E30 Zone

I love driving my E30 but the handling is very skittish, it would quite happily slide on every corner and roundabouts are a nightmare unless I'm concentrating 100%. the suspension is really soft and feels like it rolls on corners, also there is a knock when I hit bumps in the road but going over slow bumps like speed humps etc, its fine, and it creaks when you get in it, not sure if that's all connected.

I was wondering what can I do to make it feel a bit more solid on the road.

would new suspension fix all the issues? if that was the route to go, id spend a few hundred getting a decent setup and id get all new bushes etc and anything else in that area that can be changed.
not sure if this is in the right section (please move it if it isnt)

any advice/help would be appreciated.
thanks in advance

get some boge or bilstein dampers with eibach or similar 30-40mm lowering springs, replace your bushes and check all other suspension parts for wear and tear, it will be like its on rails them mate

As said above, check all your suspension bushes, fit new dampers and springs and swap the front control arm bushes for solid offset ones from the M3.

What tyres do you have?

tyres is the other thing id like to replace at some point

Ive got Goodyear Eagle NCT 2 all round (205/55 ZR16) tread seems to be good all round, rears have a bit more than fronts.

alot of people say about the m3 control arm bushes... do they make a noticable difference?? might look into it.

I've been looking at coilovers, and think ive found the ones id want.

http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=GAZGHA388&a=i

It mentions that spring rates can be adjusted, this is where I get lost. what sort of measurement would I require for road use? I dont want it rock solid as I need it to be comfy, but Id still like it reasonably stiff.

alot of people say about the m3 control arm bushes...

yes they do - alot nicer turn in!

if you fit these like i did its a good idea to swap the control arms themselves at the same - time - as you are not meant to re use them

am going to change my control arms soon and may have to buy a new set- not that expensive but a bit of a £ waste

Thanks for the advice, will look at gettin me some m3 bushes

ive been trying to find these control arm bushes, but cant seem to come across any

31129061222

thats the part number was 22£ when i bought them

if you buy them in the bmw genuine parts department on here there cheaper and delivered

if you put that number in the seach and put all terms will be loadzza info

your a star, thankyou

just need some advice on the suspension now

LilJen wrote:I've been looking at coilovers, and think ive found the ones id want.

http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=GAZGHA388&a=i

It mentions that spring rates can be adjusted, this is where I get lost. what sort of measurement would I require for road use? I dont want it rock solid as I need it to be comfy, but Id still like it reasonably stiff.

as suggested above, spend the money getting it to how it came out the factory befor modifying it.

i would imagine you have some worn out bushes or drop links somewhere and it wouldnt surprise me if one or all of the dampers are buggered!

mine were knacked! had some really odd characteristics but that was due to a buggered shock, worn out tca bushes, cheap drop links and 22 year old control arm balljoints. i replaced them and fitted M3 exccentrics and changed every other rubber bit in the front suspension and it drives lovely now i kept mine standard bmw but has been dropped on springs! 40mm i think

Ill get them bits sorted first then, and then ill look at the more expensive things.

the suspension is very soft so if I'm going to the effort of getting things done, Ill be replacing the suspension if possible, so thats what I need advice on mainly.
I will get bushes and other things that have been mentioned above, so thanks for the comments on them.
seems like it could be the wheels causing the knocking as its low and soft so hitting a bump at speed would cause the wheel to hit the arch.

If I was to replace the suspension what sort of spring rate would I go for? and would the suspension set that ive mentioned above be a good one? I want to start ordering parts asap before I have to do my xmas shopping.

Hmmm....

Loose rear end? Check
Clunking over bumps? Check
Low at the back? Check

I'd be very suspicious of your rear subframe bushes. They're a bit of a pig to DIY but there are plenty of threads on them because it is a common problem. The bushes are about £70 from BMW and a good independent garage should do the whole lot for about £200-250.

The problem is that you have to drop the rear axle and that can lead to quite a few "While you're there you should really" jobs, including: Rear brake pipes, Fuel tank (inspect for rust at least), handbrake cables, rust prevention etc etc etc.

I'd certainly get them checked out before committing to springs, shocks and rollbars - althought these can also be fitted "While you're there"

Oh, if you're determined to change I can thoroughly recommend the Eibach pro spring kit with Bilstein B8s and Eibach rollbars. Apparently it's not as stiff as the HnR equivalent, but it suits me fine because I'm a back lane/country driver rather than a track hero.

I love driving my E30 but the handling is very skittish, it would quite happily slide on every corner and roundabouts are a nightmare unless I'm concentrating 100%.

have you considered your driving style? sliding about is not the way to drive fast!

thanks Morat, ill look into it.

Id like to call myself a very careful driver, my bf on the other half tends to get a bit excited (he's used to his scooby and its 4wd) so it tends to slide on him more.

Ive got to know the car well enough now to know where I can accelerate hard and to get it around corners/roundabouts cleanly, but in the wet, its harder to predict. with it being so soft, sometimes its hard to tell if it was a twitch or roll.

after re reading everything, im going to look up replacing a few bushes etc, and get a quote from a garage for labour. the suspension it has is meant to be adjustable although i've never looked, so might see if it can be stiffened that way save me buying a new kit.

I did get it inspected a while back, and he said he could see no immediate problems, so its nothing major wrong, could just be worn bushes as youve all said.

LilJen wrote:I've been looking at coilovers, and think ive found the ones id want.

http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=GAZGHA388&a=i

It mentions that spring rates can be adjusted, this is where I get lost. what sort of measurement would I require for road use? I dont want it rock solid as I need it to be comfy.

Unless you really know what you're doing, I'd avoid adjustable setups.
Renew all the rubber bushes.
Fit new shockers+springs+top mounts+bump stops etc.
Fit uprated ARB(s).
Fit front strut brace.
Job done

LilJen wrote:I'd still like it reasonably stiff.

1st floor, room seven.....no pressure lol

If you're changing the rear shock top mounts then don't use the stock E30 items because they will die again (pretty soon if you're using stiffer, aftermarket suspension). Mounts from the E46 cab are recommended as a more robust but still economical option. I went for the Rogue Engineering top mounts because they're pretty and I have a touring which means it's a longer job to replace them.

I've got the same handling issues on my e30. Check you've got a rear anti roll bar fitted too I haven't and it's a bit like a boat because of that. I'm having to buy the following in a Bid to sort all my handling woes.

318is 51mm Front legs
bilstein b4 dampers all round inc bump stops
40mm lowering springs
New top mounts all round,e46 rears like Morat suggests
318is front roll bar 20mm diameter
14.5mm rear roll bar
M3 eccentric control arm bushes
New roll bar links
New bushes all round.

Should set you back no more than £400 depending on what springs you buy. All the above bits should do the trick.

I still think you should have a look at your rear subframe bushes before you go the "whole hog" even if you end up buying all new suspension when you replace them. My previous E30 went from being a drift spec nightmare to a nice little runner with just RSBs. This time round I went all out but it cost a lot more than £400 (more like £2k) and that was back when the exchange rate was good.

Use the void fillers to avoid replacing the bushes!!! Search here, it will save yo £250 on labour and will feel the same or better.

As for the rest do what everyone else said to.

Hope this isn't stating the obvious! But might be worth checking for corrosion around your shock mounting points, especially the rear inner arches! The best suspension in the world won't fix a rusty shock tower.

first things first

check bushes, check alignment. there after, a good suspension set will transform the car. coilovers will not be great on the road unless they are set up for road use with appropriate spring rates.

i'd go for bilstein B8's with H&R or eibach springs. if funds are a bit tighter then consider the B4 bilsteins or boge gas dampers

Francisco wrote:Use the void fillers to avoid replacing the bushes!!! Search here, it will save yo £250 on labour and will feel the same or better.

As for the rest do what everyone else said to.

The void fillers do not fix a shagged rear subframe bush fella, when subframe bushes fail, the rubber usually delaminates from the alloy centre.

Well, if the rear subframe bushings are shagged enough to be torn then it will be the least of his worries specially when he puts the car on a lift.

I replaced the rear bushings on all my E30's (three) and on the last one used the void fillers and can definitely recommend.

Void fillers were designed with the saving of time and hassle in mind, fella! And the best thing is... IT WORKS

thanks for everything you've all said, its helped me loads, your all stars

one more thing I was wondering, the shell is a 318i but from what im aware a lot has been changed to parts from a 325i (and the diff is off an M3), will this make a difference when ordering parts? and if so, how can I tell which bits are original and which bits came from a 325. or wont anything relevant have been changed.

The only differences I can think of that will affect ordering are the bushes for anti roll bars will need to match the diameter of whatever bars are fitted, and the diameter of the front struts will affect the choice of front dampers.

so did u ever figure out your spring rates?

This could be what your rear subframe bushes look like, this is one of mine, absolutley out of their brains.

New Vs Old