Improve your cars handling
Everyone wants a better handling car and a ride height to fit their needs. So I put together a little list of
popular suspension items and kits. There are tons of suspension
options, this is just a short list of the more popular items.
Springs
The stock springs shouldnt wear out, but if you want a stiffer
spring or lowering springs,
here is a list of the more popular
springs.
H&R
OE Sports- A stiffer spring than
stock with a small amount of drop.
Drop: 0.75 Front, 0.3 Rear
Spring Rate: 200 lb Front, 380 lb Rear ***
Sports- A stiffer spring than stock with a larger amount of drop than OE
Sports.
Drop: 1.2 Front, 1.0 Rear
Spring Rate: 200 lb Front, 380 lb Rear ***
Race- A very stiff spring for the street, and the lowest drop from H&R
Drop: 2.2 Front, 1.3 Rear
Spring Rate: 345 lb Front, 515 lb Rear ***
Eibach
Pro-Kit- Stiffer than H&R Sports,
but may ride softer than H&R Sports.
Drop: 1.0 Front, 0.8 Rear
Spring Rate: 148 lb Front, 428 lb Rear ***
SportLine- Lower than Pro-kit, but softer than H&R Race.
Drop: 1.8 Front, 1.5 Rear
Note: Only 3 series applications, not M3
Spring Pads
There are 3 sized spring pads available through BMW. You can use
spring pads
to adjust the height of the rear
springs.
5 mm pad (33 53 1 136 385)
7.5 mm pad (33 53 1 136 386)
10 mm pad (33 53 1 136 387)
Shocks
The stock shocks on E36 cars are short lived. If you have more
than 50k miles, I would start
looking for replacements. Here is a
list of the more popular replacements.
Koni
Single Adjustable- Rebound
adjustable, thus allows you to match them up to almost any
spring. At their softest setting they are close to stock, on the hardest setting they are harder than
Bilstein Sports.
Note: Installation is not bolt on. You must cut your stock shock bodies
and install the Koni
insert into them. This is only for
the M3s, 3 series come ready to bolt on.
Bilstein
Sport- Non adjustable. Bolt-in
replacements. Bilstein shocks are a lot stiffer than stock.
Note: Bilsteins tend to raise the car 0.25-0.5 due to their
high-pressure design.
Coilovers
H&R
H&R springs paired with Bilstein shocks. They are height
adjustable, but not rebound. H
&R Coilovers are probably the most
popular choice.
Drop: 1.5 2.5 Front, 1.0 1.75 Rear
Spring Rates: 340 lb Front, 380 lb Rear ***
Koni
Uses H&R springs on Koni SA dampeners. They are height adjustable
in the front,
rear height is fixed, but are
rebound adjustable.
Drop: 1.5 2.2 Front, approx. 1.0 Rear
Spring Rates: 342 lb Front, 407 lb Rear ***
KW & FK
HighSport
Height adjustable only, no rebound. Both are relatively new to
the market, so not much info on them.
Drop: 57mm-70mm
KonigSport
Height adjustable and Rebound adjustable.
Drop: Similar to HighSport
Spring Rate: 400 lb Front, 420 lb Rear
Note: Both FK and KW use 60lb tender springs to meet TUV droop
regulations.
Because of this a spacer might be
needed on some wheel and tire applications.
Ground Control
Street kit Your choice of spring
rates and a set of adjustable perches,matched to Koni SA shocks.
Drop: 1.0 2.5 Front, 1.0 2.0 Rear
Spring Rates: Custom designed rates
Track/School Koni single adjustable struts in Ground Control shortened
strut housings,
custom spring rates, and height
adjusters.
Drop: 1.0 2.5 Front, 1.0 2.0 Rear
Spring Rates: Custom designed rates
Bilstein
PSS Height adjustable only, no
rebound adjustment.
Drop: 1.5 2.5 Front, 1.0 1.75 Rear
PSS9 Height and Rebound adjustable.
Drop: 1.5 2.5 Front, 1.0 1.75 Rear
Spring Rate: 450 front, 480 rear
Note: The PSS and PSS9 are designed to run on 3 series cars, not M3s.
To put them on an M3, you will need 3 series front sway bar links to connect to the control arm,
a 325/328 front sway bar, and
possibly a front spacer.
Rear Shock Mounts
The stock RSMs are wear items and need to be inspected approx.
40k miles. If you are running
stiffer spring and shocks or
coilovers it would be a good idea to go with an upgraded RSM.
Ground Control
Its an improved design over stock mounts, uses polyurethane
bushings and strong construction.
The mounts come with a lifetime warranty. Because of their design they allow removal of the mount f
rom the fender well, a must for
Koni SA users. Maybe a slight increase in NVH.
JTD
Again an improved design over the stock mounts. JTD uses a rubber
bushing and
strong construction. The mounts come with a lifetime warranty. The newly redesigned
mount now allows the same fender well access as the Ground Control mounts.
Maybe a slight increase in NVH.
E46 Mounts with Z3 Plates
A better design than the e36 mount, it has rubber mounts and
slightly strong construction.
It has conventional mounting bolts, so removal is only through the trunk. They Z3 plates
help to reinforce the e46 mount; these are a good idea if you go with the stock style
mount and have upgraded shocks.
Strut Tower Braces
Strut Tower Braces help stiffen the chassis of the car, which
will translate to a better handling car.
OEM LTW Brace
A hingless design, it was original equipment on the 95 GT M3.
Note: It can only be used on cars without ASC, Only the Front bar.
JTD
The front and rear brace is a solid hingless design. This JTD
Front Strut Tower Brace will fit the E36 equipped with traction control.
Strong Strut
A newly developed bar which features hingless construction. Front
bar only, fits both ASC equipped cars and not.
Active Autowerke
AA offers front and rear braces, but are a hinged design. AA bars
fit both ASC equipped cars and not. Hinged bars are not as effective as
non-hinged bars.
Dinan
Dinan offers front and rear braces, and also uses a hinged
design. Dinan bars fit ASC and non-ASC cars.
X Braces
This is a great upgrade for any 3 series. The X brace stiffens
the cars chassis
and provides better turn in. A
great place to start suspension mods.
Rear Trailing Arm Bushings (RTABS)
These are also wear items and should be checked every 30-40k
miles. These are
some of the more popular options to
go with.
Stock bushings
The stock bushings are perfectly fine for a street application,
though they should be
checked on every 30-40k miles.
Note: 95 M3s should go ahead and use the 96+ bushing. The 96+ has more metal supporting the
rubber mount and is a revised
design of the 95 mount. Also they must be pressed into the trailing arm
Ground Control RTAB Enforcers
These are Derlin supports which mount on either side of the stock
bushing and
help add some support to the
bushing. These are a good idea if you go with stock bushings.
Powerflex
These are polyurethane mounts that can be easily installed.
Because of their ploy
construction, they will transmit
more NVH than the stock rubber bushings.
AA RTABS
These are for the hardcore track person. They are a solid
monoball mount. The
AA mount will transmit more NVH into the car. These are probably left to turbo cars
and hardcore track cars.
Sway Bars
Sway bars are used to add or lessen roll stiffness. By changing
the roll
stiffness you change the cars
handling (understeer, neutral, oversteer).
UUC
Makes M3 spec bars, these should only be used on an M3 or 3
series with M3 struts.
Adjustment Holes - 3 Front, 2 Rear
Bar thickness - 25.4mm Front, 23.8mm Rear. ***
Racing Dynamics
They make one size bar for 3 and M3 spec cars.
Adjustment Holes - 2 Front, 2 Rear
Bar thickness - 27mm Front, 24mm Rear.
Eibach
Makes both 3 series spec bars and M3 spec bars.
Adjustment Holes - 2 Front, 2 Rear
Bar thickness - 26mm Front, 24mm Rear. ***
Camber Adjustments
Front
Front camber is not adjustable in stock form. But there are many things you can
do to add
negative camber in front.
Crash Bolts
You'll need two crash bolts, BMW P/N 07-11-9-900-587. These replace
the top strut
to spindle assembly bolts, one on each side.
Strut Shims
For Shims go to Loews the specialty fastener section you'll need
one bag of four,
Grade 8 Hardened 7/16th washers, one of these go between the strut and spindle assembly on
the two lower strut bolts, two on
each side
96+ M3 Strut hat swap
All that is required with the 96+ strut bearings is left to right
and right to left switch
(after swap bearing marked L will be passenger side and R on drivers side). Mount with the arrows
pointing forward.
Camber Plates
KMAC
Can be used with stock sized springs. Previous designs had problems with
slipping, but the new
design has cured that. They use a rubber bushing
in the front so there is no extra NVH.
Ground Control
Can only be used with coilover type springs. The race plates use a solid bushing
while the
hybrid plates use a rubber bushing. The solid
mount will make more NVH, the hybrid plate will not.
TC Kline
They works equally well with stock or aftermarket struts and coilover
conversions. Uses a stock
monoball mount, so there will be an increase in
NVH.
HIOP Plates
Monoball design with bushings to match shock diameter. The monoball bearing is
"potted" in hard
urethane for isolation and a slight increase in NVH. These can be used with either stock sized
springs or coilover sized springs.
Rear Camber
Rear camber is adjustable in stock form. With a moderate drop you should be able
to get the rear camber
back into spec. If you cannot get it back into
spec, here are a few choices.
Active Autowerke
Allows adjustment ranging from -5.0 to +5.0 degrees, stronger than stock, and
uses a solid mount.
Rogue Engineering
Allows adjustment from +1.0 to -3.0 degrees, tubular arm, mounts with rubber
bushings.
TC Kline
Monoball joint rear lower arms that replace the factory rubber bushings which
can create play in the
rear suspension. A more serious track ready part,
not best for street use.
Front Control Arms
Stock Arms
OEM replacements are fine for street and track.
Note: 95 and 96+ arms are different, and the bushings they use are
different also.
E30 Arms
The e30 arms can be used on e36s, they are made of Aluminum and are lighter
than e36 arms.
These are really need for the racer looking to
save every amount of weight possible.
Note:The E30 Arms can only be used on 95 M3's.
Bushings
Stock
Constructed of rubber, strong and durable. These are the best replacements for
street and track.
Note:95 and 96+ cars use different bushings. 96+ bushings are not as
strong and are centered not offset like 95s.
Powerflex
Polyurethane construction, because of this they will transmit more NVH.
Note: Because of the 96+ construction, in a track situation they might
not be durable enough.
The 96+ bushings have holes cut into them, and
they might not be strong enough if an off track excursion happens.
*** Indicates M3 specs.