M3 control arm upgrade possible on non- m cars?

[Willycool]

Hello all,

The bushings have finally had it and i want to upgrade to poly.

I was wondering if it is possible to update my 328is (non-m control arms) to m3 control arms. I understand that the sway bar mounting points are different ( mounted to strut for m and mounted to control arm for non- m)

Is it possible to relocate the mounting bracket to the m control arm so that the non-m sway bar will hook up?

Or perhaps I am going about this all wrong.....

Is there a good aftermarket m-type control arm that has poly bushings and good ball joints like Meyle?

Thanks in advance for your help...

Cheers,

Willy

[DANIMAL]

Originally Posted by Willycool

Hello all,

The bushings have finally had it and i want to upgrade to poly.

I was wondering if it is possible to update my 328is (non-m control arms) to m3 control arms. I understand that the sway bar mounting points are different ( mounted to strut for m and mounted to control arm for non- m)

Is it possible to relocate the mounting bracket to the m control arm so that the non-m sway bar will hook up?
....

You can indeed use M control arms in a non-M. I have M control arms in my 328. The Sawybar still mounts to it. Be carefull as to which bushings you get. I had powerflex offset bushings on my 328 and when I moved to M3 CA I had to get 95 M parts as the 96+ M has offset built into the arm itself.

In terms of cost I believe its cheaper to run 95 M control arms with offset bushings rather than 96+ with centered bushings.

There is a caveat here however, and someone correct me if Im mistaken, but you can not change ball joints in the M3 arms, if the ball joint goes you have to replace the whole arm.

[Willycool]

Thanks for the response...

I have a 1998 328 is and I assume that I would use 96 + control arms with centered bushings....

Did you remove the the old sway bar mount ( U shape) off your old non-m control arm and insert it into your new m control arm? (hole in control arm near ball joint which is held in place with a bolt.)

Did the orginal non-m sway bar mount up ok?

I am about to purchase all the parts and want to make sure that I get the correct ones.

Thanks,

Willy

[thinair]

I too run M3 control arms, as Dan stated there are no issues running a non-M sway bar mounted to the control arms. The M3 control arms have the same mounting hole as the non-M control arms. The U-bracket unbolts from the old control arm and bolts into the new one.

And as Dan mentioned there are some geometry differences between the 95 and 96+ M control arms so be aware of what you need in terms of control arm bushings.

Both inner and outer ball joints on the M and non-M control arms are replaceable despite what some manuals say. I'd assume BMW just wants you to use fresh arms to keep old again ones from failing.

[JazzM]

On a street car, your cheapest and best option is to run e30 control arms (325) and e30 M3 offset control arm bushings (same as 95 m3).

The e30 control arms have replaceable balljoints. Even Turner recommends this setup.

Regards,

T.

[ZiMMie]

Originally Posted by JazzM

On a street car, your cheapest and best option is to run e30 control arms (325) and e30 M3 offset control arm bushings (same as 95 m3).

The e30 control arms have replaceable balljoints. Even Turner recommends this setup.

Regards,

T.

Do u have a link? Cant seems to find anything on Turner's site in regards to this setup.

[ScotcH]

Or the Meyle HD control arms with solid ball joints. We ran them on the race cars for 3 years.