318 vs 325

[85Dirty30]

ok so heres the deal i picked up and 84 318 i for 300 lookin to put a few parts in her to get her workin right. my questions are would springs of an 1987IS work (front springs are broke)? and the struts do they differ from year to year and from model to model? thanks for reading and answering again im sorri i suck at typing so much lol

James

[JamesE30]

Fix your sig it's huge/

[rThor432]

Struts are different.

[RainierHooker]

The 318 is lighter than a 325, therefore the spring rates and struts are different. You could put the 325 springs on the 318 strut housings IIRC but the rates for the strut inserts would be all wacky and your car would be raised to monster truck status.

[85Dirty30]

ok thank you ill start lookin for some 318 parts instead of using the 325 parts i hame

[rThor432]

the rates for the strut inserts would be all wacky

The inserts also wouldn't fit.

[RainierHooker]

^ true, but if I recall correctly 325 springs would fit on the 318 perches with inserts, even though they would be wonky, that's what I meant...

[rThor432]

^Yep. The rates aren't terrible when running 6-cylinder springs on a 4-banger. Remember that one of the hot cheap upgrades is running stock M3 springs on a non-M car. I had H&R race springs on my 318is for a long time and they were great. That's a bit of a different story from stock though.. Like you said, it will ride high in the front with 6-cylinder springs on the front of a 318i.