2007 x5 very harsh ride

[leafsrule531]

I have a 2007 e70 x5 3.0 with 3rd row seating. The car doesn’t have air suspension. I just recently did a whole suspension revamp in the hopes that my ride would get smoother / softer. This includes Sachs shocks and struts, new bump stops, strut mounts, control arms, end links for the front and I even got rid of the run flat tires and put regular Michelin tires.

Now I do admit that I live in NJ and a do lot of driving in NY and the roads are horrible. But I cannot come to terms with the fact that Bmw made this suv so harsh from the factory. The car does have 140k miles on it but I would’ve thought that after doing a suspension revamp the car would’ve been driving like new. It’s not even enjoyable to drive this car with passengers in the back. It’s to the point where some people in the back feel nauseous at how bumpy the ride is with almost no give up on the ride. I’ve driven Bmws all my life and also own an e46 m3, 330ci, e90 with sport suspension so I know that these cars are built to be sporty and a focus on handling. But the x5 just has a horrible ride - there is no smoothness in the car at all.

I wanted to get others opinions on this ? Does everyone’s x5 with no air suspension drive this harsh ? Have I missed anything that I should replace that would improve this ?

Should I just get rid of the car Ans get a Lexus ? I really don’t want to do this since I’ve spent so much money on maintenance already on this car.

Would love to get any advice or feed back!


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[andrewwynn]

What tires are you using? If you don't need powerful cornering it was a huge difference when we used 235/65/17 on my wife's e53. Vs. The 255/55/18 we usually had. Type of tire also matters since run on flats often have a stiffer sidewall making for stiffer ride.

[leafsrule531]

I got rid of the run flats and started using Michelin Pilots 18 inch.... definitely helped but ride is still pretty harsh and very bumpy


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[leafsrule531]

I just wouldnt expect a premium suv to be driving like this. It drives like a uhaul truck.


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[andrewwynn]

Have you driven somebody else's? With no control it's difficult to figure out if it's a problem with your car. my suspicion is your suspension refresh is largely at fault as most suspension upgrades are to improve handling and that means faster shocks that won't allow the springs to absorb the road bumps and holes.

Difficult to do for the front but you can test that theory by removing the rear shocks and going for a test drive. It'll for sure be "bouncy" but you'll know immediately if the shocks were causing the rough ride (very often the case).

You can get much softer shocks.

The truck weighs close to 6000# laws of physics are on your side to smooth things out.

I noticed on my e53 is says to use 32 psi all corners but 39 in back of loaded. The e70 only says 41 back no low load and I suspect because of the 3rd row.

If you don't usually use 3rd row, you can likely use less pressure in the back to get a softer ride.

Then there is the queasy back seater situation: that often has more to do with iPhone use than bumpy rides.

[byaru1]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

If you don't usually use 3rd row, you can likely use less pressure in the back to get a softer ride.

Then there is the queasy back seater situation: that often has more to do with iPhone use than bumpy rides.

I had the same rage when I got my 7-seater E70 2007 3.0si with sports suspension.

1st off, the sports suspension versions will always be stiffer than those without. Second, all 7-seat E70s have air at the rear, perhaps yours was modified by previous owner to coils?

To improve the ride on mine, I ditched the runflats (this improved the ride just a bit) and then played with reduced tyre pressures. The tyre pressure option works magic. I use 2 bar all round.

[leafsrule531]

Originally Posted by byaru1

I had the same rage when I got my 7-seater E70 2007 3.0si with sports suspension.

1st off, the sports suspension versions will always be stiffer than those without. Second, all 7-seat E70s have air at the rear, perhaps yours was modified by previous owner to coils?

To improve the ride on mine, I ditched the runflats (this improved the ride just a bit) and then played with reduced tyre pressures. The tyre pressure option works magic. I use 2 bar all round.

So my understanding is that the 7 seater x5 has self leveling suspension which is the “air suspension” that people talk about and there are airbags that keep the car up. That being said I just changed the shocks and struts in my x5 and the shocks are still a regular shock absorber as shown in the picture below. These are regular shocks and I don’t think this was modified … but I could be wrong ?

That being said I am running on 30 psi and I’m running 17 inch rims with Michelin latitude tour tires which are non run flats.

Car still drives a bit harsh and really uncomfortable in NYC roads especially in the back seats…. I guess my gripe is that it doesn’t really drive like a “luxury suv” but it’s good to know that others struggle with the same issue.


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[byaru1]

Originally Posted by leafsrule531

So my understanding is that the 7 seater x5 has self leveling suspension which is the “air suspension” that people talk about and there are airbags that keep the car up.

Correct.

That being said I am running on 30 psi and I’m running 17 inch rims with Michelin latitude tour tires which are non run flats.

I did not think there were 17" rim options for the E70. I thought 18" was actually the minimum. Are they OEM?

Car still drives a bit harsh and really uncomfortable in NYC roads especially in the back seats…. I guess my gripe is that it doesn’t really drive like a “luxury suv” but it’s good to know that others struggle with the same issue.

Well, like I said, it's the sports suspension version. So it is always going to be a little stiffer. I drove one without sports suspension option and it was indeed much less harsher at 30psi, in fact not harsh at all.

I have sometimes used 25psi and the ride did improve even more. But with large family always in tow, I'm more at peace with 30psi.

[leafsrule531]

The shocks that I used to replace are OEM shocks from sachs that I bought from Fcp. I heard great things about them and would’ve thought that they would give me the softest ride. Is that not true ? Maybe I’ll try to play around with the tire pressure and see if that improves anything.


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[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by leafsrule531

The shocks that I used to replace are OEM shocks from sachs that I bought from Fcp. I heard great things about them and would’ve thought that they would give me the softest ride. Is that not true ? Maybe I’ll try to play around with the tire pressure and see if that improves anything.

The E70 is the hardest riding of the X5 chassis we have: E53, E70, and F15. The E70 has the harshest ride (we don't mind this, we prefer stiff suspensions) and the stiffest steering. It's even harsher than the E53 on coil overs. There were many complaints from E70 shoppers and buyers when it was new about how stiff the suspension was.

You might be better served switching to the Lexus or a newer X5 (the F15 is much more compliant, and sporty if equipped with the adaptive suspension) if you are after something that "soaks" up poor road conditions rather than bouncing over them.

As a side note, I thought all the E70's with third row option had air bags in the rear?