clavinZERO's 5-lug swap with *PICS* and details galore!

[bimmer630]

Nice writeup, man. Im trying to gather up the parts to do this on my '89. A guy I know has e36 (non-m) front struts with spindles hubs and brakes which I will be getting for nearly nothing. I know the rear is just 6cyl z3 hubs, bearings, brakes (you dont need new trailing arms)
But are the M3 front arms essential? i already have the offset bushings on my car, and i cross referenced the e36 control arm against the e30 arm, and they seem to have the same part numbers. of course the m3 arm should have different geometry, but will that work with a non-m strut/spindle setup?
i'll have to go back to your original post and re-read...did you use M struts?

BTW your car looks killer! I havent come across any others dealing with this abs issue you are having, maybe you can just get a set of Z3 rear axles, do they have the same pulse gear as an e36 front?

[clavinZERO]

E36 M3 struts yes.

E36 M3 ('97 or late '96+ I think) control arms also... why? Visual placement of wheel in fender arch AND of course actual caster setting is affected. I am well within original caster spec using this setup.

I don't know about my stupid ABS yet. I don't know what I want to try yet.

[daniel]

I don't know about my stupid ABS yet. I don't know what I want to try yet.

forgive me for not looking through this whole thread, but what is the ABS problem you are having? my ABS works, but i get pedal feedback every time i come to a stop, at around 1 or 2 mph, and it is extremely annoying. i want to just disconnect ABS completely, but if there is something i can do to fix it i would like to know.

are you having the same problem as i am, or is it something else?

[tonytony]

I dont have 5lug but my brakes did that too so i discounted the abs plug under the hood, then one day i plugged it back in and it's worked ever since, well until i did my swap.

[bimmer630]

I just finished my swap and the abs works perfectly. I re-used my E30 trailing arms and installed Z3 hubs and brakes, so the rear sensors were not messed with. the front is E36 spindles so I cut the wires and just spliced them into my E30 wheelspeed sensor wires. It all works fine. one side of the E36 stuff had 2 wires and the other side had 3 for some reason. the third wire was yellow, the other 2 wires are brown and i think black (i forget right now) i just left the yellow unplugged.

I am having another problem with my brakes. It feels like I have air in the system, When I first apply the brakes the pedal is mushy and then if i pump it a few times its normal. I used a power bleeder to bleed the system, and ive done this about 3 times and its still the same. I work at BMW and sometimes the newer cars will get airbound when doing brake hydraulic work, and you have to go in with the Gt1 and activate the ABS pump while bleeding the brakes to get all the air out. I tried this with my car today but the
E30's are so old that there is no diagnosis possible with the ABS module.
Im running the stock master cyl. and stock 325 front brakes, 318ti rear calipers, and stainless braided hoses all around.
Do I need to upgrade to a bigger master cyl?
Also ClavinZero, how centered in the wheel openings are your front wheels? I have offset stock E30 CABs, M-coupe lower arms and M-coupe struts, which are the same as 96-up M3 stuff, and my tire is just a bit too far back, although the alignment specs look ok

[daniel]

I dont have 5lug but my brakes did that too so i discounted the abs plug under the hood, then one day i plugged it back in and it's worked ever since, well until i did my swap.

where is the abs plug, if you don't mind me asking?

[bimmer630]

Update on my brakes.. they are working great now. I was using 1/2 worn pads cause i thought i would soon upgrade to some 330 rotors and calipers a friend has for sale, but yesterday i got so sick of my mushy pedal i went and got some new ceramic pads and put them in. the sliders on the calipers seemed a little stuck in the rubber boots, even though i greased all that during the first install, so i freed everything up and put new pads on there, and she stops on a dime now.

im thinking either it was the slider pins hanging up or maybe something weird with the used calipers where in a certian position in their travel the pistons get sticky

[monty23psk]

Hey bimmer630, you said you used the z3 hub on the e30 TA. Was there special modification you used? Also which Z3 model did you use? I am working on getting my part list for the 5-lug swap and want to know my options. Calvin used the 97 z3 1.9 items.

thanks.

[bimmer630]

Look at APtyps' thread about the 5 lug rear setup. Its really simple to do, basically a no brainer.. but if you have an older E30, (i think 86 or older), its gonna have the smaller rear wheel bearings, the same ones as used in the 1.9 Arms.
so the smaller wheel bearing arms are gonna use parts from a 1.9 318ti or z3 (i think) and the larger wheel bearing cars will need 6 cyl. Z3 stuff.
thats the only thing you need to know really.
so no, there werent any modifications i did to mine. this route has advantages because you dont need to mess with the wheel speed sensors, you keep the larger wheel bearing size, and its alot less work (dont have to remove trailing arms)

[monty23psk]

^ thanks. From doing a little research, I guess I can use the my 91 stock TA, swap out the hub with z3 1.9, add z3 rotor and caliper bracket and reuse my e30 rear caliper as it is the same caliper. Sound about right?

[bimmer630]

ummm. no. almost correct except you need 6 cyl z3 hubs. you will need new bearings too. i am 99% sure that a '91 TA will have the larger bearing size. the 1.9 hubs are too small for those bearings.

I have read that any 3 series rear caliper will work but when i used 318ti calipers/brackets on the rear of mine, the e30 ones looked like they might not fit the Ti brackets. its hard to get brackets alone anyway, so you might as well just spend the money on good used calipers WITH brackets. comes out to the same price as new brackets

[monty23psk]

^ thanks. So to recap, if I use my 91 TA, z3 i6 bearing, z3 i6 hub, z3 i6 rotor, z3 i6 caliper bracket, and either my e30 rear caliper or z3 i6 rear caliper I should be fine. Due to $$$ constraints, will work on the rear first. Just want to start getting all the parts. I understand your point as it might be easier to get the calipers with the brackets. The z3 1.9 and my e30 caliper is the same part. Would the z3 i6 rear caliper be an upgrade? Will research this tomorrow, but maybe you know.

how did your conversion go? What parts did you end up using. was reading your posts on another topic where the the parts were listed by Aptyp.

[monty23psk]

did a little research, the z3 rear caliper is the same for the 1.9 and the i6 model. The e30 is only off by 1 digit but from researching other posts, looks like it is the same, only caliper bracket is different. So I guess just need to find the z3 rear caliper and brackets. At least now I should have a list of items I need for the rear.

[clavinZERO]

Small update:

Due to the recent thread frenzy involving a lot of good research on the ABS issues with this kind of mixed E30/E36/Z3/E36-318ti setup, I will be changing the ABS sensor wiring and updating with results as soon as I can get into the shop for a bit.

Also, shameless thread bump.

For more ABS info, please see: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=150668

Cliff notes? Going in this direction regarding splicing of FRONT E30 harness to E36-M3 ABS sensors:

E36 black -> E30 black
E36 brown -> E30 brown
E36 yellow -> disconnected

No faults, working ABS.

[atmosferas]

Man, let me tell you I just L O V E your car, I just finished my own swap, M52 engine, suspension, steering, brakes, everything !! And I just love it !

My car is also a 2 door, lachssilber, so they are very similar.. well, at least I would like them to be once I´m finished !

I have just completed the hardware part, and will soon start the cosmetics, full respray and new leather interior with M3 back seat and headrests. The exhaust also needs to be tinkered with, because right now it sounds terrible!

Anyway, I really loved your car man, it looks great !

I still have some problems centering my front wheels, would you mind taking a look at my post, to see if you could shed some light ?

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=158169

thanks !!!

Jose