2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo Long-Term Road Test

The front suspension of our 2014 328i xDrive Gran Turismo employs a subtle trick that is only visible if you pop the hood.

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s_hladney

Dan,

I enjoyed this write-up very much. However, I could hardly keep myself from laughing when I got to the term "performance nuts." It sounds like a term that the adult-film industry uses for their star male performers!

banhugh

@s_hladney: You should take these performance nuts seriously. Many lives depend on theses performance nuts protecting the stud from loosing pretension (in threaded connections).

shindig4

This was a great post. I enjoyed learning about this facet of automotive engineering. Thanks!

craigist

Nice post. Does this work because the same total 'relaxing' is spread out across more area with a longer bolt, thus losing less clamp force?

hybris

I love these engineering posts.

vvk

Dan, thank you so much! Very good info!

gslippy

Excellent write-up. Worth remembering this lesson the next time we go to the auto parts store looking for some nuts in a plastic box, versus the proper nuts found at the dealer. On safety-critical parts like suspension and brakes, it's not worth taking a risk.