5-lug Setup

[tonytony]

this is a good thread, subscribed

[Aptyp]

Thanks man. As far as cliff notes go, Clavin and I will try to clean OP up a little and make it an easier read. When I started my swap, I ran into too many cliff notes and questionable information. I've made a ton of mistakes, and I'd like to not abbreviate anything, just to protect myself from misinforming the rest of you.


I still have 318ti hubs for sale for direct fit for 84-85 models. Now that I'm finished, I no longer need them. $100 takes them off my hands.

[Philo]

Awesome. I can't wait for the write up.

Another thing you might add to the OP is cliffnotes on what you recommend getting and doing to make the swap completely work.

Thanks again for another awesome write-up.

[Aptyp]

my bad dude. My front is all finished, and I'm sorry if I missed your call yesterday while my phone was dead, by the time I recharged, it was too late.


MY FRONT IS OFFICIALLY DONE, update is coming with pics and process.

[clavinZERO]

Thanks Aptyp.


And it CLAvin, not CALvin. :P

[Aptyp]

thanks Calvin. It all boils down to this:

Z3 1.9L = 318ti

and your wheels are ze tits.







In other related news, my lazy procrastinating ass finished front swap with e36 steering rack. Took whole day, and I'll have pics ready tomorrow.

[clavinZERO]

Just to make sure everyone understands:

It is known that the swap with e36 M3 front struts, knuckles/spindles requires roughly et35 to et41 on wheels. I have this in front.

In my rear, if the labeling from my parts place is correct (which I will verify if possible later) I have complete Z3 1.9L arms/hubs/brakes. These also utilize the same offset used above.

For reference:
- I am sitting on H&R E30 sport springs all around, -2 degrees camber rear, -1 degrees camber front
- My wheels are et41, 17" x 7.5"
- Tires are 215/40/R17, no rubbing at all from squating, only lock to lock on inner frame rail, tested fully loaded too.
- original e30 axles and front strut mounts

Pic whoring to show fitment, hope these work for you guys as good reference!



----------

If I have this right, Aptyp's section here is about swapping complete Z3 I-6 (2.5/2.8L+) rear assemblies over:
Can I use z3 trailing arms?
Yes you can, and again, I must recommend against it.
1. Z3 trailing arm is spaced nearly 2 inches outward, requiring wheels with ET60 offset. No one makes them, unless you're looking at custom wheels, driving your cost way up. If you're building REALLY WIDE body e30, you'd be able to get away with using them.
2. You'll need z3 axles and differential flanges as well, even further driving up the price of your build.
3. e30 ABS sensor WILL NOT plug into z3 trailing arms, as e36 ABS/Speed sensors are shorter.

He may edit that original post to reflect this ;)

[THATDONFC]

how do you mount the brake calipers?

[Aptyp]

thanks, man


Calvin also has been bringing up some questions over z3 trailing arms. As far as realOEM is concerned, all A-trailing arms are too wide, others MAY BE right size, BUT I haven't had them on my car or in my hands. From what I've witnessed so far trailing arms from Z3's with I-6 motors, have wide trailing arms. I'll snap a pic. I still stand by using hubs and replacing bearings in stock trailing arms, instead of plugging on questionable-fit trailing arms and not replacing bearings in junk-yard parts.

Thanks Calvin, for raising that question, maybe someone out there had some experience with this, and would chime in.

[madformx5]

This is a great thread. I have bookmarked so I can reread it and refer back to it when I need to remember all of the details. I am going to start collecting the parts for this swap and to do this swap too. I already have two 7.5 DSII. I haven't made up my mind if I want to run a staggered setup yet. I am sure I will have questions as I get further into this.

[Aptyp]

:) you're reading too far into it, I may just ride on e36 bottle caps, hehe, and turn profit of DSII by selling them to some purist lunatic.

[atomic]

so I got a set of 4 DSII wheels from e36 m3. All in 17x7.5. Hope car will look good on them when I mount them.






:???: Very high chance I'll be selling them, as I think they'll add to the chaos of my car's looks, and I'd like something simpler. But who knows, right?

come on, high offset heavy wheels? Something isn't making sense.

PS: DS2's are incredibly heavy, why did you settle on those wheels?

Karma

[BrewCity11]

Well sir, back to the drawing boards. Thanks for the info, should've done more research before planning this far.

[Aptyp]

Please share...


I've decided that welding and machining wouldn't be a good idea. I was failing to see how welds could penetrate deep enough to make up for the surface area that's there before machining.

What's your idea? let me know so I could sleep at night.

[BrewCity11]

First off, thanks for putting stuff like this out there. Like you said, so many people have the info, but nobody has taken the time to dedicate a thread like this.

yeah, I was bored, and I am still kicking my ass on a few other possibilities. I was thinking of machining e30 and e36 hubs and weld them together. Kind of create a cheaper version of e30 m3 hub. That would make for the best set up, without spending a shit ton on e30 m3 trailing arms. I have both e30 and e36 hub at the moment, and all that e30 hub needs is e36 bolt-up plate... yeah, this is what I day dream of. I'm such a loser, lol.

Not sure if we're on the same page, but more or less, this has been my plan all along. There is nothing wrong with welding metal together and having it professionally machined. People do this stuff for a living, and i'm sure there is some stuff they make that needs to take on much more abuse than wheel hubs. Just my thoughts. I plan on taking on alot of criticism once my setup is done, but hey, that's fine with me.
(and no, i'm not talking about just welding up the 4x100 holes, and re-drilling to 5x120)