[Dannyboy]

I'm considering upgrading the upper control arms because the bushings are worn. I need some feedback, I'm considering the M3 or the Meyle HD. Changing only the upper and not the wishbones, which would I be better off with.

Some info, I plan on going to staggered non rft;s 18's 235/35/18 and 265/40/18,stock shocks 06 325i. Would the M3 be overkill? should I get the M3 upper and lower or will the Meyle hd be enough?

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by Dannyboy

I'm considering upgrading the upper control arms because the bushings are worn. I need some feedback, I'm considering the M3 or the Meyle HD. Changing only the upper and not the wishbones, which would I be better off with.

Some info, I plan on going to staggered non rft;s 18's 235/35/18 and 265/40/18,stock shocks 06 325i. Would the M3 be overkill? should I get the M3 upper and lower or will the Meyle hd be enough?

M3 arms if you are going non-rft's, period. There is a reason M3's use them.

[LAE92]

I finally fit 220m's on my e92 335i stock sport suspension. I definitely am going to get front upper and lower control arms, but should I also get SP lowering perches? There is still a small bit of wheel gap that I think would be gone once the perches go on. I think the lower stance would also look nicer overall, what do you guys think?

[nitehawk]

Originally Posted by LAE92

I finally fit 220m's on my e92 335i stock sport suspension. I definitely am going to get front upper and lower control arms, but should I also get SP lowering perches? There is still a small bit of wheel gap that I think would be gone once the perches go on. I think the lower stance would also look nicer overall, what do you guys think?

Lowering perches are just a bad idea overall. They reduce shock travel, meaning poor ride quality, not to mention many people have rubbing issues afterwards. Stay away !

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by nitehawk

Lowering perches are just a bad idea overall. They reduce shock travel, meaning poor ride quality, not to mention many people have rubbing issues afterwards. Stay away !

agreed!

[LAE92]

Nitehawk, Thanks for the heads up! I will avoid them

[NoTempoLimitN54]

Got my M3 control arm installed. My thread about this is here: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=910498

In brief, I definitely recommend. My only issue now is getting those damned strut alignment pins out so I can get equal camber L-R (I have -0.8 and -1.4 now).

[Christopher John]

Why not just get adjustable camber/ aster plates instead of the arms?

[mweisdorfer]

I have m3 control arms both front & back, m3 subframe bushings & m3 differential bushings.

Huge improvement over stock. The car is extremely solid and feels connected to the road. It is not overkill and would still be comfortable on a longer road trip.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by Christopher John

Why not just get adjustable camber/ aster plates instead of the arms?

Cost is likely the case and less NVH.

[Christopher John]

Originally Posted by HP Autosport

Cost is likely the case and less NVH.

Thanks for responding. I ordered adjustable camber caster plates for front and next looking to do a monoball in the CA. The m3 arm shouldn't provide any enhancement after these two should it?

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by Christopher John

Thanks for responding. I ordered adjustable camber caster plates for front and next looking to do a monoball in the CA. The m3 arm shouldn't provide any enhancement after these two should it?

No, if you are doing a monoball, there is no benefit upgrading to the M3 arms. However, the wishbone portion will provide additional camber and a bearing instead of a rubber bushing on the subframe end.

[agustincuenca]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

I have m3 control arms both front & back, m3 subframe bushings & m3 differential bushings.

Huge improvement over stock. The car is extremely solid and feels connected to the road. It is not overkill and would still be comfortable on a longer road trip.

I need to dial in into my rear suspension. So far I have PSS B14 coilovers and refreshed everything (literally all the nuts, bolts, mounts, washers, rubber, you name it, inc M3 control arms) in the front but still some work to do in the rear, as of now I feel like something can be better back there. I was looking of course as first thing to do is rear M3 subframe bushings but at the same time I'm struggling to find a reason to install the upper M3 control arms and diff bushes. Would you recommend doing everything in the rear? meaning, arms, bushings and even the lower control and toe arm bushing inserts? thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by agustincuenca

I need to dial in into my rear suspension. So far I have PSS B14 coilovers and refreshed everything (literally all the nuts, bolts, mounts, washers, rubber, you name it, inc M3 control arms) in the front but still some work to do in the rear, as of now I feel like something can be better back there. I was looking of course as first thing to do is rear M3 subframe bushings but at the same time I'm struggling to find a reason to install the upper M3 control arms and diff bushes. Would you recommend doing everything in the rear? meaning, arms, bushings and even the lower control and toe arm bushing inserts? thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

The front is a piece of cake vs the rear.

I'd say if you are over 100k in mileage and everything is OEM from the factory in the rear, you are on borrowed time with regard to the many, various bushings in the subframe. This would be especially true if you are over 125k.

You will absolutely see a huge improvement should you pull the rear subframe out of the car and systematically replace every bushing in it.

M3 subframe bushings & the M3 Differential bushings absolutely are worth it.

The M3 rear control arms are a nice compliment to the front M3 control arms. Your gonna benefit from them because of the natural .75 camber you'll get in the rear, which of course is what you have in the front, if you have M3 control arms there. Basically, your tires will wear evenly both front & rear without having to set additional camber in the rear. One less adjustment....

You are gonna have to replace those 4 arms if you start redoing this portion of the suspension. Why not just get M3 arms vs OEM. It can't hurt...

Is redoing the rear suspension worth it ? Your car is RWD. Yes..

[agustincuenca]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

The front is a piece of cake vs the rear.

I'd say if you are over 100k in mileage and everything is OEM from the factory in the rear, you are on borrowed time with regard to the many, various bushings in the subframe. This would be especially true if you are over 125k.

You will absolutely see a huge improvement should you pull the rear subframe out of the car and systematically replace every bushing in it.

M3 subframe bushings & the M3 Differential bushings absolutely are worth it.

The M3 rear control arms are a nice compliment to the front M3 control arms. Your gonna benefit from them because of the natural .75 camber you'll get in the rear, which of course is what you have in the front, if you have M3 control arms there. Basically, your tires will wear evenly both front & rear without having to set additional camber in the rear. One less adjustment....

You are gonna have to replace those 4 arms if you start redoing this portion of the suspension. Why not just get M3 arms vs OEM. It can't hurt...

Is redoing the rear suspension worth it ? Your car is RWD. Yes..

great info! Thanks for taking the time to reply. And yes, I'm over 100k so it's about time to do something.

[vladmury]

Will the front M3 control arms increase the NVH? My main focus is a comfortable yet sporty feeling. I dont want constant vibration transmitted in the steering.

Originally Posted by vladmury

Will the front M3 control arms increase the NVH? My main focus is a comfortable yet sporty feeling. I dont want constant vibration transmitted in the steering.

Get the M3 lowers and Meyle uppers

[vladmury]

I got today installed the fronts M3 control arms, new B8 shocks, rear M3 subframe bushings. However after alignment the front camber is only -0,35 how is this possible?

The M3 arms add about -.75 negative camber has the shop done something wrong?
Can someone give me a quick answer because I am still in the shop.

Thanks

You're only able to get -0.35 out of both sides or are the numbers different Left and Right?

Are the pins pulled as well?

Either go to another shop to check camber or take a plumb bob, etc. and check it yourself to make sure the install shop doesn't have failty equipment.

[feuer]

Download bubble level app on your smart phone. It gives pretty accurate reading of camber. just make sure you are on a flat surface first. -.35 is not very significant.

Originally Posted by feuer

Download bubble level app on your smart phone. It gives pretty accurate reading of camber. just make sure you are on a flat surface first. -.35 is not very significant.

Totally forgot about this actually...bubble level on iphone is definitely accurate; just make sure you use a straight edge, as mentioned already.

[vladmury]

Thanks, and how exactly should I place the phone?

I had today installed Bilsteins B8 shocks paired with the sport springs, M3 subframe bushings, M3 front control arms, new tie rods, new stabiliser end links.

I got an alignment after:
Front toe 0.02/0.02 total 0.04
Front camber -0.6/-0.7

Rear toe 0.08/0.09 total 0.18
Camber -1.5/-1.49

The car handles fantastic wow what a change , my original sport shocks had 80 k miles and the rears were leaking.

The steering is very precise and responds faster to left/right changes. Some people reported you get more bumps through the steering wheel, not in my case comfort is the same. Also steering wheel did not got heavier.

What I noticed is you can feel every small piece of asphalt piece on the road, my tires might be also a bit overinflated 2.5 bars front/2.7 rear.

At high speed is more noticeable and its probably due to the M3 subframe bushings that transmit more nvh.
It might be also the new shocks that need to break in.

Question: when rear subframe is dropped and rear flex guibo that connects the differential to propshaft, does it require any alignment besides bolt alignment? I forgot to ask that in the workshop.

All in all, I am very happy with the upgrades and I recommend it to everywone. I took the exit ramp with 50 mph and tires didnt even made a noise. Before I had to slow down to 30 mph as the car would have a horrible body roll and understeer.