M Z4 suspension question...

[ddragon76]

I have a chance to get a "M" Z4 MOTON clubsport kit at a good price, and i'm going to install it on my e36 M3 race car...so far, on the picture it looks very similar to an e36 kit, does anybody know if it's gonna work? What is a difference between M Z4 and E36 kits?
Thanks!

[ppg4]

Pretty sure the strut bodies have different dimensions. Only way to know for sure is to get measurements or call Moton. They have great customer support.

[JamesM3M5]

E46 struts go into a clamp assembly cast into the spindle. E36 struts bolt on. You will need E46 330i spindles to put E46 struts on an E36. You will also have to deal with very little suspension travel and tune your suspension accordingly.

[BJO]

MZ4 roadsters/coupes have a similar looking front strut to the e36m3. They bolt on to the kingpin not clamp into it like the e46 does. You can even use the strut shim trick like on the e36m3.

The stock struts on the MZ4 look longer than the e36m3, but I was not able to take measurements.

[B.Watts]

Originally Posted by JamesM3M5

E46 struts go into a clamp assembly cast into the spindle. E36 struts bolt on. You will need E46 330i spindles to put E46 struts on an E36. You will also have to deal with very little suspension travel and tune your suspension accordingly.

Strangely enough, on Real OEM, for the normal 2.5-3.0 liter Z4's, the front suspension shown is the E46,clamp-on, style. For the 3.2 liter MZ4, the front suspension shown is E36, bolt-on, style. It seems BMW wasn't consistent between the M and non-M versions.

[Serious]

Originally Posted by B.Watts

Strangely enough, on Real OEM, for the normal 2.5-3.0 liter Z4's, the front suspension shown is the E46,clamp-on, style. For the 3.2 liter MZ4, the front suspension shown is E36, bolt-on, style. It seems BMW wasn't consistent between the M and non-M versions.

I noticed that as well... very peculiar... I would've expected bmw to use the e46 m3 style suspension for the mz4 in the same way they used the e36 m3 front suspension for the mz3.

[=BA=]

Already knew that fora long time, that's why it might be possible to put E46 M3 ZCP / M3 CSL brakes on a E36 M3, since the Z3M uses these as well. But I don't know how the different spindle would change geometry.

I have wondered about the reason, I think it might have something to do with FIA homologation of the Z4 Motorsport car. The E36 front strut assembly is much stiffer than the E46 assembly.

[JamesM3M5]

DOH! Nevermind. I just saw a Z4 M Coupe the other day, and I forgot that they used E36-like front spindles. My bad.

[Hellabad]

The MZ4 strut looks just like an e36, but is much shorter.

This has made alot of MZ4 owners unhappy when they bought expensive German "Suspension Kits" that ignorantly use the long e36 front strut in the package, and the new suspension makes the car handle much worse than stock.

In your case, you should be able to figure it out with some careful measuring, and I can help with some different height mountings.

Jay from Ground Control

[ddragon76]

Thanks for reply, i think i'm gonna go for it, the price is really good, and shorter struts and shocks will be just a benefit for my application.