Body roll

[yupetc]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

After reading this whole thread, I'm going to order either the rear or both for my car. Rear looks like something I'd be willing to do, front I may be able to combine some labor with the engine mount replacement. My main worry is the squeaking/lack of grease grooves in the bushings. Could I dremel in a groove to help this issue? Stripping the paint and using Cerakote seems like a little more than I'd prefer to do.

If I didn't have Cerakote capability, drilling the groove for grease fill-up is the approach I'd take. And I'm sure it'll work just fine. Cerakote is just something I coincidentally learned to do when I was rebuilding the engine, having to coat the pistons. Not necessary if you don't want to go that route.

[acmurda]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

After reading this whole thread, I'm going to order either the rear or both for my car. Rear looks like something I'd be willing to do, front I may be able to combine some labor with the engine mount replacement. My main worry is the squeaking/lack of grease grooves in the bushings. Could I dremel in a groove to help this issue? Stripping the paint and using Cerakote seems like a little more than I'd prefer to do.

re-greasing the rear bushings would be as easy as crawling underneath, loosening 2 bolts and couple quick squirts of some quality lithium grease.

[Vivek.]

Ordered the front. I figure I can do the rear myself later but I should be getting new motor mounts in the coming weeks and I want to combine the labor on that rather than doing it myself.

[yupetc]

Well, folks, it's time for an update.

So last month I took the car up the Colorado Mountains and spent a week up and down the Rocky MTN Nat'l Park. Just a blast to drive the X5 with such tightly knitted suspension setup. Both front and rear upgraded sway bars really contributed to a zero-body-roll situation for the car. And the H&R springs coupled with Bilstein B6 struts makes high speed driving extremely stable going from Texas to Colorado. Was able to do over 100mph without the car feeling like it's going to roll off the road or anything. So ideally, yes, this setup has been a dream, and if this can continue, I'd call it done; however, turns out, my wife has noticed the extra harshness and bumpiness when going over any road contours. Recently, she's been in her friend's X5, same car, but completely stock suspension and she came back and asked me to take off the springs for good. Apparently, she's fed up with how uncomfortable all the bump on the road feels handled by the H&R springs. So this past weekend, it came off.

Just finished putting the stock springs back, coupled with the Bilstein B6 and the Ultra Racing front and rear sway bars; did the alignment and the car's now back on the road. Car feels great at corners since the sway bars really do their jobs well; but now it feels like I'm riding on a sponge going through the road contours in a straight line just feels a whole lot more bouncier; we've sacrificed performance for some comfort. Major Bummers.

[acmurda]

Originally Posted by yupetc

Well, folks, it's time for an update.

So last month I took the car up the Colorado Mountains and spent a week up and down the Rocky MTN Nat'l Park. Just a blast to drive the X5 with such tightly knitted suspension setup. Both front and rear upgraded sway bars really contributed to a zero-body-roll situation for the car. And the H&R springs coupled with Bilstein B6 struts makes high speed driving extremely stable going from Texas to Colorado. Was able to do over 100mph without the car feeling like it's going to roll off the road or anything. So ideally, yes, this setup has been a dream, and if this can continue, I'd call it done; however, turns out, my wife has noticed the extra harshness and bumpiness when going over any road contours. Recently, she's been in her friend's X5, same car, but completely stock suspension and she came back and asked me to take off the springs for good. Apparently, she's fed up with how uncomfortable all the bump on the road feels handled by the H&R springs. So this past weekend, it came off.

Just finished putting the stock springs back, coupled with the Bilstein B6 and the Ultra Racing front and rear sway bars; did the alignment and the car's now back on the road. Car feels great at corners since the sway bars really do their jobs well; but now it feels like I'm riding on a sponge going through the road contours in a straight line just feels a whole lot more bouncier; we've sacrificed performance for some comfort. Major Bummers.

Man you should've taken this opportunity to go Eibach for the stock like comfort without sacrificing performance.

[yupetc]

Originally Posted by acmurda

Man you should've taken this opportunity to go Eibach for the stock like comfort without sacrificing performance.

I come from a long lineage of Nissan vehicles in my past, and back in those days many times than often, H&R's are the first option for those cars until other brands catch up, so my experience has always been with those springs. And having not touched suspension modding for nearly 15 years, yeah, the first thing I looked for is H&R's again; and this time around it turns out to be a mistake. Granted, I personally have no issues with these springs on the X5, it's the wife, and since she'll be driving it mostly, I have to let her decide what to put on it. And I'll wait half a year or so when things aren't so conspicuous, I'll probably get a set of Eibach's and try it out. I think your suggestion is right, I've been reading a lot lately about the difference, it's worth a try. It's also very worthy of mentioning that H&R's stance makes a very aggressive look. I already miss it, 3 days after reversing to stock springs. So you know my pain.

Now I'm freeing up a set of H&R's, I'll likely post it up in the classified and sell it for cheap.

[acmurda]

Originally Posted by yupetc

I come from a long lineage of Nissan vehicles in my past, and back in those days many times than often, H&R's are the first option for those cars until other brands catch up, so my experience has always been with those springs. And having not touched suspension modding for nearly 15 years, yeah, the first thing I looked for is H&R's again; and this time around it turns out to be a mistake. Granted, I personally have no issues with these springs on the X5, it's the wife, and since she'll be driving it mostly, I have to let her decide what to put on it. And I'll wait half a year or so when things aren't so conspicuous, I'll probably get a set of Eibach's and try it out. I think your suggestion is right, I've been reading a lot lately about the difference, it's worth a try. It's also very worthy of mentioning that H&R's stance makes a very aggressive look. I already miss it, 3 days after reversing to stock springs. So you know my pain.

Now I'm freeing up a set of H&R's, I'll likely post it up in the classified and sell it for cheap.

Being inconspicuous is key 😂. Should be able to swap them out next brake job or tire rotation.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Ordered the front. I figure I can do the rear myself later but I should be getting new motor mounts in the coming weeks and I want to combine the labor on that rather than doing it myself.

Front sway is in! Ended up combining labor with the motor mounts and the shop charged me just $150 for the install including cutting grease grooves in the bushings. He did mention that it was a PITA even on the lift so I'm glad I didn't attempt it myself on jackstands. My total cost for this upgrade installed was around $625 and it is worth every penny.

First off it drives like a dream, I love it. I'll have to do the rear at some point, it does feel like there's something to be desired in the rear now since the front is disproportionately flat in corners...but the steering feels great, the X5 goes exactly where you point it. Highly recommend this upgrade; this is my first time upgrading a sway bar and I feel like its a much better balance between performance and NVH (so far there is no noticeable increase in NVH) than other suspension upgrades such as springs, dampers, coilovers, or stiffer bushings.

[jmack123]

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Front sway is in! Ended up combining labor with the motor mounts and the shop charged me just $150 for the install including cutting grease grooves in the bushings. He did mention that it was a PITA even on the lift so I'm glad I didn't attempt it myself on jackstands. My total cost for this upgrade installed was around $625 and it is worth every penny.

First off it drives like a dream, I love it. I'll have to do the rear at some point, it does feel like there's something to be desired in the rear now since the front is disproportionately flat in corners...but the steering feels great, the X5 goes exactly where you point it. Highly recommend this upgrade; this is my first time upgrading a sway bar and I feel like its a much better balance between performance and NVH (so far there is no noticeable increase in NVH) than other suspension upgrades such as springs, dampers, coilovers, or stiffer bushings.

Awesome! Any increased harshness? Particularly over rough terrain?

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by jmack123

Awesome! Any increased harshness? Particularly over rough terrain?

It might transmit a little more of the roughness of the road, definitely not a huge difference. To be honest I've barely driven my X5 since June and after the install I only drove it like 3 miles from the shop to the dealer (O2 sensor, thankfully under warranty)...so I don't have much to add on this yet. I'll start taking it on ski trips in the next couple weeks and I can report back after some more experience. So far I'd say it's like 5-10% of the harshness increase between OEM sport springs and H&R sport springs.

[yupetc]

Originally Posted by jmack123

Awesome! Any increased harshness? Particularly over rough terrain?

The sway bar itself will not really transmit much NVH to your ride, if any, it'll be very minimal because all this is doing is keeping your left and right leans repelled during a turn. But it does very little to the actual "thrust" you'd feel from road bumps that your shocks/springs are supposed to dissipate on NVH.

The biggest difference I notices upon upgrading to this sway bar is that the turns are all flat now. And earlier on I did have the H&R and Bilstein B6 along with this, and H&R's are just way too bumpy. Now that the car's riding on stock springs with the B6 and these sway bars, I'd say the ride mimics' that same ride with the E70 M-sport suspension, which was my previous X5, with a slightly softer trek. And it was because I knew what that E70 M-sport felt like, when I got to this standard F15 suspension, I ventured upon getting the sway bars upgraded.

For those of you who are worried about cornering like a boat swaying, you should really look into upgrading the sway bars. It does wonders to change your suspension characteristics.

The car now corners so flat that in my neighborhood I have people coming to me saying that they've tailed behind me a few times and realized I'm driving an SUV which corners like a mini cooper, at least that's what they observe from driving behind me. With a good smirk I explained what I did with the sway bars and now they all think I'm so mechanically inclined about cars.

[jmack123]

Originally Posted by yupetc

The sway bar itself will not really transmit much NVH to your ride, if any, it'll be very minimal because all this is doing is keeping your left and right leans repelled during a turn. But it does very little to the actual "thrust" you'd feel from road bumps that your shocks/springs are supposed to dissipate on NVH.

The biggest difference I notices upon upgrading to this sway bar is that the turns are all flat now. And earlier on I did have the H&R and Bilstein B6 along with this, and H&R's are just way too bumpy. Now that the car's riding on stock springs with the B6 and these sway bars, I'd say the ride mimics' that same ride with the E70 M-sport suspension, which was my previous X5, with a slightly softer trek. And it was because I knew what that E70 M-sport felt like, when I got to this standard F15 suspension, I ventured upon getting the sway bars upgraded.

For those of you who are worried about cornering like a boat swaying, you should really look into upgrading the sway bars. It does wonders to change your suspension characteristics.

The car now corners so flat that in my neighborhood I have people coming to me saying that they've tailed behind me a few times and realized I'm driving an SUV which corners like a mini cooper, at least that's what they observe from driving behind me. With a good smirk I explained what I did with the sway bars and now they all think I'm so mechanically inclined about cars.

Beautiful. You did front and rear bars? What do you think the labor would be for front and rear bars at an indy shop?

[yupetc]

Originally Posted by jmack123

Beautiful. You did front and rear bars? What do you think the labor would be for front and rear bars at an indy shop?

I did everything myself, so I couldn't fathom what an indy would charge. But the job isn't so bad for me because I've gone through this repair route many times for my intercooler and piping. And if you can get the intercooler out, you can easily access the front sway bar. Mind you, when I do this, I took the full front assembly off, bumpers, radiator, everything. But it's a walk in the park for me. The rear bar is even easier, just 4 bolts and bolt up the stabilizer link, no fuss at all.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by jmack123

Awesome! Any increased harshness? Particularly over rough terrain?

I've driven about 50 miles with the front sway in right now and I can quite confidently say that there is no noticeable increase in NVH with the added sway bar.

As far as cost goes, my shop charged me 0.8hrs on top of the 3.6hrs for the motor mounts. Most of this labor overlaps, so I'd imagine if you're doing only the front sway you'd be paying about 3.6 hours for the job.

Keep in mind that I had him cut in grooves to hold the grease in the sway bar bushings since this brand for some reason does not have them. I'd probably have saved a hundred bucks doing this myself.

The rear looks super easy so I'll just do it myself.

[c00lbeans]

Originally Posted by acmurda

Hey guys. So the front sway bar was backordered and while I was waiting for that, I received and installed the rear hardrace bar. That alone improved roll and overall road manners drastically. The steering is so much more responsive and what felt like oversteer for the first few days now feels perfect. I am quite happy with this so I ended up cancelling the front bar all together. I will now be installing Eibach springs which should help improve things even more.

How is the ride with the Eibach springs installed plus the rear sway?

[E85 Sport]

yupetc give us a long-term update now that you’ve been driving on these swaybars for over a year. How are the mounts holding up?

[redpit107]

Originally Posted by E85 Sport

yupetc give us a long-term update now that you’ve been driving on these swaybars for over a year. How are the mounts holding up?

I would be interested to know as well...

[yupetc]

So far so good. The mounts on the bar held up fine. I added lubrication coating from CERAKOTE onto where the mounts are gripped. That further helps the mount with noise/squeak reduction.

As far as I can tell, the X5, after upgrade both sway bars, now drives like a 5-series sedan in terms of cornering; just different ride height is all. On top of that, I've gotten rid of the H&R springs and Bilstein B6's because of how harsh the ride has been. It's very jarring at every even little small bumps on the road. I'm now riding on Eibach Pro springs and Koni Active Sport (FSD) shocks. Perfect combination in regards to performance and comfort.