:..: e36 compact and z3 have e30 rear suspension?

[rob101]

as some of you may know I am close to ridding my gf of the scourge of my existence a holden/opel astra and then replacing it with a 1998ish 318ti.
Now my friend hates them and not really with anymore reason than that they got bagged by motor journos when they came out. however he referred me to the wiki page which states that they and the z3 have e30 suspension.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Compact
cross checking with realoem, it is clear that the front suspension wishbones are the same as the normal e36 and the rear is shared with the z3 but not with other e36s. but there are no e30s with either the same rear subframe or rear trailing arm either .

This got me thinking, whether people that have seen both up close think there is an appreciable difference (ie in geometry like e28 rear suspension is diff from e34) or are the practically identical.
(And for anyone that thinks that the fact that they are both semi-trailing arm makes them the same, i guess my e34 must have e12 suspension then?!)

[myles]

I have an E36 compact in my fleet and it does have the older style of trailing arm suspension. The E36 sedan's suspension does feel a lot better. The trailing arm design doesn't detract from the compacts ride its just not quite as responsive as the multilink setup. My sedan does have m-tech suspension so that helps it too.

[Bin_jammin]

as some of you may know I am close to ridding my gf of the scourge of my existence a holden/opel astra and then replacing it with a 1998ish 318ti.
Now my friend hates them and not really with anymore reason than that they got bagged by motor journos when they came out. however he referred me to the wiki page which states that they and the z3 have e30 suspension.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Compact
cross checking with realoem, it is clear that the front suspension wishbones are the same as the normal e36 and the rear is shared with the z3 but not with other e36s. but there are no e30s with either the same rear subframe or rear trailing arm either .

This got me thinking, whether people that have seen both up close think there is an appreciable difference (ie in geometry like e28 rear suspension is diff from e34) or are the practically identical.
(And for anyone that thinks that the fact that they are both semi-trailing arm makes them the same, i guess my e34 must have e12 suspension then?!)


I don't know about the e12 suspension, but I know that the e30 and z3 have very similar setups. Let me ask you though, is that really so bad? Yeah, there are newer cars that handle better, but I'd still love to have another e30.

[winfred]

it's basicly e30 rear suspension, but then again the front of a e36 is about half e30 also, nothing really wrong with a ti (cool car to drop a m3 engine into, and yes it'll drop right in and bolt up to the 318 5 speed), oil and vacuum leaks and a noisy timing chain are the common m42/44 problems, if the chain gets real noisy look into it before it throws a tensioner guide rail and trashes some valves

[LunatiC]

I have heard that the "E30" rear suspension in the E36 ti's were kept for space saving measures...

This is the first I heard about the Z3 having "E30" rear suspension though...

[GoldenOne]

I know e30 guys look for salvaged 318ti's for a direct upgrade to 5 lugs, so they gotta be somewhat the same

[winfred]

the rear arms bolt right up and you use the e30 axles, i did the upgrade on the shop autocross car, i did m-coupe suspension with it's huge brakes on my e30 and i did 325/318ti on the shop car, with the right combo of arms and bushings you can drop the whole e36 front suspension onto a e30


I know e30 guys look for salvaged 318ti's for a direct upgrade to 5 lugs, so they gotta be somewhat the same

[rob101]

yeah thats what i thought, i know the compact is a good car I don't really worry about my friend's ramblings I was just curious to find out how closely related they were. my friend implied that the semi-TA was a cost cutting exercise. but i think the choice has more to do with maximising the space in the rear.

[genphreak]

yeah thats what i thought, i know the compact is a good car I don't really worry about my friend's ramblings I was just curious to find out how closely related they were. my friend implied that the semi-TA was a cost cutting exercise. but i think the choice has more to do with maximising the space in the rear.Way to go Rob, I reckon the stubby ass little buclet takes some getting used to, but it would be a fun ride and very easy round town.

They go cheap too, and a whole BMW better than buying a compact whatever, there is no more reason needed than that... :)

[PScalfano]

not to mention >30 mpg too.

[rob101]

Way to go Rob, I reckon the stubby ass little buclet takes some getting used to, but it would be a fun ride and very easy round town.

They go cheap too, and a whole BMW better than buying a compact whatever, there is no more reason needed than that... :)
yeah well my gf needs the fold down seats to get her cello in the back. But she didn't like the tourings (i am sure eventually she will come around) so compact is the only option. And as they say:"if you're going to be a bear might as well make it a grizzly" so she'll be getting the 318ti not the 316i :p

then this constant nightmare that is the astra will be over and I can actually fix her car if there's a problem