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Is it worth it to upgrade from Dynamic Drive to thicker sway bars? Effort?

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Old Nov 10, 2020 | 05:35 PM
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Default Is it worth it to upgrade from Dynamic Drive to thicker sway bars? Effort?

(If this has been discussed before, please post the link.)

I'm considering removing the Dynamic Drive system. Is it worth it to move to, say, M5 sway bars or aftermarket?

If so, what's involved? Is it simply disconnecting and replacing the dynamic sway bars with static ones and some coding? Or much more?

Thanks.
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Old Nov 10, 2020 | 09:21 PM
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Why are you considered it. Are you doing a lot of hard driving
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Old Nov 10, 2020 | 09:43 PM
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Originally Posted by seanjordan20
Why are you considered it. Are you doing a lot of hard driving
I'm tuning the car and I prefer a stiffer ride. Even when these are active, I'm getting more roll than I want. I've got the wheels and tires that I want and engine mods close to where I want them to be. Now I'm working on suspension.

Believe it or not, this E60 has very similar dimensions (length, width, height, weight) as the F80 M3, on paper and in person. The E60 just has a deeper trunk by 10". I've parked them next to each other and sat in the cockpit within minutes to verify that, yeah, the new 3 series is as big as the older 5 series. When driving, the tuned E60 N54 had similar torque and HP (both have turbo inline 6 3.0L motors), but the suspension wasn't nearly as nice. So, I'm trying to get there.

I believe that the E60 535i can handle a lot better. The dynamic suspension is neat, but I noticed that they didn't put it in the E60 M5.

Last edited by cqhall; Nov 10, 2020 at 09:46 PM.
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Old Nov 15, 2020 | 06:54 PM
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from what i have read it is better and also lighter. Also less problems to happen (leaky bars etc)

look up evans e61 he did the swap. car is a beast
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Old Nov 18, 2020 | 07:59 AM
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Originally Posted by y0itzflip
from what i have read it is better and also lighter. Also less problems to happen (leaky bars etc)

look up evans e61 he did the swap. car is a beast
Yeah, I've seen Evan's builds. Both wagon's are nuts. I saw where he pulled them out. I don't recall if he discussed the details or not.
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Old Nov 18, 2020 | 09:54 AM
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Dynamic swaybars are there for comfort mainly; Keep the ride as smooth as possible while reducing body roll as much as they can.

A proper sway bar is there for reducing body roll and handling bias; If that is your goal then yes switching would be hugely beneficial
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Old Nov 21, 2020 | 09:35 PM
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Originally Posted by y0itzflip
from what i have read it is better and also lighter. Also less problems to happen (leaky bars etc)

look up evans e61 he did the swap. car is a beast
Follow up:

So, i just checked the build threads for both of his E61 wagons (white and grey). Yes, he did upgrade the swaybars on both cars. But, all of them were normal stock sway bars, not the dynamic drive system.

White build swaybar swap: https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...3/#post1521049
Grey build swaybar swap: https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/a...#post-12925781

I checked my Bentley manual and it looks like removal and installation of the actual bars is fairly simple. But, I don't know what else is involved in terms of decommissioning the hydraulic system, motion sensors, and whatnot. Not to mention coding.

I mean, the freaking CAS is involved. And it reads a VIN from Dynamic Drive system or something.

Last edited by cqhall; Nov 21, 2020 at 09:41 PM.
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Old Nov 21, 2020 | 09:56 PM
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For those watching the thread and are interested, here is what the system does and what's involved:


And the engineering:
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Old Nov 22, 2020 | 12:18 PM
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More research:

I've been looking for a Dynamic Drive removal thread (from any chassis) and haven't found one. But, I did find one where someone added it via a retrofit: https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/d...rofit.1267562/
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Old Nov 29, 2020 | 06:17 PM
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Originally Posted by cqhall
Follow up:

So, i just checked the build threads for both of his E61 wagons (white and grey). Yes, he did upgrade the swaybars on both cars. But, all of them were normal stock sway bars, not the dynamic drive system.

White build swaybar swap: https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...3/#post1521049
Grey build swaybar swap: https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/a...#post-12925781

I checked my Bentley manual and it looks like removal and installation of the actual bars is fairly simple. But, I don't know what else is involved in terms of decommissioning the hydraulic system, motion sensors, and whatnot. Not to mention coding.

I mean, the freaking CAS is involved. And it reads a VIN from Dynamic Drive system or something.

my bad bro i have a few e60 threads i follow and i confued evans white e61 for ryans white e60.

HE removed the dynamic drive and used m5 bars.

https://www.n54tech.com/forums/showt...t=46427&page=9
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