Sway Bars

[petone 0]

Hi all, what was the deal with sway bars on E30's? Mines got one in the front but not in the back. Is that normal or weird? Maybe someone can explain if it was 4 cyls that only had them in the front or something like that.

The second thing, if my car is unusual, becuase its only got one sway bar, would it be worth fitting one (I know could be a mission)? Could it help correct my ridiculus camber?

[Gus 5]

yeah the 4 cyls didnt come with one on the back..makes them farking scary on the motorway waving around everywhere..i dont think it would make a camber diff though

[petone 0]

Yeah its not the most stable car on the motorway. How much work would be involoved in fitting one? I may have to swap over my subframe anyway to fix the camber so I suppose this would be a good time to do it if I did?

[Gus 5]

how low is your car? try removing weight from the back....that helped my camber a lot....a trailing arm attaches to the trailing arms...i imagine it wouldnt be too difficult to install....but im not sure what a non sway bar car would be like

[petone 0]

Pretty low- 30mm springs in the back, and on 60 series tyres, plus theres 2 12"s in the boot, they make a big difference to ride height. I need to get round to fixing this camber. I think I'll go to 20mm lower springs in the back but from what people been telling it seems like the only way to fix it is replace the subframe/trailing arms. Sounds like something is bent, so i figure if i have to replace all of that then it would be a good time to put sway bar in. Goddam it, fixing that camber is going to be mission.

[Gus 5]

try taking the 2 12"S out..they will make a big diff....im gonna get a wheel alignment and see what shits like....and then decide on when to put in shocks and my subframe urethane bushes....its a bitch of a job

[Guest Andrew]

I have a 40mm drop and only -1.5 deg camber (i.e the same as stock).

A swaybar is bloody easy to add in.

[petone 0]

I have -3 degrees, looks like way more than that though, if I take the 12"s out the height goes up about 15mm but makes no difference to camber. Ian (hartage) (i think) had a look at the go karts and thought the subframe was bent. I just found a rear swaybay on trademe as well. $200, brand new whiteline one should i get it?

[Hartage 0]

Might have a spare rear sway bar. not sure will have a look. And they are easy to fit.

[Guest Spargo]

For E30's don't go past an M3 front and 325i vert rear (19.5mm F / 17.5mm R) which is a good budget combo, but the M3 uses differing mounting points, which is why its thinner than a 325i F unit, buit it has more leverage. The M3 front is also adjustable.

If your going after market, Suspension Techniques (22 / 19) are the Daddy, with Eibach good too. Ireland engineering the the thickest you can get (25 / 22) but aren't as good as suspension Techniques from what i have read.

The 4cyl E30 kit for Eibach is 20/16, and the 6cyl kit it also 20/16.

[petone 0]

I know that the sway bars mount to the trailing arms, do these need beefing up or are they identical to the 6 cyl ones? Where do the bars attach to the subframe? What other pieces will i need, eg links, bushes etc?

Another option (dunno if it will work)... Find a crashed E30 6 cyl and rip the subframe out of that. It should have all the sway bar mounts right? What about things like diffs and CVs-whats different, compatable, the same?

Sorry if I'm going on, besides, seems like the sites gone a bit off track at the moment anyway

[Guest Andrew]

I have -3 degrees, looks like way more than that though, if I take the 12"s out the height goes up about 15mm but makes no difference to camber. Ian (hartage) (i think) had a look at the go karts and thought the subframe was bent. I just found a rear swaybay on trademe as well. $200, brand new whiteline one should i get it?

Yeah - bent subframe/trailing arm isn't out of the question. Do you have drums or discs? I have a set of trailing arms but with drum brakes.

Just grab a sway bar from another e30 - don't bother with aftermarket.

[Guest Andrew]

since i have a bunch of e30s outside -

here is a trailing arm from 320 with drums .. missing its sway bar mount - but they just bolt on

[Guest Andrew]

and here is a 318i .. with discs.. as you can see the swaybar mount is bolted on the trailing arm with no sway bar bolted in.

[petone 0]

discs, and i'd rather keep em. When I first lowered the car both sides had mean camber on them, so I assuming its the subframe (I don't think both trailing arms would be bent in the exact same way). Then my mate put it into the curb, so the passenger side has more toe on it compared to the drivers side. So I think I got a bent subframe frame and a bent trailing arm. Great Huh? I don't really care what i get, I brought this up cos i will probably have to change the subframe, and if i do i might as well put sway bar in. Have to find a subframe first though, would it matter what the subframe came out of?

[Guest Andrew]

and here is 325i with sway bar in.. you can't really see it.. but can see the mount and it is exactly the same.

hope that answers you question.

[Guest Andrew]

discs, and i'd rather keep em. When I first lowered the car both sides had mean camber on them, so I assuming its the subframe (I don't think both trailing arms would be bent in the exact same way). Then my mate put it into the curb, so the passenger side has more toe on it compared to the drivers side. So I think I got a bent subframe frame and a bent trailing arm. Great Huh? I don't really care what i get, I brought this up cos i will probably have to change the subframe, and if i do i might as well put sway bar in. Have to find a subframe first though, would it matter what the subframe came out of?

i'd sort out that stuff.. its possible you have bent arms and subframe. If its hit a curb you can pretty much be assured something is bent.

[petone 0]

I'll get round to it sometime, I can't see anything urgent about it though, just increased tyre wear and a bit more tyre movement on the corners. The diffs are different between 4 and 6 cyl aren't they? Meh, a beefier diff wouldn't hurt, as long as i got a similar ratio. Time for a wanted ad for subframe...

[Guest Andrew]

I'll get round to it sometime, I can't see anything urgent about it though, just increased tyre wear and a bit more tyre movement on the corners. The diffs are different between 4 and 6 cyl aren't they? Meh, a beefier diff wouldn't hurt, as long as i got a similar ratio. Time for a wanted ad for subframe...

diff cases are different - not sure about driveshaft input and stuff.