5-lug Setup

[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.

[Aptyp]

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

[lifeiskaos]

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

[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.

[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.

[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!)

[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

[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.

[JUMPNYC]

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.

Thanks Mossman! I will definitely make sure the control arm bushings do not spin. You are saying those bilsteins struts and Bav Auto springs wont work in my swap? My buddy has a e36 m3 and he would take the struts off me I am pretty sure. I know the e36 control arms attached to the calipers are junk, but I want to make sure the right control arms are these part #'s
Once again, I am 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
Could someone confirm this? Is there anything else I am missing?

[RobE30]

just to clarify the pics I posted are NOT of my car. It is Daniel's car. I was just using it to show that lower offset wheels can be run w/ e36 susp. When my 5-lug swap is done it WILL look very similar to Daniels but my car is Delphin;)

[Aptyp]

31-12-2-228-461
31-12-2-228-462

These are right part numbers, and yes, you want to use e36 m3 front strut housings if you plan on reusing your springs.

[Aptyp]

rewrapped my rear ABS sensors today and stuck them back in. Finally my brake feel like brakes.



Garage has been completely cleaned out, time to do front swap.

[asubimmer]

Art I have some homework for you. I heard wind of the aluminum e46 control arms being used w/ the TRE CAB's to push the front wheels out a little further, without using spacers. The advantage to that would obv be not having your wheels swing as far when turning like if you used spacers or lower offset.

[Aptyp]

haven't seen it yet, but I would wonder if ball joints were designed to same lengths.


I'll line up a used one when I do my front.


PS: Charlie, I have a second set of front bolts, so we won't have to go looking for any.

[bimmer_adam69]

wow, ok an epiphiny. haha i cant run e36 m3 front struts with 20mm offset wheel cause thier still a 40+ offset setup!

damn! so e30 m3 everything.....kinda sucks e30 m3 front brakes are only
20mm larger diameter and 2 mm thicker...and am i right when i say no other stock bmw brakes fit the e30 m3 front struts??

hmmm :(

must build 5 lug for staggered style 5's:hitler: