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[330i driver]

At this moment i really enjoy my four weeks old 330 i. The only thing which can not really satisfied me,is the straight-out stability of the car,especially when i am driving above the 200 km/u. It really seems that the car becomes nervous,en this will result in slowly side-moves,which gives not a real safe feeling I allready went to my bmw dealer,and they told me that my problem has to do with the size of my fronttires (235/35/19).
They advise me to mount 225/35/19 fronttires (recommend size) and the problem will be solved
I really want to know if there are more 330i drivers who,s recognizing this problems and also have an idea about this.


330i High Executive Sparkling Graphite with terra ambiente leather,manual gearbox,original sportsuspension,19 inch Kahn Design RS-V1 rims with Continental sport contact 3 235/35/19 and 255/30/19 tires.

[Carnage]

I'm been using those size tires w/no issues. Sounds like an alignment problem.

[aapriadi]

i'm running the same front and have been at that speed, i think the road condition and uplift caused by wind could contribute to side tracking
perhaps its an alignment or balancing problem too but at that speed dont expect the car to stick to the ground..e90 isnt a race car and neither do we need to be drivin that fast

[BigDog]

ran 235 and now 245s in the front... no probs

[330i driver]

Originally Posted by aapriadi

i'm running the same front and have been at that speed, i think the road condition and uplift caused by wind could contribute to side tracking
perhaps its an alignment or balancing problem too but at that speed dont expect the car to stick to the ground..e90 isnt a race car and neither do we need to be drivin that fast

In all the situations that i recognized this problem,the roads were completely flat without any damage etc. Propably the alignment of the car is not correct,but i don,t think that my problem has to do with the size of my tires.
My dealer ask me to mount the original 17 inch (161) wheels and then i have to try the car with higher speeds on flat roads,to see if the problem is fixed.....:mad:
In the past i drove a 325 ci(e46) ,which had a better driveability at high speeds then my new 330i e90 with orig. sportsuspension.
My bmw dealer told me also that the balance of a 330i is really perfect with a 50/50 weight balance and that this car with his engine must be able to drive speeds above 200 km/u very safe and easily.
To be honest,with this set-up of the car,i become a little bit scared when driving speeds above 200 km/u

[purity]

I think you need to change your swaybar.and lowered your car with lowering springs.Then align your car with maximum negative camber available within spec.
My car now is much more stable then before.
I have posted my alignment spec some where in this forum for reference.

[CD330Plus]

I face this type of problem in my 330Cd E46 with M Sport suspension with 225/40R18 and with 225/45R17 simple due to the brand of the tire.

When I use Continental, Michelin or Dunlop in both size´s there is no problem.

When I use Bridgestone S03 the car becames very unstable in severall situation, many times in the one´s you discribe and I had to change the tyres for RE050.

I believe this is because some tires have hardener side walls than another

For instance in my car the difference when using S03 or RE050 is amazing.

The car has the best performance and stability with Continental Contisport Contact 2 Why? I don´t know but it was the factory tire

In my dealer they have to change the tires of several 5 series because when they put S03 the car was not drivable at all, and in several 1 series when someone uses different brands in both axles the DTC becames crazy in all corners.

I did one track day were I put Continental used tires in exchange for my RE050 the difference was amazing and from then one I figure that the problem of stabillity was really due to the brand of the tire.

[ShinBalNom]

Running the same tires w/o any problems.

[330i driver]

Originally Posted by purity

I think you need to change your swaybar.and lowered your car with lowering springs.Then align your car with maximum negative camber available within spec.
My car now is much more stable then before.
I have posted my alignment spec some where in this forum for reference.

Thanks guys for all your suggestions and info so far.
Personally i think that the upperstanding conclusion (from purity) is a right one.But i am also thinking that the choice for some brands of tires is very important for the driveability of a car.That was the reason why i choosed the new Continental sport contact 3 tires. From the moment that the sport contact 3 came out,i only heard positive things about this tires,especially the combination Conti sport contact with BMW M3 (e46).
Yesterday i made an appointment with my dealer to bring the car 12 september,and they told me that they will do everything to solve the problem
The technical man of the dealer told me that they will start to check if the original set-up of the alignment is right. If yes,they will mount the original 17'' wheels and see if there will be an improvement.
For me it,s simple,if the driveability of my 330i stays unacceptable like it is now,i don,t want to keep this car any longer.
Maybe i will change it for a used M3,but i ordered especially a sedan,because it,s four doors will give us extra comfort for our young son.

[purity]

Hi 330i driver,
Long time ago in 1992 I have an E36 318is Coupe and I have lot of driving time with my friends E36 325is Coupe also,I have it for some time.
Later on I have a E46 325i Sedan.When I first drive the E46,the first thing I notice on high speed freeway drive is the E46 have softer ride,and more body rolls.I think BMW want to cater to broader market,plus the competition from Lexus with ultra comfy ride is intense.Not to mention the E46 is heavier then the E36.
For the performance minded people,BMW give the Sport Package and even M Sport package as factory option.
I guess the same thing happen with the E90.The new car have more weight then the E46.

Your 19in wheel also means your car is higher from the ground compare to the 17 standard wheel.(higher center of gravity).even though you lowered your car, the distance between the center of the wheel hub to the ground is higher on 19in wheel compare to 17in.The suspension also have to work harder with wide tyres and wide wheel.All this cause the sligthly unbalance feel,from my point of view.
Perhaps a Bilstein PSS9 will help fix it even more beside swaybar and aligment.
Hope your car is better soon,cause moving back to E46 is a step backward and we all want to move on forward right
Good Luck

[330i driver]

Here we are with the latest news about the problems with my 330i.
Last week my car has been to the bmw dealer to check if it has the right alignment set-up.Original alignment of factory was right at the front side of the car,but the rear side alignment was out of the original set-up range My dealer also change my 19 inch wheels for the original styling 161 17 inch wheels to improve the very bad straight-out stability of my 330 i.When the dealer called me about the things they have done to my car,he told me that i was right about my points of critics and that the car was driving very scarry at speeds above 140 km/h.The technical man at the dealer told me that there was an large improvement after they mounted the original wheels/tires After a few little discussions i picked up my car and went back to my home adress and my curriousity changed very fast into a big dissapointment,because the car still has that f*****g nervous behaviour at speeds above 140 km/h.....
Next day i called my dealer with the message that the problem was not solved,and that i am loosing my patience with this car very fast
Next week there will come a technical guy from BMW Netherland to my dealer and he wants to drive a whole day with my 330i to see what the problem really is
A nice detail:when my car was at the dealer,s garage,i get an 318 d e90 (also with sportpackage) for one day and that car drove much better at high speeds as my 330i

The technical guy of my bmw dealer told me that there were problems with the steeringhouse/installation of the e90 in 2005 and bmw has done an modification for that problem.
Someone knows about this modification........