So I had a G20 on loan to me for a bit and was really curious to see what BMW did for the next generation 3/4 series' suspension.
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Originally Posted by Index
0:00 Intro
0:15 Static ride height measurements
0:44 Under the hood/shock tower comparison
1:45 Jack points and lifting the car (QuickJack users take note!)
2:27 Wheel bolts and pattern
2:50 Damper travel before bump stops
4:11 Front strut assembly and components
7:15 Front control arms and sway bar
8:54 Rear suspension layout
9:34 Rear sway bar
10:35 Rear springs
10:52 Rear damper and components
11:44 Rear rotors and variants
12:09 Front rotors and variants
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Overall, the suspension layout is near identical to that of the F2x/F3x! It has all of the same functional components, which are just slightly different in shape. The process to replace the springs and shocks is the same as the F2x/F3x, and if you're interested in that you can see my
video on that here.
Some key differences I noticed are that the shock towers on the G20 look a lot beefier, and BMW went to mostly directional brake rotors on the G20. That means the vanes should be optimized for pumping air through them for better cooling.
One thing I'm pretty annoyed with is how far apart BMW made the side jack points on the G2x. They've made it so if you're a QuickJack user (like myself) you can't put your skids along the sides unless you have the most expensive XLT model. If you have the EXT you can go side to side, however that limits a lot of types of work you can do.
I wish I had some more time with this car to take a look at some other items. One thing in particular I forgot to measure was the rear motion ratio. On the F2x/F3x the spring motion ratio is about 0.59. It'd be interesting to see if this was maintained. It'd also be interesting to see if F2x/F3x dampers and springs fit G2x vehicles. At least from the 330i I looked at, the spring ends/mount patterns are the same as F2x/F3x, however the springs on this car weren't from the series of springs that BMW used for the F2x/F3x.
While driving the car around, I actually thought BMW did a pretty good job with the base suspension. It felt pretty decently damped and wasn't harsh at all. I actually liked it more than the Adaptive-M Suspension on the M340i at the UDE autocross last year. I'm looking forward to the next G2x I get to inspect.