E30 Zone

How difficult to reto fit abs on to a 320, , are the drive shafts different ?, ie or do all shafts have the sensor pick ups or only ABS shafts , if i got a ABS fitted car to strip what other parts apart from ,
senors , ECU , AND WIRING LOOM or is the main loom and ecu different ?
thanks

Drive shafts are the same, its the wheel hubs that are different so you need to swap the suspension over really.
Everything is plug and play

When you say plug and play, you mean get ABS parts and swap them with the relevant parts? That's it?

We talking competent DIY?

Thats it.

It really is straight forward, you will have to cut the mounts out of your donor and add to your engine bay though.

Quite a few threads been done about this I think

Royalratch wrote:When you say plug and play, you mean get ABS parts and swap them with the relevant parts? That's it?

We talking competent DIY?

If your car is a 320 saloon, then it will have rear drum brakes, which aren't compatible with ABS. You will need to fit the complete rear arms from a ABS equipped car, and it'll be easier to fit the complete front legs as well.
It's all straight forward work, but is quite a major operation.

Unless your actually VERY attached to your car or it stands you in a fortune, I would sell it and buy another with ABS if you want is so badly! As Brian has said its not a particulaly difficult job but it is quite involved.

I have a 1990 318iS that I love to death. I've had it almost 7 years from the original owner who died and left it standing in his daughters garage for 4 years. It had 49K on the clock - I don't think I could ever sell it.

ABS would be truly awesome to fit.

Quick check list:
ABS Control Unit
ABS Actuator Thingy
Wiring Loom
Relevant Mounts

Any thing I missed out?

how do you wire the warning light on the dash is it all part of the main loom and does it t off the loom as it enters the control box

That's deep shit. Is the dash light present on all cars and is 'activated' when ABS is present or is that something that needs to be fitted too?

Thanks all
lucky ive got a complete 325 to use if i decude to strip it out

The e30 with the best standard brakes Ive driven in recent years did not have abs I would think about improving the stopping power with what youve got.

ABS doesn't do much for stopping power pnd.

It just allwos greater control/steering input when you brake hard and some extra security in the wet.

Safety is always worth adding and it's cool that you can add that feature to an old classic like the E30.

Gazza, the ABS light bulb is on a seperate piece of loom (2 wires) that is part of the ABS wiring. Where the loom comes through the big bulkhead grommet by the fusebox the bulb wires simply run accross the dash behind the stereo and the bulb holder pushes into the back of the clocks

ok i looked at a set up today did you also have to seperate the abs loom from the car loom as on the car i looked at its all one ........and is the brake master cylinder different ....obviously you would need the extra brake pipes in the engine compartment then i take it the loom plugs into the box under the dash ......tell me more!

You need all the brake pipes that come from the pump unit, one goes round to the drivers side wheel, one to the passenger wheel and one to the pipe to the rear under the servo.
Master cylinder is the same, just has one of the front outlets blanked off.
Loom is seperate from body loom (on mine anyway) all passes through the big rubber grommet in the bulkhead by the fusebox, you will need the braket to fix the ECU above the glove box.

Easy peasy
Nothing at all difficult about the job.
If anyone thinks its difficult then name another car you can retro fit ABS to easier

Royalratch wrote:ABS doesn't do much for stopping power pnd.

you don't think a car will stop in a shorter distance with traction, versus locking up the wheels and sliding?

Perhaps - I would have thought it's main advantage allows some steering control under hard braking.

But to the point, ABS is a good upgrade - pnd's comments were that you copuld improve braking in other/better ways - not sure how.

Better tyres will help, especially fronts.
ABS doesn't improve over a perfect driver, but in an emergency there are no style points for achieving perfect brake pedal pressure 1 second too late. The only downside is that on gravel or snow it can actually increase your braking distance, but frankly if you're moving at lethal speeds on snow ABS isn't your main problem.