Very Shaky/ Bumpy Ride

[KenC]

Second this. The ride is trash. I have owned plenty of sports cars in the past. With all of them, the ride was firm when the road was bad. Bumps would not soaked properly. With M3, it's weird setup. Big bump;s are soaked up nice, but on normal/fairly smooth roads I get constant jiggly/shaking/pulsating feedback through steering wheel as if it's picking every ultra-minor imperfection inthe road. Does my head in. None of my previous sports car had this jiggly steering feel. I am looking to go down the coilover route as well.

Have you had your alignment checked? When I hear jiggly, I always wonder if their toe-in spec is toe'd out too much.

 

[Tranceporter]

Have you had your alignment checked? When I hear jiggly, I always wonder if their toe-in spec is toe'd out too much.

That's what I am getting doen tomorrow. Had the wheels balanced twice and each time they were out of balance. Today at the SC, they again balanced the weekls. 3 were out by a minimal amount, the 4th was out by 90 grams! They swapped the wheel for a new one from one of their inventory cars. However the pins and needles at high speeds continue. At low speeds it's awesome. The moment I go over 50mph, this excessive feedback through steering starts coming in. Almost like bad wheel beating or something. It's a new car. Picked up on 31st Dec.

 

[ArcticStation]

If you can get yourself to imagine a box you can check on the Tesla website for "Upgraded, adjustable suspension" that costs around $2K and makes the Model 3 ride as good as any luxury sport car, would you then recommend to your son he buy the Model 3 and get that option?

If it were OEM, I would. And once I am out of warranty, I may well go the MPP or other after market route with my own car. I had hoped that air suspension would have been offered as an option by now--IMHO essential for driving on winter and early spring roads like ours.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

That's what I am getting doen tomorrow. Had the wheels balanced twice and each time they were out of balance. Today at the SC, they again balanced the weekls. 3 were out by a minimal amount, the 4th was out by 90 grams! They swapped the wheel for a new one from one of their inventory cars. However the pins and needles at high speeds continue. At low speeds it's awesome. The moment I go over 50mph, this excessive feedback through steering starts coming in. Almost like bad wheel beating or something. It's a new car. Picked up on 31st Dec.

I'd have someone go through every suspension nut and bolt to make sure they are torqued to spec.

 

[Tranceporter]

I'd have someone go through every suspension nut and bolt to make sure they are torqued to spec.

The guys at SC assured me they did. They had my car for 5 days including extended weekend drive wehre the tech drove it for 60 miles. They have put it on ramp and check that eveyrtihg underneath is secure and torqued to spec.

 

[KenC]

Strange. Have you tried driving another 3 just to compare?

 

[Tevo Solutions]

We've been taking a close look at this problem, especially as we suffer from pretty bad roads here in the UK.

There were a lot of complaints about ride quality here during the last batch of deliveries across all versions of the Model 3 and I think that's also got something to do with the cold weather making things worse. Tyres harden up and even the oil getting more viscous in the dampers could be playing a part. I drove a refreshed Model 3 Performance a few weeks ago and I could feel more of the road through the steering compared to a pre-refresh one and at the time I put that down to the slightly stretched Pirellis. They might be contributing but now I've done more testing in a LR I don't think that's the whole story.

I've done more comparisons and measurements and I feel the bottom line is the OE dampers are just lacking, especially when it comes to controlling rebound. The high frequency damping, in particular, is just not good enough, even on well maintained roads.

The only way to sort it is aftermarket coilovers. We have a M3P with 20" wheels running on the Redwood Ohlins which are designed for road/track use and I can honestly say the ride quality is better in that car that our completely stock LR on 18" wheels.

 

[Tranceporter]

As an update, a member on M3 facebook group was selling his 20" pre-refresh performance. I swapped them today, and he vibrations have mostly gone away. So either my alloys came bent from the factory, or the Michelins on the 20's are better than the hankooks. That being said, the vibrations still exist, but they are at a level where I can drive without getting pins and needles in my palms.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

As an update, a member on M3 facebook group was selling his 20" pre-refresh performance. I swapped them today, and he vibrations have mostly gone away. So either my alloys came bent from the factory, or the Michelins on the 20's are better than the hankooks. That being said, the vibrations still exist, but they are at a level where I can drive without getting pins and needles in my palms.

You have Hankooks? Which ones are they?

 

[Tranceporter]

Yes. Also think they are run flats which might be leading to more vibrations. The Michelin T0 are not run flat (I am told), so I presume they do a better job at soaking some vibrations

 

[Needsdecaf]

It's a 50K car, which is a lot, but only $10K over the average new car price in this country. If you can get yourself to imagine a box you can check on the Tesla website for "Upgraded, adjustable suspension" that costs around $2K and makes the Model 3 ride as good as any luxury sport car, would you then recommend to your son he buy the Model 3 and get that option?

If so, then it's not too bad of an idea to buy the car and then have MPP installed aftermarket and be very happy. That's what I did!

What did you get from MPP? Adjustable coilovers? Would love to check them out some time!

 

[KenC]

Are the Hankooks meant to be running in Winter temps, because the tread blocks don’t appear suited for it. Could be performance rubber is too stiff for Winter driving, so you might be feeling the individual tread blocks, like little rubber bricks, not pliable enough to deform for a smooth ride over the road surface, at speed.

quick test, adjust the pressures, without going out of spec, and drive it. If the feeling changes, it’s the tires.

 

[JCtx]

I think the high tire pressures also play to the harsh ride, but in order to have better efficiency, I guess Tesla specs 42 psi (and it was 44 before, I think). My previous car with the same exact tires and sizes recommended 32 psi, and car weighed 3,700 lbs. The Tesla at 4K, should be around 35 IMO, not 42, but that's the price to pay for better range, I guess. Ride is very similar to the other car, so we're used to it by now. It's not cushy, but not harsh either. Both my wife and myself are pleased with the ride. It's certainly more compliant than my sports car, even with Magneride.

 

[markus313]

You need to have it looked at. That's not normal. Could be bad tires, bad alignment, or maybe something with the suspension.

Sounded like good advice. I took the car into the service center today. They did a test drive and later a visual inspection. They said it’s “normal” and “working as designed”, and the car is “stiff” because it’s “sporty”. (They also checked the tire pressure & tread.)

No amount of arguing that it's the worst-riding car I’ve had and the kids in the back don’t want to take this car on trips made them reconsider.

Looks like coilovers next.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

There are several variables at play here - tyres, tyre pressures, ambient temperature, road surface, type of Model 3, sensitivity of driver/passenger to NVH.

With certain combinations of these variables, the ride is considered harsh and uncomfortable. With other combinations it's considered sporty and a bit stiff.

This is one of those subjective things where we won't get everyone agreeing there's a 'problem' as such, but to some it's not going to be acceptable even though it's 'within spec' (to use that well-worn phrase).
I had the exact same thing with my last BMW and the only solution was to swap the runflats for proper tyres and fit Bilsteins. The car was transformed.
Now we're seeing Model 3s in the UK fitted with the Hankook runflat tyre, I am quite sure there are going to be more complaints about ride quality because a runflat just amplifies any shortcomings in the suspension.

 

[JCtx]

RF tires are like bricks. Maybe Tesla is being forced to provide something for flat repairs. My 2021 M3 LR didn't even come with a flat tire kit consisting of goop and a compressor. The only time that happened as well was with my Corvettes, but they had RF tires... which I hated. So prefer nothing over RF tires, but Tesla should have provided at least a compressor and either goop, or a flat tire repair kit like the one I carry (Stop'nGo).

 

[Apone]

agreed runflats are heading the wrong direction for ride and handling. The serious BMW guys drop those first chance.

 

[erniejenson]

I know, kverma, just where your are comming from. Tesla Model 3 is not all things for all people. Each day I walk out to the garage I have three cars to choose, Lexus LS, Jaguar XKR, and a Model 3. The Lexus does nearly everything much better. The ride is much smoother and quietier and it doesn't throw your head from your shoulders when cornering quickly over a dip in the road. All three cars have the upgraded sound systems but the Lexus is clearly the best. If you lived in So Cal near the ocean you would understand why the dip in the road at the corners. My Jaguar is the "image car", the best looking car on the road, the top is never up and it is the fun car on a sunny day. It has a super charger and is as fast as the Tesla, but it rides much better with equal handling. The Tesla is half the price of the Jaguar but is equal in speed and handling and it is the car of the future. That should be enough to put Tesla on your list. Last year I drove the Lexus 10K miles, the Jaguar and Tesla less than 5K together. I jump in the Lexus and it does every thing exactly the way I want it. Every time I drive the Tesla it does something that annoys me. It stops abruptly every time I back out ot the garage as it thinks I am too close to the door or something. The mirrors stay foulded all the way backing down the drive way and only opens when I am a few hundred feet down the road. This might be OK if I could ever get used to using and trusting completely the back up camera but sometimes the back up camera does not come on. I have to go out of reverse and back in again to get it to activate. Last time I drove the car the rear window would not go up and reset so it would not eliminate the wind noise problem. I tried and tried and couldn't make it reset but today it is working again. The car is just like my Windows computer. Most things work great most of the time. Never is everying working great at the same time! I have stopped wasting time with Tesla service unless it is really important! You have to just enjoy your Tesla for what it is.

 

[MountainPass]

The BMW RFT suspension tuning of the '00s was a terrible period

 

[dmurphy]

As an update, a member on M3 facebook group was selling his 20" pre-refresh performance. I swapped them today, and he vibrations have mostly gone away. So either my alloys came bent from the factory, or the Michelins on the 20's are better than the hankooks. That being said, the vibrations still exist, but they are at a level where I can drive without getting pins and needles in my palms.

I've been having some vibrations at highway speed on my Model 3 as well. Had a local wheel shop take a look and sure enough, the right front 19" wheel was bent. They straightened it out, and it's like driving a brand new car again. Best $100 I've ever spent.