Suspension Woes

[DRTE30]

I've had my E30 318is for a little over a year and a half, and even though I keep making mental notes to get under the car to give it a good once over, school kept side lining my time and motivation to do so.

Today I took the time to put the car on ramps and inspect everything due to intensified squeaking and clunking after moving into a new house that has a main road that is absolutely horrible for the current state of my poor little car. The squeaking and clunking has gotten exponentially worse since being forced to drive up and down this road every day.

By creating this thread, I am straight up hoping for solid answers as well as some good DIY ideas, because to be completely frank, I'm on a limited budget due to school and would rather attempt to fix it myself anyhow as well as source functional used parts or purchase from discounted distributors. I've compiled a list of observations from today, so if you have a suggestion or a thought on something, please feel free to chime in because I'd really appreciate it. Mind you, from taking ownership of this car, I'm not really aware of what parts are on it either, but by describing what is on the car, I'm hoping to get a better picture of what I'm dealing with. Likewise, should I suck it up and replace/repair at once, or do you see a pattern of priority of what should be addressed immediately?

All I know about the previous owner was that he liked to Auto X the car occasionally, and I convinced him upon purchase to throw in some German made black painted basket weave wheels with semi slicks already mounted. At that time, the suspension felt just fine IMO. Oh, it should be noted that the car is also lowered slightly when compared to other E30's I've seen in the area.

Front Suspension:
*Sway bar is painted blue and has three adjustment holes on each side. I was unable to locate my caliper to get a quick measurement of the diameter of the sway bar, so when I have time again I'll measure the circumference with string to calculate the diameter. I'm not sure of the brand. In my opinion, it's just to big in diameter to be OEM for such a light car. Any ideas on what make it may be?
*Sway bar bushings are red.
*Sway bar looks like it has shifted about 1cm off center to the driver side. This observation was made by looking at where the paint of the bar has dirt and road grime and where there is a distinctly clean area on the same side of both mounting bushings. I'm not sure what is causing this shift?

Passenger Side:
*Strut is painted black in color. No distinct markings. Not sure what brand?
*Upper strut bushings are cracking.
*Spring looks to be painted/powder coated light silver/white?
*Spring gaskets are good.
*Tie rod looks good. No play when trying to move it by hand.
*Sway bar end link is destroyed. Sway bar end link bracket has been binding into a metal area just above the lower bushing in the sway bar end link. Can anyone recommend a heavy duty sway bar end link?
*Control arm bushing within the lolly pop is shot.
*Control arm ball joints look to be intact. Rubber boots look good.
*Looked up at the motor mount. Looks to be cracking in places.

Driver Side:
*Strut is painted black in color. No distinct markings. Not sure what brand?
*Spring looks to be painted/powder coated light silver/white.
*Tie rod looks good. No play when trying to move it by hand.
*Sway bar end link is destroyed as well as not resting at the same vertical angle as the passenger side. This is hinting at the sway bar shifting to the driver side for some reason. There is also a small area where it looks like at one time the sway bar was rubbing on the control arm.
*Control arm bushing within the lolly pop is shot.
*Control arm ball joint rubber boots are cracking/torn in places. Replace?
*Looked up at the motor mount, looks to be cracking in places.

Rear Suspension:
*Sway bar is blue in color. Non adjustable.
*Sway bar bushings are red.
*Sway bar mounts to the under trunk area are solid aluminum pieces. BIG aluminum pieces.
*Rear of car is sitting slightly lower that the front. Observable by looking at the respective gaps between the tire and fender. I'm not quite sure what would cause this other than the fact that the struts from the front to the rear could be two different makes and states of condition, or maybe it's a bushing thing? Not sure?

Passenger Side:
*Strut is yellow Bilstein F4-B36-2027HD.
*Spring is the same color as the fronts.
*Spring pads are good.
*Rear axle feels solid with no play.
*Sway bar end link torn. Recommend a beefy replacement?
*Sway bar end link bolt is rubbing on coil spring.
*Trailing arm bushings are toast.
*Sub frame bushing - unknown status. I just assume it's shot on a 21 year old car.
*Gas tank dented. Small impact. Can maybe be hammered out via the fuel pump access port.
*Upper strut mount cracking.

Driver Side:
*Rear Diff bushing is shot.
*Axle feels solid. No play by forced movement.
*Rubber exhaust hanger before the muffler and after the cat is stretched and sloppy.
*Remaining exhaust hangers are tight.
*Strut is yellow Bilstein F4-B36-2027HD.
*Coil is the same color as the fronts.
*Coil pads are good.
*Trailing arm bushings are shot.
*Subframe bushing status unknown. I'm assuming it's shot anyways.
*TRAILING ARM SWAY BAR END LINK MOUNTING POINT RIPPED OFF AND MISSING :eek: Is this easily fixable via welding or must the trailing arm be replaced?
*Missing sway bar end link.
*Missing sway bar mounting bracket to trailing arm.
*Upper strut mount cracking.

That's about all I know for now. Again, I really appreciate any straight forward advice that any of you may have on anything regarding this thread!

[DesktopDave]

Looks like someone spent some time & money on that suspension.  I'm not sure of the sway bar brand, but adjustable are typically a nice upgrade...somewhat expensive as well.  Likely it's a well-known brand; bushings are pretty universal.

If it was me, I'd really do the entire front end at once, then tackle the entire rear end later on.  But since you're on a budget and don't have the space I'd only replace a few select items.  I'd stick with OEM rubber bits all around.

I'd replace the front lollipop CA bushings.  You can pull them off the car without removing the arms.  Then take them to a mechanic for a little press time.  Reinstall with plenty of soap and harsh language.  Make sure you get the car back on it's wheels in less than a half-hour or so.  The e30 M3 solid unit is a good upgrade (avoid the offset one to spare you a wheel alignment).

At the back, I'd temporarily remove the rear roll bar until you source a good control  arm or just get it welded.  A bunch of BMW tuners have cheap sway bar tab kits that can be welded on.  That'll eliminate a lot of the clanking. I'd also check the  upper shock mounts.  They're a known weak point and can get very noisy  indeed.  They're not too expensive.  The e46 or e36 'vert units are an  excellent upgrade.

The diff bushing is a PITA.  I'd strongly consider dropping the whole deal and replace all the bushings and the arm at one time.  However, you could just replace the diff mount by pulling the rear cover off the diff and taking the whole deal to a shop to R&R R&R the bushing.  I'd use an OEM 325is solid unit there as well.  You could also do it like I did - I replaced my damaged 4.10 with a medium-case 3.73 LSD 325is unit and got the bushing for free!

[d.hitchcock]

A couple things to throw in.

You mention red swaybar bushings. Those are most likely polyurethane and are known squeaky bastids! You can lube them with antiseize -- just slobber it on. :-)

The fact that the swaybar has "walked" itself off center is no big deal. With the car in the air and a tire/wheel removed, loosen the swaybar brackets and use a deadblow mallet to persuade it back into the proper position, or reposition it when you lube the bushings.

Overall, it sounds like typical e30 suspension stuff, worn rubber busings, maybe dead dampers, etc. Desktop Dave hit the important points there.

On e30s, any rear swaybar bigger than about 16mm will tear up the unreinforced mounting points, just FYI.

d.hitchcock

[Geoff]

just to add a couple of thought..the rear shock mounts (cracked on yours) are typical and there are reinforcement plates available.   the overall basic height of the vehicle is controlled by your springs, the shocks and struts are along for the ride.   most of the wear you describe is because PO used wide sticky tires,  which have much grip,  and auto xed the car,  which puts much wear and tear on the suspension anyway, even more with big tires.   If you replace all the bushings and weakened mounts, it'll  last a good long time under regular use.    of course, any type of competition puts much more wear and tear on the suspension
                                                        Geoff

[DRTE30]

Gentlemen, thank you so much for your input and suggestions. This poor little car is my daily driver so any down time would be limited to weekends only. Since time and funds are limiting factors I can dig the recommendation to tackle the front and rear ends separately.

Though I have searched, the way that this website as well as others are not efficient in the way that key words are tagged. So, I've got a couple more questions to throw out there since searching yields little relevant info.
Aside from slightly modifying the front sway bar end link brackets to an angle that is accommodating for the links so that the lower bushings aren't chewed up, I feel it would be beneficial for the long term to install an end link that is robust enough to handle the aftermarket sway bar and related additional forces. I've looked at and considered the Meyle HD links, but finding reviews returns mixed feelings. Is there an option out there that is more robust than the OEM end links?

Lastly, with the front control arms, naturally it would be quicker to swap out the entire assembly for new ones with new ball joints, but is it cost beneficial to press in new ball joints or does the added cost of new control arms w/ new ball joints trump the notion of using old parts with new ones? I understand it's somewhat of a personal choice, but I guess I'm trying to gauge people's comfort level with such an idea.

Thanks again for the replies. I really appreciate them.

[DRTE30]

A small development in regard to this thread:

I have had a pleasant experience ordering from Pelican and FCP in the past so over the weekend, I ordered new OEM M3 Offset bushings, Meyle HD control arms, Meyle HD rear trailing arm bushings, Meyle HD subframe bushings, Lemfoerder rear sway bar end links, front adjustable sway bar end links from a member here. I also picked up front M3 springs which have the part number that pre-date the e30 M3 springs that are found on later model e30's. There was a 1991 325i at a pick and pull so I grabbed the lollipops for $20.00 to help expedite the parts swap out. I also made gusseted rear sway bar end link brackets and front control arm sway bar end link re-enforcement plates out of stock using a saws all, grinder and files.

I had a couple coupons for both respective websites and everything out the door with shipping was around $280.00 from both respective websites. To Hawaii, this is a big deal. Shipping is generally horrible. FYI if anyone is ordering anything FCP is currently having a 20% off promo and shipping is free over $150.00.

In the next coming weeks, after I get through mid-terms, I'm going to saddle up and get this stuff swapped out/in. If there are any general pitfalls in regard to any of this, please feel free to chime in. It's always appreciated!