E30 318i Tourer- Suspension Advice Please Gents!

Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:16 pm

Greetings gents!

I would like the benefit of your advice please! I own a mint E30 318I Tourer. I have owned the car since it had 36K on the clock. It now has 130K on it, after tens years ownership. The body of the car is immaculate, as is the interior. My shok absorbers are a little tired & I am in the process of acquiring new shocks & springs from Europarts-all OE stuff of course!

Bearing in mind the suspension will be stripped down to fit the coils & shocks, I was wondering which bushes I can replace simultaneously? Any recommendations as to whether to stick with standard bushes, or poly bush it? I already own a high performance classic that has been bushed throughout with Superflex bushes. The ride is fairly taught, so I am reticient to do the same thing to my everyday tool- the E30! Any advice/guidance will be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Pete

Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:40 pm

Wow,ten years with the same car,well done.You will notice the difference with new springs/dampers. General feeling is polybush everything except the rear beam. There are two sorts of front wishbone bush,a standard concentric one and an M3 type eccentric one. The M3 one gives more steering 'feel' and is a worthwhile fit.

Sat Mar 14, 2009 7:04 pm

my opinion is poly bushes are unsuitable on a road car and ruin the ride!

anti roll bar drop links will probably be worn front and rear, as will the TCA bushes

Stick with bmw rubber bushes and you won't go far wrong

Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:39 pm

Simon13 wrote:my opinion is poly bushes are unsuitable on a road car and ruin the ride!

anti roll bar drop links will probably be worn front and rear, as will the TCA bushes

Stick with bmw rubber bushes and you won't go far wrong

Hi mate,

You have confirmed what I was already thinking in my own mind re the poly bushes! Whilst they do enhance the suspension componant location & firm thngs up, I too believe they are too stiff for poorly maintained roads found in many parts of the UK. My Big Boy's Toy, which I have owned for 15 yrs & never sees a wet day if fully poly bushed. Whilst it has enhanced the handling, it has degraded the ride quality to some degree.

Think I take your advice & stick to BMW spec bushes! That looks like a nice Tourer you have there going off your pics! I will be keeping my Tourer as long as possible. It is superbly built, reliable & very practical. I think the E30 Tourer is the best looking Tourer of the all. The current 3 Series is dog ugly IMHO!

Cheers,

Pete