Making List of suspension points to reinforce.

[pdxmotorhead]

Ok so I can't find a "list" of what points need reinforcing, so far I found,,,

Primary upgrades:
1. Solid front bushings.
2. Non rubber mounted Ball Joints.
3. Reinforce Rear Sway bar tabs.
4. Upper Rear shock mounts.

Secondary Upgrades.
1. X-brace
2. Rear undercarrage brace.

Finishing touches:
1. Heavier sway bars.
2. Full shock strut kit.
3. Spring kit.

[cali-ti]

you'll have a number of different choices on front control arm bushings (assuming that's what "solid front bushings" refers to). my mechanic (who also race preps and races 318s) suggested the e30 m3 CABs (still rubber, but harder and he said he's never seen them fail - i also have mine as a daily driver). there are urethane bushings, centered or offset (e30 ones are offset, believe someone else commented somewhere that it makes it a little more stable - hopefully someone can explain this more in simple terms and/or correct me if what i just said is wrong) ... i think delrin ones are available too.

the "butt strut" (not the official name, but its nickname) from strong strut (www.strongstrut.com, look for Z3 rear strut bar) would be my recommendation for "rear undercarriage brace." not cheap, but there are some people who would consider going in on a group buy at some future point (maybe 6 months from now for me personally) ... i know L84thsky was interested.

if you choose lowering springs, i would also very much consider putting on a camber kit. i know bavauto.com and bmpdesign.com both offer them. bmpdesign for some reason doesn't list the front kit for our car even though it should be exactly the same as the other 6-cyl 3ers, go figure. front and back would be about $600. otherwise you'll have really nice negative camber like me you might want to consider stiffer springs that offer little to no lowering (if you can find them) or a coilover kit that offers a highest point of adjustment in the perches that results in little to no drop. another thing to consider in lowering your car ... you very well might not be able to get under it any more! i used to be able to change my oil without raising the car at all (yes, on a flat garage floor) and now i have to get up on ramps. oh yeah, my regular car ramps wouldn't work any more either after i lowered it, even with the extension kit i got which makes the angle shallower, the front bumper cover would STILL hit. had to fashion mods out of 2 x 10 pressure treated wood to make it all the way up to the top without hitting. AND i have to be careful of many things i didn't before now because it sits lower (speed bumps, driveway entrances, ice/snow chunks during winter that are of any significant size, etc). personally after all this, i'm wondering if lowering is really worth it. just my humble opinion.

[maurolin]

sway bar links
front and rear stess bars (strut bar)
traling arm bushings
rear and front sub frame bushings
tranny bushings
diff bushings
control arm bushings
sway bar bushings
rear shock mounts

[marcus2116]

i had a custom x brace made for my car that goes from the c pillar to the seat belt spools

[pdxmotorhead]

What I'm trying to do is create a simple FAQ of the progression
of what really needs done to a 318 ti to make a nice handling street
fun car. I fix a lot of cars at the track that have been developed in
the wrong order, (Example: too much tire for the suspention.)

Primary upgrades: (Tighten up the car and make more reliable.)
1. Reinforced Upper Rear shock mounts.
2. Solid Rubber (M3) front bushings.
3. Non rubber mounted Ball Joints.
4. Reinforce Rear Sway bar tabs.
5. Sway bar bushings front and rear.

Secondary Upgrades. (Stiffen the chassis a bit)
1. X-brace
2. Rear undercarrage brace.
3. Tranny and Differential Bushing upgrade.

Finishing touches: (Take advantage of the chassis improvements.)
1. Heavier sway bars.
2. Full shock strut kit.
3. Street sport Spring kit. (Coil over or Just springs...Hmm?)
4. + size tires and wheels.

Any others?

Dave

[maurolin]

Roll bars, sway bar links, front and rear strut/shock bars, wheel spacers, training wheels,

[cali-ti]

as maurolin mentioned, trailing arm bushings, possibly subframe bushings (don't know if there are drawbacks to using urethane for any of these). i haven't done any of these yet so i can't really comment. i AM planning on doing urethane trailing arm bushings (as part of a camber kit). i guess one may want/need a camber kit too (if drop is significant).

looks nice dave. btw, where was this list when i was starting my mods man?

[pdxmotorhead]

Every marque has its productive mods and those that may have
cool factor but don't improve and maybe actually hurt handling.
Focus here is the basic through more advanced mods for a street car.
I'm holding mods to performance increases with minimal impact
on the comfort of driving the car. Track level/ Autocross is beyond
the intended scope.

Primary upgrades: (Tighten up the car and make more reliable.)
1. Reinforced Upper Rear shock mounts.
2. Solid Rubber (M3) front bushings.
3. Non rubber mounted front Ball Joints.
4. Reinforce Rear Sway bar tabs.
5. Sway bar bushings front and rear.

Secondary Upgrades. (Stiffen the chassis a bit)
1. X-brace
2. Front strut tower brace.
3. Rear undercarrage brace.
4. Tranny and Differential Bushing upgrade.
5. Firm subframe bushings. (Whats the best material? Delrin? Urathane?)

Finishing touches: (Take advantage of the chassis improvements.)
1. Heavier sway bars.
2. Full shock & strut set. (Koni or Bilstien)
3. Street sport Spring kit. (Coil over or Just springs...Hmm?)
4. Camber kit if lowering springs are installed.
5. + size tires and wheels.

Any others?
I flagged things with colored comments that I'm firuring out....
I place the strut brace a bit higher because I've found that a
lot of different track cars show fatigue signs in areas that are likely
due to strut tower flex. IE Leaky Windshields, seams that leak, and I
give it a bump for the cool factor cause you can see it when you work
on the car...

Dave

[L84THSKY]

I think my rear camber kit consists of new subframe bushings. Isn't that part of the what makes up the BavAuto rear camber kit?

Originally Posted by cali-ti

as maurolin mentioned, trailing arm bushings, possibly subframe bushings (don't know if there are drawbacks to using urethane for any of these). i haven't done any of these yet so i can't really comment. i AM planning on doing urethane trailing arm bushings (as part of a camber kit). i guess one may want/need a camber kit too (if drop is significant).

looks nice dave. btw, where was this list when i was starting my mods man?

[cali-ti]

lol ... ****, are we BORG now dave??? hmmmm, kinda sounds like HAL from 2001: "What are you doing, Dave?" i digress ...

i don't deem strut/shock tower braces as primary upgrades (per your definition, and i like your definitions and upgrade concept). from what i've read (i don't have them myself), they should be in the finishing touches section. the return on your investment for those is nowhere near what say the x-brace would be. i think i would put that literally last in the list (not last in the category, last in the list).

RSM (rear shock mounts) are a common failure point. i would move those up in category 1 ... say to the number 3 position. other than that, i like the list, the order and you for putting this together

[J!m]

Originally Posted by cali-ti

i don't deem strut/shock tower braces as primary upgrades (per your definition, and i like your definitions and upgrade concept). from what i've read (i don't have them myself), they should be in the finishing touches section. the return on your investment for those is nowhere near what say the x-brace would be. i think i would put that literally last in the list (not last in the category, last in the list).

I disagree. I noticed a marked improvement when I installed my strut tower brace.The common off-camber windshield 'creak' went away. What more evedince could you need?

Also, add to the list two very cheap insurance items:

Z3 reinforcing plate (rear shock mount) 51.71.8.413.359 ?
Front strut tower reinforcing plates 31.31.2.489.795 $10.00

[cali-ti]

Originally Posted by J!m

I disagree. I noticed a marked improvement when I installed my strut tower brace.The common off-camber windshield 'creak' went away. What more evedince could you need?

that same "windshield creak" is what the x-brace is supposed to eliminate (and why they put it on the convertibles from the factory, right?

did you already have the x-brace when you installed the strut tower brace? that would certainly be telling if you did.

[J!m]

I have both; I'm not sure what happened first, but I did notice the elimination of that nasty windshield creak when the strut brace was installed.

The X-brace was developed for firewall shake in the convertables.

[weezer]

I'm seriously thinking of upgrading the rear shock mounts, since we all know what happens to the E36 rear floor when the shock mounts fail and start to tear.
This might be a stupid question, but our rear suspensions (318ti) are that of the E30 design and set-up. Does this change at all or is the 318ti the exception to the E36 infamous mallady?
If we still hav eto worry about this, has anyone here (God forbid) have had this problem?
How do we prevent this from happening? New OEM shock mounts or aftermarket mounts such as BMP's or Turner's?

[95isTurbo]

I have stock suspension and my rear springs have cracked off little pieses (now rear dropped "1.0 and my RSM poped, so before anything RSM THEN springs THEN all the other crap ,