Too firm suspension i7 eDrive50

[Rgr7]

Hello everyone,

I’d like to share an issue I’ve been experiencing and see if anyone here has any thoughts. For a little over a month now, I’ve been the happy owner of an i7 eDrive50. The car itself (in terms of quietness, audio, and seats) is absolutely fantastic—I really can’t say otherwise.

The only problem I’ve been experiencing is that from day one I’ve noticed the suspension damping over small, short bumps is extremely stiff—almost to the point of being annoyingly uncomfortable. I came from a BMW M model, so I’m definitely used to a firm suspension, but this just doesn’t feel right. Every tiny bump or ridge is transmitted very harshly through the seat.

What’s strange is that it seems like the “longer/higher” bumps are handled well (where the car actually uses its suspension travel), but the suspension just doesn’t seem to cope with the shorter, sharper imperfections.

When I bought the car, I had a 21" wheel set installed, but I switched away from that fairly quickly because it was really unbearable. I’m now driving on 20" wheels (and I even replaced the tires with Bridgestone Turanza tires because they’re known for being more compliant). Overall it may be slightly better, but honestly it’s still pretty bad.

Does anyone here perhaps have the same experience, or do you have any idea what might be causing this? I’m honestly getting a bit desperate, because in its current state there’s not much enjoyment to be had from the car.

Many thanks in advance for thinking along with me!

[SW17LS]

What pressure are you running in the tires?

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by Rgr7

Hello everyone,

I’d like to share an issue I’ve been experiencing and see if anyone here has any thoughts. For a little over a month now, I’ve been the happy owner of an i7 eDrive50. The car itself (in terms of quietness, audio, and seats) is absolutely fantastic—I really can’t say otherwise.

The only problem I’ve been experiencing is that from day one I’ve noticed the suspension damping over small, short bumps is extremely stiff—almost to the point of being annoyingly uncomfortable. I came from a BMW M model, so I’m definitely used to a firm suspension, but this just doesn’t feel right. Every tiny bump or ridge is transmitted very harshly through the seat.

What’s strange is that it seems like the “longer/higher” bumps are handled well (where the car actually uses its suspension travel), but the suspension just doesn’t seem to cope with the shorter, sharper imperfections.

When I bought the car, I had a 21" wheel set installed, but I switched away from that fairly quickly because it was really unbearable. I’m now driving on 20" wheels (and I even replaced the tires with Bridgestone Turanza tires because they’re known for being more compliant). Overall it may be slightly better, but honestly it’s still pretty bad.

Does anyone here perhaps have the same experience, or do you have any idea what might be causing this? I’m honestly getting a bit desperate, because in its current state there’s not much enjoyment to be had from the car.

Many thanks in advance for thinking along with me!

Have you driven any other i7 to begin with? That’s the very first thing that I’d do (drive at least 2 other i7, compare, and see what’s wrong).
From your description, something is 99% wrong. Please report the exact PSI for your car, and also the PSI for the other i7s. Make sure they are in the high 30s max, but even with 45 PSI and RF, I found the i7 to be softer and more comfy that any other car I had ever driven in my life even under these conditions. Yet, I changed it to NRF and mid 30 PSI and I still good a measurable enhancements going from extreme comfort to a “dream” drive.
Best of luck and let us know what you find. I know that a small % of users here reported their PHEV 7-series suspension pump failing, but haven’t seen any i7 issues for the same.

[Rgr7]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Have you driven any other i7 to begin with? That’s the very first thing that I’d do (drive at least 2 other i7, compare, and see what’s wrong).
From your description, something is 99% wrong. Please report the exact PSI for your car, and also the PSI for the other i7s. Make sure they are in the high 30s max, but even with 45 PSI and RF, I found the i7 to be softer and more comfy that any other car I had ever driven in my life even under these conditions. Yet, I changed it to NRF and mid 30 PSI and I still good a measurable enhancements going from extreme comfort to a “dream” drive.
Best of luck and let us know what you find. I know that a small % of users here reported their PHEV 7-series suspension pump failing, but haven’t seen any i7 issues for the same.

Thanks for your reply (and also thanks to SW17LS for his reply too!). I have an appointment scheduled for Thursday to drive a 100% identical car, just to see if there’s any difference. Maybe it’s psychological because you start paying attention to everything, but it almost feels like the car is “softer” at one moment than at another. It seems like it’s softer right after starting, but once I start driving (especially after reaching highway speeds), the car becomes stiffer and stays that way.

I’m running 32 PSI all around, front and rear. Yesterday I lowered the tire pressure to 29 PSI to test if that would make a difference. Aside from feeling a bit more floaty, it doesn’t seem to make much difference in terms of comfort.

[Streamliner]

This sure sounds odd. On my I7/60 I run the BMW suggested 42psi in my 19” Pirelli PZ4 tires and the ride quality is sensational and amazingly quiet, but I do live in an area where ribbon smooth roads are pretty much the rule and not the exception.

I second the idea of test driving a couple of other I7/50’s. Good luck!

[Streamliner]

I was thinking about this as drove to my office this morning. Perhaps the OP is noticing the significant weight difference between his I7 and his previous ride. The I7 is very heavy and at slow speeds, hitting sharp bumps, like on parking lot aprons, really sharp speed bumps, etc., you will feel that heft and it does transmit into the steering column and the seat of one’s pants.

When I recently had about 10 days in a brand new 740i loaner, I noticed that the ride overall was not nearly as nice as in my I7, but those sharp, low speed hits were less noticeable in the lighter car.

[F5506m]

BMW's recommended cold tire pressures for i7 is F-36 and R-39. I have noticed the car ride is sensitive to Tire Pressures. I have non-RFT and run the above pressures and small imprecations are imperceptible.

[SW17LS]

My S Classes and my Lexus LSs were all also very sensitive to pressures, just 1-2 PSI and you can tell.

[BMW5and7]

Originally Posted by F5506m

BMW's recommended cold tire pressures for i7 is F-36 and R-39. I have noticed the car ride is sensitive to Tire Pressures. I have non-RFT and run the above pressures and small imprecations are imperceptible.

It's okay to go with slightly lower pressure values. Manufacturers typically go with higher values to gain better numbers for the efficiency or MPG. They just max out what's doable without compromising the ride too much.

3-5 PSI lower than recommended will barely change your MPG or kWh/mi usage by 1-2% but the driving comfort will be much much better.

Note that 3-5 PSI change at those pressures is almost 10% change from baseline, so yes, you should be able to feel a noticeable difference.

[F5506m]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

It's okay to go with slightly lower pressure values. Manufacturers typically go with higher values to gain better numbers for the efficiency or MPG. They just max out what's doable without compromising the ride too much.

3-5 PSI lower than recommended will barely change your MPG or kWh/mi usage by 1-2% but the driving comfort will be much much better.

Note that 3-5 PSI change at those pressures is almost 10% change from baseline, so yes, you should be able to feel a noticeable difference.

I am not worried about the efficiency. More so uneven tire wear. These are heavy cars and they already go through tires very quickly. But none of that matter because the car has one of the best ride characteristics at the recommended tire pressures. Large or Small imperfections are absorbed smoothy by the suspension.

[roamio]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

It's okay to go with slightly lower pressure values. Manufacturers typically go with higher values to gain better numbers for the efficiency or MPG. They just max out what's doable without compromising the ride too much.

3-5 PSI lower than recommended will barely change your MPG or kWh/mi usage by 1-2% but the driving comfort will be much much better.

Note that 3-5 PSI change at those pressures is almost 10% change from baseline, so yes, you should be able to feel a noticeable difference.

In addition to MPG/efficiency it's also about safety. Up to 100mph and fully loaded car (5 people + cargo) they recommend 36-39 PSI. If car is fully loaded and pressure is 30-35PSI tires can overheat due to higher rolling resistance and blow up. If you travel with 1 passenger at most then yes, you can lower by couple of PSI. With speeds above 100mph pressure should be again higher so tires do not overheat. It's all in manual except overheating part.

[AventurinG26]

Originally Posted by BMW5and7

Have you driven any other i7 to begin with? That’s the very first thing that I’d do (drive at least 2 other i7, compare, and see what’s wrong).
From your description, something is 99% wrong. Please report the exact PSI for your car, and also the PSI for the other i7s. Make sure they are in the high 30s max, but even with 45 PSI and RF, I found the i7 to be softer and more comfy that any other car I had ever driven in my life even under these conditions. Yet, I changed it to NRF and mid 30 PSI and I still good a measurable enhancements going from extreme comfort to a “dream” drive.
Best of luck and let us know what you find. I know that a small % of users here reported their PHEV 7-series suspension pump failing, but haven’t seen any i7 issues for the same.

I run our tires at nearly 50psi to try and combat excessive tire wear and even then the car rides like a cloud. It’s the most softly damped car I’ve ever owned when in comfort mode. Unless the OP has something like shipping pucks still stuck in their car’s shock absorbers I cannot imagine anyone describing any current 7er as being uncomfortable. If anything the damping in comfort is so soft that I feel like the car occasionally bottoms out on the bump stops when you hit a certain kind of dip. In sport mode the body control is a bit more precise but still nowhere near uncomfortable.