If I got m3 sways for my car, I know the rear sway goes in just fine, and that I need to have m3 shocks for my front because the sway attaches to the shock, unlike what I have now...but the thing I am curious about is,

If I got Koni adjustables for my front struts...and reused my H&R sport springs made for 328, would it change anything height wise?

Also, are m3 sways even worth it or should I go with an aftermarket sway setup made for my car?

Your front sway is probably larger then an M3 front sway. If you switched front mounts, keep the 3 series sway.

Really? I had no idea the 328 front sway was larger than m3...

I know the rears are definitely smaller though...

Yepper, It needs to be bigger, because of the less efficient mounting geometry. Mounting to the control arm vs the strut itself.

So now the question is....if I just added a rear sway to my current setup, would it throw off the balance?

if you want to use the m3 front sway bar, you need to have m3 front strut housings as they have the attachment point for the sway bar. although the m3 bar is thinner, it attaches to the strut housing instead of the normal 3 series attachment point on the control arm. this results in the effective stiffness of the m3 sway bar being higher, not lower, than the regular bar.

yes, i have an extra set of stock m3 strut housings available if you need something to mount those adjustable koni's in.... :)

strut housings = struts in general right?

*gawdamnit, please excuse my ignorance right now, if I saw strut housings in person, I'd know exactly what you're talking about and I wouldn't be so friggin stupid :stickoutt*

so assuming my shocks/struts are dying and I need to replace them, should I just get m3 struts out front instead of my 328 struts?

A strut housing is the thing the insert goes into. It's got the wheel bearing and brakes and stuff attached to it. When you get new dampers (the fronts aren't really "shocks" you'd keep your strut housing and put the new inserts in. The sway bar links on the M attach to the housings.

Chris, be sure to double check that your springs will fit on the smaller M3 spring perches on the M3 struts.

depends on what brand struts you get....

on e36's the strut housing unbolts easily from the kingpin. koni's inserts use the stock strut. you have to take out the shot stock insert and install the koni insert into it. bilstein struts replace the entire strut housing.

How about this:

What's your budget? We can go from there.

$300-400

I could do m3 sways and new shocks setup

or get new shocks and then worry about aftermarket sways come springtime...

I've got my budget loosely figured out. But feel free to add some expert advice John :)

...and for the time being, she won't see any track time, she may see an autox *depends on my summer community project and how intense that is* come next season...I just want to her to feel a bit more tighter. I mean, this desire for sways could be due to my dying shocks/struts and floaty feel...

*and yes, thanks for the reminder about that Ron

Digging up an old thread because I just pieced together this:

Bilstein sports (with my current H&R Sports) + xbrace

NOW question is, if I added an m3 rear sway while I was down there, but kept my stock front sway. What kind of effect would I get from handling after I was done?


*I didn't pull a Doug$$$$ this time ;) *GO FSU*