How To Front 5 Lug Swap A BMW E30 | Front 5-Lug Conversion Guide Using E36 Coilovers | 025

[@kevinquinn959]

Just started looking into brake upgrades on my 318i and 5 lug came naturally after research. Very very impressed with how you've done it, and you've sold me I'm going to copy this part for part. Brilliant stuff, keep it coming 👍👍👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome thanks Kevin! I'm really happy with how it all came out in the end with this combination of parts, couldn't have asked for a better result. I don't think I'd do it any other way now I know how well this works. 👍

[@TheMichbo]

How’s the ride quality after the setup? Have you installed the z3 rack yet?

[@isaacsokol6932]

Thank you for this whole series, giving me some hope for my own project with almost no experience

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Isaac! I'm figuring things out as I go too really. Get stuck in and your confidence will increase over time as you learn. It's quite rewarding if you're patient. 👍

[@judysmith2528]

Best way U found to remove lollypops is to center punch the end of the lower control arm then use a gear puller to pull them off. Have enjoyed everything so far. Good luck to you and your dad.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Judy! Yeah you're right about that, far less elbow grease required with that method. This is the trouble with me and the old man sharing tools though, they're always at the wrong workshop when you need them! 🤭

[@MorganH1]

Just began my own e30 restoration and came across your videos while researching. Thanks for all the advice and nice to see someone from the UK doing this as I struggle to find parts when watching the American ones so thanks!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome, really hope the vids come in useful for you mate. I try to link stuff in the description of each one where I can. Hope your E30 restoration project goes smoothly!

[@MorganH1]

@@SPANNERRASH Thanks, im sure they will good luck with yours too, even though it seems to be going much better and smoother than mine at the moment haha

[@lucidwerkz]

A tip when removing the brake line, you can use the bleeder screw rubber cap off the caliper and put it on the brake hard line to keep the brake fluid from draining out. Great Video!

[@SPANNERRASH]

That's such a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? 😂 Great tip, thanks for sharing that mate

[@justincase9471]

You can also press down the brake pedal and keep it down by locking it with a piece of wood between the pedal and the chair 🙂

[@mariosnikolaou5212]

Nicest looking E30!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you Marios, you're too kind! I think it will look a lot better with a new paint job 😆

[@michaelsidhu4079]

Looks great at that ride height. 😎

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks mate, I will need to wait til the car is back together before I can lock it in. I want it sporty and purposeful, but not totally slammed. I'm more about maximising the performance than the looks. 😆

[@frankleiendecker7169]

Again a good video! Keep up the good work my friend , grts from Holland!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you Frank, really glad you enjoyed the vid! 👍

[@RetiredTechnician]

Love these wheels.. best looking oem for the 30, would definitely go down the same route for a 5 stud conversion, I always thought you needed the e36 m3 front struts and z3 rear hubs. Shows how much things have changed from when I looked into in a good few years ago. Btw are your stock 316 struts 45 or 51mm I read somewhere that most facelifts are 51

[@SPANNERRASH]

Agreed, they look totally spot on to my eyes too. OEM+ 😁 I'm pretty sure they are 45mm, they seemed skinny, but I'll double check at some point. They're in the back of my storage shed at the moment.

[@ady4BMW]

Hi there. Any luck with the ARB links?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, I used Ford Mondeo Mk3 Estate Rear ARB Links in place of E30 Fronts and they worked perfect: ebay.us/AhONIx Check out my other vid about fitting the Eibach ARB kit if you want to see more detail about them. Hope that helps!

[@ady4BMW]

Thank you for the help! Will check the video. Any cheaper alternative for the SRS bits? Seem a bit expensive 😬

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@ady4BMW No worries, and not that I am aware of unless a recent release. They do seem expensive but they work and the quality is good.

[@TheNorthernmunky]

Awesome swap and video, looking forward to seeing the wheel arches restored, that’s the stage I’m at with mine too, so would be great to see

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Logan! I actually repaired the rear wheel arch rust in a previous video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6HWaoqMoJuJb8k It went pretty well, I hope the video is helpful for you. The front arches arent anywhere near as bad on mine! 😄

[@TheNorthernmunky]

Thank you mate, awesome stuff

[@mikeleonard8031]

😄😄The way every good mechanic takes the ball joint off is to undo the nut first and then bash it with the hammer.😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@SPANNERRASH]

I'm learning as I go, but isn't that what I did? 😆 If I recall, the nuts were super seized on this and I had to put some shock through it to free it up. Worked out in the end at least.

[@giordano3570]

Slowly getting started with this project, have some new partsd ordered like lines, rotos and SRS bits, and sussed out a nearby scrayard for other parts such as calipers and knuckles!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome, I hope it works out as well for you as it has for me. Seems to fit perfect right now, can't wait to get the car on the road and see how it performs!

[@giordano3570]

@@SPANNERRASH QUick question, I plan to put air ride suspension in the future, do you think i could stick with the stock struts and shocks and not have to buy coil overs?

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@giordano3570 good question. In theory you could do this with the standard E36 front struts, but you might have a hard time with wheel fitment once its together.

[@giordano3570]

@@SPANNERRASH Ill have to try this out then! Still need to order those rear end lines and the rear rotors/ hubs and then im ready!

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@giordano3570I hope it ends up working out as well as it appears to have for me. Pressing in the new hubs isn't too bad to be fair.

[@redordead4491]

Put some M3 front wings and rear quarters on it!!! 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha seriously tempting, nothing looks better than an E30 M3 body. I feel like I'd have to be swapping an M engine in to pull that off though, also I'd have needed a pre-facelift E30 if I wanted to do it proper. I'm pretty sure I'm going for m-tech II styling, but stay tuned to find out. 😁

[@redordead4491]

@SPANNERRASH I had a E30 325i coupe black lowered 60 mill wish I never sold it now 😏 love the channel 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@redordead4491 Cheers pal, never too late to get another I say! 😄

[@Johnson26905]

have the same front setup. for AR bar, i suggest to use some mazda link (i can check wich one exactly ) just return the ar bar holder to the shock itself

[@SPANNERRASH]

Nice, I heard there was a Ford link, a Mondeo one or something which I have on order. Although are you talking about a solution which would allow me to use the ARB mount on the new coilovers which I thought was redundant? Please do share if so, that sounds cool. 👍

[@Johnson26905]

@@SPANNERRASH yes, you just can not use stock e30 arb mounting. it has to go to the coilover with that e36 arb mount. i will check the part number and will let you know. it was either from Mazda 3 or smth similiar.

[@Johnson26905]

@@SPANNERRASH found it. it is lemforder 2965801. fits both sides. 👌

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@Johnson26905 Awesome thanks so much, I will check that out. It'd be great to connect the ARB to the strut.

[@itumeleng8970]

Great video and great content🤟

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks man!

[@itumeleng8970]

@@SPANNERRASHI would like to know why you used e36 discs on the front alone instead of both the front and back as I noticed the rear you used e46 discs🤔

[@patrickofori-sampong6122]

Why did you buy the polybush from please.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@itumeleng8970 Great question, unfortunately E46 front brakes wouldn't simply bolt up to the E36 front knuckles required for this swap, so we're using E36 328i front brakes and discs here. For the rear conversion, you must use the 325i or 328i E46 disc specifically, for the E30 handbrake to work correctly. This is a big upgrade from stock E30 and keeps the brake bias roughly the same with the front conversion factored in too. I hope that helps!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hey @@patrickofori-sampong6122 check the description for the links to all the parts I used, For the corrective front control arm bushings, I used SRS Concept, check them out here: ebay.us/wDXY1X

[@polloloci21]

Question regarding brake discs sizes You have used 294mm rear discs and 286mm front discs- typically- front discs are bigger - do you think this would cause any rear braking bias? Greetings from Texas.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, great question. I am not very happy about the fact I have larger discs on the back either. Something just seems wrong about that. But it was necessary to make the rear handbrake drum mechanism work. There is no smaller rear disc I could have used. I am going to revisit the front brakes and see if I can upgrade the size to be larger or at least match. I think there might be a way to use a different caliper carrier and larger disc yet. However, the real-world bias implications are minimal here. Sure the rear disc is larger, but the size of the front caliper is much larger than the rear, plus the whole system is over-biased to the front for safety to begin with, so I think it's not a concern. It just looks goofy. 😂

[@polloloci21]

@@SPANNERRASH good points. The larger caliper should have more surface area braking. I don’t think it looks goofy- 🙃286mm to 294mm isn’t a huge difference- I would think that they look the same size.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@polloloci21 At least with my E38 style-5 wheel choice it wouldn't be as visible. But when you notice it, it's hard to unsee. 😂 We'll see, like I say, I intend to revisit that.

[@polloloci21]

@@SPANNERRASH haha. Yeah. Car guys are funny that way.

[@monkeywentbananas]

Subscribed and following your E30 build!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome, great to have you on board mate :)

[@TheMichbo]

Wow! Finally a rebuild from uk. I’m inspired. I love this fitting. Soon I’ll be seeking advise to see through mine as well. Do you plan on swapping the engine as well. What’s your take on the e36 m3 engine in an e30?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Welcome aboard pal, plenty to do on this E30 build yet. 😁 I've got an M52B28 engine on a stand waiting to go into the the car. I'd have loved for it to be an M3 engine but I think the 2.8 motor will be a big upgrade for the E30 chassis as it is, and a little lighter too. Have a scroll back to the project into vid and you'll get a sense of what I'm going for with the project. 👍

[@binumaneth8077]

Mate what’s the minimum clearance off the front and rear wheels? Thanks

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, not sure I understand your question but the clearance is good without spacers. Check out the later E30 videos to see the final result with the car on the road.

[@timothywegner6597]

Hi, do you still recommend the HSD coilovers? Or would you reccomend a different brand

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Tim, check out the latest videos on the E30 since its been on the road. To be honest as much as the HSD coils fit great and the quality seems great, they're too stiff for me. I am going to be looking for softer springs to see if that improves things, I am fairly sure they're oversprung for a road car. Probably great on a track car.

[@patrickofori-sampong6122]

Hi mate was wondering if you can kindly point me in the right direction for the front control arm bushings

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi, no problem, here they are. SRS Concept Front Control Arm Bushings: ebay.us/wDXY1X Check the description for all the links to various things for the swap. Hope that helps!

[@patrickofori-sampong6122]

Thanks a lot mate

[@alexandermirkovic9795]

Hi! I love your project! please keep those episodes coming. Question, what is the ET on the new wheels? ET20?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hey Alexander, glad you're loving the E30 vids, much more to come on it! 😃 Thew new style 5 wheels are standard ones from an E30 7 series. They are ET23 and seem to fit perfect without spacers.

[@alexandermirkovic9795]

@@SPANNERRASH Im have got a good deal on 17x8 et30, rims. i will do the same 5-bult conv you have done, to you think they will fit?

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@alexandermirkovic9795 with them being more positive offset I'd say its likely they will fit great with the right spacer. I'm not certain though especially with it being a 17. Maybe some fitment expert will chime in and share an opinion! 😄

[@joebeeston1995]

Seriously need to do this on mine, for the sole reason that 4x100 wheel options are rubbish

[@SPANNERRASH]

Yeah I'm really pleased with how the car looks on the 16s. They aren't too much, its like OEM+ which is what I really like. Nice to get larger brakes too!

[@joebeeston1995]

@@SPANNERRASH yes OEM+ is what I like, 16s are the sweet spot. My only regret is that I won’t be able to keep my WMS 4 pot brakes :-(

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@joebeeston1995 Maybe they can adapt to the new knuckles and discs?

[@joebeeston1995]

@@SPANNERRASH I’ve asked the question but not hopeful. In reality I’m sure the E36 brakes will be fine. Especially if paired with some decent pads.

[@danielelias484]

is there wheel rub

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Daniel, check out the later E30 videos in preparation for MOT. sadly there was some rubbing on the fronts on full lock with these tyres. I suspect largely to do with the fact I'm also using a Z3 steering rack. I got it solved fairly easily with some rack limiters though.

[@ady4BMW]

Can you give a roughly idea on how much the whole conversion was? All the parts?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, the E36 front knuckles and calipers can vary quite a lot. If you're patient on FB marketplace you can pick them up for very little though. All the other parts are linked in the description so you can price it all up.

[@michaelperez8223]

Did you ever figure out the ARB link? If so, do you have a link to what you used?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Michael, unfortunately I haven't solved that yet. After this I ended up removing the original engine ready for M52 swap, so the car has still not been driven since it was all fitted. But I'm making great progress still. Check out some of the later videos in the E30 series. 😃 When I do get back to the suspension I'll be sure to clarify what I did with the ARB.

[@michaelperez8223]

@SPANNER RASH thanks for the reply. I will be watching

[@dickjohnsonsixtynine]

You can use Ford focus/mondeo rear arb links

[@bboyn0odles]

Awesome! Does it require e36 front and rear brake lines or do e30 work as well? Thanks!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks! The E30 lines wont work sadly so I went with E36 front brake lines, check the link in the description for those. Although they seem a touch too long so I'd spec slightly shorter ones next time. I'm sure it won't be an issue though. Hope that helps!

[@bboyn0odles]

@@SPANNERRASH is it because it won’t thread into the caliper? Thank you for the help good sir!

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@bboyn0odles If I recall, the E30 brake lines are a little too short, but it might also be the wrong type of thread/fitting. Can't quite remember for sure though.

[@TylorSwain12]

What colour did you do your calipers, looks like bahamabeige?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Tylor, it's actually a Honda shade of gold, can't remember exactly which, it's one the old man had spare from one of his past bike projects.

[@TylorSwain12]

Looks really classy thanks for the content finally getting around to doing this myself

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@TylorSwain12 Hope it works out for you mate 😁

[@prabhjotsingh3826]

Instead of coilovers can I use e36 shocks with e30 top mounts ?

[@SPANNERRASH]

I'm quite sure you can go ahead and use standard E36 struts if you swap on E30 top mounts, although you'll probably have a hard time getting your wheel fitment right with no adjustability afterwards. If you try it let us know if it works out, I've often wondered about that. 😄

[@DeShawnsgarage]

Did you keep the stock e30 master cylinder?

[@SPANNERRASH]

You can use the stock brake servo and master cylinder with this, no issue. I'm planning to run either a Renault Clio or an E90/92 brake servo though as I'm going to be doing an M52 engine swap on this E30 and the stock servo is a bit too large to work with it.

[@richardknowles1548]

Which year knuckles have you used? Been told there is a year change.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Richard, I have a feeling they were from a 1998 328i E36, but can't remember for 100%. I wasn't aware this part was changed during the production run. What was altered?

[@daveperryLXXVII]

heard those lollipops break.

[@SPANNERRASH]

the SRS ones? Only negative I heard was they can creak if not re-greased every so often, although I've not had any issues with mine yet.

[@daveperryLXXVII]

@@SPANNERRASH Think ill be going with condor. im pretty sure i bought a set of srs like 5-6 years ago. but havent touched my car since lol

[@Zam786]

Don't you think the front braided line is a little too long??

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, I thought it was a little long too, I had a play around with them off camera to get them positioned better and further away from the wheel where I'm much happier with them. I think to go from lock to lock with the steering there needs to be more excess than you'd expect, but a slightly shorter one might be better. Although I don't think it's enough of a problem for me to rush to change them, I'm confident they will work great as they are.

[@SeventyRS]

Great video, very helpful. On the ARB link, just run it to the strut body. Eliminates that e30 style mount completely. Longer link will be required. 👍👍 What are the plans for the engine? Will you be swapping in something different or restoring the current 1.6? I have the M40B18 in my touring. I hope to swap in the M42 from the is model. Sorry,just found the answer to my question. 👍👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers mate someone else mentioned about swapping the link type too, theres a mazda link which can be used apparently. I'm going M52B28, already got the engine on a stand and planning for the M40B16 to be out soon. I had a 318is in the past with the M42, great fun revvy engine, but I'm a sucker for a 6-pot. 😁

[@SeventyRS]

@@SPANNERRASH Thanks for the reply. Those links are available in several different lengths. Garagistic may have some adjustable types that could work for you. I know the aftermarket is full of options but have no idea what OEM options are available. My son has a 1991 318is with the M42. It's after driving his car so much over the last year that I now want to turn my touring into the 318is touring that BMW never built. Although the torque from a 6 cylinder is great and I definitely appreciate more power in anything I drive. Doing the M42 swap just makes sense regarding the transmission, cooling system etc. It's almost a direct swap with very little else to have to change. There's always the turbo option down the road if needed I suppose. Lol.

[@SPANNERRASH]

​@@SeventyRS That's great intel, thank you. I'll have a look at Garagistic's offering. I was wondering about the length as I'm not totally sure what will be required yet as I've not finalised my ride heights. Awesome I don't suppose your son's '91 318is is in Lazur Blau? It might be the same one! 😆 An M42 touring would definitely be a lot of fun, and it should be a straightforward swap like you say so I'm totally with you on that. If you can get your hands on a good M42 engine then a no brainer.

[@SeventyRS]

@@SPANNERRASH No problem at all. If I can help you source parts I'd be happy to help. Maybe there are suppliers here that I can access easier? My sons 318is is silver with Uberkaro indigo cloth interior. It has a MarkD chip, Stromund exhaust, single mass flywheel, 15 inch style 5 wheels with darker centers similar to the E30 M3 Evo. Poly bushings throughout, KW sport springs, Brembo rotors and Hawk pads. Adjustable camber plates etc. It really is set up well for very entertaining driving. Lol It was a Canadian market car originally. The only one I've seen in that color with the blue uberkaro interior. It is a lot of fun. He's 18 and this is his first car. I'd like to capture some of that in my touring.

[@SeventyRS]

@@SPANNERRASH By the way, I do really appreciate that you are so detailed in your parts and procedures in your videos. The changes I want to make on my touring will be done with as much OEM parts as possible. Your efforts are a huge help to me. Thank you!

[@iamyourfuture808]

how do you rate the Dewalt impact gun? it seems to cope admirably with everything you throw at it! hope your windscreen survived @ 18.24 🙄

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha the windscreen lives on luckily! The big Dewalt gun is a beast to be honest tons of power, it hasn't let me down yet. I have a few Dewalt tools and they've really impressed me. I've got my eye on their new ratchet for harder to reach stuff. 😁

[@iamyourfuture808]

@@SPANNERRASH i have dewalt drill and impact driver which uses the same battery as the impact gun ....hmmm

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@iamyourfuture808 Makes sense to get more tools to work those dewalt batteries! 🤔

[@skullcrusher207]

Does changing to these hubs affect the front wheel track?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Ethan, I believe it will push the wheels out around 15mm each side which is a consideration when selecting wheel offset.

[@alex_rodriguez777]

Do you know if it’s possible to switch over to 5 lug WITHOUT changing the front wheel track?

[@ady4BMW]

Hi mate. I am doing same conversion like you did but on the suspension I want to use Eibach springs and Bilstein shocks. Do I need to get the e36 kit and replace the top mount or can but the E30 kit? Thanks

[@SPANNERRASH]

If you use E36 front struts with E30 top mounts I can't see why it wouldn't work. You might have more difficulty getting wheels to fit nice without the adjustability of coilovers though. Let us know how it works out for you. A few people have asked me the same question, but I don't know for sure as I haven tried it this way.

[@medo4ril]

Hey question for you. I have the standard e30 knuckles with the clips Motorsport hub. Will the e36 front calipers bolt on to the standard knuckles or do I need adapters for it

[@SPANNERRASH]

I am fairly confident E36 calipers won't bolt up to E30 front knuckles. The ability to use E36 calipers was one of the benefits to using E36 front knuckles in this conversion. There may well be adapters on the market though but I've no experience of them.

[@dhilankerai3585]

How is the brake bias affected using this setup? Is it possible to use e46 330i callipers and discs all the way round using e36 front hub and knuckle? Vids are awesome! 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers! I've been told the brake bias won't be an issue but I guess we will find out when the car is on the road! There might be a way to get it tested to confirm too. It might be possible to use 330i front calipers if you get some kind of adapter to make it up to the E36 front knuckles. Regarding the rear, unfortunately, it has to be quite a specific disc to work with the standard handbrake mechanism properly, which then limits you down to these caliper options: BMW 325CI 2001-2006 BMW 325I 2001-2005 BMW 325XI 2001-2005 BMW 328CI 2000 BMW 328I 1999-2000 BMW Z4 (6-pot) 2003-2008 However, there may well be a way to adapt 330i calipers at the back to work with the new larger disc too. Let me know if you find out any more about that. I'm considering ways to get larger brakes on the front as I don't like the way the rear disc is slightly larger in diameter. Although I haven't even driven the car with these brakes yet!

[@dhilankerai3585]

@@SPANNERRASH from research the 330i front callipers and rotors are a direct bolt onto the e36 front knuckle and hub. However to accommodate the larger rotor size you will need to run 17” or bigger wheels. You were correct in stating only 325i callipers and rotors work with the standard handbrake mechanism. So I plan to use 330i in the front and 325i in the rear. You will need to use an uprated master cylinder to keep the pedal firm. As you are doing an m52 swap you may need to change the brake servo unit to accommodate the larger motor. I have read you can possibly use an e28 525i one which I believe is 25 compared to the e30s standard 22. Hope that helps you, good luck with your build!

[@dhilankerai3585]

Or install a brake proportioning valve. Probably the better option as it allows for personal adjustment.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@dhilankerai3585 Thanks for sharing that information! I wonder if the caliper hits the inside of a 16" wheel by much with 330i caliper, maybe it could be clearanced by taking an edge off it with a grinder or similar. I was planning to use a Renault Clio servo or an E90 one so it fits in the original position despite the engine swap, but we'll find out when I get to that part. 😁

[@fenton158]

Any update on 330i brakes under the 16s?

[@jrbravo25]

I’m late to the party here but I just did a 5 lug swap and used a e36 front spindle and hub… My e38 style 5s do not fit like his! His looks a bit more flush than mine does… I have a lot more wheel poking out. Anyone know if there is a variation of e36 hubs or is just my virgin fenders?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, my front fenders are not rolled, although one of them has some big old dents. Are you 100% sure you got E38 style 5s and not from another model. I know other style 5 wheels look the same but have very different offset. The E38 ones are ET23 and you can see exactly how they sit in the vid with no trickery. :D

[@jrbravo25]

@@SPANNERRASH I really appreciate you taking the time to reply to my comment… I’m sure it’s the e38 wheels - stamped et23. It’s a bit perplexing 🤔 Yours look great 💯 and I have no doubt you didn’t use some magic - haha. Back to the drawing board for me… If anyone has an idea what could be happening, I’d appreciate the perspective.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@jrbravo25 No problem at all. Hmm so my theory about it being the wrong wheel seems wrong. Are you also using the SRS Concept front control arm bushings to correct for the new hubs?

[@jrbravo25]

@@SPANNERRASH I sure did use the SRS Concept front control arm bushings to correct the toe. I just sourced another set of style 5s et23. I'll mount some new tires and test fit again. Maybe it's the wheels... Fingers crossed!

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@jrbravo25 In that case I cant think it would be anything but the wheels, hope that turns out to be the case!

[@chriswilson3196]

so If you wanted to do this on the cheap you could just use stock e36 struts with e30 springs and strut mounts and keep the stock rear control arm mount/bushing correct?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Chris, I'm not sure about E30 springs, but you could absolutely use stock E36 front struts with E30 top mounts on. You definitely will need to use the SRS Concept control arm bushing though, or your wheel will sit too far back in the arch. This is the main reason this method hasn't been popular in the past. But now SRS Concept offer an off-the-shelf product to solve it, it's the best way to go. Hope that helps!

[@chriswilson3196]

@@SPANNERRASH oops i skipped a whole sentence there. I meant stock 96+ e36 m3 control arm and mount

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@chriswilson3196 To be honest I'm not certain about that. I know a lot of people used the E36 M3 setup to get a 5-lug swap that worked well, but the parts have become rare and expensive to do it. I'm not sure if you could do a mix of parts the way you're describing, but it would be interesting to find out which combinations work. The beauty of the way I've done it is it doesn't use any M3 tax parts. 😂

[@brianl1049]

Hey thanks for this, I see you have affiliate links. I’m in the US, are you able to link US items and still get a commission? I’d love to do this to my e30 in the near future.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Brian, yeah some of the links we include in the description are affiliate ones. We really appreciate anyone who purchases through our links and supports the channel! 😃 Great question about US items, if you click through one of our links and make a purchase, even if the thing you purchase is different from the exact item linked, it should translate into a small commission for us. I think this would be the case even if you navigated from a linked UK item to a US item in the same browsing session, but I'm not 100% certain. I hope your E30 build goes well, I'm seriously impressed with this method of 5-lug swap if you're looking to do the same. But I've not got my E30 on the road yet so I'll need to follow up with a real-world driving review when the time comes. My expectations are high based on how it all looks/feels though! 👍

[@brianl1049]

@@SPANNERRASH Ok cool I will try soon! I have an 87 eta and just love the look of these cars with the style 5. I would much rather do a proper swap than run adapters. I know people do it without issue but it just makes me nervous. This looks pretty simple and cost effective as an upgrade. Glad I found your channel, hope you can get your car on the road soon!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Brian, this way of doing it seems brilliant, cant wait to see how it feels on the road. I agree about adapters, never like the idea of them.

[@donatasddd4223]

So i watched your rear and front brake swap and... rear brake disc are bigger than front? ok xD you should have got e46 330i 330d discs and callipers, 16inch wheels fits on them.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, yeah I'm definitely not satisfied with the fact the rear discs are larger than the fronts. I think I'm going to run it at first and I'm sure in practical terms there wont be a problem with it. But I will 100% be revisiting the brakes eventually to come up with a solution for that. Thanks for the heads up on the E46 calipers, sounds like a good option! 👍

[@henrikstrengen2621]

isn't all 320-328i and 320d 300mm? then you can get 294/300 as a standard e46🤔

[@user-vk1ol2fg4v]

There is no possible way this is more "cost effective" than just buying the 4x100 to 5x120 adapters.

[@SPANNERRASH]

When you say adapters, do you mean spacers that adapt? That's not a proper way in my opinion and causes a world of wheel fitment hurt. Or do you mean some other way?

[@mikeleonard8031]

It is because you got both the front wheels in the air that you can’t get the torsion bar bracket in .😂😂😂😂😂

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha makes sense, cheers!

[@mikeleonard8031]

Make or buy an engine support bracket then you don’t have to remove the engine in order to remove the cross member.😂😂😂😂

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks for the tip, this car is getting an M52 swap anyway which is convenient.

[@selespeed3]

you should not do this. the rubber bushing is to protect the car body. changing this way will destroy the body faster. it is the reason why softer bushing cushions the rubbing and vibrations impact of suspension and body. this wont end well

[@SPANNERRASH]

Are you referring to the solid lollipop bushing? I'm sure it wont be an issue, its a very solid chassis leg it connects to, and its not like I'm swapping all other bushings out for solid ones either. My only concern would be additional NVH in the cab, but in my experience its unlikely to be noticeable anyway. If it were a car I was planning to daily drive and do moon miles in once complete I'd be more conscious, but its supposed to be a fun car with sharp handling.

[@selespeed3]

@@SPANNERRASH i have seen too many videos of some naive people using especially hard PU bushes to replace the factory original ones,. they really think they know better than the engineers at BMW? or they dont care what would happen to the car body. I doubt they know this. softer ones are more pliant to preserve the body of car. e30 is a road car. not a track or race car.

[@mikeleonard8031]

Obviously you are not a mechanic.😂😂😂

[@SPANNERRASH]

Very true, I am a DIY have-a-go hero, learning as I go and enjoying it. Thus far its been pretty successful though.