Is urethane worth it?

[Bimmer_man]

I am going to be doing a extensive repair and swaps to my E30 and am curious. Are urethane mounts bushing and such worth the money for spirited driving. Keep in mine My E30 will undergo a S54 swap in a year or two I am prepping the car thats why im asking now.

[Vivek]

It really depends on what you want. If you want less flex and slight added performance, then yes it's worth it. For spirited driving you'll probably notice it, at least a bit. It's largely a matter of opinion, and MR 325 will completely disagree with me, while others will say that urethane is the obvious choice.

[Bimmer_man]

Okay so if i put urethane throughout the whole car i do want it stiffer not like a rock i still want some comfort. Will urethane destroy a comfortable drive? I understand a lot of that comes with the coils and struts i choose but this will influence what struts and springs i get.

[SkiFree]

My opinion on a good fun street car.


Rubber Components...
OEM E30 M3 rubber offset control arm bushings
OEM motor, trans, and diff mounts

Urethane Components..
Trailing Arm bushings
Subframe Mounts

[ak-]

100% agree with SkiFree
If you're going to drive this car day to day around the street, don't invest in the stuff that will require a better dental plan.

OEM rubber stuff wore out in what, 15ish years? That's good enough for me + the comfort.

[Deathtoll]

What SkiFree said.

[Bimmer_man]

alrighty thank you all you saved me more money lol. Much obliged



Now where to get the urethane bushings from?

[ak-]

you can't have your cake and eat it too!

But I got mine from here

[Bimmer_man]

that was supposed to be a statement oops lol i do like to do my own research i post what i cant figure out lol.

[Holland]

I disagree. Rtab's and subframe bushes will generate the most noise from poly.

Honestly, it's rubber or solid for me. And my car is 80% solid at this point.

While I don't have direct experience with poly rtabs, I do with poly subframe bushes. They generate nvh, which is no bother to me. Under hard cornering you can feel the subframe deflect as is the nature of poly, and that upsets the chassis. Solid subframe bushes increase nvh, but the benefits are tenfold.

[F34R]

http://www.condorspeedshop.com/

Everything from that guy^ let him know I sent you.

I think Treehouse racing control arm lollipops are amazing. I personally replaced everything with Urethane, pure love for me. Then again it is up to what you desire for ride noise/comfort.

[MR 325]

My opinion on a good fun street car.


Rubber Components...
OEM E30 M3 rubber offset control arm bushings
OEM motor, trans, and diff mounts

Urethane Components..
Trailing Arm bushings
Subframe Mounts

My feelings as well.

[IAmGary]

The OEM rubber bushings can handle quite a bit of abuse and handle wear well over time, especially if they are new. Urethane is more likely to fail (tear, rip) spectacularly when it fails.

The community is probably as split on OEM rubber / urethane as it is on oil.

[F34R]

^ The way I look at it is the intent for the cars use. I redoing my Brother's coiled vert in OE rubber with the Treehouse racing lollipops to fix caster. If the car will see an SCCA weekend every now and then with sprinted back road; I would do what Skifree mentioned.

If he was to do heavy SCCA like Wheelhop, myself and other members I would do sub, trailing, engine/tranny and treehouse racing control arm pops. Everything changes when you throw the car through tight turns with constant sprint to fast stops. The wear from hard braking on the engine and transmission mounts from the weight moving forward so sudden are much higher in tracking/SCCA.

[Danny]

I redid everything with OEM rubber, except treehouse cabs, I love the feel of it. My car is a nice day cruiser/hit the track one or twice/sometimes autocrosser. It rules.