FYI--IE Rear Sway Mount Mod

[TrentW]

In the process of marking the holes for my IE rear sway bar mounts, I realized that neither mount would fit up flush against the existing bracket when bolted on because of a slight lip on the underside of the trunk floor. You can see the gap in the pic, but it was actually more pronounced than it looks. When I called IE, the lacky that answered the phone had no idea what I was referring to and went to get a tech, then came back and said he just had a walk-in, so I bid him a nice day and went with my original plan of just grinding off some of the mount. I searched but didn't find anyone who's had the same problem, so thought I'd just add this in hopes of helping the next guy.

[E30Nova]

Thanks for the heads up. I've got their 22mm bar sitting in the garage waiting to go on, I just have to reinforce the trailing arms first. Gonna add this to my to-do list.

Matt

[Charley]

I had to do the same in my old 318is. 5 minutes later + a file gets the job
done...

But yeah it would have never fitted right without removing material from the
bracket.

Charley

[TrentW]

I found that the easiest way to drill the holes inside the trunk was to thread the first long bolt into the bottom hole in the existing bracket under the car, then take the other long bolt and stick it up into the first hole you drilled from underneath. Go in the trunk and lay the metal reinforcing plate in place and mark the second bolt hole and trace around the plate--see photo. Go back under the car and remove the IE mount. Don't forget!! Inside the trunk again drill the second bolt hole.

I didn't remove the trunk "tar" as some others do-- it's there as ballast to balance the car--but let's not get into that. I used a razor knife to cut on the line marking the outside of the plate and then chiseled out the tar. The stuff is pretty thick--see photo. Now you've got a nice bed for your plate to rest in, don't have to get longer bolts and it's all recessed below the surface so the trunk liner won't get all fucked up by the bolt head and nut protruding up. I'm gonna spray some undercoating into the opening in the trunk before I install everything, cut some kind of foam filler to sit in the recess areas and also use some RTV sealer around the bolt holes between the mount and underside of the car to ensure a watertight seal also.

[TrentW]

Ordered these to replace the bolts since I'm now installing a Lukebox and it doesn't quite clear the nuts and bolts protruding up since no more trunk tar.

https://www.belmetric.com/sf8x30ss-flat-head-ss-p-3336.html?zenid=0lbh873cd30lkqhnu9148ok080&cPath=563_581_583_613

[The White Guy]

And where pray tell did you get that idea?;)
Stan

[TrentW]

And where pray tell did you get that idea?;)
Stan

Yes, full disclosure-credit goes to you Stan. Thanks!

[The White Guy]

Glad I could help.
The IE billet rear sway mounts and GAS "Lukebox" are both worth the little extra effort.
That is what these forums are all about.
Stan