[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by Inuyasha

I noticed this the first time I saw a bump coming, cringing for it with one eye closed, hitting it, then opening my eyes like, "thats all!?" Something has indeed changed!

Sorry bro, but you sound like the biggest pussy ever.

[KevM3UK]

Originally Posted by Artemis

I guess you meant the new front strut brace (combination of a bulkhead strut & CFRP strut).

No I mean anti roll bars or sway bars as you call them, forgive me if im wrong but I always thought the M2C had thicker ones over the normal M2,I'm sure read it somewhere ages ago.

[Bee Pee]

Originally Posted by KevM3UK

No I mean anti roll bars or sway bars as you call them, forgive me if im wrong but I always thought the M2C had thicker ones over the normal M2,I'm sure read it somewhere ages ago.

Kev - sways/ARB's are identical between OGM2 and M2Comp - probably an urban myth like the rose jointed suspension.... BP

[panda-R]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

Sorry bro, but you sound like the biggest pussy ever.

Hey I found you!

[VisualEcho]

Originally Posted by panda-R

Hey I found you!

Don't cringe at upcoming bumps bro!

[panda-R]

Originally Posted by VisualEcho

Don't cringe at upcoming bumps bro!

Fist bump?

[ASAP]

I did some real hard driving today on some backwoods roads in the middle of nowhere and I have to say it is scary how bouncy this car is. I think if you are on some perfect roads (which never exist) then maybe it's fine but every time I came across a bump the car felt so uneasy and felt like it wanted to almost take off. I don't know if the rebound dampening was tuned by Boeing to help the car take off but I am blown away by the fact the engine, tranny and cooling are absolutely stellar, it is the suspension where the M car truly takes a shit. I know what mod is up for me next... it will be the best corner balanced coil over kit i can find.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I did some real hard driving today on some backwoods roads in the middle of nowhere and I have to say it is scary how bouncy this car is. I think if you are on some perfect roads (which never exist) then maybe it's fine but every time I came across a bump the car felt so uneasy and felt like it wanted to almost take off. I don't know if the rebound dampening was tuned by Boeing to help the car take off but I am blown away by the fact the engine, tranny and cooling are absolutely stellar, it is the suspension where the M car truly takes a shit. I know what mod is up for me next... it will be the best corner balanced coil over kit i can find.

Do the M2C / M3 / M4 Aluminum and carbon strut retrofit first... you may not even need coil overs after that, and if you still do, the chassis will be ready for them.

I’m still running stock suspension but with the retrofit and though I still want coil overs at some point, it’s no longer a necessity.

As has been said many times... it’s the strut brace that makes the M2C so much better than the OG from a comfort and handling perspective.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by Nezil

Do the M2C / M3 / M4 Aluminum and carbon strut retrofit first... you may not even need coil overs after that, and if you still do, the chassis will be ready for them.

I'm still running stock suspension but with the retrofit and though I still want coil overs at some point, it's no longer a necessity.

As has been said many times... it's the strut brace that makes the M2C so much better than the OG from a comfort and handling perspective.

I have a 2020 M2C...

I think this car left the factory with a subpar suspension setup.. i can only think it was done for comfort reasons but it makes the car very very hard to drive confidently on less than ideal surfaces (which like i said dont exist).

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I have a 2020 M2C...

I think this car left the factory with a subpar suspension setup.. i can only think it was done for comfort reasons but it makes the car very very hard to drive confidently on less than ideal surfaces (which like i said dont exist).

Comfort would not have been my first thought as to why it rides the way it does...

[Bee Pee]

Originally Posted by Bee Pee

Agreed but with latest istep on my 1gen m2 there's no discernible difference EPS feel/response compared to Thor M2Comp EPS reflash.

Hence, I've used Thor to flash Comp MDM and GTS MDiff settings only. All good 👍

This YT review endorses my view that EPS on Thor is a tad meh but mdm and MDiff coding is 👍

[StackedM2C]

is there any proven hardware differences in the 2 suspensions between OG and M2C?

[aerobat]

Originally Posted by Nezil

Do the M2C / M3 / M4 Aluminum and carbon strut retrofit first... you may not even need coil overs after that, and if you still do, the chassis will be ready for them.

I’m still running stock suspension but with the retrofit and though I still want coil overs at some point, it’s no longer a necessity.

As has been said many times... it’s the strut brace that makes the M2C so much better than the OG from a comfort and handling perspective.

How can a strut brace make comfort "so much better"?

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by aerobat

How can a strut brace make comfort "so much better"?

I can only guess that it does so because the strut brace prevents the body shell from acting as an un-damped spring in the system.

My feeling is that the suspension setup in the OG M2 is stiff enough that it causes more of the shocks to be transmitted through to the body shell. A standard 2er might not require the strut brace, but the M2 does benefit from it, and hence why the M2C has it stock.

I think I remember hearing that the OG M2 was seen with a strut brace whilst in development that never made it to launch, but I might be wrong about that.

One thing that is interesting is that the strut brace fits all around the packaging of the N55, even though it's quite different to the S55.... I suspect this isn't a coincidence.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I have a 2020 M2C...

I think this car left the factory with a subpar suspension setup.. i can only think it was done for comfort reasons but it makes the car very very hard to drive confidently on less than ideal surfaces (which like i said dont exist).

Sorry, missed that... you'd be even more unhappy with an OG M2 then!

[Bee Pee]

Originally Posted by Nezil

One thing that is interesting is that the strut brace fits all around the packaging of the N55, even though it's quite different to the S55.... I suspect this isn't a coincidence.

Correct - no coincidence ot was by design as F8x alloy / CFRP brace was standard fitment on M235iR/M240iR - both of which used n55 engines and have same firewall layouts are the same as OGM2.



As an aside, compared to F2x/3x/8x, new G2x cars have more localised re-inforcement built in around the strut top hole - see about 1min into YT clip below

Am glad I fitted add-on strut top reinforcement rings during alloy CFRP retrofit onto my OG M2...

[3t3p]

Yes to the comments of the car acting like a spring without the brace. You just won't believe it unless you do retrofit.

Like I've said before I noticed this way before steering . You feel the whole car is keyed in and the front springs and shocks are doing so much more for you. Before they were uncoordinated or sleeping a bit, best way I can describe the feedback.

[PLF69]

Need opinions.

In combination with the OEM aluminium brace wich of these 2 parts do you think will provide the most stiffening ?

1- OEM Carbon part
- Plastic attach points glued to carbon part
- Some say it provides up to 30% of the stiffening in the complete oem system


2- Aftermarket solid stainless strut tower brace
- Direct link between strut towers but no link to front
- I figure much stiffer when tied down than oem carbon part..





Also keep in mind the OG M2 has these corner brace (from convertible 2 series) wich can be replaced by beefier aftermarket ones or even carbon ones.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by PLF69

Need opinions.

In combination with the OEM aluminium brace wich of these 2 parts do you think will provide the most stiffening ?

1- OEM Carbon part
- Plastic attach points glued to carbon part
- Some say it provides up to 30% of the stiffening in the complete oem system

2- Aftermarket solid stainless strut tower brace
- Direct link between strut towers but no link to front
- I figure much stiffer when tied down than oem carbon part..

Also keep in mind the OG M2 has these corner brace (from convertible 2 series) wich can be replaced by beefier aftermarket ones or even carbon ones.

First off, the OEM CFRP brace isn't plastic glued to carbon, it's cast aluminium glued to carbon. The glue used is Betalink or similar, and it's seriously strong and not even flexible when set. I know this because I ended up buying two CFRP braces from eBay by accident (I didn't think one was going to arrive, but then it did!) and used braces always come with minor scratches, chips and scrapes etc. I've been reconditioning the ones I got and actually repainted the aluminium sections because they were scratched to bare metal in some places.

I also removed the small bracket glued to the underside of the brace that has no use with an N55 engine and this took forever! I tried using dental floss and fishing line to saw through the glue and that didn't work at all. In the end I carefully used a scalpel to cut it, but it doesn't flex at all even when you're half way through the cut. My point is that the glue and aluminium parts of the brace are strong, and shouldn't be considered a weakness in design.

30% seems reasonable based on driving feel. Subjectively there is an improvement after fitting the CFRP section, but it's a little less than half of the improvement from the aluminium section alone.

If you really take a look at the stock OG M2 front stiffening plates and where they bolt to, you'll see that they really can't provide anything like the stiffening that the CFRP brace does, simply because of where they bolt to. They each have 4 bolts and they attach in front of the strut to the front panel. The CFRP brace attaches to the aluminium section which in turn is bolted to the bulkhead and strut towers; quite different locations.

The Aluminium strut brace is so thick that I think it serves the same purpose as the typical strut tower brace, but a strut tower brace could potentially provide better bracing directly between the strut towers. The CFRP brace is a U shape and is actually slightly springy in the direction that a traditional strut brace would be super stiff, so the CFRP brace cannot be compared in any way to a traditional strut brace.

Overall, I'd say that the CFRP brace is the best choice, and if you have the mounting holes for the stock OG M2 front brackets you can flatten the front sections on those and fit them as well if you want (I'm planning to do this but haven't yet). After that, you could consider a traditional strut brace but by that point I'd be surprised if it made much of a difference... but they again I was surprised that the M2C / M3 / M4 retrofit made the difference it did, so it might be great!

[PLF69]

I don't think there is space for OEM carbon brace + aftermarket traditional strut brace ?

[Bee Pee]

Originally Posted by PLF69

I don't think there is space for OEM carbon brace + aftermarket traditional strut brace ?

Correct.

Having retrofitted oem F8x alloy brace initially (then CFRP U brace much later) I did consider putting aftermarket strut brace across the engine bay.

The way the alloy brace is configured it doesn't look compatible with a strut brace between the strut towers.

I agree with what's been written just above that the oem alloy brace offers a noticeable improvement and then CFRP slightly more in addition to alloy only.

[PLF69]

I already bought the aluminum alloy brace, it's in shipping right now. Looks like I'll be on the hunt for the Carbon one.

I am really not blingy with my cars I must admit all fitted + the Turner Motorsports Carbon corner braces it would look awesome !