[gymratmatt]

Originally Posted by TX3M

My M40i has the stock suspension and the 19" wheels. I replaced the R/F's with Conti DWS06 and find the ride to be quite comfortable on those tires. I also think that they handle well for A/S tires.

Great to hear! Mine are on order and will be put on Monday. Will report back- hoping for major improvement

[gymratmatt]

Originally Posted by VTX3

Ah, the old "forgot to remove the shipping spacers". I came from a VW Golf R and this is super, super common for the dealers to forget. I think VW even started adding a tag on the rear view explicitly telling the dealers to do this. On the R forums you'd see this every few days. Someone would complain about the ride quality and sure enough, the hockey pucks would be in there. I checked my X3 at delivery for them! Haven't seen any instances here yet where they weren't removed...

FWIW, I live in VT, not known for the quality of roads. I had a few months on the 19 Alenza RFTs and have no complaints at all about the ride quality. My snows are also 19 LM001 RFTs and I think they're fine as well.

I was getting headaches from the ASD on long road trips. Pulled the amp and it's like a different car. No more headaches.

At first I also kept the car in comfort suspension. But it was too soft for me on the twisty roads I typically drive on. I would get a bit nauseous from the body roll. I now keep the suspension in Sport and find it's the right setting for me. It's fine on the bad roads and keeps body roll down.

Thanks for the feedback. Definitely going to disable ASD as next step this weekend as well as looking for the hockey pucks.

[gymratmatt]

Originally Posted by gymratmatt

Thanks for the thorough advice! I'll give it a shot and let you know!

Tried first adjustment this am. It'll take some getting used to but hoping it eases a bit as well as a result.

[XGoober]

Originally Posted by gymratmatt

Tried first adjustment this am. It'll take some getting used to but hoping it eases a bit as well as a result.

Absolutely. Feels weird at first but as with anything, when you get used to it you'll wonder how you ever drove so far away from the wheel!

[vicfei]

Originally Posted by XGoober

I'll try my best to explain how I set up for racing, and I use the same position for street driving too. It might feel a little odd at first, depending on how far away from the end result you are accustomed to.

Start with seat fore/aft adjustment. At full brake you should still have a little bend in your knee. Make sure your right foot is also comfortable at about half throttle. That is the easy part.

Next up you need to set the height of the seat and steering wheel. You obviously need to be able to see your cluster clearly so factor that into all the adjustments you make. The main thing you are looking for here in terms of ergonomics is with your hands on the wheel at 9 and 3, your thumbs should be at about the same height as the meat of your shoulders. By "meat" I mean find that spot just below the front of the shoulder blade where you start to poke into muscle and tissue. This does not have to be perfect but get it as close as you can.



The final adjustment is the most important one. Adjust your seat-back and wheel so that if you rest your wrists on the top of the wheel, your shoulders do not need to move forward off the seat-back in any way. They should still be comfortably resting against the seat with your wrists in that position.

As you make these adjustments you might find you need to tweak each one to compensate for changes made to the others, but you will get there soon enough.

More than likely you will feel like a granny driver as you will likely be a lot closer to the wheel than you are accustomed to. However, if you look at any professional driver they will be in this position or even closer at times.

The end result of all this is you will naturally use more of your back muscles to control the wheel, and less arms & shoulders. You will also be able to make complete revolutions of the wheel while staying in firm contact with the seat-back. This has obvious benefits for stability of your upper body in more spirited driving, and would be an absolute must for car control when strapped into a racing harness.

For your purposes the biggest thing you need to achieve is the height of your hands relative to your shoulders and then the reach from the seat-back to the top of the wheel rim.

This setup is absolutely worth doing for everyone, whether having issues or not, but hopefully it will help with your headaches. Good luck!

XGoober - This is brilliant - posture feels much better, steering and handling is better, it feels better physically, and it is much more relaxing driving in this position. One of the best tips I have gotten online in a long time - much appreciated!

[jrc425]

Originally Posted by XGoober

I'll try my best to explain how I set up for racing, and I use the same position for street driving too. It might feel a little odd at first, depending on how far away from the end result you are accustomed to.

Start with seat fore/aft adjustment. At full brake you should still have a little bend in your knee. Make sure your right foot is also comfortable at about half throttle. That is the easy part.

Next up you need to set the height of the seat and steering wheel. You obviously need to be able to see your cluster clearly so factor that into all the adjustments you make. The main thing you are looking for here in terms of ergonomics is with your hands on the wheel at 9 and 3, your thumbs should be at about the same height as the meat of your shoulders. By "meat" I mean find that spot just below the front of the shoulder blade where you start to poke into muscle and tissue. This does not have to be perfect but get it as close as you can.

The final adjustment is the most important one. Adjust your seat-back and wheel so that if you rest your wrists on the top of the wheel, your shoulders do not need to move forward off the seat-back in any way. They should still be comfortably resting against the seat with your wrists in that position.

As you make these adjustments you might find you need to tweak each one to compensate for changes made to the others, but you will get there soon enough.

More than likely you will feel like a granny driver as you will likely be a lot closer to the wheel than you are accustomed to. However, if you look at any professional driver they will be in this position or even closer at times.

The end result of all this is you will naturally use more of your back muscles to control the wheel, and less arms & shoulders. You will also be able to make complete revolutions of the wheel while staying in firm contact with the seat-back. This has obvious benefits for stability of your upper body in more spirited driving, and would be an absolute must for car control when strapped into a racing harness.

For your purposes the biggest thing you need to achieve is the height of your hands relative to your shoulders and then the reach from the seat-back to the top of the wheel rim.

This setup is absolutely worth doing for everyone, whether having issues or not, but hopefully it will help with your headaches. Good luck!

Thanks for the recommendations. The "final adjustment" of the steering wheel makes a big difference. Having pretty long arms, I assumed that having the steering wheel at its max distance from me would be most comfortable. And, to be honest, although the car is new to me, less than 1000 miles, I was having some difficulty getting comfortable while driving. The new steering wheel position does feel a little different, but absolutely feel more relaxed and at the same time, in control. Thanks again for the tip.

[XGoober]

Glad you guys are getting some value from it!

[Wgosma]

video here:

[ArinXal]

Try 235 65 19" non RFT they have a big side balloon the ride is pleasant with them

[hal4uk]

Originally Posted by gymratmatt

Wow, sorry to hear about your experience but also encouraging to hear of the vast improvements after conversion to non-RFT! What packages do you have on the car? Do you have adaptive suspension? When you say beat to death- did you have general light rumble constantly or mainly very rough on the larger bumps etc.? If you don't mind expanding on it that'd be great... especially if you could report back after a few days too. I can't imagine taking it on a road trip right now as my 20 mile commute has been painful. Also maybe if improvement is enough I can move to 20" rims as well one day.

New tires here I come and TBD after that.

Thanks!

I do not have the Adaptive suspension ( I wish I did). With the RFTs, it was constantly rough/loud, even on seemingly better pavement. Keep in mind, Illinois highways (2 lanes, Interstate -- all of them) are in terrible shape. The state is broke, and they do not maintain the roads. So, yes, it was constantly bad, not just on the worst bumps. When I say "beat to death", I'm referring to the cumulative effect after 4 hours on these roads. It was brutal.

As to the same 4 hour trip yesterday, it was much improved, as I expected. At times, my mind even wandered off to other things for a while. THAT didn't happen last weekend. It was 4 hours of thinking about 1 thing, and 1 thing only.

That said, I could have "tolerated" a 20 mile commute, so it sounds like you are even more sensitive to the bad ride than I am. So, let me say that ride is still not super comfortable. I mean it still has the stiff sport suspension, and large rims, so it's only going to get so good. It's very good now for what it is.

My wife has Lexus LS460, and that is a rolling couch. An M40i is never going to ride that well.

Bottom line, I would highly recommend the Michelins (it was a massive improvement for me), and I would not go up to 20" inch rims if I were you. Take every advantage you can get!

[AndroidRobot]

I downsized fron 21" to 20" OEM wheels and went the non-RFT route. This helped but ride quality was still bad so I bought an X5 50i instead

[jjl]

Different strokes for different folks i guess...i have the 19's, ASRFT, and adaptive on my M40i, and i find the ride very comfortable in comfort mode, even on crap NYC roads. I wouldn't want it any softer than that. I much prefer this setup than my prior F15 X5 w 19's/ASRF and standard suspension, which wafted and floated around like my father's old Lincoln Continental. you may have picked the wrong vehicle..

[Crassus]

Worth noting is that the X3 M40i, even with adaptive dampers is sprung stiffer than other X3 variants equipped with adaptive dampers.

As someone else has recommended, get runflats. It’s the best upgrade you can make to the ride quality of your BMW. I did it in December and wish I had ditched the runflats as soon as I left the dealership.

[MechX3M40i]

Originally Posted by jjl

Different strokes for different folks i guess...i have the 19's, ASRFT, and adaptive on my M40i, and i find the ride very comfortable in comfort mode, even on crap NYC roads. I wouldn't want it any softer than that. I much prefer this setup than my prior F15 X5 w 19's/ASRF and standard suspension, which wafted and floated around like my father's old Lincoln Continental. you may have picked the wrong vehicle..

When I decided to buy my X3 M40i, I knew full well ahead of time it would ride firm and Sporty, exactly opposite to my wife's minivan. For me it's a good thing, since that's exactly how I like it!

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by MechX3M40i

When I decided to buy my X3 M40i, I knew full well ahead of time it would ride firm and Sporty, exactly opposite to my wife's minivan. For me it's a good thing, since that's exactly how I like it!

I knew the same, my issue was over time it got old as roads here got worse. If the seats weren't also uncomfortable it would've been perfectly fine

[admranger]

Originally Posted by XGoober

Glad you guys are getting some value from it!

You lose me at "front of shoulder blade" since it's in my back, the "front" of it is the size of my hand (or larger).

I understand the seating position, just trying to see how yours differs from mine and my inability to understand what you wrote is hampering my understanding.

How about, pardon the expression, (male) "nipple height" for the wrists?

[XGoober]

Originally Posted by admranger

You lose me at "front of shoulder blade" since it's in my back, the "front" of it is the size of my hand (or larger).

I understand the seating position, just trying to see how yours differs from mine and my inability to understand what you wrote is hampering my understanding.

How about, pardon the expression, (male) "nipple height" for the wrists?

How about roughly 3 inches lower than the top of your shoulder? Try to have your thumbs at about that height with your hands at 9 and 3 on the wheel. This part is not critical but don't stray too far from it. The most important part is the reach from the seat back to the top of the rim.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by XGoober

How about roughly 3 inches lower than the top of your shoulder? Try to have your thumbs at about that height with your hands at 9 and 3 on the wheel. This part is not critical but don't stray too far from it. The most important part is the reach from the seat back to the top of the rim.

Gotcha. Thanks.

[BillD1953]

I have 24,500 on my X3M40i with adaptive suspension.
Has OEM Bridgestone RFT Duellers.

As I predicted, as the miles go by, the RFs get harder and noisier on ride quality. Like riding on hockey puck rubber.

I'll be switching to the AS3s or a non RF touring tire @ 30,000 miles. Would have done it sooner but didnt want to $waste$ good (but hard) rubber

I owned a new 2007 335i hardtop vert that came with RFTs...When I finally changed the tires to General Altimax's the difference was "night & day" !

The M40i will be a "new car" to me after the tire change ! No doubt.

[MechX3M40i]

Originally Posted by admranger

You lose me at "front of shoulder blade" since it's in my back, the "front" of it is the size of my hand (or larger).

I understand the seating position, just trying to see how yours differs from mine and my inability to understand what you wrote is hampering my understanding.

How about, pardon the expression, (male) "nipple height" for the wrists?

Got a chuckle reading your post... The alternative terms you might consider using are lower pec or lower chest

[hal4uk]

Originally Posted by MechX3M40i

Got a chuckle reading your post... The alternative terms you might consider using are lower pec or lower chest

LMFAO... Taking a side step around all the anatomical verbiage, I too tried XGoober's recommendations, and so far, I think it's good advice. My steering wheel is now comically extended toward me, but I'm leaving it there...

[Njerts]

Originally Posted by XGoober

How about roughly 3 inches lower than the top of your shoulder? Try to have your thumbs at about that height with your hands at 9 and 3 on the wheel. This part is not critical but don't stray too far from it. The most important part is the reach from the seat back to the top of the rim.

I use the same setup as described, but for height I set my seat so that my arms are level if you extend them to the 10/2 position on the steering.
In the end it is the same as described but easier to gauge.