E30 alloy front wishbones?

[JayB]

I know that you can fit E36 standard front wishbones on an E30,but can you fit E36 M3 wishbones on and are they made from alloy?If any can help me that would be great as i want to lighten the front end of my 325is. Cheers

[handpaper]

Alloy wishbones were fitted as standard to M3s and tourers; not many tourers will still have them as they must be replaced as a unit (can't just change the ball joint) and they cost c. £170 each, as opposed to £30-40 for the steel ones.

[buster]

yes TOURING's and m3 had them fitted.Although most have been replaced with steel ones due to cost.
Standard e36 control arms maybe the same but i think m3 ones are different.

[Theo]

Only 325i tourings had them as far as I am aware, and the early m3's uses steel wishbones before getting upgraded to alloy ones later in production.

[JazzMan]

I've read from a lot of the E36 people that they fit E30 wish bones to their E36 due to the ball joints being stronger.

The touring I broke 2 years ago had steel ones so they'd probably been replaced at some point.

[JayB]

Can i fit later alloy E30 m3 wishbones to my e30 325is?

[Simon]

Alloy wishbones anyone?

Only fitted to the 325i version of the tourer's!!!!!

[gareth]

FFS ppl!!!!!!!!!!!

[JayB]

can you still buy the alloy wishbones from bmw dealer?

[Brianmoooore]

can you still buy the alloy wishbones from bmw dealer?

Of course you can; but hold on to something solid when they tell you the price.

[buster]

best off sitting down,i find it helps.

[gareth]

$332 on the realoem site . the steel version is $137

[Chris-W]

UK price is £194.88 with VAT.

[gareth]

.....falls off chair

[oakey]

UK price is £194.88 with VAT.

For 1 side?

[Chris-W]

Oh yes. Each.

Free ball joints, though

[Morat]

lol @ Chris

[Brianmoooore]

Oh yes. Each.

Free ball joints, though

Not including the rubber bush.

[oakey]

absoloute bargain!

[Dan318-is]

Good investment though

[JayB]

does any one no the bmw part number? cheers

[JayB]

got it:

left aluminium wishbone= 31121130823
right aluminium wishbone= 31121130824

[470813]

I may be a bit thick but a question strikes me, why would all touring models have alloy. Presumably its a matter of weight distribution, if so why make the front lighter on a car with a heavier rear end? Am I missing something other than brain cells (years of liquid abuse).

[gareth]

probaby down to outright weight saving. the touring has a whole load more weight to carry around and BMW would want it to perform well still.

[Theo]

Like I said earlier in the thread, only 325i tourings had them, but chances are the balljoints will be bolloxed in them anyway, so you will spend your time and money putting bushes on them and fitting them, only to get to told by Mr MOT man that they need to be changed.

[hoshy]

Fair enough. I must have missed that post. Some miscreants were rattling on about apostrophes

[ed5000]

Hi everybody,
This is my first post. I have a 320 Touring and it has alloy wishbones. I also have an old brochure for the touring and it says they all have them. It doesn't differentiate between the 318/320/325

[hoshy]

I noticed on ECP today that the front wishbones they have are marked "Not for Tourer" also which made me think back to this thread.

[JayB]

just pulled this one back up thinking of getting those alloy front wishbones but i don't want the ball joints going every couple of years and having to replace them with alloy ones again £Â£Ã‚£!! has the M3 e36 got alloy front lower wish bones with changeable ball joints and will they fit an E30?thanks

[Onz]

why, dont they last as long? wwhat else does the touring have to attempt at weight saving?

[JayB]

well ive had the same wishbones on my car now for 4yrs.but it depends on the quality of the part and the way that you drive your car,and if your running low profile tyres and with all the f**kin pot holes about.

i don't think they fited any more parts to save weight on the tourings.



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[trigger]

any one got a pic of the alloy ones as im not sure what mine are but i now they are defo not pressed steel type but they are black and look like they maybe cast iron?

[Chris-W]

The normal E30 arms are cast, not pressed.

If you think you might have alloy arms, try putting a magnet on them.

[Brianmoooore]

defo not pressed steel

Pressed steel!! on a BMW???

[Demlotcrew]

Alloy arms last at least three times longer then the steel ones.

Andrew