bmw e30 318i donor

[big-handy-andy]

hi all just bought the book read it twice (missus is already dreading the amount of money its going to cost!) just wondering if anyone has used an e30 as a donor and have they any plans/drawings for the e30 diff mounts and rear hubs? any help greatly appreciated! cheers, Andy.

[HandyAndy]

Hi & welcome to the forum oh big namesake of mine
sorry i don,t have the answers to your questions tho i,m sure someone will come along with some info.
cheers
andy ( handyandy)

[flyerncle]

Welcome to the nuthatch, It has been posted here before about using BMW running gear ie diff etc and I think the opinion was that using the rear suspension was out and fitting the diff etc was a pain too. The engine and box could be used to good effect and again this is on the forum with pics of a build but I cant remember who but someone will, I have a damaged 318 IS compact in the garage and am considering it for engine and box.

Good luck

[Bonzo]

Hi welome to the forum Big Andy.

I believe our mighty leader, Chris has made a few posts about the beemer running gear.

I am sure Chris will be along shortly, in the meantime have a good poke around the forum.

I've looked at the BMW E36 bits, the E30 bits are broadly similar.

The rear suspension will require a bearing housing to be made to take the BMW bearings and to fix to an upright similar to the Sierra one, as the BMW set up is unusable.

The diff is quite big but can be squeezed in, and the same applies to the engine and gearbox, using mods similar to the MT75 ones.

The front hub isn't tall enough to be used alone and requires a fabrication like this



which is bolted to the existing strut mountings.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Chris

[big-handy-andy]

cheers Chris, might see if i can source sierra rear hubs and drive shafts splice them with the bmw shafts and use the rest of the bmw running gear now to start sourcing some tube.....
Andy.