best place to buy 95 m3 offset control arms?

[EVOIIIM3]

Why not just use the E30 M3 offset control arm bushing? It's stronger then the other E30 ones, and not expensive.

One word of warning, the ball joints on the E36 arms do not seam to be as strong as the E30 ones. Most of the guys I know put in the E30 M3 alm alloy arms.

[mpowerjon]

Wheel Centering

Interesting this came up today. I had ordered 5 control arms that came in yesterday: 1E30 M3, 1 E30 325i, 1 E36 325i, 1 E36 M3(95) and 1 E36 M3 (96+). I have been wanting to know if there is a difference and it is obvious from the pics above the 96+ arms are different. I have found the same thing. Notice they will move the wheel forward EVEN MORE in the wheel well. Probably why the 96+ M3's have a centered bushing, and not offset. Sooo..... this is a great piece of 5 Lug knowledge for thoes of you that build systems differently than our setup and will need additional forward wheel placement.... There is only 1 down side as I see it... you cannot use the aluminum control arms if your geometry requires you to use 96+ control arms(and they cost more too). I guess this is easily fixed with a more aggressive "Eyeball Arm" that emulates the 96+ geometry.
PS- Sorry I haven't got back to you yet Jason!

Jon
______________________________________________

Jon Siccardi
TreehouseRacing.com - Home of the Eyeball Arm
M50conversion.com
Noble M12 Installation Site
615.500.1331
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[E30-323ti]

Why not just use the E30 M3 offset control arm bushing? It's stronger then the other E30 ones, and not expensive.

One word of warning, the ball joints on the E36 arms do not seam to be as strong as the E30 ones. Most of the guys I know put in the E30 M3 alm alloy arms.

You use the +96 M3 Arms WITH the E30 M3 offset bushings.
This means you do not have to machine the CA mounts.

mpowerjon: I guess your solid CA mounts could be used if more caster was required.
Presuming they provide more caster than the offset bushes!?!?!

I took some pics last night with the wheel on, I'll post them up when I get home.

Derek357i: Have you tried to get full lock with those huge wheels/tyres?? I presume the tyre will hit the footwell or the chassis rail, it was real close with my test wheels and the shock fully compressed (E36 stockies W\ 195/65 R15's).

[E30-323ti]

Here are the pics I took last night:

This is the koni coilovers (I noticed afterward the wheel was slightly turned)


Here is the suspension at full droop


Here is the suspension at full compression
At full lock the tyre is clear of the footwell & chassis rail (195/65 R15 which is taller than the 235/40 R17's I propose to run).


Hope this clears up some confusion.

[lukasbmw]

Here are the pics I took last night:



Hope this clears up some confusion.

One last time, what are you running? 96+ arms and what type of bushings? Is the mount machined?

I ask because it looks like your wheel would still go forward a tiny bit more.

[E30-323ti]

That pic is with the suspension fully compressed.

Yes it could come forward more, but how it is now it doesn't rub.
When it is on the road I'll get an alignment done and see how much caster it is running before I change anything.

There is no point just trying to make the wheel sit perfectly in the centre of the arch if it makes the alignment go bad (too much caster)!!
I'll be running strut tops as well to fine tune it.

One last time

Lukas: Roughly how far in from the egde of the fender (at the top) does your rim sit??
I test fitted one of my BBS's (17x8" RX et38) and the rim was level with the fender!?!?!
Rears are about the same (maybe a little further under), Time to pull the guards I guess.
Also, what size tyres are you running?? I'm going to try a 235/40 on the front this weekend, I know 245/40's fit on the rear.

Last I heard you had 205/40 R17's!!

Information needs to flow both ways!!!

I'm running +96 M3 arms and Powerflex offset CA bushes, stock mounts!!!

[lukasbmw]

Sorry...

I am now running 215/40/17 on 17x7.5 E36 LTW replicas. They are et42. The rims are all tucked.

The tires do rub when the wheel is cocked all the way to one direction and the car is under stress.

I test fitted 17x8.5 et38 mvr rims in front with 215/40/17 tires. The rims did stick out, but with the skinny tires, they did not rub.

My rear fenders are rolled, the front are not.

[E30-323ti]

Thanks for that LUKAS.

Non of my fenders are rolled, yet.
I may need to get rather vigorous with the fronts, or get a panel friend of mine to do some work on them, but if I go to that extend I might as well run some 255/40's on the rear and get them pulled aswell!?!?!?!

Decisions.

[lukasbmw]

I say go all out...eventually I will.

So far my best price has been a touch over $300 for the pair through BMA. Can anyone beat that?

What about used arms?

[E30-323ti]

A pair for $300 US is pretty good, Mine were $629NZ (prolly $350 US) brand new.

Tyre test fitting on the front this weekend, should be able to decide then!!!
What makes the issue worse is I need to run a 5mm spacer on the front to clear the brembo's.

[Bryson]

how much are the aluminum e30 M3 control arms? Is it worth machining the CAB with an offset bushing instead of using the 96+ arms? How much less do they weigh... control arms aren't that heavy. Sorry, I'm not at the shop and can't look up part numbers/prices

[Jay Stock E30]

Here is the suspension at full compression
At full lock the tyre is clear of the footwell & chassis rail (195/65 R15 which is taller than the 235/40 R17's I propose to run).


Hope this clears up some confusion.

interesting I'm running jon's cab, now with the 96+ m3 control arm, my wheel looks like it sits about where yours does, but will still rub in the back when turning....

[E30-323ti]

Is that one of the E34 M5 wheels, with what looks like a 235/45 on it.

If it is, I'm not surprised it is rubbing!! what is the offset?? 23'ish?? opposed to 41 for a E36.

Try a E36 M3 wheel with a 235/40 and it should be alot better, may still rub a little.

[Jordan]

I like this topic. Good discussion guys, keep it up :up:

[Jay Stock E30]

I don't know why you feel that my offset is so bad, look just abour right to me. I like the pulled fender look (obviously still needs to be done)+ I love those wheels so it seems all good to me. I don't think an e36 offset would help my rubbing problem very much at all. There is still room to push the control arm in closer to the frame rail, so its possible to center the wheel. The tires are 215 45 17