Strut brace fitment...

[2002maniac]

Well a guy I know just ordered $2k worth of suspension for his 325is from Ireland. They told him that there are two different strut tower widths that are 1-2cm different so they sent him 2 different braces so he could return the one that didnt work. I tried putting the longer one on my car and it doesnt fit at all!

Closer investigation with a tape measure revealed that my strut towers are 1-3/8" closer together than his! :eek:

Are all 318is's like this or is my car tweaked? Maybe this explains why I have 3.6 degrees negative camber with my camber plates all the way OUT.

What's the story here?

[nickmpower]

did u jack it up by the subframe? maybe try measuring in a few different places?

[D. Clay]

Doesn't seem right. Have the fender bolt holes been slotted by the towers or has the car had a major impact to the front.

[2002maniac]

The car was sitting on the ground. The mounts are not slotted but the car was run into a curb at one point. There is no noticeable damage, but I guess the whole front end could be tweaked? Any other possibilities?

[john mason]

The car was sitting on the ground. The mounts are not slotted but the car was run into a curb at one point. There is no noticeable damage, but I guess the whole front end could be tweaked? Any other possibilities? E30 84-91, THERE ARE 2 DIFFERENT CHASSIS TOP STUD WIDTHS, TOWARD THE END OF THE PRODUCTION RUN THEY CHANGED FOR SOME REASON OR ANOTHER BY THE 1 INCH AMOUNT, MOST 95 % OF CARS MEASURE APP. 36 3/16 INCH C-C ACROSS MEASURING THE FRONT PAIR OF 8MM STUDS, I HAVE SEEN 36 1/8 TO 36 3/8 , IF THE CHASSIS HAD SOME PREVIOUS DRAMA [ CRUNCH] MOST TIMES THE BODY SHOP WILL CHANGE OUT THE SHEET METAL BITS - BUT NEGLECT TO PROPERLY PULL THE CORNER INTO SPEC , MEASURE BOTH SIDES OF WHEELBASE AND MEASURE BOTH CASTER ANGLES TO PINPOINT AREA OF HIT,CLOUT,WHACK,ROOTED, OR PUT ON JACK STANDS AND SEE IF IT LAYS FLAT ON ALL 4 SIMILIAR POINTS , OR CHECK THE CORNER WEIGHTS FOR INDUCED TWIST

[dino245]

John once again you are a wealth knowledge, truly an asset to this forum.

[2002maniac]

John,
Did these cars with narrow strut towers come with different control arms? Seems like the camber would be off a mile if the the strut tops were moved in 1/2" each and everything else stayed the same.

My car is a 5/90 production, anyone know when this phenomenon began?

Hooray for negative camber and tire clearance!

[john mason]

YES ,THANKS I FOUGHT THE RACING CAR WARS IN THE TRENCHES ON A CORPORATE LEVEL , MC LAREN BMW 320I TURBO AMONGST OTHERS,WHILE DESIGNING NEW BARS FOR BMP DESIGN AS A DESIGN CONSULTANT THESE PROBLEMS SURFACED. THAT JEFF IRELAND GUY KNOWS THE CHASSIS REVISION DATES MORE CONCISELY MORE THAN I , THE ONLY WAY I FOUND OUT , IS THAT I SOLD E30 F.STRUT BARS AND THEY DID NOT FIT CORRECTLY =ITEM RETURNED,FOR CAMBERS- ON STRUT SUSPENSION LOWER STEEL A ARMS WE USED CUT TO REMOVE 3/8" SECTOINS NEAR BALLJOINT AND RE-WELD/GUSSET IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE SETTINGS WE WANTED QUOTE=2002maniac]John,
Did these cars with narrow strut towers come with different control arms? Seems like the camber would be off a mile if the the strut tops were moved in 1/2" each and everything else stayed the same.

My car is a 5/90 production, anyone know when this phenomenon began?

Hooray for negative camber and tire clearance![/QUOTE]

[dino245]

John, I once spoke to you about Gustav's M3 and you said that you were working on some tubular rear trailing arms. I was wondering if you could post some pictures of these to entertain us E30 enthusiest.

[doigal]

We had this delimea on ECCA when we did an order for a locally made strut brace. There are two distances, and no corrolation as to why - 980 and 1002mm. We did a survey of most of the e30s in the club and there didnt seem to be a patern between the two. As far as i can tell though everything else is the same between the two unibodies.

[2002maniac]

hmmm. If I shortened my control arms an inch and moved in my camber plates to match, I could fit some serious rubber...

Cutting and welding the control arms does seem a bit iffy though. A failure would be catastrophic.

[john mason]

YES DR. STROES COMMISIONED ME TO FABRICATE 2 CAR SETS OF GRP. 4 ARMS=4130 TUBE AND REWORKED BEAMS FULLY ADJUSTABLE MOUNTS FOR TOE , CAMBER, CAMBER CURVE, I DID A LOT OF THIS FROM MEMORY FROM THE MC LAREN IMSA TURBO CARS AS THEY HAD ALL THIS EXQUISITE STUFF[BMW-JUNIOR TEAM FACTORY MOTORSPORT CHASSIS]I MADE FIXTURE TOOLING TO DEAL WITH ANY STANDARD E30 REAR CONTROL ARM,S LH&RH I WAS THINKING I COULD ADD ROD ENDS TO THE FRONT 2 PIVOT CONNECTIONS , OR TAKE BENT ARMS AND CUT/WELD SOME INDUCED PROPER TOE, CAMBER,CASTER SETTINGS FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE LOWERED THE RIDE HEIGHTH, BUT NOT CORRECTLY RAISED THE PICK-UP POINTS[YOUVE CORRUPTED ALL THE CORRECT SUSPENSION CURVES THAT THE GERMANS WORKED SO HARD TO GET RIGHT] ,AS A PROFESSIONAL I NEED TO SEEK PERMISSION FROM GUSTAV IN REGARDS TO " SHOWING HIS DESIGNS " WITH THE OUTER WORLD OUT THERE AS I DO NOT WANT HIM TO THROW A WOBBLY ON ME AND SPIN OUT, I DO HAVE MASON ENG. 4 LUG HIGHLY MODIFIED STRUT HOUSINGS WITH UPPER M3 SWAY BAR MNTS., ROD ENDS ON RACK LINKS,PROPER BRAKE AIR DUCTS,WELDED GUSSETS ON SPINDLE DAMPNER TUBE THAT ARE MY OWN DESIGN THAT I WILL SOON SHOW PHOTOSJohn, I once spoke to you about Gustav's M3 and you said that you were working on some tubular rear trailing arms. I was wondering if you could post some pictures of these to entertain us E30 enthusiest.

[dino245]

John
it sounds like you have created many products that we could be interested, please post some pictures. I am interested in the strut housings you mentioned and the brake ducts. As well as the gussets on the strut housung. 2002maniac and I have theorized about this type of reenforcment for the lower part of the strut to spindle union, it looks weak to me and could use some stiffening gussets but I am not sure about welding to a cast/forged spindle and not make the spindle brittle from the welding heat.