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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum 2017+ BMW 5 Series (G30) General Discussions G31 M-Sport suspension bumpy/harsh

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      01-26-2025, 09:35 AM   #1
Kikac
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G31 M-Sport suspension bumpy/harsh

G31 520i owner since one month , the car is equiped with the M-Sport suspension with air suspension at the back. Coming from G20 M-sport i was hoping for a significantly better ride comfortwise (not). Even when switching from 19” to 18” (both RFT) i dont feel much differences and find the suspension unable to soften the impetfections in the road. And then especially at the back as of every smal imperfection is translating into the cabin, very unpleasant. I know it is objective but i am curious about other experiences.
This made me think , what if i change the M sport suspension to the normal suspension. What should i take into account for the rear? Is the air suspension from the M-Sport actually different from the ones from a normal suspension or can they be adjusted by software to more comfortable settings ?

I hope for some insights.
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      01-26-2025, 09:55 AM   #2
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The passive m sport suspension is what it Is, harsh & crashy. You will be able to get aftermarket alternatives.

Had you got a G31 with adaptive suspension I suspect you’d have been much happier.
I guess you either live with it as is, try changing out the dampers & front springs or sell it & buy one with adaptive suspension
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      01-26-2025, 10:12 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chappers 71 View Post
The passive m sport suspension is what it Is, harsh & crashy. You will be able to get aftermarket alternatives.

Had you got a G31 with adaptive suspension I suspect you’d have been much happier.
I guess you either live with it as is, try changing out the dampers & front springs or sell it & buy one with adaptive suspension


I guess chaging the dampers is probably cheaper than changing the car. I’ve actuallt found a set of front dampers+springs from a g31 with comfort suspension . The only thing i have not found out yet is what to do with the back since it is air suspension.
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      01-26-2025, 10:19 AM   #4
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You’ll need to retain the bags, if they are in good order you can just change the rear dampers.

If the bags on the donor car are good you may as well get the rear units off that as well then.
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      01-26-2025, 10:52 AM   #5
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G3x passive non M or the adaptive M suspension is pretty good. But the passive M setup is pretty harsh
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      01-26-2025, 12:44 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by CarlosM4 View Post
G3x passive non M or the adaptive M suspension is pretty good. But the passive M setup is pretty harsh
I found that out the hard way. I should have informed myself better beforehand.
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      01-26-2025, 12:48 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Chappers 71 View Post
You’ll need to retain the bags, if they are in good order you can just change the rear dampers.

If the bags on the donor car are good you may as well get the rear units off that as well then.


I am willing to order everything brand new. I am trying to find out if i can just swap the bags from a non M pasive on my car. (From my researsch it seems like the dampers for both Non M passive and M passive shares the same part numbers) is there anything else need to be changed, like the control unit?

Last edited by Kikac; 01-26-2025 at 02:28 PM..
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      01-26-2025, 02:14 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kikac View Post
G31 520i owner since one month , the car is equiped with the M-Sport suspension with air suspension at the back. Coming from G20 M-sport i was hoping for a significantly better ride comfortwise (not). Even when switching from 19” to 18” (both RFT) i dont feel much differences and find the suspension unable to soften the impetfections in the road. And then especially at the back as of every smal imperfection is translating into the cabin, very unpleasant. I know it is objective but i am curious about other experiences.
This made me think , what if i change the M sport suspension to the normal suspension. What should i take into account for the rear? Is the air suspension from the M-Sport actually different from the ones from a normal suspension or can they be adjusted by software to more comfortable settings ?

I hope for some insights.
Drop your tire pressure a bit, depending on what you run.

Half-load is about 2.4 F/R, but the car tends to grip, handle, and ride best at about 2.2ish if you have runflats (which have stiffer sidewalls and less compliance). Goodyear even suggested 2 bar.

If you are running above 2.4 on the 704 setup then the car will have excessive roll and feel harsh and disconnected. It will also be nervous at high speed.
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      01-26-2025, 02:31 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Neusser View Post
Drop your tire pressure a bit, depending on what you run.

Half-load is about 2.4 F/R, but the car tends to grip, handle, and ride best at about 2.2ish if you have runflats (which have stiffer sidewalls and less compliance). Goodyear even suggested 2 bar.

If you are running above 2.4 on the 704 setup then the car will have excessive roll and feel harsh and disconnected. It will also be nervous at high speed.

Can this really make a big difference? thanks for the suggestion. the front now is 2.3 and rear 2.6. I will test it on 2.0 tomorrow. Will let you know.
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      01-26-2025, 02:40 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Kikac View Post
Can this really make a big difference? thanks for the suggestion. the front now is 2.3 and rear 2.6. I will test it on 2.0 tomorrow. Will let you know.
Yes, it definitely does. My car used to feel quite harsh on poor roads, it lacked grip in corners at higher Gs, and it was extremely nervous over 140 km/h (a common complaint on German forums). All that went away after I dropped the pressure a bit.

I ran 2.1 f/r for a while (with Goodyear F1s) and found it quite good. Bumped it up to 2.2/2.4 when doing trips (3 people and a few bags) and find that good, too, if a little high when driving solo. Your rear pressure is pretty high if you are using the Goodyear runflat.
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      01-26-2025, 03:31 PM   #11
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My 2022 G30 has just a bit of harshness, but I expect that to go away once I replace the run flats with go flats sometime in May. I have the non-active m-sport suspension.

For reference, I run the PSI recommended by BMW -- 33psi front and 38psi rear. Sorry, I don't know the Bar equivalent.
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      01-27-2025, 03:00 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ppointer View Post
My 2022 G30 has just a bit of harshness, but I expect that to go away once I replace the run flats with go flats sometime in May. I have the non-active m-sport suspension.

For reference, I run the PSI recommended by BMW -- 33psi front and 38psi rear. Sorry, I don't know the Bar equivalent.

I do not have good experiences with changing to non-runflat on my previous G20. Yes, the crashy feeling will be slightly less but the car felt very unstable on highway, especially high speeds. I guess it has something to do with the sidewall stifennes. But that was my experience.
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      01-27-2025, 03:56 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kikac View Post
I do not have good experiences with changing to non-runflat on my previous G20. Yes, the crashy feeling will be slightly less but the car felt very unstable on highway, especially high speeds. I guess it has something to do with the sidewall stifennes. But that was my experience.
Poor stability/nervousness at high speed is also an overinflation issue in many cases, as you have too little tread in contact with the road. I get it in my 5er if going above 2.4 bar (as mentioned), and I get it in my M2 if I run the stock pressure (2.6). Typically, going down by about .2-.3 bar makes a huge difference.

The OEM pressures are all over the place, too. On many M2 forums, for example, users have OEM stickers recommending anything from 2.2-2.4, while my car says 2.6. Sport Auto, a respected German mag, was recommending 2.2 (hot) in track testing, and this works very well on the street if used as a cold pressure (since tires heat up less on the street).

Fleet economy targets, among other things, certainly play a role in high pressures.
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      02-01-2025, 02:36 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Neusser View Post
Yes, it definitely does. My car used to feel quite harsh on poor roads, it lacked grip in corners at higher Gs, and it was extremely nervous over 140 km/h (a common complaint on German forums). All that went away after I dropped the pressure a bit.

I ran 2.1 f/r for a while (with Goodyear F1s) and found it quite good. Bumped it up to 2.2/2.4 when doing trips (3 people and a few bags) and find that good, too, if a little high when driving solo. Your rear pressure is pretty high if you are using the Goodyear runflat.

I have to say it really worked! I lowered the pressure 2.1 front and 2.2 back and it is a big difference. No crashy feeling over bumps as before. You saved me from spending money on to swap the suspension, haha.
But it is weird though, since bmw recommend 2.4 and 2.7 for this tyre. I also get a warning now because of low pressure and i cannot clear it. My car was also for service yesterday and they raised the pressure back up to the original 2.4 and 2.7 and told me i had way to low pressure in the tyres. I didn’t want to argue and at the first stop i lowered it again. It definitely gives a more comfy ride. I am actuallt considering to try non-runflat on this car, they will propably improve an other 10% comfort wise, what do you think?
Also, it seems that the new g30/31 lci get non-runflat from the factory. The tyres only have a star (bmw approved) , but not runflat. I cannot really find what a star marked tyre is different from a normal one..

Thanks a lot mate.

Last edited by Kikac; 02-01-2025 at 02:46 AM..
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      02-01-2025, 02:52 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kikac View Post
I have to say it really worked! I lowered the pressure 2.1 front and 2.2 back and it is a big difference. No crashy feeling over bumps as before. You saved me from spending money on to swap the suspension, haha.
But it is weird though, since bmw recommend 2.4 and 2.7 for this tyre. I also get a warning now because of low pressure and i cannot clear it. My car was also for service yesterday and they raised the pressure back up to the original 2.4 and 2.7 and told me i had way to low pressure in the tyres. I didn’t want to argue and at the first stop i lowered it again. It definitely gives a more comfy ride. I am actuallt considering to try non-runflat on this car, they will propably improve an other 10% comfort wise.

Thanks a lot mate.
I’ve found 2.25 bar front & 2.35 rear ro be the sweet spot on my G31 & doesn’t set of the low tyre pressure warning, that’s on staggered 19” MPS4 ZP’s with adaptive suspension.
If you find the lower pressures that Neusser recommends better, then try selecting ‘other’ for tyres in I-Drive & that may stop the LTP warning.
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Last edited by Chappers 71; 02-01-2025 at 03:08 AM..
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      02-01-2025, 03:11 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kikac View Post
I have to say it really worked! I lowered the pressure 2.1 front and 2.2 back and it is a big difference. No crashy feeling over bumps as before. You saved me from spending money on to swap the suspension, haha.
But it is weird though, since bmw recommend 2.4 and 2.7 for this tyre. I also get a warning now because of low pressure and i cannot clear it. My car was also for service yesterday and they raised the pressure back up to the original 2.4 and 2.7 and told me i had way to low pressure in the tyres. I didn’t want to argue and at the first stop i lowered it again. It definitely gives a more comfy ride. I am actuallt considering to try non-runflat on this car, they will propably improve an other 10% comfort wise, what do you think?
Also, it seems that the new g30/31 lci get non-runflat from the factory. The tyres only have a star (bmw approved) , but not runflat. I cannot really find what a star marked tyre is different from a normal one..

Thanks a lot mate.


In the tire pressure/size menu, you should have an option to select "other tires" when cycling through the options. Mine is in German, so not sure how it appears in Dutch, but it should be there. I just leave it on that setting year round, and I do a reset when switching from summer to winter tires.
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