Suspension design is a rather esoteric topic. I suspect that many car enthusiasts (myself included) get a bit woozy when terms like wishbones, links, pivot points, camber and caster are brought up. Like the inner mental workings of your mother-in-law, these elements are hidden from view and hard to conceptualize. But having recently decided that, of the vehicles in our long-term fleet, our BMW 330i has best combination of ride and handling, I wanted to know more about the "why?"
As part of the 3 Series sedan's 2006 redesign, BMW installed a new five-link rear suspension. It could be described as a double A-arm system with an additional lateral track rod. (Am I losing you already?) Additionally, BMW has, for the first time on the 3 Series, mounted all rear suspension components to a rear subframe rather than the body. The result, says BMW, is optimized suspension geometry, very precise handling, insensitivity to road disturbances and a greater achievement of attaining the two fundamentally contradictory qualities of stability and agility.
Here's a good example that back's up BMW's promise. In order to drive into my neighborhood, one must make a right-hand turn that crosses a wide gutter. Driving over the rain gutter at anything more than a low speed will usually upset a car's rear suspension, bouncing occupants and lessening car control. Our 330i, however, stays perfectly planted when driven over the gutter, even at higher speeds. One hardly feels the disruption at all.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor, Edmunds.com, 17,967 miles
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Picked up my 330i Sport package/stick shift Thursday, and took for its first real drive today. Edmunds peeps I'm sure are familiar with the route, Angeles Crest to Forest to back roads to Wrightwood ski resort. Could not be happier, the handling/ride compromise is astounding. Much better than the M Coupe I used to have. Can't wait until I can rev it over 4500 rpms..
p.s passed 5 CHP cars/bikes on the 2, good thing I had my Escort 8500!
Guess it's just me but the new suspension, mixed with those lousy runflats makes my e90 330i with sport package hop and skip at ANY road imperfections. I've bounced my tire inflation all over (low, high, spec) and the car simply will not stay planted on uneven roads. Only on German and Frech highways - which are pristine - did the car ever feel perfect. In the USA, with our lousy roads, the car's constantly moving in ways that make me feel like I'm driving a car with a solid beam rear axle.
I'm about to put a deposit down on the Mazdaspeed3 and I've got two people interested in assuming my lease on this BMW. The e90 is a far cry from the shere fun and adrenaline rush of my 2003 330i ZHP. I didn't think BMW could make it worse in every way, but they did. Bigger, less roadfeel, worse handling, slower, horrible gas mileage, bad ergonomics and no soul.
Weird how my experience is the mirror opposite of yours. The roads that I was driving on in the mountains are uneven in most places, with frost cracks and tar snakes everywhere. Yet the car sucked down onto the road and just stayed glued to the surface, at speeds that were well over what would be deemed prudent...
As for gas mileage, right now in the break in period, with mountain driving I'm getting 22mpg. I have not yet done any "normal" easy driving so this will obviously improve. Others on the owner's reports section report well over 30mpg on the highway.
Your car seems to be an anomaly.
BMW didn't grab me on my 330i test-drive. It was an automatic, so maybe that was it. The car is actually still on the lot after 2 1/2 months (low miles '06). Glad the Bimmer lore lives on at Edmunds, though!
I get wishbones and stuf like that, but i just don't understand multi-link suspensions. It doesn't make any sense to me.