hi all, hope you can help! ive got myself a clean condition but standard e30 320, and im currently planning my wheels and suspension set up. its going to be a drifter, but road legal too - pretty much weekends only. although it will be coming off the road soon as i will be putting the v8 from my e39 into it (my old daily, bonnet opened on the motorway - made a right mess of it. engine and box are fine though! the e30 plan was hatched before the e39 had even been recovered home!) so, i'd like to stick with small dia wheels, but with a nice width, somewhere around 15x8. and i particularly like the rotas from the DW shop, but the 8j only seems to come in et0. ive done loads of searching but cant seem to find any definate answers about how well they will fit. coilovers are on the shopping list too, so its gonna be fairly low. the backs im not too worried about, but the fronts i am. i plan on fitting adjustable top mounts for camber and caster, which should help, and if i have done my homework correctly, it seems that using e36 bottom arms and steering rack is the way forward, but the longer arms are going to push the wheel further out arent they? im not looking for the "euro boy poke tuck stance massive" look, im more worried about it performing well. im not overly keen on putting bigger arches on it, but will consider it if its the only way, but i am happy to look into arch rolling/pulling etc. so, can anyone offer any advise about if they will stick out? and by how much? should i ditch the idea of using the e36 arms in favour of keeping the wheel in the arch? exactly how much camber will it have with the e36 arms and adjustable top mounts? im not bothered in the slightest if its a massive pain in the ass to drive on the road - im used to that! should i forget using 15's altogether and go bigger? its not my style and i'd rather not, but i am very much open to experts advise! thanks guys (a regular lurker, but infrequest poster)
Will probly be proven wrong but isnt e30 and e36 arms the same length? But e30 last alot longer , if you want clearance e46 is the way forward, not sure if thats completly correct but may help lol
you could well be right - i dont know lol! ive been looking it up and understood the e36 rack would need to be shortened to fit an e30 (tracking) and the e36 arms would push the wheel out enough for it to match up (and add a touch of neg camber) i know the e46 arms are longer, but they push it waaaay out dont they? i thought it might be a bit extreme for my needs? when i was talking about clearance i mostly meant tyres hitting the arches. but clearance for lock is important too! wouldnt have to worry too much with et0 though would i?
36 arms are the same length as 30. e30 m3 have more castor i think. e46 are wider track overall. e36 rack will require a steering linkage and spacers (either e34 uj's and speak to danthe on e30zone or an adapter speak to knuckledragger on trampdrift) aswell as pipes to rerun your pas if you want to keep it as e30 pipes dont fit 36's and only one pipe from the 36 fits a 30. as for clearance it dpends how low etc etc etc. camber is no the answer as excessive camber will just kill tires for no good reason. an arch roll will probably be your best bet.
exactly my thoughts, im aware of the steering linkage mods i have to do with the e36 rack, but for some reason i was under the impression e36 arms were a touch longer, guess not lol! glad i asked now! youre right about the camber, hence me being reluctant to go for the e46 arms. i dont mind a (normal ish) amount of camber, if its benifical to the handling, but absolutely not just to fit the wheels. any ideas just how much the e46 arms are longer by? im happy to roll the arches, just dont want to go wasting loads of money on wheels that are way wrong! ahem... cheeky request... anyone in the southeast, london, kent, essex etc got a 15x8 et0 i can fit just to see for myself??
you'l have some serious camber with e46 arms! iv got just camber castor top mounts on coilovers and iv got a good amount of camber!
Wow I think I'll defo swerve the e46 arms then!! I'm far from pro, I'm sure a moderate amount of lock will do for now!!
damn really? that sucks!!! im glad you mentioned though, its not something i had considered! ive struggled to get rock solid advise about how well they will fit, even from DW themselves, so i think im gonna go with some banded steels instead, and just have them made exactly to the fitment i want. i guess that way i can get more made exactly the same and not have to run mismatched wheels all the time!
Yh it's a shame, you could prob get away with a 15mm spacer but its still extra money on top of the wheels. They will be outside the standard arch as well
