control arm swap?

[Blackey1693]

someone had told me that you can use e34 control arms on an e28 and basically the hole suspension set up for both the front and rear end and it sounded like it would be possible but Id like to get a 100% correct answer before I go any farther with it. also does the e34 steering box work in the e28's as well? (i have an 83 533i if that makes any difference, I'm not sure if it does or not). i plan on doing all new control arms Anyway and i was also wondering if there were any control arms that are longer that would stance it out a little wider as well.

[ElGuappo]

That is 100% wrong.

You use an E28 arm with the BUSHING from an e32 750i.
Or a spherical bearing from Moosehead Engineering.

[Blackey1693]

Thats what I was waiting to hear thanx

[535is-pa]

lower control arms work, not uppers. still you want the e31 arms instead with the spherical bearing in place of the bushing.

as for steering box, it will work, the hoses are in a different location and if it is a servotronic box that just adds drama, but it will bolt up, but the only reason to use it is if yours is broken and you need one asap and found a free e34 one...


reat trailing arms work and they are reinforced between the "wishbones", but the ones your after are e32 trailing arms, because of the spherical bearing in the bushing location.

[ahab]

You can go the realoem.com and check which parts are an exact fit. E34 LCAs are. Regarding stancing it out you should probably check with stanceworks to see what they do and what your options are. I'm no expert but longer control arms will wreak havoc with your suspension geometry and likely render the car undriveable. That never seemed to bother them however.

Edit:

lower control arms work, not uppers. still you want the e31 arms instead with the spherical bearing in place of the bushing.

These are also aluminum and will set you back about $170/side, but definitely an upgrade. Tammer just put them on his touring and boy did they look sweet.

[Blackey1693]

True

[535is-pa]

You can go the realoem.com and check which parts are an exact fit. E34 LCAs are. Regarding stancing it out you should probably check with stanceworks to see what they do and what your options are. I'm no expert but longer control arms will wreak havoc with your suspension geometry and likely render the car undriveable. That never seemed to bother them however.

Edit:

lower control arms work, not uppers. still you want the e31 arms instead with the spherical bearing in place of the bushing.

These are also aluminum and will set you back about $170/side, but definitely an upgrade. Tammer just put them on his touring and boy did they look sweet.

aluminum and steel control arms are identical, other then appearance/weight. my alignment specs and car feel did not change at all with e34 aluminum arms.

[ElGuappo]

Its not just the aluminum LCA, but the spherical bearing from the E31 that makes a difference.

[shagrath]

Just stick with the e28 units with MHD UCABS or poly, or e32 (requires spreading of the bracket they bolt into). Cheaper, easier and just as effective. Don't do a steering box unless you absolutely have to, and even then I would replace with an e28 M5 close ratio unit.

If this is a project car though... shoot do what you want and figure it out.

[867535i]

I'm about to do my control arms and I'd heard the same thing as the OP. In fact, Pelican Parts shows all of the models that the UCA and LCA apply to which includes e28, e34, and e32's. So now I'm confused at to which I should use. I've been told the the e32's are HD so I was going to go that route but now it's not as clear. http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/sma ... 30iL%20%20 Click to see all the applications.

[mooseheadm5]

Lower control arms are the same for E28, late E24, E32, and E34 and there is no difference in the bushings. There are aluminum lower control arms that are also available that were standard on some E34s. There are also E31 lower control arms, which are aluminum and also have a spherical joint instead of a bushings for the inner joint.

Upper control arms are E28 and late E24 only. The Meyle HD brand come with stronger than stock upper control arm bushings, but the Lemfoerder arms are generally regarded as better because the ball joint is very good quality.