Even before I bought my E30, I fretted over the 4 lug pattern and tiny brakes. Although the stock brakes never let me down (even after M50 power), I had a few close calls during emergency stops.
Most people who want to upgrade their E30’s brakes use E30 M3 parts. This is a great option since the swap is straightforward and the E30 M3 brakes can be replaced with E36 M3 brakes with some work. However you can also use M roadster parts as I have proved.
There is a lot of misinformation about this swap so I will try to clarify that in this article.
First let me list my complete setup:
FRONT
E36 M3 steering rack (Zionsville Auto sport kit)
E36 Tie Rods
M roadster front hubs with brakes
E30 front Stainless steel lines
Bilstien E36 M3 front sport shocks
H&R E36 front springs
Stock E30 front strut mounts
E30 M3 offset bushings pressed into modified control arm bushing brackets
REAR:
M roadster trailing arms with hubs and brakes
E30 rear Bilstien shocks
E36 H&R springs or E30 H&R springs (both work, the E30 springs are lower)
M roadster half shafts
E28 diff output flanges
At this time I have two minor problems I still need to sort out.
1. The front wheel is not centered in the wheel well. It needs to come forward another ¾ of and inch. It this never gets resolved it won’t be a BIG deal since the difference is not too noticeable. However, I may have trouble if I want to fit 18’s.
2. The rear brakes lines on the M roadster trailing arm are routed differently then the E30 rear trailing arm lines. I was forced to use E30 trailing arm lines zip tied to the M roadster trailing arms. Then I had to use an extra set of front rubber lines to connect the trailing arm lines to the caliper. I think the best fix will be custom Stainless steel lines that run from the caliper to the sub frame lines.
I should say I did not actually perform the conversion. I planned to tackle this all with my friends, but unfortunately a bad rear wheel bearing forced me to advance the date for this project, so I dumped off the car and parts at a friends house (an awesome BMW tech) and had him do it for me. However, I was involved in the process at all times and can probably answer any question about the swap.
In the front, everything is a direct bolt on. The only custom part is machined control arm bushings. These along with M3 offset bushings allow you to push the wheel forward in the wheel well. Without the offset bushing and custom bracket the wheel will sit towards the rear of the front fender and look out of place. Rubbing may also be an issue. As I said above, I still need to find a way to move the end of the control arms closer to the outside of the car as this will center the wheel in the wheel well.
In the rear everything also bolts right on. The M roadster trailing arms bolt right on to the E30 rear subframe. Many people ask about using an M roadster rear subframe. I have been told by a friend the M roadster rear subframe is slightly to narrow and will not fit. Since the M roadster trailing arms are the same general shape as the e30 rear subframe, E30 rear shocks and springs will work. M roadster half shafts (also called axels) are used. These haflshafts will not connect to the stock E30 diff output flanges, but they will connect to E28 output flanges. The solution…press E28 output flanges into the E30 differential.
THE RESULTS
Wow! The car looks and feels amazing! The car rides like a new E46 (only with much stiffer suspension), handles like never before, and stops on a dime. I mean this thing stops! You know how good the brakes are on the 540i. Now imagine those suckers on a 2900 pound E30. The car still tends to pull slightly to the right, but this may be solved with an alignment. What surprised me most was how this car handles. The suspension is only slightly stiffer, but the car feels much more stable in corners. I can’t understand why this would be, but I swear to you there is a significant difference.
I’m currently running 17x7.5 E36 LTW replicas with a 41mm offset. They just clear the brakes. The rims do not extend as far out as I would wish so when I replace them, I will move to a deeper offset (35 maybe?).
Apparently the E30 and E36 bilstein sport shocks have the same valving so it does not matter I am running E36 in front and E30 in rear. The E36 H&R springs are slightly stiffer (200 front 380 rear) compared to the e30 (184 front, 350 rear). I’m currently running E36 all the way around, but the E36 rear springs have raised the rear end slightly, so I will probably use E30 springs in the rear. This should bring the car back to an even lowered stance. While the E36 rear springs raised the car in the rear, the E36 front springs and shocks actually lower in the front. I’ll probably eventually go with Ground Control Springs all the way around to get the perfect ride height.
While many like the M3 LTW replicas, I am not crazy about them and will replace them with a 5 star style rims as soon as I feel like spending some money. I’m currently considering:
17”:
ACS III replicas
ACS III (real deal)
MVR Magmums (My favorite...currently trying to buy a two to see if they fit)
Voxx/Mas MGR (again)
Iforged or HRE (depending on what my friend can get me at discount)
18” (If I can get my front wheel centered and convince myself I won’t bend them)
ACS type III
M parallel replica for E36
Iforged or HRE
I want to avoid spacers at all cost as I despise spacers. Your feedback on rim choice and fit is appreciated. I’d also like to hear your suggestions on my two problems.
I'd like to thank Lino and Derek357i for helping answer my questions. I'd also like to thank Chris for posting pictures of the E36 suspension conversion on E30.de as it helped me and my friend actually see what we needed to avoid.
Pictures will be in the next post
Most people who want to upgrade their E30’s brakes use E30 M3 parts. This is a great option since the swap is straightforward and the E30 M3 brakes can be replaced with E36 M3 brakes with some work. However you can also use M roadster parts as I have proved.
There is a lot of misinformation about this swap so I will try to clarify that in this article.
First let me list my complete setup:
FRONT
E36 M3 steering rack (Zionsville Auto sport kit)
E36 Tie Rods
M roadster front hubs with brakes
E30 front Stainless steel lines
Bilstien E36 M3 front sport shocks
H&R E36 front springs
Stock E30 front strut mounts
E30 M3 offset bushings pressed into modified control arm bushing brackets
REAR:
M roadster trailing arms with hubs and brakes
E30 rear Bilstien shocks
E36 H&R springs or E30 H&R springs (both work, the E30 springs are lower)
M roadster half shafts
E28 diff output flanges
At this time I have two minor problems I still need to sort out.
1. The front wheel is not centered in the wheel well. It needs to come forward another ¾ of and inch. It this never gets resolved it won’t be a BIG deal since the difference is not too noticeable. However, I may have trouble if I want to fit 18’s.
2. The rear brakes lines on the M roadster trailing arm are routed differently then the E30 rear trailing arm lines. I was forced to use E30 trailing arm lines zip tied to the M roadster trailing arms. Then I had to use an extra set of front rubber lines to connect the trailing arm lines to the caliper. I think the best fix will be custom Stainless steel lines that run from the caliper to the sub frame lines.
I should say I did not actually perform the conversion. I planned to tackle this all with my friends, but unfortunately a bad rear wheel bearing forced me to advance the date for this project, so I dumped off the car and parts at a friends house (an awesome BMW tech) and had him do it for me. However, I was involved in the process at all times and can probably answer any question about the swap.
In the front, everything is a direct bolt on. The only custom part is machined control arm bushings. These along with M3 offset bushings allow you to push the wheel forward in the wheel well. Without the offset bushing and custom bracket the wheel will sit towards the rear of the front fender and look out of place. Rubbing may also be an issue. As I said above, I still need to find a way to move the end of the control arms closer to the outside of the car as this will center the wheel in the wheel well.
In the rear everything also bolts right on. The M roadster trailing arms bolt right on to the E30 rear subframe. Many people ask about using an M roadster rear subframe. I have been told by a friend the M roadster rear subframe is slightly to narrow and will not fit. Since the M roadster trailing arms are the same general shape as the e30 rear subframe, E30 rear shocks and springs will work. M roadster half shafts (also called axels) are used. These haflshafts will not connect to the stock E30 diff output flanges, but they will connect to E28 output flanges. The solution…press E28 output flanges into the E30 differential.
THE RESULTS
Wow! The car looks and feels amazing! The car rides like a new E46 (only with much stiffer suspension), handles like never before, and stops on a dime. I mean this thing stops! You know how good the brakes are on the 540i. Now imagine those suckers on a 2900 pound E30. The car still tends to pull slightly to the right, but this may be solved with an alignment. What surprised me most was how this car handles. The suspension is only slightly stiffer, but the car feels much more stable in corners. I can’t understand why this would be, but I swear to you there is a significant difference.
I’m currently running 17x7.5 E36 LTW replicas with a 41mm offset. They just clear the brakes. The rims do not extend as far out as I would wish so when I replace them, I will move to a deeper offset (35 maybe?).
Apparently the E30 and E36 bilstein sport shocks have the same valving so it does not matter I am running E36 in front and E30 in rear. The E36 H&R springs are slightly stiffer (200 front 380 rear) compared to the e30 (184 front, 350 rear). I’m currently running E36 all the way around, but the E36 rear springs have raised the rear end slightly, so I will probably use E30 springs in the rear. This should bring the car back to an even lowered stance. While the E36 rear springs raised the car in the rear, the E36 front springs and shocks actually lower in the front. I’ll probably eventually go with Ground Control Springs all the way around to get the perfect ride height.
While many like the M3 LTW replicas, I am not crazy about them and will replace them with a 5 star style rims as soon as I feel like spending some money. I’m currently considering:
17”:
ACS III replicas
ACS III (real deal)
MVR Magmums (My favorite...currently trying to buy a two to see if they fit)
Voxx/Mas MGR (again)
Iforged or HRE (depending on what my friend can get me at discount)
18” (If I can get my front wheel centered and convince myself I won’t bend them)
ACS type III
M parallel replica for E36
Iforged or HRE
I want to avoid spacers at all cost as I despise spacers. Your feedback on rim choice and fit is appreciated. I’d also like to hear your suggestions on my two problems.
I'd like to thank Lino and Derek357i for helping answer my questions. I'd also like to thank Chris for posting pictures of the E36 suspension conversion on E30.de as it helped me and my friend actually see what we needed to avoid.
Pictures will be in the next post
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