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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > Does E90 scrape driveways?



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      07-03-2005, 08:52 PM   #1
mc68386
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Does E90 scrape driveways?

I've got an E90 330 Sport on order, and it just hit me the other day that the E90 might sit a bit lower than our other cars and might scrape on our rather steep driveway. For reference, we have a Ford Probe and an Acura Integra (both stock) which never scrape.

OTOH, my neighbor's Vette scrapes every time he backs out of his driveway (ouch).

Can any E90 (Sport - which I believe rides 10mm lower) owners comment on whether bottoming out on steep entries is an issue?

If it is, I might try to take some precise measurements at the dealer and see if this is a problem.

MC
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      07-03-2005, 09:54 PM   #2
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Mine does on my driveway if I don't slow down to almost a stop before I get on the ramp. There is no problem leaving (the car is much higher in the back). I learned my lesson after scraping it twice (which hurt me more than the car!!) and now I get on the ramp really slowly. It obviously depends on the hight of the car and the slant of the driveway.
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Last edited by silverado; 07-04-2005 at 12:00 AM..
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      07-03-2005, 10:05 PM   #3
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I traded in my Integra for my E90 (no sport package). My driveway had a small lip to the start of it and if anything I think my E90 sits higher than the Integra did. Could be wrong but it definietly doesn't seem lower cause I was more careful in the Integra.
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      07-03-2005, 10:07 PM   #4
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Guys, I know our cars are our brand new babies, but don't be afraid of scrapping coming out of a sidewalk.. it's gonna be at the bottom of the front bumper and really you won't even see it unless you bend down to look on purpose. Unless you have a crappy material aftermarket front lip or something, the stock bumper is made of great material and will only scratch on its surface. Mine scrapes a bit coming out of my sidewalk but I'm used to it now.

Oh and the sport suspension is 15mm lower FYI.
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      07-03-2005, 11:45 PM   #5
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I used to have an Integra, which has a very low front end. It was very easy to scrape in all sorts of entrances including my driveway. I have not yet scraped my 330i Sport Package on anything. Bottom line if the Integra can clear it, the E90 SP will.

BTW - The E90 has very similar dimensions to the Integra 4 door. The chief difference is that the E90 is 4 inches wider.

- Collin
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      07-03-2005, 11:54 PM   #6
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I really scraped on my test drive... I thought I left the front of the car behind! Was sad... but glad it was not my car....Now I know to be carefull.
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      07-04-2005, 03:45 AM   #7
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I also drove an Integra prior to my 330i Sport. So far I have not scraped the 330i but then again I am much more careful in it than I was in the Integra. I did scrape the Integra every so often on parking blocks or driveways.

Can't give you any quantitative feedback though, sorry.
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      07-04-2005, 05:38 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ogrady
Guys, I know our cars are our brand new babies, but don't be afraid of scrapping coming out of a sidewalk.. it's gonna be at the bottom of the front bumper and really you won't even see it unless you bend down to look on purpose. Unless you have a crappy material aftermarket front lip or something, the stock bumper is made of great material and will only scratch on its surface. Mine scrapes a bit coming out of my sidewalk but I'm used to it now.

Oh and the sport suspension is 15mm lower FYI.
I've ripped many front lips off my M3 when driving in San Francisco! Those steep hills aren't front lip friendly!

Reversing at an angle helps a lot
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      07-04-2005, 02:36 PM   #9
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I've never had any trouble with mine scraping, i've gone past one or two steep inclines.

The only thing I had a problem with was the low profile tires
I got too close to a curb and scraped the very edge of the front passenger side rim... Thankfully it was a VERY low curb and only got the very edge of the rim.
Now I know to be more careful when pulling up to a curb to park.
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      07-05-2005, 05:08 PM   #10
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Have you found that the ground clearance causes any other issues while driving, such as scraping when a road dips down low and comes right back up? Here in Lubbock there is no storm drainage, but the city puts low depressions on each side of the road that you have to cross when turning right or left.

Which.. brings me to my next question, does the 3 have "skid plates"? If so are they plastic, or metal?
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      07-05-2005, 06:42 PM   #11
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My friend has an integra, if yours can clear the driveway the E90 should be fine also.
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      07-05-2005, 07:40 PM   #12
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Thanks everyone. I feel much better now.
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      07-05-2005, 11:31 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hades281
Have you found that the ground clearance causes any other issues while driving, such as scraping when a road dips down low and comes right back up? Here in Lubbock there is no storm drainage, but the city puts low depressions on each side of the road that you have to cross when turning right or left.

Which.. brings me to my next question, does the 3 have "skid plates"? If so are they plastic, or metal?
I have just barely scraped the front lip of my E90 330i with sport package when going a tad too fast over a dip in town. I didn't scrape the front lip in my last car on the same dip at the same speed, so there is a bit more overhang than their used to be in the E46 perhaps, but not too bad. I am not low enough to scrape parking barriers at all, so that's good news. My driveway approach is somewhat steep but I don't have a problem. If you exercise care you should be fine. One of the reason the BMW Sport suspension isn't totally slammed and stiff is that it is a compromise between practicality and performance. Not to mention that a totally slammed car may not have very good suspension geometry, and may handle worse than one an inch or two taller. It just won't LOOK as good...

Also, the entire underside of the E90 is covered by a plastic underbody "skidplate" that I believe is there mainly to clean up airflow under the car. It's pretty cool to look at... I don't know how much it would protect the car from hard impacts, but it's nice nonetheless.
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      07-06-2005, 01:05 AM   #14
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why not modify the driveway a bit? Shouldn't be that hard.
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      07-06-2005, 11:30 AM   #15
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Chrysler Sebring used to scrape, E90 does not

my 2006 330i does not scrape driveway. Whia.. what a relief..
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