E30 Zone

Hi there, I've had my 318is now for over ten years now and for the last 5 years it's been in my garage waiting for me to finish building it after having it resprayed. I'm looking at putting coil overs on and after buying a cheap set before for my other E30's I've had I was want to ask the question which one would you say was best. I've got to buy new front lower arms and poly bushes as they where used on other cars to keep them going. I've been look at the set from rpm which I really like the look and sound of but I've also been think would I be best putting E36 suspension on as you can buy cheaper sets and I hear it will handle better plus I could run 5 stud wheels then but what will I need to buy to do this? Any feed back or advise would be great to hear.

Why after ten years do you want to ruin it ?

I brought the car as a project to build a car for road and for the track basically how I want to build a car not really bothered about keeping it original

I thought e36 suspension put the geometry way out of whack? Once you add the cost of getting ALL e36 parts you need, e36 coilovers and new wheels you probably could have had a few sets of BC Racing coilovers for the E30 or have bought something better.

It would drive better on shagged out shocks and perished rubber than the options you've suggested.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to E36 5-stud; been through them numerous times, but here they are again.

Advantages:
1) Easy to change springs on front without splitting balljoints etc due to separate hub and coilover units - useful for a track car
2) Increased track - lower centre of gravity
3) Big brakes with affordable, off the shelf discs and pads - albeit heavy steel calipers
4) Bigger wheel bearings, potentially heavier duty. Advantage for track

Disadvantages
1) Need a very carefully assembled collection of parts to do the swap
2) Because you need E36 M3 Evo front lower wishbones (others are the wrong shape), you're stuck with steel wishbones. Some E30's had aluminium wishbones, but these will give you the wrong geometry with an E36 setup
3) Expensive to do properly
4) Big brakes mean 17" wheels - car will drive poorly. Will work with some 16" wheels on spacers, but trial and error to fit
5) If using coilovers, need to spec custom spring rates and potentially have dampers valved to suit. Expensive and don't have convenience of 'click and buy' off the shelf parts.
6) Custom top mounts required for the front if you want camber adjust, as strut threads for E36 and E30 are different - E36 coilovers won't fit into E30 top mounts and E36 top mounts don't fit E30 strut tower

Weigh them up and decide what's for you! I disagree with Grrrmachine - my converted car drives great, albeit wanting for stiffer springs. Move to 16" wheels improved it a lot. But I doubt it has any capability over a 4-stud car with a similar amount of time and money invested in suspension and brakes.

Motorhole wrote:I disagree with Grrrmachine - my converted car drives great.

I'm not saying converted cars drive worse, I'm saying given the choice between cheap coilovers + polybushes, a cheap E36 swap, or the current shagged-out setup, then the latter is the best option. You've said yourself that the five-setup is expensive to be done properly.

If budget is the main concern, then get some decent bilstein shocks and eibach springs, and keep all the joints OEM rubber. You'll get a much better ride for your money than cheap coilovers or trying to lash together a 5-stud setup without paying for the M3 parts.

Thanks for all the comments it has helped as I didn't know you need 17 inch wheels on and I only want to go up to a 16inch. I think I'm going to go down the RPM route as they can help me with the right spring rating and with all the adjustable top mounts and finish off getting the poly bushes on the front as I have already poly bushed the back end and have put a adjustable rear beam in and adjustable anti roll bars all round. I want to be able to set it up and have the option range to make adjustments to suit what I'm doing and driving style. Many thanks again I'll get some pictures up soon as it looks nothing like the picture at the bottom now.

Some 16's fit. I have style 42s that fit with 15mm hubcentric spacers. Style 45s will fit with spacers too, but I only know that through trial and error. But if you want to stick to a budget and keep things simple, you will get better value for money staying 4 stud.


Grrrmachine - understand what you mean now, bang on

It's not so much sticking to a budget it's more I want what's best

If it's best you want, then you need E30 M3 suspension all round.

The best is quite a generalisation there Brian, a full Nitron set up with 4 stud would make a mockery of 25 year old suspension design on track for example.

What are you going to use the car for most? Or should I say where don't you mind making the most compromise, road or track?

Just stick a B12 kit on there with some matching roll-bars and drive the damn thing. If you are still determined to go down the knob twiddling route later on you can just call it "establishing a baseline" and sell the kit on to a grateful zoner for 75% of what you paid for it.