R2V is driving me crazy... I need parts Suspension, Btakes Etc. Etc.

[DarkWing6]

H&R Sports are not going to satisfy your desire for a suspension that leans towards the stiff side. I'd go for Ireland Stage 3 springs or H&R Race, which are basically the same thing. Coupled with Bilstein Sports or Koni SA's. I also agree that adding solid bushings all around is going to help a lot, but its going to decrease the daily driver feeling of the car.

As for the brakes, I think stock brakes are plenty for street driving, if you upgrade them right. SS brake lines, rebuilt calipers, racing fluid, some fresh rotors of your choice (I just got for the OEM Brembo blank rotors), and most importantly, a nice set of pads.

What TJ said.

I have an 89 325is. Right now I have Brembo rotors, ATE Super Blue Fluid, and Ceramic pads. The car stops awesome. I will be running it at the track like that (well, I will probably add SS brake lines). As it sits it stops very well (probably better than you will ever need for the street).

For suspension I have Koni SAs with IE Stage III springs. I love the setup. I drioe the car daily for about 2 years like that. Only recenely did I buy a 2nd car, but that was really just for bad weather. The suspension setup is solid. The adjustability of the Konis makes it really nice for comfort and performace adjustments. The only upgrade I would ever think of making is to GC Coilovers, but that will probably never happen on this car.

Since I have pretty much the setup you are asking about feel free to ask me any more specific questions you have.

[Fanzotti]

george is kinda right though, you do have a LONG way with words, cliff notes might work a lil better. just my .02

I hear ya! But when you sanded your ass off for months to re-do your car you want to tell people about it. After all whats a car forum if you don't tell the story of your car.

Thanks for the suggestions! It helps so much. I read alot of stuff but it gets overwhelming. I 've been thinking th IE stage three springs are the way to go. Someone was selling those with some bilsteins about two days ago but I missed it...damn

[Digitalwave]

H&R Sports are not going to satisfy your desire for a suspension that leans towards the stiff side. I'd go for Ireland Stage 3 springs or H&R Race, which are basically the same thing. Coupled with Bilstein Sports or Koni SA's. I also agree that adding solid bushings all around is going to help a lot, but its going to decrease the daily driver feeling of the car.

As for the brakes, I think stock brakes are plenty for street driving, if you upgrade them right. SS brake lines, rebuilt calipers, racing fluid, some fresh rotors of your choice (I just got for the OEM Brembo blank rotors), and most importantly, a nice set of pads.

[eighteight325is]

I second what smonkbmw wrote, though I think you'd be fine with H&R Sports for street use as well. The H&R/Bilstein setup won't be a harsh ride and will improve handling ten fold as well as the look of the car. I'd also consider replacing your control arms and bushings while you are under there. Consider buying (at least) solid replacement bushings, (better) M3 offset bushings or Tree House Racing bushings. The two latter will buy you a bit more castor, but either way do it all while you are under there getting dirty.

One thing I am wishing I replaced at the same time and am now going to have to take care of separately is sway bar end-links.

One last thing...we can all wait for a full blown DIY painting write-up (which would be an interesting read I'm sure) but let's see some pics of the final product...or ban :)

[smonkbmw]

personal preference: H&R Race springs, Bilstein Sport shocks.
on your old fav BimmerForums there is a Group Buy for Brembo Rotors (solid,grooved,drilled) and also for brake pads. id run grooved or solid with some cross braided lines along with new fluid.

george is kinda right though, you do have a LONG way with words, cliff notes might work a lil better. just my .02

[Fanzotti]

that's cool, maybe if you read your owners manual your car wouldn't have caught on fire...dumbass.

[george graves]

[Fanzotti]

I live near Mulholland and Laurel but I'll be moving soon. As far as suspension goes I dont mind going a little overboard, I would rather have it a little stiff than a little soft, I just dont want to make the thing a bitch to daily drive. As far as brakes go I don't need formula one performance but I would like to get those puppies to grip as well as possible without spending a ton of cash on parts that are too extreme for my use. someday the car may get some casual track use but mostly i'll be cruising through the canyons. The problem is that now I'm somewhat addicted to buying the right stuff. I dont need stuff that is full blown racing but I don't want to get wimpy shit either. I'm considering a 5 lug swap but only for the reason that it would improve my brakes and possibly because there's some stock 5 lug Bmw wheels that I like. What are the other reasons to do a 5 lug? I just want to research where I'm gonna want to end up so I don't buy a bunch of stuff that I'll replace later. For example I probably need new rotors, so I figure I'll get some Brembo drilled and slotted rotors to replace the stock ones. The thing is that will be a waste if a couple months from now I decide to get the 5 lug for whatever reason? Just want to research what I'm getting into so I can try to make the right decision. One this is all done I plan on dropping a ferrari v-12 into it, that will be the mother of all swaps...just kidding but maybe an s-52 someday?

[mikeltang]

hey my friend has an 89 325is with h&r cup kit and thats a pretty good suspension but its kinda low and stiff. you could go with bilstein sport shocks and H&R sport springs..thats the set-up i have for my 318is. its lower than stock, not too stiff, and not bad for canyons...

brake-wise theres this place on the north side of sherman way (in the SFV) between corbin and winnetka called "Freeds Wholesale" or something like that. u can get a set of PAGID or AXIS pads from them those work well i hear. i have pagids and they work pretty well for me. im running some cheapy rotors though.

hope this helps. where around LA are u from?

[Fanzotti]

Hi! ...I know its not R2V its R3V. I've been poking around for awhile now and yes I have an e30 problem. I realize this should be in the suspension or brake forums, I put it here because I’m looking for an overall solution to building both at the same time.

Here's the question?:
I gave my car a DIY body + paint job and it turned out good so it's time for suspension and brakes...yeah! I've been searching around the suspension and brake forums and at this point, due to so many choices, I'm lost. I want the good stuff. The car will be used much more on the street than the track but I don't want suspension that will just lower my car and give me what feels like the old factory ride. I live near Mulholland drive which is super twisty and I love to drive it.... I want my car to grip well without turning it into a ultra stiff bucking bronco. I believe I'm looking for a set-up that will be stiffer than most street applications but not all the way to hardcore urethane race car. I also want better brakes. Will good pads, brake fluid, drilled rotors, and some SS lines do the trick or do I need to do a 5 lug swap or a big brake kit? I Was told that I should build the suspension around the wheel and tires? The thing is I need new suspension and brakes now, I may purchase different wheels and tires later but for now I can only afford suspension and brakes. I've searched the forums but I'm at a loss??? Please help with any recomendations on different set-ups and manufacturers.

If you feel like reading....here's the story of why, to me, my car is desireable as a 330 P4.(who knows what a 330 p4 is without using google?):

In 1990 my brother became the second owner of a 89 Schwarz 325is when he purchased what is now my car from Perrillo BMW of Chicago. At that time it was a desired sports car. He sold it to me in February of 97 three days before I moved to Los Angeles, Even though they had been out of production for 6 years it still wasn’t considered a old beater. After a 7 1/2 week fear and loathing esque road trip (my buddy that went with me who had never flown before, took off in his first flight, he did not land in that airplane....) that car got me to Cali, once there it helped get me around as I was scrambling to start a life out West, it never ever let me down. About 3 years ago it needed a bunch of mechanical work, not to mention the multiple whiskey dents it needed to have repaired and then a new paint job. The price just to get it running decently would far exceed what the car was worth not too mention the $3000.00 cost of a decent paint job. I should have sold the car, after all it was old and no longer the respected yuppie chick magnet that it once was, those days were over, At this point it was the kind of car that girls looked at and ended up cancelling the date. It had become The $1500.00 used car lot special, but after all it did for me I just didn't have the heart...so I decided to fix her up. Luckily my roomate was into Mopars and knew about this mysterious thing called "forums" he told me "there are definately Bmw forums and you'll be able to find all the info you need to fix your car." This lead me to Bimmerforums and from what I learned there I fixed/replaced my timing belt, clutch, exhaust, water pump, front seals, valve adjust, fluids etc. Looking for parts I stumbled into suspension kits by tokio on Ebay and decided that as parts wore out I would replace them with performance parts instead. I wouldn't blow cash on stuff I didn't need, just replace the broken stuff...that thinking didn't last, I'm addicted, I decided to hot rod my e30. Since then I've realized that E-bay sells shit and that I need better quality stuff.

Once my car was mechanically sound I decided that before I dumped a bunch of loot into performance parts I would paint it…...myself….. if it came out decent I would then buy performance parts. Paints jobs are expensive, this was a car worth a thousand or so and a decent paint job plus the body work would be at least three grand, I figured if I did a couple of days worth of prep work I'd save some dough....woops! I spent months learning how to/re-doing body work =’s sanding,sanding,sanding (if any of you guys saw a primered yellow e30 rolling around LA that was me. I drove that sucker to work without locks, bumpers, trim etc. while doing the bodywork for about 6 months). It became a mission for me, I decided that I wouldn’t compromise or quit no matter what. I was going to finish this living hell and do my best job possible.If I could finish this I could finish anything. Somedays I’d sit there in the sun sanding while my buddy’s were out having fun….I though I was going to crack, I fantasized about taking a sledgehammer to it and then jumping it over a cliff. The only way I could get through the hundreds? Of hours it took me was to look at my car as a classic. When I was younger I went to vintage car races, and what I began to realize was that this car that was once a status symbol was now becoming, in my eyes, a beatiful classic. I looked at it the same way as I used to look at old 911’s and vintage 60’s Ferraris. I fell in love with that car as it tested my limits as I slowly fixed any imperfections from rust to dents to tiny scratches.. Finally one day I finished block sanding through the last of the guide coat that would leave the high build primer silky smooth.

When I finally finished sanding my car I was rewarded for my efforts ten-fold. . One day at work, Right before having some guy who really didn't give a shit at a half ass body shop spray my car, I started talking to a co-worker about the t-shirt he was wearing and found out that it was for his custom chopper shop complete with a proffesional spray booth. This guy and his son and employees turned out to be a great bunch and they offered to help me get my car done. I went down there and met his son who is an artist. His paint jobs are among the best I've seen. His pinstriping is out of this world. I'll post pics of his work when I do a write up about painting my car. I'm a huge fan of biker build off so for me to spend two days with these chopper builders painting the e30..well... it was the ultimate! By the way thesehardcore rock a billy chopper cats thought the ol' yuppie cruiser was pretty cool. When it was all painted up these guys were blown away by how good I did for my first time. After all this this car is irreplaceable to me. I plan to never get rid of it, this car and I have had way too many expieriences together.

I'll do a write up later w/pics about painting my car (my car is in LA I'm in chicago for the holidays.) One thing I'll tell anyone who is thinking of doing body work/painting their car is UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO NOT TRY TO SAVE MONEY BY BUYING ANY SUPPLIES AT AN AUTO PARTS STORE. That stuff is crap and will only cost you more money when you have to re-do it later. FIND AN AUTO BODY STORE AND BUY THE GOOD STUFF, I cant tell you how much time and frustration you'll save by spending 20 bucks more for good product, trust me.