5-Lug without Coilovers?

[BenjaminButtton]

Alrighty, my father and I have a winter project ahead of us that we're planning on tearing into pretty soon.

Plans for the car this winter: 5-lug/complete chassis refresh/LS-juan and t56

'86 eta sedan - I have acquired the "traditional" 318ti rear/e36M front setup - planning on running the stock brakes for each as of now.

What are my non-coilover options for a 5-lug swap? I'm not against coilovers by any means, but it's going to be my dad's summer daily/weekend fun car, and he wants a smooth ride, without being too low. I think they'd be overkill in this situation, it most likely won't see a track, but definitely some backroad thrashing - so I don't want to go too soft. All the bushings are going to be replaced with Condor poly.

I'm thinking H&R Sports and Billie Sports/Koni's.. possible? Do I need to use e36M front springs and 318ti rears, or does e30 junk fit?

Very new to 5-lug stuff, not at all with modding e30's.

[MR 325]

A friend of mine 5 lugged his car using Z3M stuff. He is running E36 M3 Bilstein Sport up front and E30 Bilstein Sport in the rear with IE3 springs all around. I love the way that car drives!

As long as you use E36 M3 (not non-M) front struts you can use E30 springs. You can either go with the E36 M3 Bilstein Sport fronts or retrofit the Koni inserts in to stock E36 M3 front housings like many E36 M3 owners do. I recommend ordering new E30 front strut mounts to go with the install. The new replacement units have a larger opening which makes it a lot easier to tighten the front upper strut nut.

[TSI]

Front: E30 and e36 springs have the same diameter. Bilstein sport shocks for e30 and e36m3 have the same valve rate. Use hr springs, and e36m3 bilstein sports
Rear: e36ti subframe is the same as e30. Use e30 bilstein sports.

Keep in mind, your brake balance will be off with e36ti rears. You should get an upgrade.

[BenjaminButtton]

A friend of mine 5 lugged his car using Z3M stuff. He is running E36 M3 Bilstein Sport up front and E30 Bilstein Sport in the rear with IE3 springs all around. I love the way that car drives!

As long as you use E36 M3 (not non-M) front struts you can use E30 springs. You can either go with the E36 M3 Bilstein Sport fronts or retrofit the Koni inserts in to stock E36 M3 front housings like many E36 M3 owners do. I recommend ordering new E30 front strut mounts to go with the install. The new replacement units have a larger opening which makes it a lot easier to tighten the front upper strut nut.

Perfect, just what I was hoping to find out. Thanks Matt! Good to know on the new replacement strut mounts too - no more thin wall socket necessary?

Front: E30 and e36 springs have the same diameter. Bilstein sport shocks for e30 and e36m3 have the same valve rate. Use hr springs, and e36m3 bilstein sports
Rear: e36ti subframe is the same as e30. Use e30 bilstein sports.

Keep in mind, your brake balance will be off with e36ti rears. You should get an upgrade.

Thank you sir. Interesting about the brake balance, I hadn't heard that before. A good friend of mine has e36m from and ti rears on his track car. I'll check into it though.

[BenjaminButtton]

Information found.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=334630

[MR 325]

Perfect, just what I was hoping to find out. Thanks Matt! Good to know on the new replacement strut mounts too - no more thin wall socket necessary?

Exactly.

[BenjaminButtton]

Neat! I'll have to get some for my car too, that's always made me mad when swapping springs/struts.

[_Keith_]

Front: E30 and e36 springs have the same diameter. Bilstein sport shocks for e30 and e36m3 have the same valve rate. Use hr springs, and e36m3 bilstein sports
Rear: e36ti subframe is the same as e30. Use e30 bilstein sports.

Keep in mind, your brake balance will be off with e36ti rears. You should get an upgrade.

There is so much info on this it's hard to tell what's what. Seems there is threads weekly on the subject. People say they make there own spacer but don't show pictures. I purchased a 318ti to part out and I am taking the 5 lug.

So what other parts do I need to grab?