E30 Zone

Just wondered if anyone on here running Coil over suspension? If so what and where did you order it from?

Getting some made up for me at the moment for my racer and another 3 racers.

I have gone for a GAZ custom buld race set, made to order

Top quality at an almost bearable price

JimmyC wrote:Getting some made up for me at the moment for my racer and another 3 racers.

I have gone for a GAZ custom buld race set, made to order

Top quality at an almost bearable price

Do you know if anyone on here has attempted to rebuild the standard struts with a coilover conversion kit? Trying to work out if it's viable as I'm gonna be using my car on gravel.

GAZ are using my original struts, not sure about a DIY job though- sorry

JimmyC wrote:GAZ are using my original struts, not sure about a DIY job though- sorry

Hmm ok been thinking of converting exsiting struts using this kit http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ ... ode=RIX107

Just wondered how mental I'd gone or if someone else has tried this approach...

Im using an h&r coil over suspension kit from a group N car on my cecotto. I sourced them from Munich legends but i get a good discount there

Where does the H&R kit sit in relation to other things??

I know Spax are down the bottom
Leda are a bit higher (GAZ are basically the same shock, by the same designer)
then you go onto the silly expensive things?

That kit looks- umm interesting

Well i was told that short of a full group A setup, it was the best kit that i could get. Not really sure where it would be in comparison to road spec kits.

So does that put it into the silly expensive Ԛ£1k a corner bracket?

Or somewhere inbetween

No, i paid 900 with my ML discount, i think they had another used set at 1300 and were selling new ones for around 1600. That was a while ago though, they may have come down.

The group A setup was going for around 3.5k used, bit pricy IMO

Well worth the money though, its an awesome setup!

You guys are all on tarmac though? So your setup is hard as nails yeah?

Is this a true Coil over, in the rear ? With Reinforced Rear Shock mounts ? I heard u couldn't run Coil Overs in the back of an E30 die to the Shock mount not being a load bearing structure or something ??

Stevin wrote:Is this a true Coil over, in the rear ? With Reinforced Rear Shock mounts ? I heard u couldn't run Coil Overs in the back of an E30 die to the Shock mount not being a load bearing structure or something ??

I have no idea to be honest, i didnt fit it myself, i was told that it was the best one that i could get so i did. Im not the most technical person so i stay away from it!

Yea its pretty hard, but not excessive, you can still compress the sring a bit by leaning on the bonnet

Did you mean somthing like this?


Cost me Ԛ£30 per side!
Is a bit hard tho! as the springs i went for are way to heavy

Stevin wrote:Is this a true Coil over, in the rear ? With Reinforced Rear Shock mounts ? I heard u couldn't run Coil Overs in the back of an E30 die to the Shock mount not being a load bearing structure or something ??

mine will run with a modified top mount

lentec wrote:Did you mean somthing like this?


Cost me Ԛ£30 per side!
Is a bit hard tho! as the springs i went for are way to heavy

THAT IS EXACTLY what I meant by heavy you mean stiff? Did you use standard shocks and is that the tweeks kit?

Come on give me the juicy details...

How long did it take? Is the handlin transformed?

The springs are way too hard ie: it has a tendencey to bounce
I am using standard shocks.
The thredded tube adjusters and top mount i got are from gaz aka:gazzard enginering the springs came from burtons (no i dont own a ford) just they had them in stock on a saturday!
It dident take that long to fitt them! was easy remove the shocks atack with a grinder bit of welding lick of paint done!!

how long are the springs 10 inch or 12's?

I've been thinking of running 200-220lb springs on the front and 140-160lb springs on the rear what ones did you go for that were too hard? My mates mkII uses 300lb when on tarmac and 200lb on gravel.

I'm placing an order with www.raldes.co.uk for all 4 corners (Ԛ£31 each!) so this should be an interestin project gonna go for 250lb 12" springs (Ԛ£14 a corner) on the front to kick off with might require a bit of pretensioning but what the hell.

To clear it up, can u tell me what gets done to the top mount ? I'm really curious cause I want to run some coil overs on my car aswell

As far as I'm aware you can still run standard top mounts. I'm planning on fitting steel top mounts from a MkII escort and making them fit.

I was thinking of maybe using these ?

http://www.ground-control-store.com/ima ... ace_fs.jpg

I used 12" springs and found they are too long so the adjusters are at full extent!
I used 280lb springs as i said they are too hard! think 200s 6 or 8" would have been a better choice.
Also im using OE top mounts

lentec wrote:Did you mean somthing like this?

Looks good and for Ԛ£30
So what have you got on the rear?

I looked at the Ground Control kits for the E30 and they have the rear shock and spring still separate, heres the rear GC kit....


I cant find the pics of it fitted, but the spring is sat in the orginal location, so its not a true rear coilover.

lentec wrote:I used 12" springs and found they are too long so the adjusters are at full extent!
I used 280lb springs as i said they are too hard! think 200s 6 or 8" would have been a better choice.
Also im using OE top mounts

How much ride height do the 12" springs give you?

Remembering I'm after a high car for gravel rallying might look at 220lb springs instead of the 250's.

jmc330i wrote:

lentec wrote:Did you mean somthing like this?

Looks good and for Ԛ£30
So what have you got on the rear?

I looked at the Ground Control kits for the E30 and they have the rear shock and spring still separate, heres the rear GC kit....


I cant find the pics of it fitted, but the spring is sat in the orginal location, so its not a true rear coilover.

i think if you were gonna run a true rear coilover you would have to turret the inner rear arches as they will be thicker than the standard shocks.. also you would need to uprate the top mounting point as it is not a load bearing point as standard

A coilover will fit into the original fixings fine, I am using a modified top mount which has all the rubber taken out and a rose joint put in.

This is for tarmac use, guess for a rally car substantial strengthening will be needed

JimmyC wrote:A coilover will fit into the original fixings fine, I am using a modified top mount which has all the rubber taken out and a rose joint put in.

This is for tarmac use, guess for a rally car substantial strengthening will be needed

Are you talking about front or rear? If your on about rear do you have a pic of your setup?

Top mounts normally in rally cars have to be beefed up this is the third rally car I've been involved in building from scratch and to be honest it's a case of plating the turrets on the front and fitting a steel or aluminium topmount. Haven't really thought about the back yet but it may be a case of fabricating some type of rear turrets and mounts. As we say in the garage have welder and grinder will travel

My main interest is 'who's done what' to try and get some ideas and what sort of ride height do you guys get then I can figure out what I need to add to meet my target.

I was talking about the rear.

I dont have any pics as the running gear is all out and all over the place, shocks are being dropped off today to get stripped and made up from original struts

Will get some pics up when they come back

The regs for the series i'm in dont allow modding top mounts, other than what I said earlier

lentec what have you done for the rear? JimmyC look forward to seeing the photos.