318ti 5 lug Swap Direct fitment for e30?

[e30mpg]

IronFreak: Your car looks good man, If you roll the fenders alot it should fit flush under the wheel better? I tried the z3 arms at first and it was sticking out 2.5" more on both side. This setup would be awesome for a really wide rear track, but i wanted to keep mine square as much as possible with wide tires all 4 cornes.

Franky:
The Ronals are e36 offset i believe et36 if i remember right. I think if you use the e30 m3 hub in the rear it will keep the same e30 offset.

[franky2fingaz]

here's mine with 96+ front and Ti rear sitting on e36 race springs, but will be changing it out for e30 sport springs soon.

did everything including new rotors/pads/ball joints and bushing, everything else is nused/reconditions. under $500, just have to look around and collect pieces and if you have a yard or look on e36 forums for part out. gl


drives beautiful, i recommended going with the m3 swaybar mount instead of the regular, make it feel you have a stiffer bar.

running Ronals 16x7.5 square with 205/40/16

I just wanted to add, there are many quality kits from engineers/members on here and if i have the money i would of gone the bracket setup for the front and e30 m3 bearing/hub rear. But i happy with this budget setup.

That's perfect stance, what offset are those 7.5" Ronals?

I have E38 style-15 16x7.5 on 225/45/16 in the basement but haven't decided what 5-lug to do in the rear (no adapters) so your offset is a great reference for me...

Adapters IMO are only good when the wheel is +38mm offset or more, anything less then sticks out and crappy steering arc sweep = twitchy handling

QUesTion: Has anyone established the track difference between an E30 vs. E36 M3/318ti set-ups? How much more do the wheels stick out?

cheers

[IronFreak]

Currently it sits like this. These are just roller wheels. you can see that the e36m3 5-lug pushes the wheels out. Those are 17x8 et47 and I', flush with the stock fender....

[e30mpg]

post some pics when you get yours done. I'm thinking of going the similar route but i want to make it look clean.

[IronFreak]

Agreed and those are good reasons. I lide wide tracks and meat as well, so I'll be running flares and a nice wide wheel.

[e30mpg]

The car looks good but why go through the who hassle of the 5-lug swap? at $500 you can have some nice adapters.

I went 5-lug because I was going to do a full coilover race setup. I was lacking on research and realized afterwards I could have the same performance wiith a 4-lug setup as far as ride, adjustability and stopping power. Now, with 5 lug I have to run some radical wheels to get the traction I'll desire which requires me to modify the body of the car to make them fit.

I have the setup now so it's staying, but in my opinion save your money. spend that $500 on some nice GC coilovers, get a BBK and be happy with the might 4-lug.

Thanks Iron, here are my reasons for doing it:

1. I have an e36 M3 too, so i can easily change parts when needed
2. When i buy replacements parts, i can order 2 of each.
3. The parts are easily available at most parts store locally.
4. I needed to replace the e30 suspension parts anyway, so why not?
5. I DID IT FOR the RONALS

beside i think the e30 looks better with wider track. :)

[IronFreak]

here's mine with 96+ front and Ti rear sitting on e36 race springs, but will be changing it out for e30 sport springs soon.

did everything including new rotors/pads/ball joints and bushing, everything else is nused/reconditions. under $500, just have to look around and collect pieces and if you have a yard or look on e36 forums for part out. gl


drives beautiful, i recommended going with the m3 swaybar mount instead of the regular, make it feel you have a stiffer bar.

running Ronals 16x7.5 square with 205/40/16

I just wanted to add, there are many quality kits from engineers/members on here and if i have the money i would of gone the bracket setup for the front and e30 m3 bearing/hub rear. But i happy with this budget setup.

The car looks good but why go through the who hassle of the 5-lug swap? at $500 you can have some nice adapters.

I went 5-lug because I was going to do a full coilover race setup. I was lacking on research and realized afterwards I could have the same performance wiith a 4-lug setup as far as ride, adjustability and stopping power. Now, with 5 lug I have to run some radical wheels to get the traction I'll desire which requires me to modify the body of the car to make them fit.

I have the setup now so it's staying, but in my opinion save your money. spend that $500 on some nice GC coilovers, get a BBK and be happy with the might 4-lug.

[e30mpg]

Are you saying you used 1996 328i front suspension parts? IF so what did you do to get the caster right?

96+ m3 arms
m3 offset bushing
m3 struts
m3 springs
e30 strut mounts

you should be golden

[DesertBMW]

here's mine with 96+ front and Ti rear sitting on e36 race springs, of gone the bracket setup for the front and e30 m3 bearing/hub rear. But i happy with this budget setup.

Are you saying you used 1996 328i front suspension parts? IF so what did you do to get the caster right?

[e30mpg]

here's mine with 96+ front and Ti rear sitting on e36 race springs, but will be changing it out for e30 sport springs soon.

did everything including new rotors/pads/ball joints and bushing, everything else is nused/reconditions. under $500, just have to look around and collect pieces and if you have a yard or look on e36 forums for part out. gl


drives beautiful, i recommended going with the m3 swaybar mount instead of the regular, make it feel you have a stiffer bar.

running Ronals 16x7.5 square with 205/40/16

I just wanted to add, there are many quality kits from engineers/members on here and if i have the money i would of gone the bracket setup for the front and e30 m3 bearing/hub rear. But i happy with this budget setup.

[IronFreak]

My biggest regret was the amount of money I spent to make a quality 5-lug setup.

Shocks
suspension
bushing
brakes
m3 bits

It adds up really quickly. You do have a vastly higher selection of quality wheels with a 5-lug setup.

[DesertBMW]

.....honestly I regret going 5 lug.......still throwing around the idea of going back to four lug.

Now that few vendors are making quality hub centric wheels for E30 4 lug pattern and they are reasonable in pricing less than $800 for brand new aluminum wheels then why even bother.

[IronFreak]

^^^

I guess I could have gone into more detail. Unless you run m3 struts and spindles your stuck with crappy brakes, you just get to run 5 lug instead of four.....honestly I regret going 5 lug.......still throwing around the idea of going back to four lug.

[bimmer630]

It could all be bolted in, but you need to use 96-up M3 front control arms, get rid of the TI arms. Im pretty sure that will do it, along with re-using your E30 upper spring perches in front.
Ti's had wimpy non vented front brakes though.. so I dunno where the advantage would be..
And using Non-M spindles leaves you with bad caster angles even when using the correct CA

[e30crazie]

no

read this: http://extradrei.com/?p=785

Thanks for the link. That is a useful resource. By the way I knew that you could not but there is a guy on ebay that is advertising a set of TI suspension as direct bolt on for an e30. So I thought to confirm.

Thanks again