved the above mentioned compromise comes in to make the thing cost less than $5M. If it weren't for them, the i8 would be in hand built mass production now. And it would cost $5M. <-- sarcasm.

[civdiv99]

I kinda figured this would take off when I saw a general "engineers know best" slant developing.

But ya know, at the end of the day, the OP's ride is still a 6+ year old car that he wants to change the feel of. We don't have the next manned mission to Mars here.

As someone who personally doesn't think it's a big deal to play around with the products we buy and enjoy, I hope the OP takes a shot, puts some aftermarket goodies on, and tells us all what he thinks.

Sway bars be way up on the list of easily "reversible" mods if ya change yer mind.

Oh, and based on some of what I personally think are overly "creative," features such as all the various modes, iterations, wake ups, and stuff that just the self-leveling system has - - - well I personally think some of them engineers coulda used an extra girlfriend or 3 at certain key design moments. We might have less "Self-Level Inact" messages flying around.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by JWMich

I think the actual info value in this thread is probably the idea to give thicker rears a try first and see whether that feels better than the designed-in understeer.

By the way, I saw a rear Eibach bar for sale in the classifieds for $100. Not a bad price and easy to take off.

Of course.. this only if you know how to drive.

[SlickGT1]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

By the way, I saw a rear Eibach bar for sale in the classifieds for $100. Not a bad price and easy to take off.

Of course.. this only if you know how to drive.

lol. the knowing how to drive part from me is for the mentality that people get when they put on a sway. Oh shit my car is like on rails now. Supper dupper handler from nowhere. Yea yea, sure, the truck is the shit now. Problem is that rails don't have bumps.

How about trying a set of high performance tires first?

On my list of bullshit, Sways on road cars are a notch above drilled and slotted rotors.

I road race without sways. I have been able to accomplish my desired handling characteristics without sticking in a bar.

And the whole engineering thing needs more clarification. The car was made for sway with flex "X", components that connect sways to car have strength "Y". Like those bolts that hold the bottom plate, and the end-links. How about the endlink mounting points? How about every other suspension component that is now functioning in a different plane.

Now you are going to stick in a bar that has flex "Z". What are you doing to the other components? Again, pray for smooth roads, because when that person comes on here and says I searched, but my rattle is like nothing else on here, don't forget about those sways.

Engineering does not mean we are talking about just the one part. We are talking about all the parts working together. You guys seem to be hung up on the engineering point of a single component, when in fact you are effecting a lot of them with a "simple" sway bar upgrade.

Yes there is retarded shit on these cars that are beyond my comprehension. It made sense somewhere, to someone, at some point.

This is just my advice. Everyone with more apparent experience who thinks otherwise are welcome to try it out. Yes it will make your car have less lean. Just keep us updated on how you like it, and what effect has it had on other parts.

And for $100, it doesn't seem to be too pricey to try out. I mean how much are those rear control arms, $700 a piece.

I dunno, your wallet, your car.

[SkidmarkX5]

Originally Posted by hoaesq

hmm . . . both good points. Lump me in with Sally and Sam. I'm not too concern about ride quality. Any upgrade is going to give the vehicle a firmer ride. If I wanted a "softer" ride, I'd go with the stock sport suspension I have now.

Ultimately, it's a personal decision and somewhat safety issue as well (assuming I drive in snow and sand). My bad boy will only see the street so sways may be the next upgrade but for now I'm going with the firmer strust up front and lower springs and OEM for the rear since I can't seem to find any vendor that carries HD shocks that will work with the rear air suspension.

Found'Em! Got mine from Schmeidman. ~$135ea. +shipping.
Mine has the auto-leveling rear suspension only. These were the ONLY source I could find. And, surprise, they are Bilsteins. Oh Yeah!

Schmiedmann - Shock absorbers/springs and accessories for BMW X5 (E53) - New parts - page 3

Enjoy...

[semcoinc]

I just added the 23.5mm factory Sport rear bar to replace my factory 22mm rear bar and experienced noticeably reduced roll and flatter cornering.

Got the bar for $90 off ebay and IMHO, a great reduction in roll.

Also just put all 4 rebuilt bags and front struts on and will soon add the PowerFlex polyurethane bushings. I enjoy a flatter cornering vehicle but don't drive it aggressively.

A lifetime ago I did experience first hand what happens when you "over bar" a Datsun 280Z (in addition to stiffer springs and shocks) in the I71 curve in Downtown Cleveland. Fortunately, I was out in front of the traffic pack when I did a 360* spin out landing me on the right side shoulder

I won't be doing that with the X!

Mike

[Joshdub]

Nice! I went from a sport bar to an eibach rear bar. I didn't notice much of an improvement. The sport bar is much cheaper.

[semcoinc]

I just installed the Powerflex polyurethane bushings on my front (29mm) and rear (23.5mm) sway bars.

Very noticeable improvement in anti-roll.

Also have them on my E46/330Xi.

I'm a fan!

Mike

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by Joshdub

Nice! I went from a sport bar to an eibach rear bar. I didn't notice much of an improvement. The sport bar is much cheaper.

In my E39, I first did the rear adjustable. It made the back more tail happy- which was fun but made rain an interesting time. I added the front bar to the E39 later. After I did that, I could adjust the rear to the most stiff setting with no trouble. It was still tail happy, but I had to put effort into upsetting the new balance between front and rear. Turn in was where I noticed it most.

On the two E53's, I did all four bars at once so I can't comment on the difference. But I would suggest that you might find a nice balance when upgrading the front bar on yours.

[Joshdub]

Thanks. I have been keeping my eyes open for a good deal on a front bar. I am also waiting to see how the car feels after I finish my suspension refresh. The body roll may be just fine with the coilovers.