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Help needed!! E30 m3 lug conversion! *not your typical*

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    Help needed!! E30 m3 lug conversion! *not your typical*

    Hey guys, long time reader, 1st time poster!!

    As the title suggests, i need help with a 5 lug conversion!! I have been reading through 5 lug conversions for weeks now and can't seem to find the right thing that suits my situation.

    The car is a 1989 318i coupe. I have decided to do it the proper way by replacing everything with e30 m3 suspension etc. However instead of replacing ALL the suspension & brake components with e30 m3, i only want to swap what is necessary for the 5 lug conversion to work perfectly with camber, caster etc. as I will also be upgrading some of those components anyway and don't want to double up.

    - Planning to go bigger brakes (probably 6 & 4 pot wilwoods with 310ish discs)

    - suspension would also need to be upgraded further, i like the look of the ground control coilovers OR the H&R sport/Bilstein HD combo (which ever way will work better/easier with the lug swap - can't find an ideal coilover replacing the m3 strut housing with spindle etc attached)

    - wheels are the last piece of the puzzle and will work around the above firat... main reason for this swap is to handle extra power. Currently have my built LSX sitting in car and working everything around that!
    i will be doing probably 70% street / 30% track.

    So the question stands, for this to be done properly, what e30 m3 components will be a must to work with upgrading the above?

    I like the list made at http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/5lug.html but alot of it won't be necessary for me. Strut assemblies/mounts? Sway bars? Control arms? Trailing arms? Where do i draw the line?? The rears seem easy.

    Any help/ideas would be greatly appriciated.

    I hope i got everything, go easy on me haha Thanks in advance peeps!!

    #2
    Rears you just need the hub as the bearing is the same for non M and M cars. Fronts you need to source a M3 strut with the arm bolted in at the bottom and send it off to GC and they make the set up for you. Then you just press on a new hub/bearing. All in all your looking at a good 6k without brakes, im assuming your looking at the Ireland Engineering set up which will set you back another 2500...the right M3 way is a steep mountain to climb. I did it the semi right way, had a custom spindle made for the front that you press on and then I welded it up and safety threaded a bolt into it. You can press this onto the non M spindle and then press your hub onto the front. Makes the track width wider by about 5mm on each side but its tons cheaper and I have KW coils instead of GC which Ive heard mixed reviews about. If you want more info pm me and we can chat through text or fb messenger as its easier to transfer pics back and forth. I just got done doing this project not to long ago so all the info is fresh in my mind.

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      #3
      Originally posted by grandtapestry View Post
      Rears you just need the hub as the bearing is the same for non M and M cars. Fronts you need to source a M3 strut with the arm bolted in at the bottom and send it off to GC and they make the set up for you. Then you just press on a new hub/bearing. All in all your looking at a good 6k without brakes, im assuming your looking at the Ireland Engineering set up which will set you back another 2500...the right M3 way is a steep mountain to climb. I did it the semi right way, had a custom spindle made for the front that you press on and then I welded it up and safety threaded a bolt into it. You can press this onto the non M spindle and then press your hub onto the front. Makes the track width wider by about 5mm on each side but its tons cheaper and I have KW coils instead of GC which Ive heard mixed reviews about. If you want more info pm me and we can chat through text or fb messenger as its easier to transfer pics back and forth. I just got done doing this project not to long ago so all the info is fresh in my mind.
      Alot of good points!! I did think about just switching the spindle!! So was it a complete custom spindle or like an e36 m spindle??

      What did you do with the rear?? just e30 m3 hub pressed straight in?

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        #4
        The front strut housings are very expensive and hard to come by. You’ll also need the tie rod lever which bolts to the the bottom of the strut housing/steering knuckle. If you intend to convert them to coil overs anyway I’d recommend looking at KW V3’s, KW recently started selling a complete coil over with new tie rod levers attached (available through Bimmerworld) which negates having to source OEM E30 M3 strut housings/tie rod levers and cutting them.

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