Can M3 rear springs fit under the ti?
 

Question, will they fit?


























This is actually just a troll post, since all I ever read everywhere online is, "NO, THEY WILL NOT FIT."

Well to the people who posted that without actually knowing the difference between the two suspensions, you are unfortunately incorrect.

Now, there are a few things to consider about this conversion.

A) My car is swapped. The suspension setup before this was as follows:
-Stock rear end from a sport model ti
-M3 entire front subframe assembly
-Eibach half inch drop front springs MADE FOR M3.
-UUC Swaybabarians set to minimum stiffness to combat understeer.

B) Spare tire removed, Medium case diff, and battery relocated:
(90lb medium case)+(25Lb battery)-(25lb spare)-(35lb small case) = 55lb extra weight in the rear.

C) Car was already severely rear traction biased, as explained below:

As it was, the car was balanced and let go smoothly and nearly evenly with 235 tires in the front, and 205 snow tires in the rear. Obviously, putting the 235s in the rear caused MASSIVE understeer. I'm talking so much so that a clutch kick was necessary to kick out the rear end WITH THE S52.

I decided I'd be cheap, so instead of buying new ti rear springs, I'd inspect the M3 rear springs and see what all the commotion was about. Yes I know the ti has the e30 sub-frame in the rear, so I had my doubts, but I looked anyway.

So I pulled out the ti springs and had a gander. Guess what? Here are the results(Keep in mind, M3 springs are for a half inch drop on the M3)
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/...9/IMAG0909.jpg

Ok so the spring rates are obviously gonna be pretty different. As it was, I was worried about the car being raked backwards like crazy, since they were a little shorter.

I installed the springs and this is what they look like in the car for proof that they fit perfectly, I used the ti spring seats, since they were slightly thicker rubber.
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/...9/IMAG0908.jpg
http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/...9/IMAG0911.jpg

Torqued everything down to factory specs and lowered the car down.

First thing I noticed was the rear end went down considerably less when I pushed down on it. 2nd thing was the ride height was nearly the same as the stock springs, with only a 1/4" drop.

KEEP IN MIND, these cause a 1/2" drop for the M3.

So conclusions?

After I drove the car for a about 20 days on these springs, this is what I can tell you:
-The springs fit physically. No bangs, bumps, pops or anything while driving, jacking the car up, turning, etc.
-Stock M3 springs will most likely raise the car slightly over stock ti sport springs, and probably won't be much stiffer anyway.
-In a normal application, running these would be downright dangerous, and cause the car to over-steer under neutral power while cornering.
-With my setup, these springs reduced the need for me to NEED a rear sway-bar upgrade, though I can still feel a bit of under-steer on turn in, and the front sway bar is still set to it's softest setting, the extra power and the LSD allow for it to counter that.
-They worked for me, and if you have under steer that literally makes the car push like a FWD, they will work for you! I will still most likely go with the M-coupe rear sway bar, and then I will use the front sway bar to dial in the car for that perfect balance that it came with when the 4-cylinder was installed.
-Now, driving the car with the 205s in the rear becomes somewhat of a roller coaster ride, and drifting the car with nothing but a press of the gas became possible in 3rd gear, even below when VANOS kicks in.


As a side note, the M3 shocks will definitely NOT fit, as they are about 5" too long.

So there you go, hopefully this clears up some of the blindly thrown around misinformation out there!

great info! So if the rear shocks are too long, from what model shock will work good with a complete M3 coupe coilover set-up?

from stanceworks http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...&postcount=177

79-93 Mustang are what you want... about 2" shorter than stock. Top mount size is the same, and lower needs about 18mm added to it (I used a bunch of washers). I'm using Strange Engineering S6000EM shocks. 10 way adjustable, and Amazon has them for $140/pair shipped. My Z is about 3/4" from laying frame with stock wheels/tires.

Really!? Lol Rustang shocks.... I dunno if I can put Ford parts on my Bimmer....? Might be F.ound O.n R.oad D.ead! Hahaahlllol

E30/Z3/Ti can use Double adjustable Koni's that are meant for SN95 Mustangs. That is what TC Kline was using and TMS was using Bilsteins from a Ford E350 van for the J stock initially they have their own serial number for them now.

Be surprised what you can and can not use. Believe some of the R3V guys were using Pontiac Firebird stuff for a bit too.

Ha lol. Actually it's good to know...
I was just joking around/not a big Ford fan. Lol
Trans am's on the other hand! Maybe I'll throw some of those in there, support the domestic economy.. seeing everything in my driveways euro,...with the exception of the lil Jap Subby. Thnx

I'm actually using the Strange Engineering S6000EM shocks on the Ti. Been playing around with the 10-way adjustable, and with the soft set up, they're great on the street.

thanks for this very useful post :joy:

The Rear springs from a E36 M3 Evo fit, i am running them currently. The Ride height does not change though as the 318ti is so light.

thanks

Me too
 

I'm running M3 H&R sport rear springs (part #29936 HA) w/o issue for >10K miles. About 1" drop.

Shnice!

Bilstein Sport shocks
 

Just one more thing to add. Since the Bilstein Sports are deigned for lowered cars, I have been using the M3 BS's on the rear of all three of my 318ti's.