You've probably not seen an E30 suspension failure like this before

[ccarey3]

Stock M20 running rubber mounts with reinforcement cups driven very hard in New England winters:

[redneckvtek]

Found another new failure today. Rear bolts on front subframe are ripping out of the frame rails. Weld-nut on the drivers side is totally detached.

Bolts were tight but came out with no corrosion issues. Sway bar is Stock and the only thing I can think of that would apply a downward pressure to the rear of the front subframe?

[bangn]

running coilovers by chance? that's a lot of transferred force!

[ForcedFirebird]

Dang! We ran an e30 in Chumpcar for 8 years with the same sub frame the whole time. We did have a bolt pull through the engine mount tab, but that was when the car went tail-first into a concrete barrier at Sebring ~110mph.

[varg]

Neat, you're finding the fatigue limits of the chassis. It's useful to see where it's happening as these cars age. Running it hard and using super stiff bushings was bound to do that eventually. Gotta either reduce the forces or increase the material thickness.

[ForcedFirebird]

Neat, you're finding the fatigue limits of the chassis. It's useful to see where it's happening as these cars age. Running it hard and using super stiff bushings was bound to do that eventually. Gotta either reduce the forces or increase the material thickness.

That's just it. These poor cars are and my age ratio aren't doing so well these days. Lol.

Years of abuse, weathering etc. There's an ole rumor that BMW used to like to use old used up m10 blocks because they "seasoned".

My machining mentor mentioned something along the same lines. He told me modern manufacturers are in such a rush to get everything done, the blocks hadn't even really cooled by the time they started machining them. Lol I don't know if he was pulling my leg, but he was certainly on his game, and drove a 4 second funny car until he was 70. He would make fun of my m20s, saying that his starter made 400 horsepower

[It's Soda Not Pop]

That's just it. These poor cars are and my age ratio aren't doing so well these days. Lol.

Years of abuse, weathering etc. There's an ole rumor that BMW used to like to use old used up m10 blocks because they "seasoned".

My machining mentor mentioned something along the same lines. He told me modern manufacturers are in such a rush to get everything done, the blocks hadn't even really cooled by the time they started machining them. Lol I don't know if he was pulling my leg, but he was certainly on his game, and drove a 4 second funny car until he was 70. He would make fun of my m20s, saying that his starter made 400 horsepower

There is a documentary somewhere about the M10 block. They would leave the blocks outside to weather as well.

[ForcedFirebird]

There is a documentary somewhere about the M10 block. They would leave the blocks outside to weather as well.

I've been around long enough, I feel that's hearsay.

However, I do believe that an engine block that went through many heat cycles, would settle.

There's also a documentary, that I've watched many times. It's all about the 1989 BMW 325 IS, that went 1 million miles on a dyno. It took 4 years, I believe they took the car from 50 mph up to 70 back down to 50 up to 70 and all weather conditions. Then they took the engine apart, and everything was in .0001" of new.

[ForcedFirebird]

https://youtu.be/gHmMlU8Q-V8

[ForcedFirebird]

Dang. Y'all are aging me. I bought a 1986 326es in 2016 that had 480,000+ on it. In the glove box was a small 1/4 page spiral note book with every service dating back until new. Every wheel bearing, every oil change, spark plug mileage noted. That was one of the few e30's I met with actual authentic high mileage, with a working odometer.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

I've been around long enough, I feel that's hearsay.

However, I do believe that an engine block that went through many heat cycles, would settle.

There's also a documentary, that I've watched many times. It's all about the 1989 BMW 325 IS, that went 1 million miles on a dyno. It took 4 years, I believe they took the car from 50 mph up to 70 back down to 50 up to 70 and all weather conditions. Then they took the engine apart, and everything was in .0001" of new.

Saw that one too

[hasa]

I always wonder how they change oil in that kind of long term experiments. Also Saab did some crazy experiment driving car in top speed something like month on a oval circuit.

[ForcedFirebird]

They stop the Dyno, turn the key off, change the oil, and start again.

It's displayed in the video, along with mention of changing the catalyst and fuel injectors.

[redneckvtek]

running coilovers by chance? that's a lot of transferred force!

No Coilovers. Turner J-stock suspension so ~700/1100 springs

I fixed it so she rides again, took a couple laps of VIR this past weekend. We roll until we find the next failure. 14hours of Road Atlanta scheduled for February

[ForcedFirebird]

No Coilovers. Turner J-stock suspension so ~700/1100 springs

I fixed it so she rides again, took a couple laps of VIR this past weekend. We roll until we find the next failure. 14hours of Road Atlanta scheduled for February

I LOVE RA 14hr! Unfortunately this is going to be the second year in the last 8 that I missed. We had snow the last two years I attended.

We also ran the j-stock, stock away bars so we stayed neutral in points.