Secniv

Cheers Jared and good to know re your experience. i did have a horrible thought I installed the trailing arm bushes around the wrong way but I double checked and the collars of the bushes are all outboard of the arms. Wheels all torqued up.tyres idk but feel ok and the car does handle nicely in the twisty stuff. Like you say there’s no way around it other if it’s age the rear adjustable kits are the way to go or take a gamble on other 2nd hand arms being straight? I found online that factory spec between the front towers centre to centre is 1002.2mm +/-2mm. I’ll check this and should tell me re distortion yes? Strangely left front ride height is 5mm higher than right front (I checked air pressures the same). Would a strut brace help straitened up things or should I just go to adjustable camber plates?

Negative rear toe: I rebuilt the rear end on the E30 with new OEM trailing arm bushes, poly sub-frame and diff bushes. I also added a whiteline 16mm sway bar. It already sits on Bilstein shocks and springs lowered 30mm, although I’ve used additional 5mm spring pads to help clear the 16” wheels. So I took it in for wheel alignment and I have negative toe 3.5mm LH and 5mm RH. Excessive front LH camber: To complicate things there was excessive camber up front and regularly bottoming out. Thicker spring pads, new strut mounts and control arm bushes has sorted out the RH but LH is still a problem. I had a good look but nothing appears to be bent and shut lines and panels look straight.. Is it possible that the shaft in the shock is running untrue and needs rebuilding? Or any other ideas on what be going on? Comments and advice appreciated.

E30 4x100 14” Bottle caps with 195/65R16 Supercats with bolts Good condition wheels near new tyres $240 or will consider swaps for rear parcel shelf speakers

Update i purchased a 16mm whiteline rear arb and installed it with a pair of E30 OEM links with the whiteline polyurethane hanger bushes. Took it for a spin on some of our great Waikato roads this afternoon. Along with the other improvements I made ie. new OEM trailing arms bushes and AKG polyurethane subframe mount bushes what was good handling just got great with nice flat handling through the corner and with stiffer links up front turn in feels better as well. Still a track day would be the best place to really test it.

Welcome.. also from the tron a recently acquired an E30

Welcome also from the tron

This discussion has been very helpful thanks guys. With a slightly larger diameter than stock rear sway bar turning attention to the front my thinking is to keep the stock 20mm ARB and use some stiffer new links ie. from a Mondeo wagon 2001-07, a E30 Zone upgrade recommendation "These units are rose-jointed, giving a firmer, stronger hold over your anti-roll bar". they are Lemforder manufactured so I don't feel so bad about putting them on lol. Thoughts?

According to the whiteline website the link is 100mm in length the same length as the E30 link. Did you just bolt up or something else eg. washer (steel or nylon) in order for the bush to bar connection to function in the manner it is designed to?

That’s a very interesting point re the rounded whiteline link concentrating the load narrowly as opposed to the OEM part enclosing the bush. Point 2: Would positioning the link on the other side of the bar so it was vertical equal improved functioning of the bar?

That looks like a great setup Jacko and the trailing arm tab appears to be in good shape too. I expect is 16mm? The length looks similar to the Z3. But AUD$330 for just the rear these days

Unfortunately it is more like AUD$600+ now checking through BNT and the Whiteline website http://www.whiteline.com.au/do_segue4.php?make=BMW&model=3+SERIES&model_final=3+SERIES+E30&vehicle=5%2F1983-3%2F1991

Thanks for the reply Andrew. I assume it works for the Z3 (I've never driven a Z3 to be fair)? And would the shorter Z3 links offset the longer arms? Plus the sway bar links for the E30 are a lot longer and thinner than the shorter thicker ones for the Z3.

Help/advice please. Has anyone attempted to fit a bmw oe non-e30 ie Ti or Z3 rear sway bar to an E30? I’m in the process of replacing subframe and trailing arm bushes and discovered there is no sway bar (strangely given a PO went to the expense/trouble of upgrading to bilstein springs and shocks). Anyhow I was after a bar a stiffer than 12mm and more M3esk 14.5mm (going to aftermarket 16mm I expect will mean reinforcing the trailing arm tabs and stiffening up the front to compensate as well as a lot more cost). Issue 1 - So I’ve got on trial a z3 1.9 14mm bar. Brackets fit no problems but the kink in the back of the bar doesn’t line up with the diff hanger and bar fouls the pressed crease in the hanger. Have tried fitting both ways but fouling is only worse. I could ‘modify’ the hanger (hammer/grinder) but I expect this may compromise the stiffness/integrity of the hanger. Issue 2 - note also that the arms of the z3 bar are longer than an e30 but the links are shorter which compensates? Until I have the car back on it’s wheels I won’t really know if this will be a problem. Thanks in advance

I’ve upgraded and these are are barely used if anyone is interested. Could be interested in swaps(+/- cash) for other E30s bits eg. premium rear speakers, rear sway bar or temp me, Were on the car when I brought it so don’t know what make they are but chap I brought it off was in the trade and looked after the car very well so expect they are good quality. https://www.trademe.co.nz/trade-me-motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/brakes/auction-1590434799.htm

After a rear sway bar and brackets for da30. Prefer 14.5 but will consider 12 or aftermarket 16.

I have one of these in Alpina blue (check my earlier post) and enjoy it immensely for its understated looks and phenomenal performance. Yes it is more GT than “race car” like M5. Having test driven a number of E60 M5s I certainly prefer the Alpina spec’d sport auto over the smg unit. FYI Alpina hand rebuild the motor using up spec internals as well as there own designed supercharger. From what I have read and carry out is that regular oil and filter changes using specified oil will help prevent premature supercharger bearing failure a noted issue. As quoted from evo.co.uk “The Alpina comes with a heavily revised version of the Valvetronic 4.4-litre V8 you might might once have found in a cooking 545i. But once Alpina has had its wicked way with it in its fabulous engine shop, the V8 ends up completely re-built, sporting a very special, super-efficient supercharger strapped to one side and an enormous intercooler sandwiched between water and air conditioning radiators in the nose. The addition of the blower results in the aforementioned wedge of power combined with a massive 516lb ft of torque. That's an extraordinary 133lb ft more than the M5 can muster and it's developed at a user-friendly 4250rpm rather than the giddy 6100rpm of the M5's short-stroke V10. And it's that chunky torque figure that makes this new Alpina B5 redefine our super-saloon expectations.”

Hey Brent I’m after lower dashboard (below steering column and above pedals) if you have it?

They're just covers although they look like you can convert to locks

Had trouble getting the cap seals to sit properly but here's a shot with them on.. 16's are the best imo

Have pm’d you cheers

Hey Will thought I’d give you an update on fitting the Alpina reps and tyres. As you say and without going to to a race tyre, options were very limited with matching rears in a 45 series to a 205/50x16 front so have gone with a 215/50 rear. Width is supposedly minimum for an 8” and there’s a 10 mm diff rd to the front but reckon they look great and handle like on rails. Had to roll rear guards.

Thanks William interesting you suggest that I won.t have clearance issues with a 654mm height tyre when the tyre guy with his online programme thought it would be with 205/55 and 632mm. other than fitting up different tyres any suggestions how I can physically check this? I’ve been thinking.. I’ve got some spring compressors could I compress the springs to the bump-stop then measure off the ground to top of wheelwell or some other way?

Advice please. I have got myself some 16” Alpina replicas staggered 7”&8” for my 1988 320i. . Suspension setup is Bilstein shocks and springs all round so sits a little lower than standard. Trolling the internet it appeared that 205x55 and 225x50 rubber was the way to go for a B3 setup, but the ‘Michelin Man’ told me the 55’s may be to tall so go 50 on front and rear (as 225x45 options appear to be limited for the rear). Of course this means the rears will be 20mm taller. Does this matter? I was looking at Michelin PS3 ( for fast road occasional track day) as I have PS4 on the B5 and like them. Any other options members can suggest/recommend?

I thought about following it but assumed it was going to yours and it had been a long day..

Spotted on Southern Motorway heading south today. Got off at Papakura.. wonder where it is headed..