5 Stud Conversions - E30 325i

[E30Ad]

Been doing some research on the 5 Stud conversions and in short established the following;

Fronts require:
E36 M3 Evo front hub assembly

Rears require:
E30 M3 Rear Hubs or full trailling arm (5mm wider than standard, stronger than Ti option)
or
E36 Ti Rear Hubs or full trailling arm (et +-40 only?)

The rear hubs can be pressed in to your 325 trailling arms or alternatively you can use the full trailling arm from the E36 Ti or E30 M3 donor parts...

I was wondering if people can advise on the following;

-What brakes are required for front & rear
-What ET's are possible to run on the M3 Rear Hubs (in my case I have a set of 16*9's to go on, not sure of offset off the top of my head!)
- Can the E36 front suspension be used with the E30 top mounts? i.e. full E36 hub and strut?
- any other feedback from experience (Pos or Neg)!

cheers,

Ad

[Baurluvva]

Hi Ad,

I am in the process of doing this myself.
The rear e36 ti trailing arms and the e36 strut complete with e36 brakes all fit fine.
The only issue I think I will have is abs
I'm going to run 17" rc041/42 bbs et 42

hope that helps

[E30Ad]

Cheers - Keep us posted on how it goes and obv. get some pics up when complete!
I read briefly about the ABS issue, what is the problem with it? (sorry if its a daft Q only just getting in to my E30's!)

[Motorhole]

Likewise, in the process of doing this myself. I have found that the Compact rear springs make the rear sit a little high so E30 springs will be required.

Currently I have 7J ET42 16" wheels fitted (only done the rear), loads of clearance to the arch lip and about another 10-12mm to the strut.

I want to fit 16" wheels but apparently only a few will fit over the E36 M3 Evo brakes. This is going to be trial and error!

[Baurluvva]

Abs issue is.....

e30 has a single pipe to a split which feeds the rear brakes, whereas e36 has 1 pipe per corner
e30 castellations on the hub are different to e36 and ecu would poss cause probs

so may need e36 abs pump and ecu too

[e21Jason]

Hi I have done this

For the front you need

e36 3.2 m3 front hubs, disks, and calipers and wishbones
e30 m3 e35 m3 3.0 offset wishbone bush.
m3 e36 shocks and springs
e30 top mount
possibly longer e36 flexi brake lines
and the tracking will need doing once you bolt it up

rear several options
e30 m3 rear trailing arms with disk hubs calipers
e30 stock rear trailing arms fitted with e30 m3 disk hubs calipers

both the options will have a rear track which is less than the front, i ghad this for a while and had to run 20mm spacers

e30 stock rear arms with e36 compact or z3 disk hubs calipers
(Can be done with the arms on the car)

e36 compact or 4cl z3 complete rear trailing arms with disk hubs calipers

mz3 complete rear trailing arms with disk hubs calipers, which the only ones that are stronger from the factory

6cly z3 rear arms are to wide

As i run a pedal box i can not comment on master clyinder size.

I researched the ABS the e30 sensor are 2 wire e36 is 3 wire, the theory is you just match the 2 off the wires from the e36 sensor to the corrosponding colours ont he e30 loom. the abs works on the wheel speed difference rather than actual speed so the toohed wheel on the hub does not effecrt it.

You have to run e36 offset ie et35- to 45, and i have had 17x8.5 et41 but mostly run 8x16, et41

Some 16's fit, some require a 3-5mm spacer for the caliper clearance and some don't fit

Jason

[Baurluvva]

I have e36 evo wishbones and hubs..... can I use 328i discs and calipers?

[e21Jason]

I have e36 evo wishbones and hubs..... can I use 328i discs and calipers?

No e36 m3 3.0 or 3.2


Jason

[Jhonno]

Hi I have done this

For the front you need

e36 3.2 m3 front hubs, disks, and calipers and wishbones
e30 m3 e36 m3 3.0 offset wishbone bush.
non m3 e36 shocks and springs

You need the E36 M3 shock and springs.. They are E30 dia. Non E36 M3 springs are larger in dia and foul the strut towers.

[e21Jason]

Thanks

I Edited the orginal post to correct it.

I used e36 coilovers and e30 spherical top mounts, so was unsure of the orginal diameter.

Jason

[Welsh_rhys]

Y have u gotta use e36 evo hubs , y cant u use regular e36 hubs

[penton08]

Y have u gotta use e36 evo hubs , y cant u use regular e36 hubs

Because they are different. Standard hubs leave the wheel set back.

[Baurluvva]

Set back? in what way? wheel not in centre of arch or recessed into the arches giving a narrower track?

[Welsh_rhys]

ok may be wrong but in my e36 days its was the evo top mount that added the camber . thought the hubs were the same across the range

[Baurluvva]

I thought that it was the evo wishbones along with the offset bushes that centred the wheel in the arch

[Jhonno]

ok may be wrong but in my e36 days its was the evo top mount that added the camber . thought the hubs were the same across the range

You are wrong..

It's also the Evo hub.

The Evo's run concentric bushes yet have the most caster of all the e36's. This is down to the top mounts, control arms and the kingpins.

[E30Ad]

both the options will have a rear track which is less than the front, i ghad this for a while and had to run 20mm spacers

Was it 20mm narrower at the rear or did this give the rear a slightly wider track?

I researched the ABS the e30 sensor are 2 wire e36 is 3 wire, the theory is you just match the 2 off the wires from the e36 sensor to the corrosponding colours ont he e30 loom. the abs works on the wheel speed difference rather than actual speed so the toohed wheel on the hub does not effecrt it.

Does the third wire remain redundant?

Does anyone think it would be worthwhile to start a thread with the combinations that they have used i.e hubs/brakes/bushes etc and then what wheel sizes/offesets were possible?

Cheers,

Ad

[Jhonno]

There are only 2 ways to do it sucessfully.. Both mentioned in this thread.

Any wheel size/offset is possible - depends on budget/willingness to run spacers/hack bodywork

[Morat]

If you make a thread with good info on it, PM me a link and I'll add it to the wiki.
Morat

[Jhonno]

The info Jason has now fixed is good info..

[eko]

Ive got a few 5 stud parts for sale,Compact Ti rear arms,Evo front struts/topmounts,standard front hubs etc.

[E30Ad]

Is anyone aware whether 17*10 et 20 will fit over e36 rear trailing arms and brakes? thanks,

[E30Ad]

rear several options

mz3 complete rear trailing arms with disk hubs calipers, which the only ones that are stronger from the factory

6cly z3 rear arms are to wide

Jason, why are 6cylinder z3 rear arms too wide? I have the mz3 set up to go on but thats a six pot, is your point above that the z3 6pots rear arms with the exception of the mz3's will not fit? Just want to prepare for any stumbling blocks!

Cheers,

Ad

[Grrrmachine]

There's some info about this on the wiki:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... s_and_Hubs

[E30Ad]

Cheers, thats a good wiki... just wondering where it says " use: CV axles and Diff Flanges from MZ3." that is refering to the driveshafts right? will they bolt up to the diff in my 88 325i auto?

Cheers

Ad

[E30Ad]

Also do the diff outouts swap on to my diff is what i meant... cheers