Author Topic: E30 M3 Suspention in a 318ic ? (Read 5187 times)

scottiesharpe · « **on:** December 29, 2006, 08:09:29 PM »

My daily ride is a 91 318ic.

I have an M3 project which consists of a wreck with a running motor and a decent body with a blown motor (its for sale if you want it; I've no time lately).

The suspention on the 318 is tired and in need of all new parts, bushings, shocks, etc. I was thinking of stripping the entire suspention off the wreck (which is in good shape) and sticking it on the 318.

Question: Can I bolt the entire suspention into the 318 ? What I mean is will the subframe bolt in swing arms, brakes and all?

What about the front end, can I bolt the struts, brakes, arms, rack, etc. right into the 318 ??

Anybody here ever do this?

:confused: :confused: :confused:

asubimmer · « **Reply #1 on:** December 29, 2006, 08:46:25 PM »

you can convert to 5 lug, its a e30 m3 right?

cecotto · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2006, 01:11:34 AM »

Quote from: scottiesharpe;16437

The suspention on the 318 is tired and in need of all new parts, bushings, shocks, etc. I was thinking of stripping the entire suspention off the wreck (which is in good shape) and sticking it on the 318.

Question: Can I bolt the entire suspention into the 318 ? What I mean is will the subframe bolt in swing arms, brakes and all?

What about the front end, can I bolt the struts, brakes, arms, rack, etc. right into the 318 ??

Anybody here ever do this?

I did this with mine,

On the front you need to use the entire struts with brakes, it plugs right on. No problems at all!

On the rear you have two options. You can either just swap out the driveflange with the M3 piece, and install the complete brake setup with it(including the large mounting plate for the parking brake, brake shoes). Remember to buy a new rear bearing, and lock ring if you go this route. Also i think this only works if you have rear disc brakes to start with!! Or you can install the complete trailing arms off of the M3.

I'm running on original M3 16" wheels at the moment, but they scrub the rear fenders just a little during had cornering. And if it's carrying extra weight.

sheepdog · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2006, 03:05:25 PM »

Pass on the front control arms. They wear out too fast from what I hear.

I would also considered lowered springs for the front to at least level the car out.

Otherwise everything should bolt into place. You may want to check part numbers for the master cylinder as you may need to swap that and the regulator as well.

cecotto · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2006, 03:22:25 PM »

Quote from: sheepdog;16473

Pass on the front control arms. They wear out too fast from what I hear.

What do you mean ? The control arms are exactly the same as on the regular E30. Well theres two options the steel and the alloy. And it seems that on pretty much all the forums i frequent theres a consensus on the alloy being the strongest. But he can choose to use the ones on the M3 or he can keep the ones he got on his car already. And we dont know whats on either car?

Quote from: sheepdog;16473

Otherwise everything should bolt into place. You may want to check part numbers for the master cylinder as you may need to swap that and the regulator as well.

The master cylinders are not the same, neither are the vacuum booster. But you'll be okay. Mine feels very precise. And i have no problems at all. The Regulator in the M3 and the series E30 are exactly the same.

scottiesharpe · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2006, 09:44:29 PM »

Quote from: cecotto;16444

I did this with mine,

On the front you need to use the entire struts with brakes, it plugs right on. No problems at all!

On the rear you have two options. You can either just swap out the driveflange with the M3 piece, and install the complete brake setup with it(including the large mounting plate for the parking brake, brake shoes). Remember to buy a new rear bearing, and lock ring if you go this route. Also i think this only works if you have rear disc brakes to start with!! Or you can install the complete trailing arms off of the M3.

I'm running on original M3 16" wheels at the moment, but they scrub the rear fenders just a little during had cornering. And if it's carrying extra weight.

Wow Thanks for the info!

Yes, this is an e30 M3 that I am parting out....

Rear: Seems like it would be easier to just swap in the entire swing arm off the M3 then? What about just bolting in the entire M3 subframe ?

Front: What about the M3 steering rack? Isn't it a quicker ratio than the 318ic rack?

Wheels: I am not sure what wheels are on my M3 at the moment - not sure what they are:

cecotto · « **Reply #6 on:** December 31, 2006, 02:07:46 AM »

Quote from: scottiesharpe;16512

Wow Thanks for the info!

Yes, this is an e30 M3 that I am parting out....

Rear: Seems like it would be easier to just swap in the entire swing arm off the M3 then? What about just bolting in the entire M3 subframe ?

Front: What about the M3 steering rack? Isn't it a quicker ratio than the 318ic rack?

Wheels: I am not sure what wheels are on my M3 at the moment - not sure what they are:

You could do the entire subframe if you want. It fits right on. But the M3 piece have different exhaust bracketing. so im not sure you can hang your exhaust on all its intended points

I would swap in the rack as well, it all fits either way, i'm using the standard 318is unit.

BTW it lookslike some 16" alpina style, allthough alpinas only have 20 spokes. But i think you can use these to startwith. When i find some cheap and nice 17" the 16s are being sold!

scottiesharpe · « **Reply #7 on:** January 02, 2007, 02:44:33 PM »

Great,
I'm going to do it!
Need to find some time to do this, and then I'll post some pics of the project.

e9nine · « **Reply #8 on:** January 02, 2007, 03:36:39 PM »

Which part of the car above is wrecked?

The car can't be rescued?

Anywhoo - yes you can replace the whole shebang as mentioned. Once you start to dig-in you will see that it's plug and play. One thing to take into consideration is the year of the m3. If it's an airbag model - the rack swap should be literally plug and play. If it's pre-air bag. The columns and u-joints vary but the other anciliaries are the same.
I registered on your site and took a look around. Nice assortment of goodies. You'll pretty much soon see the e30 is easy as pie to play with around the suspension area. So um - is there an s14 in the "donor car" You can drop that in the cabbie!! I think you'll be the first to do so and document it.

PS: Swap the rear diffs as well - the e30m3 has a slightly larger diff than the e30m42 and you want to keep the rear sway from the e30m3 as well as it's a larger dia.

Have fun and take pics!

Alpine003 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 03, 2007, 08:18:29 AM »

Personally, the hub swap for me only makes sense if you are going fi or M swap and actually need the added stopping power and beefier suspension components. Does anyone know how much unsprung weight this will actually add? Wheel selection is always nice with the 5 lug though.

I too don't see anything severely wrong with the M3 posted. Why not resurrect it?

scottiesharpe · « **Reply #10 on:** January 03, 2007, 11:01:27 AM »

The M3 shown is actually my "good" one. I only showed it because these are the wheels I will use on the 318. I have another M3 that hit a deer in the right front and buckeled the roof. If anyone wants that shell it is for sale. Good left front flare and rear flares.

I thought very briefly about putting the S14 in the cabbie with the flares and suspention, thinking, that'd be cool. But then I thought the cabbie chassis couldn't take the power. It already flexes quite a bit even with the stock M42 and stock suspention. I do have an S14 that needs repair. (Not for sale.) However the reason I decided to keep my M42 is that I really like this motor. It is efficient, quiet, cheap and really fun. All things that the S14 is not.

However I wanted the big wheel choices and I just like the idea of putting the M3 suspention in there, especially because I have to swap out the shocks, springs and bushings anyway because most of them are totally original and completely shot.

Alpine003 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 03, 2007, 12:44:38 PM »

Ah, that explains it.

Quote from: scottiesharpe;16694

It is efficient, quiet, cheap and really fun.

Just you wait.