[radio3]

Hi everyone, I'm shopping cars and looking at the Golf R, Audi RS3, BMW M2, and Cayman S.

I love everything about the M2 except the stiffness of the suspension. Normally I'd be fine with it, but I live in an area with very bad roads, many of which in my city are in fact cobblestone.

All the other cars I have listed have excellent suspension compliance via their adaptive suspensions, but the M2 is known for being much harsher.

Can anyone describe solutions that may be available for this issue? For example, does anyone sell aftermarket active suspension setups, or suspensions that are much more comfortable while still providing excellent handling? I live in Europe so prefer solutions that might be readily available over here. Thank you ahead for your help.

[dvas]

Originally Posted by radio3

Hi everyone, I'm shopping cars and looking at the Golf R, Audi RS3, BMW M2, and Cayman S.

I love everything about the M2 except the stiffness of the suspension. Normally I'd be fine with it, but I live in an area with very bad roads, many of which in my city are in fact cobblestone.

All the other cars I have listed have excellent suspension compliance via their adaptive suspensions, but the M2 is known for being much harsher.

Can anyone describe solutions that may be available for this issue? For example, does anyone sell aftermarket active suspension setups, or suspensions that are much more comfortable while still providing excellent handling? I live in Europe so prefer solutions that might be readily available over here. Thank you ahead for your help.

Bilstein offers a version of their B16 PSS10 coilovers that are electronically adjustable. Not sure if anyone else offers electronically adjustable dampers for the M2 but there are a lot of options if you stick to manual adjustability. Either way, in most cases these kits come with springs that are significantly stiffer than stock so you may want to also consider softer springs.

[ZM2]

There are many posts on this subject in the Suspension section of the forum. The cheapest fix is Dinan’s suspension for the M2.

[ORIGIN M.]

If it has them, get rid of the Continentals and buy Michelin tires.

Them Continentals ride like a rock.

[GregoryK]

Run 40 sidewall tires. Use 18" rims.

[bobert]

Originally Posted by GregoryK

Run 40 sidewall tires. Use 18" rims.

Good advice, indeed, but it'll look like crap.

Get the Cayman S (provided the cost of purchase and maintenance is not an issue, you don't need more than two seats, and you don't mind the lesser auditory experience). I got my Dad into a new Cayman S 10 months before we went to Munich to get my M2 - listed above are the only drawbacks I can see when considering the Cayman S.

[MZWIE]

Not this again. Don't buy an M2.

[nachob]

Originally Posted by radio3

Hi everyone, I'm shopping cars and looking at the Golf R, Audi RS3, BMW M2, and Cayman S.

I love everything about the M2 except the stiffness of the suspension. Normally I'd be fine with it, but I live in an area with very bad roads, many of which in my city are in fact cobblestone.

All the other cars I have listed have excellent suspension compliance via their adaptive suspensions, but the M2 is known for being much harsher.

Can anyone describe solutions that may be available for this issue? For example, does anyone sell aftermarket active suspension setups, or suspensions that are much more comfortable while still providing excellent handling? I live in Europe so prefer solutions that might be readily available over here. Thank you ahead for your help.

the simplest and best thing you can do to improve the ride on your M2 that is totally reversible is simply go with a set of 18" wheels and corresponding sized tires. You will not lose anything in performance and yet will improve ride on bad roads and if they are light enough will actually even reduce weight and improve handling. It's a no-brainer, low hanging fruit.

The 19s are there for looks for the most part. Race cars have super stiff suspensions but have sidewalls to absorb imperfections. San Diego has terrible roads and I bought a set of 18" APEX EC-7s 18x9 and 18x10 for my 1M.

I bought these to autocross and put Michelin PSS on them as I wanted to get a feel for the car on street tires at the autocross. I put them on the car to break them in and woah. The ride was better on rough roads and the car was less twitchy. The steering turn in was .001% slightly slower but the benefits easily outweighed that. I ended up leaving them on the car for a year.

It really is amazing how people disregard this and want to change the entire universally praised handling with aftermarket suspensions etc all because the 19s are not really good for bad roads. That is the real issue here. Change the 19s and you will have 99.99999% of the handling with a better ride.

You can simply buy a set 18x9 and 18x10 M3 takeoffs and try it out. You will find the ride over bad roads improved or get a set of APEX too.

Personally, I think the M3 18s are beautiful and very light.

Sadly the 18s were not offered on the M2 but you can pick a set up easily.

If you don't like it, just sell the wheels but I would do this a million times before I would start changing suspension. The car will be more forgiving not just in ride comfort but also more forgiving handling on rough roads.

Here is a pic of Antracite EC-7s with 40 sidewalls.

[nachob]

Originally Posted by bobert

Good advice, indeed, but it'll look like crap.

Get the Cayman S (provided the cost of purchase and maintenance is not an issue, you don't need more than two seats, and you don't mind the lesser auditory experience). I got my Dad into a new Cayman S 10 months before we went to Munich to get my M2 - listed above are the only drawbacks I can see when considering the Cayman S.

To guys from racing background, sidewalls look good...they look like race cars. Maybe some people think it will look bad but they look good to many of us. I think the 18s on M3 look awesome.

The guy with this mustang thinks his look great too:

[bobert]

Originally Posted by nachob

To guys from racing background, sidewalls look good...they look like race cars. Maybe some people think it will look bad but they look good to many of us. I think the 18s on M3 look awesome.

The guy with this mustang thinks his look great too:

I understand what you're saying and I agree it's true in some cases - for me, it just depends on the particular car - not too keen on an M2 with 18" wheels - maybe it's the fenders? The M3 def looks better with 18's than an M2.

[c1pher]

I would just switch tires. I'm not sure if the M2 comes with runflats, but simply switching to non-runflats makes a huge difference in the ride. And if not, I would still switch to another performance tire that rides better. I am using Michelin AS3+ on my 135is (with Dinan S2) and honestly they were an upgrade from the stock Bridgestone runflats in every way (I don't drive on a track).

[pruettfan]

Switching from the terrible Contis my car came with to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S improved the ride of my car but not by enough to say it softened it up. They help but the best and most cost effective solution I have read about is the Dinan Coilover Kit, apparently it softens the ride without sacrificing handling. Matt Farrah drove the M2 in both configurations and had really good things to say about the Dinan setup, plus it is not very expensive and can be done as a DIY easy enough.

[c1pher]

Originally Posted by nachob

To guys from racing background, sidewalls look good...they look like race cars. Maybe some people think it will look bad but they look good to many of us. I think the 18s on M3 look awesome.

The guy with this mustang thinks his look great too:

I also upsized my tires and honestly love how they look. I had already bent a front rim with the stock 215/40-18, and the next size up in the front is 225/40-18. They look right and work well. Also a slightly wider footprint doesn't hurt.

[Tag]

Most inexpensive method, let some air our of your tires. There's obviously a cost to performance when doing this. Other options are coilover setup that has adjustable compression/rebound.

Dinan makes a coilver setup specifically for the M2 that apparently softens things up. Check out Matt Farah's review @ 4m58s.

[nachob]

Originally Posted by bobert

I understand what you're saying and I agree it's true in some cases - for me, it just depends on the particular car - not too keen on an M2 with 18" wheels - maybe it's the fenders? The M3 def looks better with 18's than an M2.

Just different tastes. To me and my friends, we all unanmously like the 18s more but it's probably because we are all autocrossers and racers and function skews our tastes.

For example, if you look at the Pontiac G8, it's kinda ugly but when you learn that it has a big-ass V8 with a 6 speed manual transmission, 50-50 weight distrubution and center console window controls like old German cars it looks more attractive all of a sudden.

Example two. I live in San Diego where there are lot of pretty women and you can get jaded somewhat. One day I was walking by a decent looking girl lady putting money in a meter for her E46 330i sedan with sport package. As I walk by and glance in her car and notice it has a manual transmission, she instantly became more attractive.

So perhaps those of us that are into function and performance see them as more attractive but I can tell you that in my crowd we tend to find things are functional attractive.

Here is M3 on 18s... they look amazing to me and my cone racing friends....

[bobert]

Originally Posted by nachob

Example two. I live in San Diego where there are lot of pretty women and you can get jaded somewhat. One day I was walking by a decent looking girl lady putting money in a meter for her E46 330i sedan with sport package. As I walk by and glance in her car and notice it has a manual transmission, she instantly became more attractive.

Sport pkg and a stick shift? Def +2, turns an 8 into a 10.

[nachob]

Originally Posted by pruettfan

Switching from the terrible Contis my car came with to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S improved the ride of my car but not by enough to say it softened it up. They help but the best and most cost effective solution I have read about is the Dinan Coilover Kit, apparently it softens the ride without sacrificing handling. Matt Farrah drove the M2 in both configurations and had really good things to say about the Dinan setup, plus it is not very expensive and can be done as a DIY easy enough.

The problem is that you are softening the ride to compensate for the thin sidewall and this will affect handling. Lack of sidewall on a bad road causes the tire jump over imperfections it can't absorb. So you are decreasing handling for "look."

Also coilovers are nice but they steel housings so the they are strong enough for the threaded perch. These cars come with aluminum housing shocks which are slightly lighter but more importantly dissipate heat better and more evenly than steel housings so you are not just chucking a cheap set of Monroe struts here.

The primary cause of this is thin sidewall that will work ok on track but not is affected more on bad roads which is what the OP is asking about.

Furthermore, it is an easy way to improve handling on bad roads and should be tried first before changing suspension in my opinion.

Finally, I have spent a lot of time in Europe and even did Euro delivery on the 1M. While the autobahn is very smooth, there are many parts or Bavaria and nearby austria with cobblestone roads where the 18s would've been great. I do remember driving these small cobblestone roads on the 1M 19s and going slow so the car wouldn't vibrate apart.

[GregoryK]

[QUOTE=bobert;22652828]Good advice, indeed, but it'll look like crap.

QUOTE]

Or really great - Depending on your perspective. This is a pic of Kkakonn's 513m 18" wheels - I think they rock!

[Bt12]

If the ride bothers you guys because of where you live... 100% go with 18’s. The less the side wall the harsher the ride as others have mentioned. Either that or you can install air ride which is more involved than most people want. 18’s are your beat solution and 18’s won’t look bad especially if you lower the car by 1 inch to get rid of the wheel gap.

[nachob]

[QUOTE=GregoryK;22654361]

Originally Posted by bobert

Good advice, indeed, but it'll look like crap.

QUOTE]

Or really great - Depending on your perspective. This is a pic of Kkakonn's 513m 18" wheels - I think they rock!

WOW! Looks great! Can you feel any difference on acceleration, breaking with lighter tire/wheel combo?

[GregoryK]

[QUOTE=nachob;22654555]

Originally Posted by GregoryK

WOW! Looks great! Can you feel any difference on acceleration, breaking with lighter tire/wheel combo?

These are not mine but I'm picking up a set next week!

[Mavus]

agree with nachob 100%

if m3 has 18" wheels so can m2. I personally would put on 513m. In fact I have them as summer wheels. It is forged rim and very light so it will improve performance and comfort. What's not to like?