318ti 5 lug Swap Direct fitment for e30?

[e30crazie]

I have heard that your can do a 5 lug swap for e30 using the rear trailing arms and accessories from a 318ti. I was wondering if the fronts are applicable as well. I have come across some 318ti's in the junk yards and have not bought the rears because of the cost of the e36 M3 front assemblies.

My question is if I can use the fronts as well as the rears. There is a nice 318ti at one my local yards and can pull everything this coming weekend. Has anyone done this swap using only stock 318ti parts and has it fit properly.

Thanks in advance.

[IronFreak]

no

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

[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

[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

[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.

[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]

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.

[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.

[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]

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

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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....