Electronic Dampening Control

[tim]

How does this system work conceptually? Is it robust? I'm talking about the ones on 750's and m sports cars in the late '90's

Just curious

[shogun]

EDC is not worth the money. All electronic. LAD is much better.

It is all hydraulic and that is fine. The only thing which is electronic is the warning LAD. But that even can be adjusted. From my own experience I can tell you that I have it in my daily driver E32 750iL which I own since 1994 and so far I did not have any trouble or to exchange something. So people complain about leaks, but that are 'natural' wear and tear parts, such as the socalled 'bombs' and the shocks or maybe the hoses. All in all I can say, very good, no problem, meanwhile the prices for the shocks are going down nicely and the 'bombs' I can get for around 100 $ a piece which last again another >10 years.
On my website there is a training bulletin for technicians from BMW on the LAD=Niveauregulierung and EDC. It is in German language, but a lot of drawings, cross sections etc., which are very good to understand the system. Look for EDC and Niveau on my website, also the adjustung of LAD height is shown there.
EDC is another subject, I am happy that I do only have it on my other cars of the 750iL Highline version. EDC shocks are extremely expensive and 4 shocks are costing about 2000.00 $.
They are not worth it, especially when I often hear on the boards the question "Do I have EDC on my car and how can I notice it works"?
That tells me it is not necessary.
LAD is simple to understand, 1 regulating valve at the rear of the car which controls it. Your car always has the same level no matter how much heavy stuff you have in your trunk.
Forgot: During that period I drove only 70K miles from 1994 with the car, and the streets in Japan are quite smooth, so the wear is anyway not that bad on shocks and springs/suspension.

[shogun]

I forgot, on Johan and Sean's page are good practical info about LAD bomb change, LAD strut rebuilt etc., see under suspension, many pics
http://shrubbery.student.utwente.nl/sean750/LAD_accumulators/LAD_accumulators.htm

[tim]

Thanks Shogun-

[Bill R.]

self leveling rear suspension to make sure the car sits level regardless of how much load is in the trunk, Edc gives you the ability to change the settings on the shocks themselves to go from firm to soft depending on whether you want to drive in comfort or for handling. I agree that edc is way to expensive but you can't compare the two systems. Most edc cars are all four shocks while lad only raises or lowers the rear.



EDC is not worth the money. All electronic. LAD is much better.

It is all hydraulic and that is fine. The only thing which is electronic is the warning LAD. But that even can be adjusted. From my own experience I can tell you that I have it in my daily driver E32 750iL which I own since 1994 and so far I did not have any trouble or to exchange something. So people complain about leaks, but that are 'natural' wear and tear parts, such as the socalled 'bombs' and the shocks or maybe the hoses. All in all I can say, very good, no problem, meanwhile the prices for the shocks are going down nicely and the 'bombs' I can get for around 100 $ a piece which last again another >10 years.
On my website there is a training bulletin for technicians from BMW on the LAD=Niveauregulierung and EDC. It is in German language, but a lot of drawings, cross sections etc., which are very good to understand the system. Look for EDC and Niveau on my website, also the adjustung of LAD height is shown there.
EDC is another subject, I am happy that I do only have it on my other cars of the 750iL Highline version. EDC shocks are extremely expensive and 4 shocks are costing about 2000.00 $.
They are not worth it, especially when I often hear on the boards the question "Do I have EDC on my car and how can I notice it works"?
That tells me it is not necessary.
LAD is simple to understand, 1 regulating valve at the rear of the car which controls it. Your car always has the same level no matter how much heavy stuff you have in your trunk.
Forgot: During that period I drove only 70K miles from 1994 with the car, and the streets in Japan are quite smooth, so the wear is anyway not that bad on shocks and springs/suspension.

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

I did a long test drive on an M540 with EDC and there was a fair difference between the settings. I did like the system but the owner told me he'd just spent about $3000 CDN gettting it back in trim. The car only had 118,000kms.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/M540i/109-0947_IMG.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/M540i/109-0945_IMG.jpg

Sorry about the picture sizes...:D :D

[tim]

Stunning!

[Qsilver7]

How does this system work conceptually? Is it robust? I'm talking about the ones on 750's and m sports cars in the late '90's

Just curious
Here's a few links that explain EDC:

1. http://www.bmw.co.za/Products/FIRST/Active/act-EDC.htm
2. http://www.bmwworld.com/technology/edc.htm
3. http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/WTH/original/EDC%203+B3715_01.pdf