Front sways

[1996 328ti]

I have H&R race springs with Koni single adjustables.
I'm told to get a M3 sway.

One very reputable company says I need M3 struts to mount the M3 sway bar.
Another very reputable company says it's better to mount the sway directly to the control arm.

Looking at realoem, it looks like my sport sway is 26mm.
A M3 sway is 23mm.

I'm totally confused now.

[1996 328ti]

OK, I'll answer my own question.
Since the mounting point is different on M3 struts, I guess that is the reason for the smaller bar.

Now what sway can I get that will make the front end stiffer?

[jeff318]

get the e36 front x brace that goes underneath man. no doubt the best thing if you want to stiffen up the front end.

[cooljess76]

Hey Steven, I wish I could be of help but to be honest I'm not very educated in this area. I know that the M3 swaybar is tied to the struts unlike regular and sport suspension where the swaybar is tied to the control arms. I didn't know that the M3 swaybar was 23mm however. The non-sport sways are 23mm, while ours is in fact 26mm.

The only reason that I could think of as to why they connected the swaybar to the strut on the M3 is to possibly increase lateral stiffness similar to what a strut brace would do. But I'm really not sure, so don't take my word for it.

The Sport model swaybars are pretty beefy and I've never had any complaints in performance, but perhaps in your case with the bigger engine, a stiffer front swaybar might be in order. I remember a few months ago the forum had a group buy on the Eibach sways, it might be worth looking into.

Also FWIW, perhaps the first people that you talked to weren't aware that the Sport model Ti's had 26mm swaybars and if you did go with an M3 swaybar, you'ld probably have to get M3 struts.

[JedzE36/5]

go with the eibach front sway bar. you wont be dissappointed.

[H3_2.1-ti]

Originally Posted by JedzE36/5

go with the eibach front sway bar. you wont be dissappointed.

+1. Or the H&R; it's the same size. The x-brace is a great upgrade but serves a different purpose...


Cheers,

[snuggz]

The diameter of the sway has nothing to do with the mounting point; you can use the M3 sway in your car with no problems (you'll need matching sway mounts/bushings to accomodate the diameter) by just using the swaybar end-links that mount to the control arm instead of the strut body (just like the ones you're using now). I can't tell you why they made the M3 sway a smaller diameter, but the shape is alot different and believe me, I felt a huge difference when I moved to it (although I did the Z3M suspension swap at the same time... soooo... biased information ahoy).

edit -- holy old thread batman...

[gimp]

The M3 sway is a smaller diameter because where it is mounted (to the strut and not the control arm) makes it more effective. Same effect with a smaller, lighter bar.

[mohaughn]

I have the 28mm H&R with ground control adjustable sway bar end links attached to the struts. Gives me three levels of adjustability please I can adjust the preload. I have it on full soft.

[campaiar]

Originally Posted by gimp

The M3 sway is a smaller diameter because where it is mounted (to the strut and not the control arm) makes it more effective. Same effect with a smaller, lighter bar.

So sorry to bring this back again, but wouldn't the tightest setup be the TI sport 26mm bar attached to M3 struts?

I was looking into buying an M3 front sway, but it looks like if I change to M3 struts, springs and sway bar links, I'll be set.

Anyone hear, thought or done this?

[RidingSimple]

I know this is old, but I wanted to mention one thing about the difference between M3 and non M3 spec front sway bars.

I tried attaching a M3 spec front bar (23mm) via the non M3 method (to the control arm) on a E36 328i I used to have. I did this to prepare for sale because I had removed my 28mm H&R bar and only had the M3 one laying around.

Point is, it DID NOT work. The bars cannot be interchanged, meaning I know for a fact you cannot take a M3 link to strut bar and link it to the control arms (not that anyone would want to), and I assume you cannot take a 26mm non M3 sport bar and attach it to the struts using M3 specific struts (as questioned above).

While they "look" close in design, they are in fact differently shaped.

Stick to non M3 front bars when attaching to the control arm.
Stick to M3 front bars when attaching to the strut.

Many of you are probably thinking to yourselves "this is common sense" but I assure you it is not. I have even asked this in the bf.com track section and they all were guessing. Assuming one would work with the other. I used to have a pic of a stock 23 mm M3 front bar next to the stock 25mm 328 bar. They are shaped quite differently.