Coupe/touring suspension swap..

[jon316]

Hello,

my mate is after dropping his '91 318i Touring a little bit. I've got a 40mm Gmax kit on the '91 316i I had before my 318is. Can the kit be swapped from the Coupe to the Touring and the standard Touring struts and springs fitted back to my Coupe?

Cheers!

[Chris-W]

More weight on the touring rear end - circa 100kg. Won't work very well.

[fuzzy]

doesnt the tourings have 51mm struts? and your 316 will have 45mm struts. im not sure if they are interchangeable springs will probably make the touring sit lower than the 40mm because of the extra weight.

[jon316]

Hmm. I'd heard about the larger diameter struts but haven't had chance to have a good look at them on the Tourer to check. Looking at my is against the 316, it looks like the strut might fit into the casing although I'm sure BMW had good reasons for putting bigger struts on a Touring

I guess the extra weight on the springs at the back might not be as serious as the strut issue, the springs are quite stupidly stiff. Cheers for the advice - I might have to take a weekend and see what's what for myself by taking everything apart and then being unable to put it back together...

[fuzzy]

i might be wrong but i think all tourings have larger struts

[Brianmoooore]

i might be wrong but i think all tourings have larger struts

Correct - and vented front discs with solid rears.

[Templ8e30]

I fitted my saloon Eibach springs to my Touring, 1 day later I bought the correct Touring springs. The back end was lower than the front and felt saggy over the bumps, felt like I'd stuffed a dead salad dodger in the boot mafia style.

Not good.

Cheers,

Iain T

[jon316]

Right, that makes it fairly clear - it'd be easier to just buy the right kit and not piss about. Cheers all!

[jmc330i]

i might be wrong but i think all tourings have larger struts

Correct

Unless its an early 318i touring. Before 9/89, 318i tourings have 45mm struts, the ones after 9/89 have 51mm.