[Bens3T]

Sure this has been covered another of times - what are people's experience of variable sports steering - worth getting or not? My car locks down any day and I don't want to miss out..

Thx

[teaston]

I haven't tried it but after reading many posts on it, it was very clear it is not worth getting.

Servotronic is the sweet spot!

[Afy360]

I have not tried the standard steering and I am very happy with the VSS.

It's very responsive and feels great in sport mode.

[Proftinkerpot]

The cars I test drove all had servotronic steering and it seemed perfect to me. None of the dealers I spoke to recommended VSS. You won't miss what you never had.

[dopper99]

Oh no, here we go again!!
Just like sdrive vs xdrive and adaptive suspension vs passive suspension, I tell you, you wont get a definitive answer!!!

Seems people are again spilt on this one too.......

As usual, people that have it love it (on the whole) and people that have tried it but dont have it hate it!!!!!!!!


To think, in the good ole days, we only used to argue about petrol vs diesel!!

[Bens3T]

Lol.. Dopper what do you have?

[bwrlane]

Originally Posted by Afy360

I have not tried the standard steering and I am very happy with the VSS.

It's very responsive and feels great in sport mode.

Agreed. Some reviews have observed that VSS has better feedback, is less vague and is more responsive.

[teaston]

The new M3/4 comes with adaptive suspension as standard which would suggest BMW think it's a worthwhile upgrade.

But do they come with VSS as standard?

Could be a good indication to what BMW really think about it!

[pjs]

Test drove one with passive, the steering was great. Bought one with Vss, the steering is great. It was a cheap option at £250 and figured it would would be better, but in all honestly I cant tell the bloody difference! I say great, but neither give the feedback I got in the e92 335i which was hydraulic I believe.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by teaston

The new M3/4 comes with adaptive suspension as standard which would suggest BMW think it's a worthwhile upgrade.
But do they come with VSS as standard?
Could be a good indication to what BMW really think about it?

Yes, the new M3/4 comes with a variable M-sport rack (variable ratio rack and pinion like VSS) as standard so yes BMW engineers do rate the VSS steering system higher than a lot of car salesmen. They'll probably rave about it when selling to M-car buyers.

It is EPS as well, (shock, horror) even if it has been developed particularly for the M-cars.

HighlandPete

[teaston]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Yes, the new M3/4 comes with a variable M-sport rack (variable ratio rack and pinion like VSS) as standard so yes BMW engineers do rate the VSS steering system higher than a lot of car salesmen. They'll probably rave about it when selling to M-car buyers.

It is EPS as well, (shock, horror) even if it has been developed particularly for the M-cars.

HighlandPete

Ah then maybe VSS is worth it, to get an M3 feel, if that bothers you!

What's EPS?

[TonyS]

Originally Posted by Proftinkerpot

None of the dealers I spoke to recommended VSS.

Neither did mine until I'd had a test drive of an F30 with and then without VSS. When I went back and said I thought it was well worth having he agreed with me completely, seemingly having forgotten that he'd said the opposite a couple of days earlier. In my experience they'll just say what they think you want to hear, as most of the time they really don't know the answer to most questions you are likely to ask.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by teaston

What's EPS?

Electric Power Steering. After all the debates EPS vs. HPAS (hydraulic) and how BMW should go back to HPAS, BMW have gone electric in the M-cars.

HighlandPete

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by Bens3T

Lol.. Dopper what do you have?

A have VSS and think its great. Quicker rack (only after a certain steering angle) so quicker around the tight twisties and easier for parking. . Would order it again, especially for the money.

Having said that, I've not really tried non-VSS steering lately, so can't really compare the two.

With regards dealers comments and negativity, some people mention on here that they refer to the old Active Steering on the old E9X and it wasn't much cop by all accounts. Seems dealers may be classing VSS under the same banner when probably a lot of them have not even tried VSS as its quite rare.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by TonyS

Neither did mine until I'd had a test drive of an F30 with and then without VSS. When I went back and said I thought it was well worth having he agreed with me completely, seemingly having forgotten that he'd said the opposite a couple of days earlier. In my experience they'll just say what they think you want to hear, as most of the time they really don't know the answer to most questions you are likely to ask.

Same for adaptive suspensions, one BMW sales guy told me it wasn't necessary and wasn't worth adding. I simply asked him had it tried it and back to back tested with the other setups. He hadn't even driven any adaptive suspension, say no more.

Difficult to judge an option's worth, when we haven't tried it against the alternatives.

That is one problem with forums as well, we can pass our opinions, make our recommendations, but there is nothing like the personal test drive, as many of the options are so open to subjective rather than objective conclusions.

HighlandPete

[NISFAN]

Been said before, but I have had 2 F30's (14k miles in each) one with Servotronic and one with VSS.

I would buy VSS again

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by teaston

Ah then maybe VSS is worth it, to get an M3 feel, if that bothers you!

What's EPS?

Totally different system in M3/4. The manufacturers of the M system is ZF, same as the Servotronic.

Thyssenkrupp Presta manufacture the VSS.

And as Jezza says.....On that bombshell....Goodnight!!!

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Same for adaptive suspensions, one BMW sales guy told me it wasn't necessary and wasn't worth adding. I simply asked him had it tried it and back to back tested with the other setups. He hadn't even driven any adaptive suspension, say no more.

Difficult to judge an option's worth, when we haven't tried it against the alternatives.

That is one problem with forums as well, we can pass our opinions, make our recommendations, but there is nothing like the personal test drive, as many of the options are so open to subjective rather than objective conclusions.

HighlandPete

The problem is, salesmen jump in and out of cars all day. There isn't a note to say what steering or braking or suspension system is in that particular car, so they don't get the mental reminder to 'assess'. They know that a 335d goes better than a 116i, but that's about it. And they are mostly non car guys, so couldn't really care (not a bad thing as a 'car guy' generally make poor salesmen).

The other thing, is like opinions on this forum, what suits one will be terrible to the next.

[Bens3T]

Thanks for helping me spend more of my money, once again - let me call BMW and see if I can still change my spec.

No more useful or helpful feedback please... ;-)

[Xplosiv166]

I added VSS then took it off then drove a car with VSS and added it back on.

Ignore the sales team, they have no clue and will just make up stuff. and generally they will try and stop you from adding options as it is more work for them to keep changing the paper work.

IMO the difference is not massive but i would also add it on again. I removed the Adaptive again this is a personal option (from reading on the forum if you have x drive you will need the adaptive)

I also added the enhanced Bluetooth as this is needed for music streaming from your phone and office functions.

TBH other than tech stuff if you have not been able to test drive a car with or without you will not miss it other than reading posts by other members.

Other than the idrive etc the most importantly optional extra for me so far (still only 76 miles) is the folding rear head rests as this improves visibility.

[dopper99]

I think it responds better to Sport mode compared to non-VSS? I'm not sure, maybe Nisfan can comment on that?

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by dopper99

I think it responds better to Sport mode compared to non-VSS? I'm not sure, maybe Nisfan can comment on that?

My experience is it changes less between the two modes. Which for me is a good thing. The servotronic in sport becomes heavy and even more numb.