Base M3 Suspension vs Electronic Suspension

I am seriously considering a base model M3 and I truly do not want an electronic suspension. The reasons are many and I know 99% of you buy the "loaded M3s" or Competion Package with adjustable setups. My question is this.

When you buy base M3 suspension, what is the equivalent setting in the adjustable version?

Is the base suspension set to comfort equivalent, sport equivalent or stiff?

Anyone own a car without electronic suspension or has facts from BMW on this?

Thank you.

IB

Remember the only thing 'electronic' in the suspension is the damping on the shocks. And the consensus is the base car has the equivalent of the 'normal' setting, but without the adaptive feature (gets harder if you drive aggressively), obviously.

elp_jc wrote

Remember the only thing 'electronic' in the suspension is the damping on the shocks. And the consensus is the base car has the equivalent of the 'normal' setting, but without the adaptive feature (gets harder if you drive aggressively), obviously.

I thought the M3 had comfort, sport etc. By normal do you mean comfort, middle-sport or other?

Thank you.

nachob wrote

I thought the M3 had comfort, sport etc. By normal do you mean comfort, middle-sport or other?

Thank you.

EDC options are Comfort, Normal, or Sport.

E=mc2 wrote

I think if you are going to get the 18" wheels, you should be fine as far as not needing comfort.

Yes, I want the 18 inch wheels too. They are made by BBS also and are almost 5 lbs lighter than the 19 inch wheels. I also like the darker color and think they look cool. Also, I plan to keep the car for many years and here in San Diego roads are terrible, potholes everywhere and tires for 18" cheaper. I think benefits of 18s are much more than 19". I admit the competition wheels are so beautiful that I would take them as an option but don't want electronic shocks.

I'm actually more concerned with the car being too soft with standard shocks which is why I was asking.

Anyone out there have a base M3 without electronic shocks?

nachob wrote

I also like the darker color and think they look cool.

Unfortunately I think the 18-inch wheels come with silver finish now.

ttt wrote

Unfortunately I think the 18-inch wheels come with silver finish now.

Oh no! I thougth they came in Charcoal color. They look dark and ominous not beautiful like the 19s. I like dark and ominous.



This is the only shade I have seen. You say t hey are silver now? Another thing I like about these is that everyone gets 19"s so you hardly see these on M3s!

EDC runs dynamic control programs, there is no comparison with standard dampers.

dexx wrote

EDC runs dynamic control programs, there is no comparison with standard dampers.

Are they standard dampers pretty firm? Unfotunately, there are no M3s I have ever seen with standard dampers and I would be special ordering the car so I can a manual gearbox.

Anyone ever drive one with standard dampers?

nachob wrote

Oh no! I thougth they came in Charcoal color. They look dark and ominous not beautiful like the 19s. I like dark and ominous.


This is the only shade I have seen. You say t hey are silver now? Another thing I like about these is that everyone gets 19"s so you hardly see these on M3s!

I believe they started coming out with the silver 18"s as of May 2010 or something like that. I have the silver 18"s and they're about to be relegated to strictly winter wheels.

I remember reading an article on this, stating that BMW was changing to the silver finish due to popular demand.

The standard dampers feel somewhere between comfort and normal on an EDC car.Its a nice middle ground if you don't want EDC.

KTM505SX wrote

The standard dampers feel somewhere between comfort and normal on an EDC car.Its a nice middle ground if you don't want EDC.

Ok, thanks, that helps a bit. It stinks spending close to $65K on a car and there isn't one like it to test drive. Does yours have EDC or you just rode in one somewhere?

nachob wrote

Ok, thanks, that helps a bit. It stinks spending close to $65K on a car and there isn't one like it to test drive. Does yours have EDC or you just rode in one somewhere?

I have a ZCP/EDC car..The info I got was from a review I read somewhere on the net.

nachob wrote

Oh no! I thougth they came in Charcoal color. They look dark and ominous not beautiful like the 19s. I like dark and ominous.



This is the only shade I have seen. You say t hey are silver now? Another thing I like about these is that everyone gets 19"s so you hardly see these on M3s!

Yeah, the new ones (since 2010? or, 2011?) come in silver 219M wheels. And, yes, everybody prefers the gunmental 219Ms. Had'em on my 2008 M3 and loved'em.

Having driven both, I think the normal suspension feels the same as the normal mode on the EDC suspension. Couldn't really tell much of a difference most of the time. Some roads did feel a little rougher on the normal suspension without EDC though.

IMO its definitely a feature I could live without. KW V3's provide EDC functionality at a fraction of the cost (minus the convenience of adjusting the damping from inside the car).

henryyxyu wrote

Having driven both, I think the normal suspension feels the same as the normal mode on the EDC suspension. Couldn't really tell much of a difference most of the time. Some roads did feel a little rougher on the normal suspension without EDC though.

IMO its definitely a feature I could live without. KW V3's provide EDC functionality at a fraction of the cost (minus the convenience of adjusting the damping from inside the car).

Thank you.

nachob wrote

Oh no! I thougth they came in Charcoal color. They look dark and ominous not beautiful like the 19s. I like dark and ominous.



This is the only shade I have seen. You say t hey are silver now? Another thing I like about these is that everyone gets 19"s so you hardly see these on M3s!

AHAH "but I like dark and ominous."

OC3 wrote

Yeah, the new ones (since 2010? or, 2011?) come in silver 219M wheels. And, yes, everybody prefers the gunmental 219Ms. Had'em on my 2008 M3 and loved'em.

Dang, silver is OK but I love the gunmetal 18" wheels, the look aggressive especially on Red and Black cars. I saw two coupes in Jerez Black a couple of years ago. One had the 18" and one had the optional 19s that everyone gets, (Not ZCP BBSs) and the 18's in dark grey with a black car looked Mad Max mean!

Glad you pointed that out because I didn't know t hey changed them!

A few threads in private sale section of this forum selling their gunmental 219Ms. Here's an example: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516648

OC3 wrote

A few threads in private sale section of this forum selling their gunmental 219Ms. Here's an example: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=516648

That's agood looking wheel. I guess that makes them even more rare now if the new ones are silver. I'll probably buy a set of the darker ones and sell the silver if they look bad. I'm planning on Interlagos Blue so silver might not look too bad, but as I said, I like Dark and Ominous...rare is nice too.

Your order sounds like a super terrible idea for a few reasons:

#1 If you're trying to save money by buying a stripped M3, it would be much better to get a lightly used one with under 10k miles (which will almost entierly result in getting EDC). In fact it would be better in every measurable and conceivable way. I'm a financial analyst and that's a professional oppinion.

#2 If you're trying to increase performance, you're going to noticably decrease it. Eletrconic dampers allow for a vehicle to control how firm the damping is. This allows the car to maintain the same level of comfort (or increase comfort) while increasing performance. The performance isn't just increased by allowing you to make the suspension firm when you want it, but there are downsides to making suspension firm that slow a car down. Eletronic dampers allow a car to have none of the downsides of firm dampers with all of the benefits. This means that a car with EDC is faster than a car without it could EVER be, and more comfortable, assuming the springs are at the same settings, and the dampers are adjustable with both for more comfort and performance like the M3.

So to sumarize, your decision in this case to avoid EDC can only result in negative consequences and won't have any positive reasonably significant positive benefits.