e46 front swaybar

[imwhyteyo]

maybe if we could get 5-10 people and a set of brackets this could happen. Used E46 front swaybars only cost ~$50 - and a brand new one is only about $100. I think the bushings are about $25. even if modifying the brackets cost $50 it would still be pretty affordable.

any of you other guys thinking of this? i just received my ebay "special" front bar, with brackets and bushings for a mere 28.99 shipped. and im soo ready to get this thing in.

[Nisse Järnet]

Yeah why not :-)

[stonea]

I'd be down.

[nando]

I have some pics of what needs to happen to make a custom bracket. will post Tuesday..

[Northern]

If we can get a custom bracket that fits standard e46 oem and aftermarket bushings, that sounds a lot better than the reamed out ix setup.

[nando]

E46 bushings wont work. They are HUGE, bulky, and soft. Even if they could work, i wouldn't want to use them.



E46 on the left, generic aftermarket (Energy Suspension) in the middle, and E30 ix on the right. The aftermarket bushing and bracket are most similar to the E30, and will be easiest to adapt.

The E30 bushing is only 34mm at the narrowest part, which only leaves ~5mm of bushing material if you reamed it out. No bueno.

[Northern]

With a 21mm bar, 7mm of material sounds more than sufficient to me.

[nando]

that may be a viable option - it depends on which is more cost effective, a customized/modified bracket, or a custom bushing.

I wanted the 21mm bar, but ended up being sold the 23mm bar instead. oh well..

[nando]

OK, here are the two options I'm proposing.

First, some pictures of the brackets - "generic" on the left, stock E30 ix on the right:






here you can see how the generic bracket lines up pretty well with the E30 ix bracket:


Option 1 - modify the "generic" bracket to fit the E30 ix subframe

Basically, cut off one of the bolt-through mounting tabs, and bend up a new tab that fits into the ix subframe. The bushing would need modified slightly - there's a little "gusset" on the subframe in the corner of the bushing. that would be pretty simple with a jig and a router.

as far as the tab, it would have to either be bent from the existing material left on the bracket or welded on. I think there's plenty to bend a new tab from the existing material. But who can do it and how much would it cost? I'm going to have to search around a little, there may be a local shop who could do something like this but to be honest this area pretty much sucks for any sort of custom fab work..

Option 2 - use the stock E30 ix mount bracket, and use a custom bushing.

It would have to be molded to the ix bracket shape, which is not overly simple. also, with a 23mm bar, there'd only be about 5mm of bushing material left around the swaybar. I've mentioned I'm not very comfortable with this, but maybe it would work. Of course with a custom bushing you need a custom mold - which might be cost prohibitive.

Another alternative would be to ream out a stock bushing. I might give that a shot with an old one to see who well it might work.

the E46 bushing is far too bulky and would never fit. you'd have to make a totally custom bracket anyway - probably not cost effective. plus the bushing is really soft.

of course you're free to do whatever you like - I'm just thinking if I can think of a way to make it basically bolt on, a few people might be interested. I'd rather have something where the bushing could be easily and cheaply replaced, rather than something one-off that I won't be able to replicate in 10 years.

or maybe George Graves can print us one up on his fancy new 3D printing machine. ;)

[nando]

I have a lead on a small local fab shop that could possibly modify the aftermarket brackets. going to take a bunch of parts in and see what he thinks the cost would be. Thinking maybe 10 sets - if you're interested, please post in this thread!

[Nisse Järnet]

Im in for one!

[downforce22]

Doesn't a stiffer front bar create MORE understeer? The iX already understeers much more than the rwd e30.

Am I missing something?

[nando]

no, it does not. even on a RWD E30 the conventional wisdom has long been known to be false. a giant rear swaybar on an ix with no concurrent front upgrade has many significant issues.

anyway, dropped my brackets & spare subframe off at the fabricator - cool guy. he even knew what a 325ix was. :p

he said he'd be finished tomorrow, but I'd be happy with the end of the week. I'll have to try to test fit them this weekend and make sure it actually works. if it does, then we can set up some sort of group buy.

cost should not be expensive. basically the cost of the brackets, labor, and the cost to make a prototype / how many are made. possibly may have them powdercoated as the zinc coating will be damaged when they are modified.

my goal for this is to be able to run a bit softer spring rate up front without causing understeer due to dynamic camber issues (extreme body roll = bad).

[stonea]

I'm in for brackets and bushings.

[george graves]

subscribed.