Coilovers/suspension, bodywork and wheel fitment.

[Sambe30]

Just picked up a nice e30 316i lux 3dr 1990 in red for £1200. I have a few questions about some of the work that needs doing to it. It has slight paint bubbling on one of the rear arches, does anybody have any past experience with this or know how much a body shop will charge to repair it? Secondly, there is a knock coming from the rear which I've been told is either bushes or suspension, I am going to be getting the suspension changed anyway as it is the original suspension that came on the car so it is 24 years old. I want to lower the car at the same time and I've read up a bit and people recommend going for the bilstein b12s which have the lowering springs on to them which do 30 or 40mm front and 30mm rear if I remember correctly. Would I be best going for these or a coilover kit so that when I change the wheels it is fully adjustable? What would give the best ride feel and comfort as I've been in cars with cheap ebay coilovers in and it feels horrible, I don't mind spending money on them as I don't want to be putting rubbish parts on it. And thirdly wheel fitment. I want to go to a 16" wheel and I know the pcd is 4x100, but what offset and width would I need that would fit straight on without the use of spacers? I have a friend selling some 16" 4x100 borbet A's which are 9j et 15. Would these be allright? Thank you in advance

[Sambe30]

Help anyone?

[Sambe30]

Can somebody please help?

[Grrrmachine]

Trying to read through that wall of text... Try pressing the "Enter" key once in a while.

To get this straight:

1) if there's rust, the only guaranteed repair is to cut it out and weld in new metal

2) suspension knock is generally the rear beam bushes. Full guides on how to repair it can be found in the Wiki by typing in "Bushes" and clicking the blue links.

3) For lowering, don't confuse springs with shocks. Shocks (Blisten B12s) have nothing to do with how low the car is, but how firm it handles. People recommend any of the Billies, whether its B4, B6 or B8.

4) Lowering will affect your camber and toe, leading to odd tyre wear. For this sake, it's not worth lowering beyond 40mm unless you want to buy new tyres regularly.

5) If you're not going on a track, don't buy coilovers. Alternatively, buy coilovers if your E30 spends 95% of its time in a McDonald's carpark while you tell your mates about your wickedsick drop with your baseball cap at a stupid angle.

6) Wheels. Type this word into the Wiki and you'll get all the info you need.

[Sambe30]

Thank you grrrmachine

[si911t]

Trying to read through that wall of text... Try pressing the "Enter" key once in a while.

To get this straight:

1) if there's rust, the only guaranteed repair is to cut it out and weld in new metal

2) suspension knock is generally the rear beam bushes. Full guides on how to repair it can be found in the Wiki by typing in "Bushes" and clicking the blue links.

3) For lowering, don't confuse springs with shocks. Shocks (Blisten B12s) have nothing to do with how low the car is, but how firm it handles. People recommend any of the Billies, whether its B4, B6 or B8.

4) Lowering will affect your camber and toe, leading to odd tyre wear. For this sake, it's not worth lowering beyond 40mm unless you want to buy new tyres regularly.

5) If you're not going on a track, don't buy coilovers. Alternatively, buy coilovers if your E30 spends 95% of its time in a McDonald's carpark while you tell your mates about your wickedsick drop with your baseball cap at a stupid angle.

6) Wheels. Type this word into the Wiki and you'll get all the info you need.

Hero