Advice on Suspension Before I Order

[drop-a-dime]

Hi,

I have had a '91 Touring 318 for almost a year, it was from Germany and had it sent to Vancouver Canada... It's manual has e30 m3 rims and thats about it. I have $3000 to to put into it [about 1500lbs]. What would you all spend it on? I want it to handle and looks don't matter yet

[munky30]

lbs...

Spend it on a 325 engine, and some suspension... No idea what suspension... H&R cup kit seems popular. SOmeone will be able to help more with that.

But 325 engine, box etc is a must.

[Kos]

£Â£Ã‚£Ã‚£ is pounds GBP sterling !!

you want handling then,

1 bilstein shocks
2 H&R or eibach springs and ARB's ( anti rol bars )
ireland engineering and turner motorsport do most of what you will need

welcome to e30 zone

[snoops]

welcome to the zone!

same as above^^^
you could also fit an e36 steering rack

[drop-a-dime]

Thanks guys,

gonna start searching the forum on suspension, swaps and the steering mod.
... then I am gonna order a "lbs" button for my Canadian keyboard!!

btw Munky30, loving the flat black touring with BorbetA's, any more pics?

[Chris-W]

btw Munky30, loving the flat black touring with BorbetA's, any more pics?

Now what are the chances...?

[jacko]

you deffo want good suspension if you are going to put 1500 lbs in it..

[fuzzy]

btw Munky30, loving the flat black touring with BorbetA's, any more pics?

Now what are the chances...?

just pic any random thread on any topic and im sure munky will have managed to squeaze a pic or two of his car in using the vaguest of the vague connections

[maxfield]

1 bilstein shocks
2 H&R or eibach springs and ARB's ( anti rol bars )
ireland engineering and turner motorsport do most of what you will need

Agree with that.

If you want handling get a very good set of tyres on there too.

Also lose some weight if it's not a problem for you.

[Simon]

Before he starts, pics of munky's car are banned from this post!!

Suprised he hasn't done so yet!

[snoops]

[drop-a-dime]

maybe one of you knows whats better to get??? I am gonna get suspension first and go from there...

Is there a big difference between the H&R Cup kit and the H&R Sport Kit/Bilstein combo. I am guessing you have to address camber on the Cup Kit cause it is dropping the front 2.1" vs 1.25" with the Sport.

another problem here is we don't have tourings so does the suspension I order have to be specific to my 91' 318 touring or can I order any e30 susp set up??

thanks for any info...

[josh-hocking]

suspentions good brakes and engine really and bodywork!

[snoops]

maybe one of you knows whats better to get??? I am gonna get suspension first and go from there...

Is there a big difference between the H&R Cup kit and the H&R Sport Kit/Bilstein combo. I am guessing you have to address camber on the Cup Kit cause it is dropping the front 2.1" vs 1.25" with the Sport.

another problem here is we don't have tourings so does the suspension I order have to be specific to my 91' 318 touring or can I order any e30 susp set up??

thanks for any info...

i think cab suspension is the same?

[maxfield]

maybe one of you knows whats better to get??? I am gonna get suspension first and go from there...

Is there a big difference between the H&R Cup kit and the H&R Sport Kit/Bilstein combo. I am guessing you have to address camber on the Cup Kit cause it is dropping the front 2.1" vs 1.25" with the Sport.

another problem here is we don't have tourings so does the suspension I order have to be specific to my 91' 318 touring or can I order any e30 susp set up??

thanks for any info...

I wouldn't of thought there is much difference between the two as H&R uses bilstein shocks anyway.

Tourings have 51mm struts so that's 318iS/325i/Convertibles/320i's with ABS/Tourings...

318i/316i/320i have 45mm struts.

[Simon13]

my touring handles just dandy with saloon cupkit springs.

Me? i'd forget all this and sort out any rust first, then get everything working as it should. Then start modding, no doubt there will be worn suspension bushes etc to replace

[munky30]

btw Munky30, loving the flat black touring with BorbetA's, any more pics?

cheers.

more pics here

And simon (the mod, not 13). At the request of the OP...

[Chris-W]

You're going to wear that out.

[ric325i]

get your self a z3 gear shifter too!

short shift gears are great.

if you dont have bucket seats thats a good thing, IS ones are nice.

[munky30]

You're going to wear that out.

Oh well... I'll just have to start writing f*ck you instead.

[Simon13]

such a nice chap

[Chris-W]

It's manual has e30 m3 rims and thats about it.

So has it had a 5 stud conversion?

[munky30]

such a nice chap

[Rosc0PColtrane]

Spent too much time in the company of sailors. They don't call him the Plymouth Ho(e) for nothing!!

As Previously mentioned, get the car to a level of fine fettle first, then mod. Nothing like building a house on sand.

Z3 shifter is a highly thought of mod and fairly inexpensive and straight forward to impliment.

Uprate suspension, brakes and see how you feel about the car. From then on, the sky is the limits. Dips and munky show two different extremes or schools of thought regarding modding.

Welcome and enjoy your stay!!

Vancouver is pretty much my favourite city. Think I'd like to live either downtown or in Coquitlam. My cousin used to live in Maple Ridge. Half my family lives in the Rockie Mountains, Castlegar, Cranbrook and Kimberley. Another cousin in Red Deer Alberta and Edmonton. Also drove down to Seattle, which is not a bad place, an excellent drive too. You'll enjoy those roads in the Touring!!

[drop-a-dime]

So has it had a 5 stud conversion?

Nope, it's 4 stud, was told they were m3 rims, they look it but I guess they're something else, happy with them none the less


As far as my wagon goes I am gonna do things right, start with suspension, make sure everything is solid/replace worn bushings etc and get the H&R Cup Kit, then brakes, shift kit...... I figure once it is handling and stopping better I'll build up an engine from there.

Thanks for all the useful input guys, this is truly the best e30 site!

[drop-a-dime]

Anyone familiar with the rear camber toe that turner motorsports is selling... don't know how to paste yet, here is the link:

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html/de ... _ID=192026

they are different then the slotted set up seen in this thread:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... on+rebuild

I am getting a rear subframe this weak so I can do this and still use my car. Anyone got some advice between the two set ups please chip in.

Ty

[dannyboy759]

If your going to do the suspension go for neg camber top mounts too E30,s really benifit from them

[Cotty]

£Â£Ã‚£Ã‚£ is pounds GBP sterling !!

you want handling then,

1 bilstein shocks
2 H&R or eibach springs and ARB's ( anti rol bars )
ireland engineering and turner motorsport do most of what you will need

welcome to e30 zone

Read a great write up of H&R ARB's. I have them on my car and they are really good

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ght=review

[drop-a-dime]

dannyboy, you mean up front right? sorry not too familiar with all this and learning pretty much off this site...

this is what I think I will be getting as far as supension goes from Turner... if anyone thinks there is something else that is better or something not necessary I'd appreciate your advice here before I make my order...

Suspension Techniques Sway Bar Set for E30 3 Series $323.60 [don't have the HR ones, big difference?]
TMS Reinforcement Package for E30 $159.95
E30 Racing Dynamics Front Strut Brace $229.95 [ unsure on this]
KMAC Rear Camber Kit 249.95
H&R Cup Suspension $742.85
KMAC Front Camber/Caster Plates (pair) $299.95
And some rear topmounts too, I think around $100

going to get some rims too, prob Borbet A... whatever they are they are going to be a staggered set up 16x7.5 and 16x9.

[Cotty]

E30 Racing Dynamics Front Strut Brace $229.95 [ unsure on this]
.

Some say they work other say they are not worth putting on a road car. Personally I have a twin tube strut brace for similar money. Worst case senario it adds a little weight and looks cool.

[drop-a-dime]

Just Ordered the rims from tunershop.com 16" Borbet A's staggered 7.5" and 9", found a rear subframe w/trailing arms from a local beemer enthusiest who had a slow braking foot! for $50 to set up the rear properly, ordered some stuff from Ireland Engeneering to do this including rear camber and toe plates and some urethane for rear subframe-trailing arms, IE sway bar front and back too, been contemplating coilovers so I can have a higher ride height for winter time as we get a bit of snow and I like to go up the local ski hills

I found this today, looks like a good deal for real nice set up

http://www.ground-control-store.com/pro ... php?II=740

hmmm