Mulletman's suspension planning...

[mulletman]

Alright folks, I'm hoping to get some input as to what I'm trying to plan. Let me know what you think of what I've got planned out, any positives/negatives, or anything you'd change. I've done a fair bit of searching and reading... But I'm just looking for a few knowledgeable opinions before I start ordering stuff.

My goal is to essentially completely rebuild the suspension on my 325is. I want it to be low enough to look decent, but simplicity and performance are my main goals. I'll sacrifice a little aesthetics in a heartbeat for proper performance. Height adjustability is not needed, nor is it desired.

The chances this car will ever see an actual race track are almost zero. I have a motorcycle for that. However, some autocross events would be fun. I don't have to daily drive this thing either, but I'd like it to be comfortable enough for a drive through the mountains without feeling beat to death when I get there. I have a fairly high tolerance for harshness, though. Usability is important... I'd rather not be hitting bump-stops all the time.

Plan thus far:

-Full bushing replacement. Likely parts from Condor Speed Shop. Offset subframe bushings, TAB's, diff mount, M3 CAB's. Did I miss any?
-Control arms (if necessary)
-Bilstein sports (cut bump stops to retain some shock travel)
-H&R Race springs
-Rear shock mounts. Which ones? I know GC makes some that are taller to preserve shock travel. Worth it?
-Camber plates? Are these necessary? I know the stack height is less than stock, thus yielding a little more shock travel. A bit of alignment adjustment would be nice, but not entirely necessary. How is the front shock travel with the setup I've described?
-A set of sways, with reinforcements welded where necessary. The UUC kit and Bimmerworld kit both look nice. I'm not planning on mounting the front sway on the strut, but in the factory location.


So that's the general idea thus far. Any thoughts? Overkill? My goal is to do it right the first time... Thanks for the input.

-Ben

[frankie591]

sounds like a plan dude. Like you said, do it once and do it right. That is literally as good as you can get for non-adjustable suspension.

[jlevie]

My thoughts...

-Control arms (if necessary)

Tie rods

-Rear shock mounts. Which ones? I know GC makes some that are taller to preserve shock travel. Worth it?

Bimmerworld, or Rouge.

-Camber plates? Are these necessary? I know the stack height is less than stock, thus yielding a little more shock travel. A bit of alignment adjustment would be nice, but not entirely necessary. How is the front shock travel with the setup I've described?

Camber plates aren't strictly necessary, but are very good to have. Especially is performance is one of the goals. I'd say to use the GC parts. In a like manner, while the subframe is out to replace the subframe bushings and weld in the IE camber/toe adjusters.

-A set of sways, with reinforcements welded where necessary. The UUC kit and Bimmerworld kit both look nice. I'm not planning on mounting the front sway on the strut, but in the factory location.

In my opinion the Bimmerworld 22/19mm sways work better than the IE or ST sways (I've had all three on a Spec E30).

The configuration you are contemplating will be very good on track. But pretty harsh on all but the smoothest roads. Shock travel isn't going to be a problem. But along with the suspension, change the motor, transmission, and differential mounts.

[SkiFree]

A couple notes:

Some adjustable camber plates are designed to not change the stack height. For your purposes I would consider a set of fixed camber plates and leave it at that.

In my opinion I disagree with Jim on the swaybars based on the cars I've driven and feedback from qualified drivers. HOWEVER, I sell the IE bars and therefor am suspect to sounding like a salesman. Frankly you should be fine for your end purposes either way.

One last thing I can't stress enough is to befriend a local shop who is familiar with romping on these cars. In the Seattle area, try TC Motorsports, or Midnight Motorsport.

[jlevie]

In my opinion I disagree with Jim on the swaybars based on the cars I've driven and feedback from qualified drivers. HOWEVER, I sell the IE bars and therefor am suspect to sounding like a salesman. Frankly you should be fine for your end purposes either way.

It may not matter which sways in this case. I was "turned on" to the Bimmerworld sways by a pro coach that has a good bit of experience coaching Spec E30 racers. He drove the car, came back, and suggested that I ditch the IE bars in favor of the Bimmerworld bars. I hadn't told him what the car had, nor had he looked to see. But he could tell from the handling that a) my four year old Bilsteins were seriously worn and that b) the car had IE sways. James Clay explained the differences in the bars, which have a bigger effect on the rear suspension.

The shocks got replaced and I changed to the BW sways. The handling differences were subtle, but obvious. Where before the car tended to wallow some during lateral load transitions, the replacement shock eliminated that. The differences in the sways results in the car being better planted and more throttle can be used earlier in a corner.

[SkiFree]

Other than myself, a competent source on the IE bars is Anthony Magagnoli, he also coaches (http://www.drivefasternow.com/), took this year's Nat. Champ title, and I believe James will also recognize the name. I will say a lot of the people running that rear bar do not have the rear endlinks setup correctly (not helped by the fact that for a long time there were no installation instructions).

Learned some time ago not to get into a technical argument on a message board, it ends up being non-productive as compared to a phone call (or a drive!). If you wanted to talk about it some more it'd be nice to talk with you at some point.

[jlevie]

Sure, you want to take this to PM?

[mulletman]

Thanks for the input guys... I'm in agreement that it likely won't matter much which sways in this case, based on the intended purpose.