the old 5 stud conversion thing again

[dave525]

Saw a video on youtube where some American youths had converted an e30 to 5 stud.They used e36 318ti rear arms complete.Just swopped the diff output flanges to the e36 ones.
The front was less clear involving e36 bits.Possibly m3 as the brake calipers were m3.Has anyone got any further with alternative front conversion parts?The rears looked straight forward

[Yeti]

m3 evo front hubs and struts with e46 front arms with e30 m3 lollipops

[Motorhole]

As above but with e36 m3 control arms. Need to be the post '96 evo arms and hubs for (almost) correct geometry. E46 arms will give you crazy front track & camber if that's what you want.

I've done it and there are significant pros and cons.

[fat4door]

I've just done mine with all standard e36 hubs and arms I've got wheels perfectly in the arches you just have to get a bit creative. Using £700 worth of hubs and arms wasn't an option for me. And e46 arms don't work still back in the arch but out about 30mm

[jmc330i]

I've just done mine with all standard e36 hubs and arms I've got wheels perfectly in the arches you just have to get a bit creative.

Care to shed some light on your creative solution?

[M3Pete]

I've just done mine with all standard e36 hubs and arms I've got wheels perfectly in the arches you just have to get a bit creative. Using £700 worth of hubs and arms wasn't an option for me. And e46 arms don't work still back in the arch but out about 30mm

I bet that handles well!

The hub geometry on the standard e36 hub is completely wrong when bolted up to an e30, hence the reason it's so far back in the arch.
By modifying the rear bush mount to swing the hub forward introduces all sort of crazy problems! Mainly the fact you loose all caster and the track rod mounts almost end up over the ball joint pivot. This pretty much makes it handle like a shopping trolley.

[jmc330i]

I've just done mine with all standard e36 hubs and arms I've got wheels perfectly in the arches you just have to get a bit creative. Using £700 worth of hubs and arms wasn't an option for me. And e46 arms don't work still back in the arch but out about 30mm

I bet that handles well!

The hub geometry on the standard e36 hub is completely wrong when bolted up to an e30, hence the reason it's so far back in the arch.
By modifying the rear bush mount to swing the hub forward introduces all sort of crazy problems! Mainly the fact you loose all caster and the track rod mounts almost end up over the ball joint pivot. This pretty much makes it handle like a shopping trolley.

And the reason Ze Germans (E30.de) stopped using Non-M3 E36 parts many years ago after handling issues at speed resulted in a few accidents!

A decent 5 stud swap can't be done on the cheap.

[ross_jsy]

But how am I going to fit style 5's on a 50p budget!

[jmc330i]

[DanThe]

Cut and weld the arms is how we do it 'in da hood'

[Motorhole]

Cut and weld the arms is how we do it 'in the hood'

Seen pictures