Does EDC suspension ride softer than normal.

[bimmerfaje]

Is there any difference between EDC, SEDC and normal suspension on a straight road comfort wise ?

Does the sport high stall torque converter give any performance improvments other than better launching power ?

[740ilDuke]

When pressed, the (S)EDC (sport electronic dampening control) slows the rate of strut compression firming the ride up. Mine is night and day with it turned on. Works really well. Turned off, the car has more of a floaty feel.

[bimmerfaje]

When pressed, the (S)EDC (sport electronic dampening control) slows the rate of strut compression firming the ride up. Mine is night and day with it turned on. Works really well. Turned off, the car has more of a floaty feel.

Do you know if SEDC is softer when off compared to non-EDC suspension ?
i was thinking that since the SEDC can make the suspension hard in corners and soft in a straight line, the non-EDC suspension would have to be harder to compensate for not having the option of controlling the damping.

edit: Is there any difference between SEDC and EDC, does having sport package have any effect on ride quailty ?

[CPHES]

Edc / s-edc are the same. There is only one part for the front struts, and the rear are essentially the same, but only different if you have load leveling ( sls ). The springs are different vs a non edc, so it’s a different setup altogether.

[bimmerfaje]

Edc / s-edc are the same. There is only one part for the front struts, and the rear are essentially the same, but only different if you have load leveling ( sls ). The springs are different vs a non edc, so it’s a different setup altogether.

Thanks for clearing that up. So i assume that since springs are different, the edc springs are softer when driving in a straight line ? is that true ? thanks.

edit: Does an sport model always come with EDC ?

[Qsilver7]

edit: Does an sport model always come with EDC ?

The quick answer is yes & no. Your question is vague with us not knowing what model, model year e38 you're asking about. Are you asking about a specific e38...or about what BMW offered during the production run from 1995-2001?

In the US market...there was no "sport pkg" until the 1999 model year and that was only on the SWB (short wheel base) 740i. It did NOT have EDC/S-EDC. The LWB (long wheel base) 740iL in its final year of production (in the US market) was offered with a sport pkg but it was more cosmetic and not as feature packed as the SWB 740i...it DID include S-EDC, in fact that is the only option that actually gives the LWB 740iL anything that can be considered sporty in the handling department. The V12 750iL has had S-EDC since 1995 and when it was offered the sport pkg in the final year...again, it was mostly cosmetic because the car came standard with EDC.

So...you see the answer is yes and no.

[bimmerfaje]

Im asking about the 98-01 european e38.

Looking for an 740d and found a few number 1 is a plain e38 with little equipment and quite cheap and the second one which costs 2,5k more but has sport package with edc and double glass. I thought that the cheaper one was the one to go but then i found out about the sport diff and high stall torque converter and also edc. My main use would be highway cruising so the softer it was the better.
So i wanted to know if edc suspension is softer than normal suspension while cruising on the highway.

Does the high stall converter give any performance improvments over the better launching power?

[Qsilver7]

EDC (S-EDC) is an electronic automatic damping system. The toggle or switch allows you to make an adjustment...but if the switch is turned off (the LED isn't illuminated)...the system is in COMFORT MODE. I guess you could say that this is the equivalent of the regular/conventional system as much as it could be. But EDC has sensors around the car that are constantly receiving data and sending it to the eDC control module. If the driving dynamics of the driver or the road conditions change...the damping characteristics automatically change based on the data being picked up by the sensors.

Back to the switch...the switch changes how EDC reacts. In comfort mode...EDC "can" move through 3 stages (soft/medium/hard) depending on how the car is being driven or road conditions/dynamics. When you press the switch and the LED illuminates...then the damping system starts more in the medium damping parameter...and will go into the hard/sport damping parameters quicker.

{S-EDC system's component locations}


{don't let the mention of "S" & "K" on the switch throw you off...its a reference back to the e32 (7 series) & e31 (8 series) switch seen in pic below}


{the e38 went to a different switch set-up that has the S-EDC button and a LED that illuminates when the sport mode is selected}

[georgebest]

Qsilver7 is our E38 Historian

[nmlss2006]

To actually answer the question: the EDC cars are about as soft as the standard cars in COMFORT mode. Maybe even a little softer. They are significantly firmer whenever SPORT mode is engaged, either by the button or by the driving dynamics, as illustrated by Q above.