[sle39lvr]

I want to talk about rear sways for the most part.

I have a non-sport E90 328i (pre LCI) and reloem.com states me rear sway as:
13mm - 33556764425

After months of research on this board, it seems like no ones knows if the ZSP has thicker sway bars or not. If anyone who reads this knows, please state...

I put 18" stock staggered wheels, and planning to get coilovers and want to go slightly lower than sports package height. (sports package is .6" lower and I want to go around 1").

Ultimately, I do want m3 control arms up front, but DO NOT WANT to touch the front sway bar. If anything, I would go skinnier up front. My last fwd car, I ran with a thicker sway in the back and no sway up front, feel was 100 better.

So down to the question:
After putting 18", I can tell car understeers even more (probably due to wider tires in the back). I want to put a thicker sway in the back to have the car feel neutral. Popular solution here seems like the M3 rear sway, which I think will be too much for me. Will be harsh in the back in straight line and stories about snap-oversteer scares me.

M3 rear sway is 20mm?
H&R also makes a 20mm one.

Is there anything in between 13mm - 20mm?

Thanks in advance.

[TurboBimmer]

I know you said you didn't want to touch the front ARB, but I would suggest you get both front and rear M3 ARBs. They will provide a very good balance.

[Fraggy]

The car will be fine. It sounds like you want the rear to steer the car, and this is a situation H

[e90pilot]

Getting rid of the stagger will help you a lot. A rear sway bar will cost you a fortune in labor because you have to remove the rear subframe. But fwiw, Dinan makes a 15.8mm rear sway. They claim 4 hours for install.

[Fraggy]

Originally Posted by Fraggy

The car will be fine. It sounds like you want the rear to steer the car, and this is a situation H

Ugh, the app cut off half my post

[tres]

4hrs sound right I did mine myself and took me 5

Originally Posted by e90pilot

Getting rid of the stagger will help you a lot. A rear sway bar will cost you a fortune in labor because you have to remove the rear subframe. But fwiw, Dinan makes a 15.8mm rear sway. They claim 4 hours for install.

[sle39lvr]

Well, I am not sure about getting rid of the stagger. After all its the OEM sports wheel setup. If I keep the same front sway bar but go with M3 rear and M3 front control arms, would it be dangerous ?

[tres]

I personally dont think it would be super dangerous but I would recommend a limited slip differential with the rear bar, because you can loose traction(SPIN OUT) in the rear if you take a corner fast. There are alot of posts explaining it. suspension is tuning is very tricky.

[GaryS]

Look for specs on Mr5's 335i. I remember some threads. I think he settled on a rear swaybar that was something like 15mm because, like many others, he was getting wheel spin with anything bigger.

...edit, here it is. I remembered wrong, but notice there is a 15mm xi rear bar:

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

I installed the 14mm sway bar, and I now know what Leftcoastman is talking about. I rounded a corner, hit the gas, and my tires were more likely to spin.
I'm not complaining though. I really like the feel and I think that it's the perfect size for the regular 335s.

I'm glad I didn't go with the 15mm XI sway because if I can feel the tires spinning a bit with this one, I could just imagine what would have happened with the 15mm.

For those who are thinking about the M3 20mm bar, I would highly encourage you not to get it, unless you like going through tires really fast and doing 180s around corners. That is, if you drive spirited like myself.
Do not start comparing our suspension with the M3's suspension because it is completely different. Yes, the M3 has a 20mm sway that is fit for the M3's suspension.

[luckyu]

Originally Posted by sle39lvr

M3 rear sway is 20mm?
H&R also makes a 20mm one.

Is there anything in between 13mm - 20mm?

Do you think all sway bars are solid?

[tibra1]

OEM 13mm
ZSP 14mm
M3 20mm
M3 Convertible 23mm

All hollow bars..i would not use solid bars on these cars..

[Fraggy]

[QUOTE=luckyu;10766284][QUOTE=sle39lvr;10762701]
M3 rear sway is 20mm?
H

[sle39lvr]

Originally Posted by tibra1

OEM 13mm
ZSP 14mm
M3 20mm
M3 Convertible 23mm

All hollow bars..i would not use solid bars on these cars..

Is H&R bar the same in performance compared to M3? They both are same diameter.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by sle39lvr

Is H&R bar the same in performance compared to M3? They both are same diameter.

M3 uses better bushings.

[sle39lvr]

Originally Posted by tibra1

M3 uses better bushings.

Looks like hard to look away from the M3 rear bar.

[tibra1]

All the M3 upgrade parts will be better than aftermarket..more expensive too..

[e90pilot]

Well I'm not the biggest fan of putting really stiff sway bars in the back. It makes the car skittish on bumpy roads. I think the idea of the stock bar in the front and m3 bar in the back would work with the stagger. The other thing to keep in mind is the M3 has 400+hp and an LSD so they can use that extra rubber in the rear. The 328/325 has just over half that power so it tends to understeer a lot on throttle. I don't think your car will be dangerous at all with the m3 bar in the back and stock bar in the front.

[tibra1]

Originally Posted by e90pilot

Well I'm not the biggest fan of putting really stiff sway bars in the back. It makes the car skittish on bumpy roads. I think the idea of the stock bar in the front and m3 bar in the back would work with the stagger. The other thing to keep in mind is the M3 has 400+hp and an LSD so they can use that extra rubber in the rear. The 328/325 has just over half that power so it tends to understeer a lot on throttle. I don't think your car will be dangerous at all with the m3 bar in the back and stock bar in the front.

Agreed its best not to even upgrade the rear sway unless you are running an LSD and certainly not at the power/torque output of an n52

[sle39lvr]

I wish I can keep it like this, but car understeers immensely. My old GTi had less understeer than this, and thats sad. I would love to put the M3 bar in the back, but as e90pilot stated, I am not a big fan of stiff bars, makes the car feel boxy and gittery on straights.

Wish there was an option for around 15mm.

[e90pilot]

Well on an underpowered car it's not as big a problem. A 335 has issues with wheel spin if you tack on a huge rear bar and no LSD. Peg legs out of every turn. Not as much of a problem on a 328. But it is funny 3-wheeling on steep driveways.

[e90pilot]

Originally Posted by sle39lvr

I wish I can keep it like this, but car understeers immensely. My old GTi had less understeer than this, and thats sad. I would love to put the M3 bar in the back, but as e90pilot stated, I am not a big fan of stiff bars, makes the car feel boxy and gittery on straights.

Wish there was an option for around 15mm.

There is. Dinan makes 15.8.

[sle39lvr]

I haven't heard about the Dinan bar. I wonder why it's not that popular.