Ride Quality On My 640d Msport

[TON-III]

Before buying my 640 d x-drive ( those soft springs) I did do trial ride with RW 640 d M-Sport with 20" winter tires and I must say that car was something like spot on and believe me I'm VERY sensitible for that how car is handling.

By short I took an flight from Finland to Germany to buy this car of mine and if I could have walked from the car after trial ride easily I would not have bought the car, it was so much different from the experience with that RW car.

Car was pristine and while it was a found I bought it and now after some fine tuning it's rocking even better that the RW one I drove. There were loose bushings, steering angles were not right, those winter tires were as horrible as RF ones, those soft spring were disaster ....

Loose bushings are now fixed, steering angles set after intalled Eibach springs and now riding with more soft and light tyre-/wheel combination, it begins to feel as it should .....

In my ex 4 wheel drive I did have same - 1 degree camber in every wheel and god how good it steered, I'm up to buy adjustable plates to to of the front struts to be able to adjust those/ get those to some minus.

A bit disappointed that this luxury car can be that 'out' of the game that soon while my car was just 66 000 km. driven when purchased.

In general M-Sport RW chassi with those real firm springs is easily to be an very nice drive, there's something wrong if it isn't.

[SheriGoddart33]

Totally disappointed in this. In fact, I regularly stop by the service, adjust it.

[Eli2311]

Hi all,

To keep you posted the brake judder has come back with a vengeance and this is the third dealer to look at the car and come up with some BS excuse of wheels and tyres.

The car is annoying me to no end, I think I have enjoyed living with a compromised ride for about 2 months having had it for about 11 months now! In talks with BMW finance UK because I want the BMW network of dealers to sort their crap out. Will keep you posted, someone I know recently got so sick of the unwanted vibrations from their 640d they chopped the car in for a 540i.

It saddens me because I do really like all the other aspects of the car just the damn ride is always a let down.

Eli2311

[DaveS86]

If it's any consolation mine on 20's is perfection! Non RFT's. I had a brake judder which I got rid of with new discs and pads all round! Heavenly ride!

[Rogertyu]

Originally Posted by Eli2311

Hi all,

Thanks for quick responses and apologies for the delay in my reply.

In answer to some of your points I did test drive the car when I first got it and felt fine for a first time drive, regrettably I did not spend enough time in the car checking over so many things and thought being that it was in warranty and only had 9k miles on the clock things would be easily fixable should there be any issues. I have 20" RFT and run 2.4 Bar at front and 2.6 Bar at back as per BMW vehicle guidelines.

Here was my buying journey since September ;

1) Glove box misaligned - Fixed at dealer a month after purchase
2) Front facia speaker broken - Fixed & replaced at dealer a month after purchase
3) Mist build up in driver side tail light - Not fixed assumed ok by dealer - told it was a common fault and agreed as I had the same on a previous 3 and a previous 5 series
4) Centre console storage button surround/plastic silver trim loose - fixed
5) Driver seat trim fallen off, open clip and showing tape from previous fix - Delivered loose, I pushed it back in myself and it is now fully retained and in working order

All above quite easily fixed and sorted at dealer or by myself, this is where is gets interesting;

6) Major issue with heavy vehicle judder under braking, I noticed after careful inspection the front passenger side wheel had previously heavily been refurbished and you could tell because the M badge in dent as missing and the spokes had more detail then the other wheels as if the whole face was heavily skimmed so assumed a heavy in balance in wheels. Turns out it was a brake issue - All 4 corners brakes and discs replaced along with a new front wheel judder under braking gone but the ride never felt right and I just assumed it was all to do with this issue, seemed not after a few weeks of living with the car I could still feel the car skipping all over the place especially in corners, at low speeds it was almost like there were bulges in the tyres causing an imbalanced ride.

After this I decided it was time again to get the wheels tracked and balanced once more having already done it previously, I did so and no improvements.

Took vehicle to dealer and was informed 3 of 4 wheels were buckled, but all 4 tyres were good, so I thought this was progress as I know BMW wheels these days are made very soft, some one once told me this is due to different a front and rear wheel suppliers, which could make sense has they would have to soften the spec so both suppliers could fit into the same spec window, but I had no hard info and assumed it was hearsay.

Decided I would get the wheels straightened, found a great place with positive reviews and personal recommendations in Ealing London. These guys would also give me a loan set which would help me determine if it was a wheels and tyres issue. I got 18" wheels and tyre set and for the most of it of course I expected a softer ride and I got that, but when I say I didn't see much difference it is because the skipping in corners and the straight line steering skip/vibration were all still there.

This car has been assessed so many times for long periods by good BMW master techs and they all have said nothing seems wrong. 20" RFTs back on and I still always fell the wheels skipping over each other and even on straight roads the steering wheel picks up on even a stone in the ride like it's a mountain. I was not expecting a soft ride from 20" RFTs and in most cases I prefer a sportier feel but its not the "ride" per-say that is the issue its the whole experience and balance of the car it feels so off.

Hence my quite passionate comment about my expectations, I mean I didn't think it would be a Merc on 18s but I expected a more dynamic ride from a BMW.

Sorry if I sound in-experienced but I do feel like I have a good grasp of cars and I do work in the industry so I'm not that inept I just can't seem to figure out whats wrong.

Thank you all for your input and help.

Hello, may I ask which company you used in Ealing for the alloy refurbish? Were they reasonably priced and more importantly did they do a good job?

Many thanks

[Thewrench86]

Everytime I have issues with my ride quality its usually a bulge in the sidewall. Had this about 8 months ago on my driver front tyre. Replaced with sportmaxx rf. Yesterday the vibration at around 70mph feeling through the steering wheel and seat has come back and guess what same corner tyre has a bulge again! I really do want to change the tyres to non runflat asap may have a better excuse now.

[Skibag]

I bought a 640d a couple of months ago that has the same issues - bouncing around and bottoming out over speed bumps. The garage I bought it off and BMW say the suspension is fine but my garage have said the bushes are worn and will cost 2k to repair. Parts in the estimate were left wishbone (castor bush) right wishbone, Left front arm (shock bush) and right arm. Not sure if i'll get it done yet because not sure if it will completely fix the issue. Defo not happy with the ride anyway

[Skibag]

I've also gotten oh big car on 20's but I've just come from a Jaguar XFS on 20's and the ride is night and day. Jag was nice a firm compared to this bouncy boat. Had swapped out the RF's on the Jag, just not sure what I'm going to do with this BMW yet

[SyedShah_]

Hey guys.

I've had a BMW 640D Gran Coupe LCI since February 2019, and have racked up the best part of 30,000 miles + on the car since. Coming from a brand new Audi A4 S-line that was on 19's, it's been a lovely experience and has been stress free for most of the time as I now approach what is likely my last 10,000 miles with the car (she's on 54k now). But the ride is definitely a few notches down compared to the Audi (obviously).

My car doesn't have VDC, though I don't think this was something I had down as a must have option upon purchasing the car. The ride isn't the best in the world, and in many ways I can relate to the issues you guys are having with your F06's etc.

I'm fast approaching my 3rd set of tires. I'm currently on Michelin Pilot Sport 4s (20's) all round, but have tried the Super Sports prior. If anything, I recommend the Pilot Sport 4s, as they last long, and definitely took out a lot of the ride issues I had using the Super sports prior to them.

I did also have the juddering at motorway speeds when braking, but quickly found out this was due to a buckled alloy which took me hell and back to replace as I wasn't keen on repairing the alloy considering the buckle was significant. But now this is no longer an issue unless braking from a very high speed which is to be expected (in mexico ofcourse). I do run brembo's all round which were better than the previous OEM brakes.

However, it does still have a low level vibration at most times during UK motorway driving, and truth be told, I'm now used to it and it's not as intrusive as it was before as I ran the buckled tyre for a very long time before it was picked up!

Going around bends, it's the exact same and loves to bounce around.. doesn't really inspire confidence so yeah it's all out granny driving in the wet.

Generally, I do think the issues faced are mutual between most 640d owners without VDC as a relatives 640d also had the same issues.

My car has also got a dodgy boot that needs new gas struts.. guys down at BMW said it's a common issue. But worse than that, my PDC system is tripping out due to one faulty sensor. Can't use any of the surround view cameras without constant warnings on the dash.

Guess a new car is on order soon enough....