Ride/handling expertise appreciated!

[GorillaPie]

Hi all,

Forgive the rambling post but I've now done 200ish mostly B-road miles since taking delivery of my 80,000 mile Z3 3.0i earlier this summer and wanted to share...

There is plenty to like about the car - the M54 is as peachy as hoped (even if I keep reaching for a non-existent sixth gear...) - but one area that's surprised me in less of a good way is the ride/handling balance.

(NB: I also went into Z3 ownership knowing that ultimately it's a relatively simplistic roadster and was always going to feel more old-skool than ground-up sportscars like the Boxster/Elise in the chassis department, which was part of the appeal TBH)

I suspect previous owners' decision to fit 18" wheels hasn't helped but still, I am finding the car positively disconcerting at times to punt along the typical poorly-surfaced local roads around us. Plenty of grip from the 255/35 rears and ride quality seems reasonable at urban speeds for this kind of car, but once out on open roads, I'm finding it tramlines quite badly and also tends to wander towards the verge on roads with any degree of camber (i.e. most!). Sometimes with little warning and so much so that I actually find our family hack (a glamorous 1.2 Skoda Yeti) a lot more confidence-inspiring to punt along the local B-roads!

The car is in decent nick for its age and I also took it to a local independent BMW specialist for a once-over to check for previous modifications. Turns out that as well as the larger wheels, the car has also been fitted with other common chassis upgrades like front strut brace, poly bushes and aftermarket Bilsteins, so should in theory feel better than the stock version. So I'm now wondering about reluctantly swapping-out the 18" wheels for a set of the standard 17" hoops with deeper profile tyres, to see what difference that makes?

I am no Colin Chapman but I also imagine the stiffening effect of these aftermarket mods has probably sharpened handling at the expense of general road manners, would you guys agree?

Love to hear thoughts from more experienced owners. Been lucky to own/drive some pretty quick cars before, many of them RWD, so it's not the layout or grunt that's bothering me. Not about to jack the car in any time soon and it's still great to cruise around in and makes me feel happy seeing it parked out there on the driveway, but any feedback much appreciated - thanks in advance and happy motoring while this so-called summer lasts!

 

[Lee]

Welcome to the fold, the 3.0 is a cracking engine. Sounds like she's been looked after over the years how you tackle this will differ from person to person.

Personally the tyres and tracking would be where I would start, 4 new soft compound tyres and get the tracking sorted. This may end up having the tie rods and track rods replaced, they're often seized.

Once you've sorted the handling and tramlining I would head to the rear of the car (assuming you have powerflexed lollipops). If the beam bushes are original which they likely are this will be contributing to the wandering feeling. If you look under the rear arch liners or from below you'll likely see the beam sat on the support plates. These bushes are key to keeping those real wheels planted and the car stable at higher speeds, the previous would fit braces to try stop this movement.

The 18" wheels/tyres should be ok on the road but the ride would be compromised due to a lower profile, a 17" wheel with a thicker tyre will really make it more comfortable, this always depends on what level of comfort and feel you want back through the car.

If your ever near the Zedshed one of us is more than happy to show you the difference of a fully rebushed Z3.

 

[GorillaPie]

This is mega-helpful, thanks so much Lee! I will look into all those bits but if you have any specific reccos on the tyre front (currently running Conti Premium Contact 6) that would also be useful to know. Also: where is the fabled ZedShed actually located?

 

[Lee]

This is mega-helpful, thanks so much Lee! I will look into all those bits but if you have any specific reccos on the tyre front (currently running Conti Premium Contact 6) that would also be useful to know. Also: where is the fabled ZedShed actually located?

More than happy to help.

Conti Premium Contact 6 is a good tyre came around in 2016 so you might find your tyres could be old have a look at the date stamp on the side.

There's quite a few zedsheds around the UK we are located just outside Reading. Another in Lydney, another in Lincoln.

 

[Mario]

At this point if you haven´t done bushes, steering tie rod ends and ball joints/arms I would do the whole lot not just the lollipops, I did the entire front suspension on mine including full steering rods not just the ends and it transformed the car.

 

[GorillaPie]

Thank you, Mario - again, useful and much appreciated!