Wet Weather driving

[M5pilot]

With the current wet season how is everyone finding their grip levels?

Those with H&R anti roll bars - are you finding your rear end a little 'alive' in the wet?

[Speedtouch]

Terrible! My '88 open-diffed E34 535i is all over the place, but it's all good RWD fun

[blitz877]

im having great fun as i always do in the wet

[march109]

Why should I? I don't tend to drive the 30 in winter.

Haven't fitted them yet, or the bilsteins, and gonna have to ring up soon for the HIDs and springs too, maybe also some bushes too.

[Bob_S]

my 2.7 is prooving entertaining with an open diff and std arbs

[Cook318IS]

went from a 1.1 peugeot 106 to a 318is and the e30 handles loads better than the 106. cant beat a bit of tailend action!

[jimthejunior]

Im reaping the rewards of my hard work. My ends a bit alive, specially with 60 of jansons finest psi in them.

[bss325i]

As you know sal i have the H&R's but i dont find mine twitchy in the wet, possibly down to the 225/45R16 contis on the back.

[touringsport]

OH YES!! i have the H+R bars front and rear, and have serious trouble in the wet.
i hear the track boys take the bar off the back in wet weather?? would anyone recommend this for a road car?
i'm running the KW springs and bilstein b8 dampers.
oh and the polyflex control arm bush on the front. turn in is fairly sharp now, not sure thats helping front/rear balance.......

[M5pilot]

So everyone is having some fun then!

I'm driving around in the Alpina for a few days and the wet weather grip is shocking! It's fitted with Eibach springs, B8's and H&R ARB's with full stiff on the front and softest on the rear running Eagle f1's on the front and some Falken FK452's on the rear. Bushes are all standard BMW.

I have absolutely no grip! Steering feel is next to nothing.

The M5 and the E36 (which runs Falkens and some crap nokian tyres at the front) have masses of grip in the wet and they are very well composed. I can carry alot of speed in the wet but in the E30 even if I don't apply the power I just cannot carry any speed.

My 325i SE on Dunlops is actually quite good in the wet.

[fastdiablo]

Been having great fun on the 03.00 drive home from work. On the way out of the estate there's 4 roundabouts each with their own camber and elevation changes for my entertainment. I've had a great time with 325 power and an open diff with plenty of sideways action . . . Others havent found it so much fun, there's been 4 cars written off since the road opened in November . . .

[M5pilot]

OH YES!! i have the H+R bars front and rear, and have serious trouble in the wet.
i hear the track boys take the bar off the back in wet weather?? would anyone recommend this for a road car?
i'm running the KW springs and bilstein b8 dampers.
oh and the polyflex control arm bush on the front. turn in is fairly sharp now, not sure thats helping front/rear balance.......

I think the rear bar is a little aggressive for the wet.

I'm inclinced to fit a standard rear bar for the winter.

In the dry the Alpina is phenonimal with massive amounts of grip.

I am quite surprised to see the Eagle F1's having no grip in the wet, they are renowned for being good.

Looks like I might have to follow Barry and get some Conti's!

[1an]

have you tired removing the rear bar Sal?


my dads car is a handful in the wet thats forsure.

[fastdiablo]

I got tyres that I think have been moulded from recycled wheely bins so wet grip is absent, in the dry its not too bad . . .

I'm new to the E30 thing, is a normal handling thing for it to start to understeer before it goes to oversteer or is it just my crap tyres giving up too early ? . . .

[1an]

rubbish tyres mate, my car has loads of front grip due to the prxys but the rear just gives up but its so easy and predictable to drive

[M5pilot]

have you tired removing the rear bar Sal?


my dads car is a handful in the wet thats forsure.

I can't even imagine the understeer!

[DanThe]

Mine is pretty good in the wet, bilstein sprints all round with spax springs which are a bit soft, M3 bar rear/poly bushes, std 20mm bar front soon to be changed to a re-drilled 21mm bar, difference should be notable

The rear grip has improved loads since last winter as I raised the back end last spring and the wheels are now upright!

Dont know how long these Toyo's are going to last though as the roundabouts are getting some abuse

[M5pilot]

As you know sal i have the H&R's but i dont find mine twitchy in the wet, possibly down to the 225/45R16 contis on the back.

What are your tyre pressures on the Alpina's?

Alpina recommend 36 Psi front and 32 rear (yes....I did type that correctly)

[BMracing]

With the current wet season how is everyone finding their grip levels?

Those with H&R anti roll bars - are you finding your rear end a little 'alive' in the wet?

Er, yes! We've got the h&r roll bars and the cup kit on our 4 door and i've had a fair bit of tail out fun lately. But I unexpectedly lost the back end big time on a greasy roundabout the other night, managed to correct it but missed my exit and embarassingly had to go round again! We've still got hankooks on it though, which doesn't help. I don't think I can be arsed to wait for them to wear out, might have to get some decent new rubber.

[bss325i]

So everyone is having some fun then!

I'm driving around in the Alpina for a few days and the wet weather grip is shocking! It's fitted with Eibach springs, B8's and H&R ARB's with full stiff on the front and softest on the rear running Eagle f1's on the front and some Falken FK452's on the rear. Bushes are all standard BMW.

I have absolutely no grip! Steering feel is next to nothing.

The M5 and the E36 (which runs Falkens and some crap nokian tyres at the front) have masses of grip in the wet and they are very well composed. I can carry alot of speed in the wet but in the E30 even if I don't apply the power I just cannot carry any speed.

My 325i SE on Dunlops is actually quite good in the wet.

Sal i have exactly the same bilies, H&R's, eibachs with the same roll bar settings you recomended and the same wheels. Its gotta be the tyres.

[1an]

have you tired removing the rear bar Sal?


my dads car is a handful in the wet thats forsure.

I can't even imagine the understeer!

just something i was reading over on northloop regarding some golfs with wet weather driving, wondered if it would make a difference on the e30.

[M5pilot]

So everyone is having some fun then!

I'm driving around in the Alpina for a few days and the wet weather grip is shocking! It's fitted with Eibach springs, B8's and H&R ARB's with full stiff on the front and softest on the rear running Eagle f1's on the front and some Falken FK452's on the rear. Bushes are all standard BMW.

I have absolutely no grip! Steering feel is next to nothing.

The M5 and the E36 (which runs Falkens and some crap nokian tyres at the front) have masses of grip in the wet and they are very well composed. I can carry alot of speed in the wet but in the E30 even if I don't apply the power I just cannot carry any speed.

My 325i SE on Dunlops is actually quite good in the wet.

Sal i have exactly the same bilies, H&R's, eibachs with the same roll bar settings you recomended and the same wheels. Its gotta be the tyres.

I'll be finding out tommorrow.

Was going to go with Toyo's but I've read they are crap in the wet aswell.

Are you driving quick enough to actually lose grip?

I think I'm going to visit your work place this week anyway......can i take your car out in the wet to see if it grips?.....please.....

[touringsport]

Not sure about tyres, i've had both toyo t1r's and eagle F1's with billies, h+r bars and KW springs, and its still lethal!
I think camber on the rear might be the issue, in the dry you can load the rear up till it sits square on the tyre.
in the wet i think it lets go before you have a chance!
i have to drive at 50 max if theres proper water on the road, standing like.

[mattyb]

i have 225 16s on the back and when coming out of corners and accelerating even gently the back is very skitish with the nasty weather. and havnt had the car long so not fully used to driving it yet.

it all adds up to a lot of fun.

[dannyboy759]

My standard 325 with Mtec suspension is ok in the wet to be honest, even with an open diff.
My old M3 that i had with KW coilovers, and Eibach arbs on and a 25% LSD was scary.
Mind you it go´s with what they say the hard the rear the more oversteer and it had a high neg cambre, so that didnt help.
But my standard car is fine

[alex-e30]

i use to hate the wet weather til i bought my 1st e30, rwd put a positive on things

[fastdiablo]

rubbish tyres mate, my car has loads of front grip due to the prxys but the rear just gives up but its so easy and predictable to drive

Gonna have some fun with the appalling lack of grip with these first before changing, shouldn't last more than a couple of more months . . . might even replace them with some the same or worse, its more fun having things moving about at slower speeds, with super grippy tyres on the road things start to happen much quicker at much higher speeds

[M5pilot]

So in the quest to improve dry weather balance,grip and handling we are sacrificing wet weather road manners.

I think I'll stick to driving the E36 for the next few months!

[bss325i]

......can i take your car out in the wet to see if it grips?.....please.....

Sal im not pushing it to its handeling limits on the road but certain roundabouts and bends round my way that i use regularly, i have compared to when i had the the standard Mtech stuff and grip levels have improved wet and dry.

[M5pilot]

I doubt very many people are using the same quality of tyres as you (including me).....maybe there is a lesson to be learnt here.

[bss325i]

To be honest the conti's were a compromise as i was told by the tyre place i use that michelin pilot sports (now pilot exaltos) aren't availible in 225/45R16 anymore so i went for the conti's and was pleasantly surprised with them.

[Gwynleym10]

I have standard M-tech suspension (inc bushes) with H&R ARBS, all brand new.

With my old ATS cups that had proxies on the front and avon ditch finders in the rear I also have found wet weather driving a bit interesting, driving on the A5 in Snowdonia - it was pretty easy to loose the front. The rear tends to wobble around a fair amount on roundabouts.

I have different wheels and tyres now, haven't driven it in the wet as I have been away.



I found that that "extra grippy stuff" (almost grit like, yellow colour) a bit dangerous in some places as it usually finished too soon. So you have the extra grip then all of a sudden its gone...

[DanThe]

I found that that "extra grippy stuff" (almost grit like, yellow colour) a bit dangerous in some places as it usually finished too soon. So you have the extra grip then all of a sudden its gone...

Was that on your way home past Shrewsbury? I use the bypass every couple of weeks and its exactly as you described

[Gwynleym10]

I found that that "extra grippy stuff" (almost grit like, yellow colour) a bit dangerous in some places as it usually finished too soon. So you have the extra grip then all of a sudden its gone...

Was that on your way home past Shrewsbury? I use the bypass every couple of weeks and its exactly as you described

Glad its not just me! yes its on the A5-how-quickly-can-i-go-round-these-roundabouts-and-overtake-all-the-cars-
in-sight-Shrewsbury-bypass!

It finishes on the exit way to soon, exactly when you need to have your foot on the floor, then you get "what the f*ck!!" The first time it happened I had to drive back and have a look because I thought there was a big hole in the road or something... was late at night!

[DanThe]

Great set of islands I have taken many victims on that route

Wheels spinning in 3rd gear is frequent if your not used to the road!

Saturday was terrible, standing water everywhere and lots of it!