Munkvy 0 Report post Posted August 2, 2005 (edited) Hi Im Vivian, Im new round here, have a E30 325iA sedan. Its currently bog standard, but Im thinking of as Im quite active in motorsport, slowly working it into something a bit more useful in those areas. Specifically sprint racing and also gravel sprints/classic rally. Ive been able to find out prices and parts for most things I would want to replace in it (starting with brakes and a manual conversion). But one thing Im uncertain of, is in regards to suspension. Now initially I intend on removing the boat like tendancies it displays, ie sway bars and maybe lower springs. However Im not too familiar with rally suspension, any guru's out there with suggestions, ie brands and perhaps models? As I dont really want to splash out on some nice coilovers, only to find it makes it terrible on gravel! Are there any gravel bashers out there that can give me any suggestions? The other question, what would you recommened for sway bars and strut braces in this sort of application? As I come from a Nissan background, im not to familiar with what works well in a BMW... Any help much appreciated Vivian Edited August 3, 2005 by Munkvy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30stz 0 Report post Posted August 2, 2005 I'm not really in the 'know' as such when it comes to rally performance, but you cant really go wrong with Bilsteins, not sure weather you'd want the Bilstein Sports or the Bilstein Heavy Duty, probably sports as they are a bit softer on the bumps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Munkvy 0 Report post Posted August 3, 2005 I'm not really in the 'know' as such when it comes to rally performance, but you cant really go wrong with Bilsteins, not sure weather you'd want the Bilstein Sports or the Bilstein Heavy Duty, probably sports as they are a bit softer on the bumps. Thanks, are they coilovers? and any idea on availability for an E30 or price?Cheers Vivian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Andrew Report post Posted August 3, 2005 Thanks, are they coilovers? and any idea on availability for an E30 or price? Cheers Vivian no coil over - around 1200 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30-323ti 66 Report post Posted August 3, 2005 Welcome Vivian. You don't live with Neil & Brian do you?? Sorry, couldn't help it. I'm not familiar with Rally spec for a E30, as I'm building mine for Tarmac. Here is some useful info though. Go with the Bilstiens, they offer similar valving to the koni but are not shortened like the konis. Use E36 springs, they are stiffer and taller. I would look at building coil overs for the front, easy to change spring rate & height to suit, rears: heaps of springs to choose from, coilovers require mods to the towers otherwise they fall apart!! Get some -ve camber up front and a LSD (or lock-it) for sure out the back. Leave the sway bars till you have used it a bit on the gravel. At the end of the day it would prolly still need a bit of tweaking to get it just right. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Munkvy 0 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 Welcome Vivian. You don't live with Neil & Brian do you?? Sorry, couldn't help it. I'm not familiar with Rally spec for a E30, as I'm building mine for Tarmac. Here is some useful info though. Go with the Bilstiens, they offer similar valving to the koni but are not shortened like the konis. Use E36 springs, they are stiffer and taller. I would look at building coil overs for the front, easy to change spring rate & height to suit, rears: heaps of springs to choose from, coilovers require mods to the towers otherwise they fall apart!! Get some -ve camber up front and a LSD (or lock-it) for sure out the back. Leave the sway bars till you have used it a bit on the gravel. At the end of the day it would prolly still need a bit of tweaking to get it just right. Cheers, nahh dont live with them sorry. Are they Wellingtonians as well?So from what you said its not a simple swap over job with coilovers then? you would have to get them custom designed? Sorry for asking so many questions, Im used to Skylines, where everything is available off the shelf and bolts straight up... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 Cheers, nahh dont live with them sorry. Are they Wellingtonians as well? http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/young/That's just e30-323ti showing his age..... You will find that there is not really a "right way" to go about your suspension mods. I would try to talk to those who have raced bmw's in targa as they might have a bit more of an idea of what holds best under high-speed road use although the amount of gravel in targa is sometimes limited. The only person I know who races a BMW in targa is Peter Robinson who is a committee member of the bmw car club in NZ. There are others, but I don't know them. Peter races a 6 series in targa, but also owns two e30's, so may have some knowledge. His email adddress is on the car club website www.bmwclub.org.nz. Any of you bmwcc members know of anyone else? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 sh*t, where are my manners... Welcome to BS! :thumb: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30-323ti 66 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 Welcome Vivian. You don't live with Neil & Brian do you?? Sorry, couldn't help it. I'm not familiar with Rally spec for a E30, as I'm building mine for Tarmac. Here is some useful info though. Go with the Bilstiens, they offer similar valving to the koni but are not shortened like the konis. Use E36 springs, they are stiffer and taller. I would look at building coil overs for the front, easy to change spring rate & height to suit, rears: heaps of springs to choose from, coilovers require mods to the towers otherwise they fall apart!! Get some -ve camber up front and a LSD (or lock-it) for sure out the back. Leave the sway bars till you have used it a bit on the gravel. At the end of the day it would prolly still need a bit of tweaking to get it just right. Cheers, nahh dont live with them sorry. Are they Wellingtonians as well?So from what you said its not a simple swap over job with coilovers then? you would have to get them custom designed? Sorry for asking so many questions, Im used to Skylines, where everything is available off the shelf and bolts straight up... Unfortunately not.The E30's have the front spindal integral with the strut and the shock is an insert type. I have a pair of old fronts (complete housings) for sale if you want to build some coilovers, pretty easy as all the bits are available off the shelf from Stocks or Autolign. The rear they aren't really needed as there are enough spring & spring pad combo's to get something that works. bravomikewhiskey: Must be getting old Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Munkvy 0 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 (edited) . Edited August 4, 2005 by Munkvy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Munkvy 0 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 (edited) . Edited August 4, 2005 by Munkvy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Munkvy 0 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 Welcome Vivian. You don't live with Neil & Brian do you?? Sorry, couldn't help it. I'm not familiar with Rally spec for a E30, as I'm building mine for Tarmac. Here is some useful info though. Go with the Bilstiens, they offer similar valving to the koni but are not shortened like the konis. Use E36 springs, they are stiffer and taller. I would look at building coil overs for the front, easy to change spring rate & height to suit, rears: heaps of springs to choose from, coilovers require mods to the towers otherwise they fall apart!! Get some -ve camber up front and a LSD (or lock-it) for sure out the back. Leave the sway bars till you have used it a bit on the gravel. At the end of the day it would prolly still need a bit of tweaking to get it just right. Cheers, nahh dont live with them sorry. Are they Wellingtonians as well?So from what you said its not a simple swap over job with coilovers then? you would have to get them custom designed? Sorry for asking so many questions, Im used to Skylines, where everything is available off the shelf and bolts straight up... Unfortunately not.The E30's have the front spindal integral with the strut and the shock is an insert type. I have a pair of old fronts (complete housings) for sale if you want to build some coilovers, pretty easy as all the bits are available off the shelf from Stocks or Autolign. The rear they aren't really needed as there are enough spring & spring pad combo's to get something that works. bravomikewhiskey: Must be getting old hehe, Ive got that now. I should know, being a guy with whats considered a chicks name all the time, I should have twigged you were refering to the Young Ones, its how I normally explain my name - rather than that its Latin, must be getting close to Friday!Ok, so just to clarify, as the fronts are a shock inside strut design (Well thats what I would call it, not being an expert!) you could then combine the right bits to turn them into a coilover, ie using the original strut body and replacing the type of spring and shock? and then with the rears they are seperate? ie not integrated? So you could only really use adjustable shocks (ie adjustable damping) with an appropriate spring? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cainchapman 0 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 (edited) There are plenty of people around to help. Peter R has the nicest E30 M3 in the country, an E30 325 that he is just playing with. He would be a good source of advice, however he co-pilots Gerry's 535 in the Targa. I'm sure there are guys down South to help you. There is sh*t loads of BMW off the shelf stuff to buy. It's not cheap though. Unfortunately for you, there are none of the BMW Motorsprt guys in Wellington to my knowledge. All the good guys are in Auckland, Christchurch (or Bavaria). Outside of F1, rallying is about as expensive as motorsprt gets. Edited August 4, 2005 by cainchapman Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted August 4, 2005 I'm sure it was a 6??? I knew it wasn't Peter's, but I don't know Gerry personally. Maybe the 6 was the old targa car they had??? **Sorry to hijack your thread vivian** Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cainchapman 0 Report post Posted August 5, 2005 Sorry, you are correct. Brain wasn't so clear after 6 hours in the pub. :beer: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
