E39 M5 Suspension Modifications
Should I Upgrade My E39′s Suspension? I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately…
Many BMW E39 M5 sedan owners wonder if it’s a good idea to upgrade their car’s suspension. If you’re willing to take on a slightly bumpier ride in exchange for better handling capability, upgrading your E39 M5’s suspension might be the way to go.
Here’s why.
You should be able to improve the car’s grip around corners.
One of the bug-a-boo’s about this car is its performance around corners. Sometimes corners can be bothersome for the car because the original suspension system causes the car to pitch a little more than some performance enthusiasts would like when the car encounters a corner. To fix this problem, companies like Dinan have developed suspension system upgrades that improve the car’s ability to transfer weight from the car’s high side to its low side. They work quite well and the results might be worth a very slightly bumpier ride.
You might also experience less body roll.
There are many replacement suspension systems that do a great job reducing body roll. This is important because body roll is another thing that can affect how well a car can turn. Too much body roll makes it very difficult to navigate corners with greater stick and less roll. Therefore, it might be a good idea to upgrade that suspension system also with a swaybar that can help equalize the car’s load distribution while it turns.
In addition, you can lower your car’s ride height – a little bit.
This, too, can also enhance your E39’s performance on the road. The e39 m5 is almost an inch lower than a regular e39 to begin with. When you lower your car’s ride height, you’re lowering the car’s center of gravity. This can help you improve your car’s cornering abilities because the car’s weight is more evenly distributed through the turn. But with nearly four thousand pounds being hurled around corners at high speeds – every millimeter makes a profound difference.
These benefits are great. But are they worth it?
While these benefits are great, you have to ask yourself if they are worth the risk of stiffer ride harshness (a bumpier ride) – some owners initially thought so – then went back to the stock M tuned suspension, most did not. I think the ability to make corners more smoothly outweighs the downside of a stiffer ride. Besides, most of the ride stiffness is hardly noticeable. Therefore, why risk comfort for a little more performance?
What do you think?
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