E30 Zone

looking to do an e46 clubsport rack conversion soon. its going into a 325 tourer with standard exhaust manifolds and wms 4pot conversion. what are your experiences with different installation methods and what are pros and cons? is the rack bolted into place with 8mm or 14mm as i have read conflicting info. the corsa linkage looks quite tidy but prefer the look of danthes linkage. are there and other methods? dont like the look of the aluminium guibo with the 2 different bolt patterns. has anyone welded a linkage between the 2 UJs? are the track rods from the e 30 or e46 used? is the pipework the same for e36 and e46 racks? cheers for any help/info/suggestions in advance

Have also seen people running a cooler on these too. What is best?

I have just done the E46 clubsport conversion to my 318is.. easy when you know how! took a little mucking about but all in all easy considering other conversions..

I used 14mm spacers in the front holes ( originally I fitted the rack in the back mounting holes because it was the obvious choice - no drilling! ) turned out that after the engine was installed I needed to move the rack to the forward holes to give U.J to Ex manifold clearance.. had to elongate x1 hole to make fit..

I used the original e30 track rods inc. ends and didn't bother with the lock tabs..

Regarding the pipes, U.J splined shaft and rack I bought all from Danthe, pipes are real good but I found did require some slight bending on the high pressure pipe going to the P.S.P (M42) I did the E34/E30 uj merge with splined shaft, worked well and gave good clearance (M42)

Tried mucking about with my U.J,s but soon realised that after removing the rubber bit and bolting the two half together it still wasn't reduced in length enough..

personally definitely wouldn't weld together..

Summarising I don't think you can go past Danthe due to the fact that the parts needed are tried and tested and of good quality and also if you get stuck u can give him an ask.. as I did more than once!!