What in the heck is this?

[nando]

those LCA's look kinda scary. definitely not for a street car..

yes, but not for us non m guys :evil:

speak for yourself :p

[Farbin Kaiber]

Looks like they would be perfect on an e30 with 24" long travel KIng Shocks and 44" Super Swampers.

[StereoInstaller1]

Fuck...have you people no imagination?

Think of this...the biggest issue with using E36 parts for a 5 lug/BBK swap is wheel centering (as in centered in the wheelwell) and caster.

With these CAs, you can reposition the wheel wherever you want it. These are simply brilliant...but heim joints instead of balljoints just might be a bit rough for street use, as would solid CABs.

This idea using stock style ball joints and CABs would be an amazing resource for making a 5 lug E30 with tons of adjustability...sweet!

Luke

[kellie]

Okay, 5-lug swaps. So that's one idea. But for $1700, you would expect them to be powdercoated at the very least, and maybe photographed to look a little more appealing. They look like a total hack-job in those photos.

What really gets me is that he's advertising them as a solution to "constantly replacing control arms." First off, how many of you have had to replace your control arms more than once? Secondly, how much are control arms? And how much are the ones he's selling? Is it really worth it?

Do the control arms come set to factory settings, or do I have one hell of an alignment ahead of me after installing them?

There are so many factors involved, I'm not sure I'd trust some no-name shop, and for what they're asking, I don't see how they can expect to sell many of them.

[StereoInstaller1]

Okay, 5-lug swaps. So that's one idea. But for $1700, you would expect them to be powdercoated at the very least, and maybe photographed to look a little more appealing. They look like a total hack-job in those photos.

No shit, I agree 100%. They look like shit, and for $1.7Kbux, should look like gold.

What really gets me is that he's advertising them as a solution to "constantly replacing control arms." First off, how many of you have had to replace your control arms more than once? Secondly, how much are control arms? And how much are the ones he's selling? Is it really worth it?

Again, the voice of reason. I think a serious modification of the stock setup to make it adjustable would be titties....

[AlarmedBread]

Nothing you couldn't have the shop fabricating your roll cage etc. make for you at the same time for less money.

[garrett]

Okay, 5-lug swaps. So that's one idea. But for $1700, you would expect them to be powdercoated at the very least, and maybe photographed to look a little more appealing. They look like a total hack-job in those photos.

What really gets me is that he's advertising them as a solution to "constantly replacing control arms." First off, how many of you have had to replace your control arms more than once? Secondly, how much are control arms? And how much are the ones he's selling? Is it really worth it?

Do the control arms come set to factory settings, or do I have one hell of an alignment ahead of me after installing them?

There are so many factors involved, I'm not sure I'd trust some no-name shop, and for what they're asking, I don't see how they can expect to sell many of them.

Sounds like an off-road rally application for E30 M3s. I'd imagine the stock control arms take a shitload of abuse, taking jumps and such. I don't think these are suitable even for a heavy-duty track car, just a serious rally car.

[redhatpat]

that "rusty" E30 is an M3. the sway bar links are on the strut.

The m3 struts might have been swapped into a regular e30. That car is obviously not stock.

That price is highway robbery, but the adjustability is interesting. Maybe those rear blocks with the rod end could be fabbed up to work with a stock control arm. Then you'd be able to move the wheel forward and back, and the cost would be reasonable..... hmmm..

[PiercedE30]

Shit, I can make that with some schedule 80 1.5" pipe and some heim joints. Probably be almost as strong since the pipe would be thick as hell (just off the top of my head not a real engineer).

[Ben Carufel]

Sorry, but I'm not putting anything on my car that isn't properly engineered. This link is how you design and execute a proper set of tubular control arms:

http://www.e30m3performance.com/installs/installs-3/control_arms/index.htm

Here is a quote from Dr. Stroes' webpage. He is a PhD in Engineering and has spent countless thousands of hours engineering upgrades for his E30 M3.

"The geometry of the arm is quite important, and it is easy to mess things up if you do not know what you are doing. In the worst instance you can get binding in the rod ends when the control arm is adjusted away from its "as-built" geometry. The location of the three joints in 3D-space is also important, as this determines all of the relevant parameters of the front suspension such as roll center, camber curve, bump-steer, anti-dive, track, wheel base, caster, Ackerman etc... A couple of millimeters off here or there and everything changes."

[garrett]

^Then again, how much would Dr. Stroes' arms cost if he marketed them to the public? I'm gonna hazard a guess and say alot more than the other ones.

Not arguing the engineering, as it's clearly superior with the Dr.'s control arms, but it seems to me as if the other ones are engineered less precisely and to just be tough for the stresses of rallying. However, take what I say with a grain of salt as I'm no expert.