[carthick1000]

Came across this very interesting article on Jalopnik, where the "Functional Design and Integration Driving Dynamics" Engineer Mr. Rothmiller explains about the improvements that the latest generation (G20) BMW 3 series have undergone with respect to the previous generation (F30).

It is quite a long article, but a very insightful one (esp. with the various viewpoints from comments too). The three major areas which improve handling are discussed:

• Steering system changes and damper technology improvements for better driving experience
• Body and chassis stiffness improvements leading to improved chassis response and comfort
• Weight reduction and slight track width increase resulting in better grip

Source: Jalopnik

Note to admin: Please merge if similar threads already exist. Thanks.

[v1p3r]

Read this some time ago, very interesting article that shows BMW's obsession with engineering performance into their bread-and-butter models.

[GTO]

Neat article, thanks for sharing! Technical details aside, what really counts is how the car actually "drives" & "feels" and that's where the G20 is quite a step up over the F30. While the latter was comfortable, its rear end simply wasn't tight enough, even getting bouncy like a Civic on undulating roads. In comparison, the G20 is a tighter, sharper handler. The E90 was too stiff (bone-jarring on broken roads) & the criticism made BMW overtly soften the F30. But the G20 is the right balance IMHO .

[Vid6639]

What an article. I opened it few days back on my ipad and thought will read at leisure.

I started reading yesterday night not knowing how detailed and long it was.

Before I knew it was almost 2:30am. Instead of putting me to sleep, it ended up being so interesting to read the technical stuff as well the theory behind it.

The amount of engineering behind it is insane. The Kinematics and Compliance testing on reading torque values given to steering was superb. I never knew about this!

Goes to show the amount of R&D and testing behind the steering system just for feel. It's easy to get the steering to work but to get that required feedback for a drivers car is a totally different ballgame.

[black_rider]

Reminds me of a similar article on Edmunds, which was published after F30 was launched. But that one was only about suspension :
https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/...alkaround.html

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Came across this very interesting article on Jalopnik, where the "Functional Design and Integration Driving Dynamics" Engineer Mr. Rothmiller explains about the improvements that the latest generation (G20) BMW 3 series have undergone with respect to the previous generation (F30).

Thanks for bringing it here.
While quite a few things mentioned herein are outright technical, but somehow one can get the gist of the engineering insanity, that goes behind the making of such beautiful cars!

And while reading, what even (pleasantly) surprised me was the trigger or the source article by the folks at "Car and Driver". The article (link) is itself a great lexicon of what and how does BMW pay attention to the camaraderie between man and machine