BMW E30 Sway Bar Installation Guide [Front & Rear ARB] How To Fit Eibach Anti Roll Bar Review | 041
In this video, I show how to fit front and rear anti-roll bars to a BMW E30.
Here is what I used:
Eibach Anti-Roll Bar Kit 20mm Front 16mm Rear E2003-320 (although I'm not certain this includes fitting kit): ebay.us/on8AbZ
Ford Mondeo Mk3 Estate Rear ARB Links (Upgrade for E30 Front): ebay.us/AhONIx
Weld-In E30 Front Subframe Reinforcing Plates: ebay.us/FZIzdU
Silverline Finger Sander: ebay.us/Okqp3u
A standard BMW E30 has boat-like handling and rolls a lot in the corners. This was even true of the E30 318is I had years ago which came equipped with the full 325i sport suspension with larger front struts. I remember wishing it would corner a bit flatter, but it was too clean and original to modify.
With this 316i E30 build project, I'm planning to make it my ultimate version of the E30 and a real B-road blasting missile. I don't want this car to be so stiff that it rattles your teeth out, but I do want it to be firm and confidence-inspiring as I swerve across the Yorkshire countryside at pace.
To achieve this, I opted for larger front and rear ARBs for the car. Known as sway bars across the pond, there are a few companies that provide ARB kits for the BMW E30.
As my car is a poverty spec facelift 316i, it actually came equipped from the factory with an 18.5mm front sway bar, which is rather skinny. Further to this, it didn't come equipped with a rear sway bar at all. I suspect when I get the M52 engine in and drive the car spiritedly it would be rolling in the corners badly.
A BMW 325i sport would have come equipped with 20mm front and a 12mm rear sway bar.
I considered the most aggressive upgrade which would be to a pair of Whiteline ARBs, these are 24mm in the front and 16mm rear, but I fear this size on a light chassis would make the handling a bit too stiff, so I settled on the E30 Eibach Sway Bar Kit 20mm Front 16mm Rear (E2003-320). These bars are adjustable and I'll be surprised if I end up on the stiffest setting. I will start them on the softest setting and I can dial them up from there.
One of the big benefits of the Eibach kit is that it can come with the complete fitting kit included. This particular kit came with the 2 bars, their polyurethane bushings, the correct grease, OE rear ARB bushing brackets and their screws, and even the rear ARB links. I sourced mine through Vision Racing Developments (VRD) and thanks again to Rich for supplying the kit.
Fitting the kit was quite straightforward, but first, it's worth noting that a major weak spot on the E30 is the front subframe ARB mounting tabs, these are commonly known to rip off, especially if you're fitting stiffer sway bars. In a much earlier video, I welded on the reinforcement plates to mine which I'd strongly recommend.
I started by fitting the E30 front sway bar, threading it above the front control arms and across the car. I had a real issue getting the bushings fitted so ended up sanding them down a bit using the finger sander (powerfile).
They fitted up a treat. I went ahead and fitted Ford Mondeo Estate Mk3 rear ARB links which are a great upgrade to use as the front links on an E30. These are a bit shorter to help account for a lower ride height too. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to use these due to the way my front control arms had moved when I did my 5-lug swap using the SRS Concept front control arm bushings but turns out they fit nicely and even hold the sway bar nice and parallel to the ground. At least when the suspension is at full droop.
The rear anti-roll bar fitting involved taking out a rear spring, which I did by unbolting the bottom of the rear strut and letting the rear trailing arm hang down. With this spring out of the way, I was able to feed the rear ARB above the differential and over the fuel filler neck into position. Remembering to route the diff's speed sensor plug wiring below and away from the roll bar.
The rear diff poly bushings fit perfectly, as did the new brackets and screws. I also went ahead and used the E30 rear sway bar links provided in the kit which fit up perfect and also look like they will allow the bar to remain parallel when all four wheels are on the ground.
I had a great experience with the Eibach E30 sway bar kit and can recommend it. As for its performance on the road, you'll have to wait for my comments down the line.
As an addition to this video, I went ahead and bolted my Record Vise to the workbench, which was long overdue.
For more helpful how-to guides: www.spannerrash.com/
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