Rear disc conversion rough cost?

[joeseth]

Anyone know the rough cost of converting drums to discs on an e30? Presuming doing all the work yourself. And do you need to change the driveshafts or are they the same? Rear bearing needs doing and thinking now could be the time to do this swap. Cheers, Joe.

[Quaser]

around £50 - £100 (with discs, calipers, handbrake cables) - driveshafts are the same iirc, rear bearings should be ok.

I would change the bushes for poly ones whilst your doing it.

[jonny323i]

Pm'd

[jonny323i]

Pm'd

[joeseth]

So well worth it if the bearings are alright in the new trailing arms. Dont really wanna tackle the bearing without a puller/press but swapping to discs sounds easier. Plus my handbrake is terrible anyway!

Cheers jonnie

[joeseth]

Any recommendations for poly bushes? Is it worth the extra money over fresh standard ones? Surely they will be alot better than 120k mile items.

[DanThe]

Bushes, for the rear beam use rubber, with these to give extra life and reduced movement - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-Rear- ... 3a7e2238a6

The best place for poly is trailing arms and ARB, well worth the extra over standard as they will last 5 times longer

Trailing arms - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-3-Ser ... 4d08f8e5fa

[Duke137]

^^^ what he said

[joeseth]

Yeah they are the trailing arm bushes I was looking at. Seem a good price! Haven't ever heard of those inserts so thanks for the info, makes alot of sense.

[B7]

I have a set of trailing arms complete with calipers etc. No discs I'm afraid.

[milescook]

I got a set of used trailing arms with discs and calipers, rear beam all in great nick (no handbrake cables sadly - these are different for disc an around 16 quid each from carparts4less.co.uk) for £60 on the zone. No exhast mount on the replacement beam tho

I fitted lemforder beam and trailing arm bushes all round about 60 quid from eurocarparts. Plus a few weekends - not a fun job

[suedenim]

You ideally want to be looking out for trailing arms with decent backplates, otherwise the whole lot will have to come off anyway if they're shot.

[joeseth]

Backplates? As in disc covers things or part of the bearing?

[jonny323i]

The flat metal plates that sit behind the discs the handbrake shoes attach too it

[suedenim]

The flat metal plates that sit behind the discs the handbrake shoes attach too it

Many have been knocking around for 20 odd years now and are good for the bin. The holes for the brake shoe retaining pins go, which can be remedied with a bit of bodgery, but if they are scrap you'll end up having to pull the hubs to replace with new.
Factor in the cost of handbrake cables too, they are different, are the donors brakes in need of an overhaul, etc.

Try www.brakesinternational.co.uk for cables, cheaper than ecp and good customer service in my experience.

[joeseth]

I see what you mean about the plates now! Bodgery prevails!

[Chris_B86]

The flat metal plates that sit behind the discs the handbrake shoes attach too it

Many have been knocking around for 20 odd years now and are good for the bin. The holes for the brake shoe retaining pins go, which can be remedied with a bit of bodgery, but if they are scrap you'll end up having to pull the hubs to replace with new.
Factor in the cost of handbrake cables too, they are different, are the donors brakes in need of an overhaul, etc.

Try www.brakesinternational.co.uk for cables, cheaper than ecp and good customer service in my experience.

I'm in the middle of replacing my rear brakes, and was going to change the back plates instead of bodging, are they a pain to do?

[Kedge]

You have to pull the hubs out so then you'll be wanting to change your wheel bearings as well.

[Chris_B86]

You have to pull the hubs out so then you'll be wanting to change your wheel bearings as well.

Bummer, suppose they're probably worth doing anyway, cheers

[capnmchl]

Having looked into it, it's roughly £400 to do the conversion properly. That's new pads, discs, shoes, bushes, bearings, pipes, hoses, cables and caliper rebuild kits. Factor in the little clips and powdercoating and it soons adds up.

I would say the main things to do before you stick the lot on is the trailing arm bushes, check the backplates and do the bearings. Everything else can be spread out over time if it's in alright condition.

[Brianmoooore]

You have to pull the hubs out so then you'll be wanting to change your wheel bearings as well.

Bummer, suppose they're probably worth doing anyway, cheers

Cut the new backplates in the narrowest place, where the caliper fits, twist it into place, and weld up the cut, making sure not to leave any bead where the hand brake shoe fits.

[joeseth]

Good advice all. Unfortunately I don't have money to chuck around, hence not just getting bearing done in the first place. Have done one side and other i'll be doing his week. Costs were; £100 for trailing arms with calipers and discs etc delivered, £34 for handbrake cables, £18 for handbrake shoes, £50 for trailing arm poly bushes, £7 for brake fluid. So just over £200. Could be bit cheaper without poly bushes.

All I can say is the trailing arm bushes are not easy to get out! And the trailing arm nut and bolt closest to the wheel is a pain to get to!

Out of interest how much are new backplates?

[suedenim]

They aren't expensive, it's just that they were NLA not so long ago. I'm sure someone will be able to confirm their current availability.

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?mod ... g=34&fg=10