5-lug Setup

[Aptyp]

Thanks, Rob.

Here the thing. If I raise my car 1/2 an inch, I'll be able to run ET15 wheels. That car does sit pretty high compared to most lowering springs on the market. Those 12mm make a world of difference when you extrend your offset by 20mm when installing the hub. It compounds 12mm from wheel alone, become 32mm from wheel and hub.

Here's what you did right:
1. Used smaller diameter tire, throwing off speedometer.
2. Used undersized width tire for the rim, creating good stretch, that allows tire to smoothly get under fender. Sacrificing handling and increasing chances of curb rash.
3. Raised your car.

Now any of that would be sacrilegious to me, so I'm searching for options. My only saving grace is that I don't care for wheels with lips, so e36 wheels satisfy my taste.

[RobE30]

Forgot this part.... he's running e36 m3/318ti. Aptyp I like your approach to the whole thing. I also like to piece things together :D

[RobE30]

so hey, i was thinking the same thing as you were, but then i ended up buying a set of style 5's and just putting them on my car. and whadya know, they fit just fine. remember the difference between ET23 and ET35 is 12 millimeters. Not a whole lot.

If you are low to the ground, you will need to roll your fenders at least a bit.

you can see here that obviously i dont rub in the front. i was rubbing a little in the rear but my fenders aren't rolled flat, and i ended up raising my car about 1/2 an inch in the rear and now its fine. i am also running 225/40-16 tires, whose diameter is slightly smaller than the correct diameter.




Thanks Daniel for the pics (and inspiration!)

[Mossman]

sell all the front stuff to an e36'er. The bilsteins are for a regular e36 so the spring diameter is too big. The control arms are for a regular e36 so they don't solve the wheel centering problem.

The CAB's are fine but the one without the screw looks like it spun a bit or was pressed in not perfectly. Make sure they can't spin.

[Aptyp]

i am currently driving on e36 bottle caps. I'll snap a pic, they look amazingly good on e30 in 15". Maybe because they are actually properly spaced. Looked as good as stock bottle caps do when people run proper spacers.

[lifeiskaos]

i saw it yesterday and i think it looks damn good.

[Aptyp]

that doesn't look bad at all, quite honestly...

[decay]

just to illustrate what people have been talking about, this is e30m3 wheels on e36/z3 5-lug setup:



note that tires are not sized correctly for an e30; robert doesn't have my wheel/tire setup together yet and he's in the middle of an engine swap on someone else's car and moving into a new shop @ the same time; so these are spares from a friend's car as "placeholders". final setup involves Z3-fitment wheels from tirerack.

so yeah, run M3 wheels if you want them flush, but you're gonna look silly going any wider than that.

[JUMPNYC]

So these are the parts I have collected so far,











I got all these parts for 700 bucks. I need control arms.

im pretty sure these are the pelican parts #'s for the proper control arms

31-12-2-228-461-M9

31-12-2-228-462-M9

Am I missing anything? Im trying to get all the stuff I need in the next few weeks so its a smooth transition when I do the swap.
I know I have to clean everything up and junk the control arms that are still attached, I was also thinking I would change out the rotors at least on the fronts for now to drilled and slotted ones. The brake pads look relatively new. Im going to pull the calipers and paint them either red or silver.

[Aptyp]

hey Dan...

you'll have to make a spacer for e30 ABS sensor. E30 one is longer than e36 one. I am not sure what the diference is, but if you stick in stock sensor, it will grind on your axles ABS ring.

Difference in bearing is: ID x OD x W in mm
e30/e36/z3: 42X75X37
318ti/1.9z3: 39X72X37
if you DD your car, it won't make a huge difference. I just hate downgrading.

[JUMPNYC]

Can I use 318TI/z3 1.9L trailing arms?
Yes you can, but I don't see it as a smart move. 318ti uses smaller bearing... If you're upgrading to 5 lugs for better brakes and wheel options, why would you downgrade your bearing? That doesn't make much sense to me. Another part to remember, is that e30 ABS sensor WILL NOT plug into 318ti trailing arms, as e36 ABS/Speed sensors are shorter.



What is the actual bearing size difference? How negligible is it to performance?
How do you get around the ABS sensor problem?

[atomic]

well i got a line an a e30 m3 that got hit by a train!.... i know sad story.

i dont know how bad it is but im hoping the train was going very slow....


hey with e30 m3 front struts, anyone know if i can run other bmw brakes??

AFAIK BBK's are the only other option available if you run e30 m3 strut housings...

I just happen to have an extra set of front calipers/carriers that I am holding on to for now...

[bimmer_adam69]

well i got a line an a e30 m3 that got hit by a train!.... i know sad story.

i dont know how bad it is but im hoping the train was going very slow....


hey with e30 m3 front struts, anyone know if i can run other bmw brakes??

[Aptyp]

you don't need to cut front struts to put them in...


God I need to get my front done so I don't feel bad answering all questions.

[bimmer_adam69]

hey guys couple more q's...

e36 m3 front strut housings, do they need to be shortened????

and why the offset cabs, is there a caster difference if you dont run offset cabs?

oh and the front hub assemblies. is the tooth count on e36 front hubs the same as e30 rear??? will i have to press the e30 hub abs rings on????