[Soravia]

Got the rear suspension hooked up.
M3 toe and upper arms all work with 335i E9x rear spindle.
Toe arm needs to be pushed out all the way for everything to connect and play nicely during installation. All the bolts and nuts should be barely in to allow maximum play so each arm can be installed one after another.
I started with top control arm, forward guide rod, axle shaft, trailing arm, toe arm, lower arm. Help from a jack can be useful to get to the sweet spot for the lower arms once axle shaft is in and held down with nut.

Still need spring installed before torque down on arms.

[Soravia]

When installing rear axles, you can use the anti sway bar or rubber band with hooks for support while you thread in the bolts onto differential flange.

[Soravia]

GSP brand rear axle shafts I bought were for older 325i series, even when I sent VIN to seller on eBay. Too small to fit the xi and 330i/335i/xi bigger splines in wheel hub.

I ended up buying used E92 335xi Automatic rear axles with low miles.
All 328xi / 328i xDrive (Auto and Manual) share rear shaft with AWD 335xi 335i xDrive Automatic (Only) rear axles. No one sell those new aftermarket in USA.

UPDATE: E91 E92 rear axles, even LCI will not fit the hubs on E90 E91 LCI. Splines are just different.
Check on RealOEM.com for hub compatibility. I think most of the shaft inside part to diff are same, and if inside diff flange, and the outside wheel hub are the same between the cars, the rear axles will fit, with small difference in shaft size to handle power from turbo engines, etc.

[Soravia]

According to 1 series mod thread, M3 sub frame with non-M3 rear spindle requires adjustable M3 toe arms to work. Originals are too long or too short.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...=877288&page=5

[Soravia]

Ordered Megan M3 rear toe adjustable arms and shipper used UPS from California.
Like my other unrelated orders, UPS will take 10 days or so to get them delivered for no good reason. I ordered the same set from eBay and they will take a week or so, maybe.

So I ordered a set of pre drilled stainless steel furniture braces. M3 toe arms will be cut and extended to make the car drive enough to roll of the lift and wait until the parts get to me.

[E91Swagger]

Thanks for sharing! Post picture of the E91 please when you have a chance

[Soravia]

0.5", that's the distance M3 rear toe arms need to cover to reach the non-M3 rear spindle / king pin connection.
Adjustable arms are still on they way by UPS.

Rear brakes and axles are in. Replacement used axle from eBay came with stripped threads for hub nut.
A rip off. Got refund but wasted my time. I put back in the old spindle, hub, and axles.

I'll buy an all new set (except spindles) later. Seems like the 335i xDrive automatic rear axles wouldn't go into the used 335i (RWD) hubs I got. They go in a halfway?
I'll buy new hubs, bearings (again) and make sure they fit the axles before they go in together.

[Soravia]

Brakes are in and bled! First with foot pedal and then using BMW specific diagnostic tool for ABS. I saw bubbles come out from the ABS pumping.
DO NOT bleed brakes without ABS vibration pumping function.

I bought two liters of DOT4 low viscosity, ended up using one and half liters because I had to do over when one line was not connected all the way.
Having caps to block brake line helps with fluid draining too much from the lines.

You want this set of ratcheting flared nut line wrenches.
They will work great in tight space like the rear hard lines to sub frame hard lines connection, so you don't have to drop sub frame to connect or disconnect the lines.
Sure a shorter like wrench can be used, with lots of time and smaller hands.

[Soravia]

Comparison of non-M vs M3/1M rear toe arms.
M3/1M toe needs to extend 0.5" to 0.75" to work with non-M spindle.

Tried some welding of non-M arm but welder broke.
Mocked up the M arm after cutting it and extending it.
I think it's too long with the 0.7" extension? Maybe around 0.4" extension on M arm will work better?

Hard to tell since the rear to changes as the wheel goes up and down the suspension travel.

Pic taken with car in ground and suspension arms not torqued down. Front obviously sits really high. I'll drive around a bit before torque down to let it settle over speed bumps and stuff on the road.
Rear looks OK. High pressure Monotube Bilstein B6 HD Dampers definitely raises the car a bit as well.

[Igor_M5]

Whats your plan for the rear springs? Changing the rear guide rod from non-M to M softens up the suspension a little, which on the M3's is compensated with higher spring rates.

I wonder if that's the same case with front M3 control arms on RWD non-M's. hmm

[Soravia]

Originally Posted by Igor_M5

Whats your plan for the rear springs? Changing the rear guide rod from non-M to M softens up the suspension a little, which on the M3's is compensated with higher spring rates.

I wonder if that's the same case with front M3 control arms on RWD non-M's. hmm

Probably nothing. AWD Wagon already has very strong rear spring to compensate for load and hatch weight. Reduction is probably negligible. Bilstein HD dampers probably added back some as well.

RWD Sedans probably should do full M3 swap. Dampers, springs, control arms, with anti-sway bars. You can even go M3 rear spindle / king pin. The hub bearings are the same. You can replace bearing and press in non-M3 RWD rear bearing to reuse the existing axles and differential. M3 Diff requires M3 shaft input welded to non-M drive shaft so that's a big long upgrade.

I think M3 toe arms, as well as aftermarket will allow quicker dynamic toe change (during cornering), for better turning stability. Non-M3 toe arm bushing is very rigid as seen in pic.

[Soravia]

Wagon is now at Firestone to get alignment, parking brake adjustment, and brake bleeding.

E92/93 mid frame brace and E91 rear frame braces are mounted together, with some over lap.
I put 4 M14 steel washers between the body mount and mid section (bolt next to end of rear muffler) of the rear E91 brace (unpainted) to cover the gap caused by overlap under the E93 brace (painted black rubber).

Both of them come from factory in X1 (E84)
I recommend harvesting parts from it to make it fit better.

Megan Racing M3/1M Adjustable Rear Toe Arms are steel and not even powder coated. The paint comes off easily. I'll coat it with liquid film once adjusted.
It takes 22 mm on the nuts and 23 mm on the center shaft to adjust. Adjustments are easy to do.

Front was really high after it came down from lift.
I managed to get it slightly lower by lifting front with Jack and dropping to the floor quickly.

Nothing as good as actually driving slowly and braking and go over small speed bumps. That put the suspension to what you see at Firestone.

Rear is super low for some reasons. I'll lift a bit and torque down the control arms tomorrow morning before alignment.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by Soravia

Rear is super low for some reasons. I'll lift a bit and torque down the control arms tomorrow morning before alignment.

Is that because of this? See below:

Originally Posted by Igor_M5

Whats your plan for the rear springs? Changing the rear guide rod from non-M to M softens up the suspension a little, which on the M3's is compensated with higher spring rates.

EDIT:

HA! found a thread by a very thorough BMW enthusiast here: https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1079383 By ditching the bushings and putting balljoints in, you're lowering the effective spring rate by a significant amount.

Sounds like the OP needs some height adjusters and coilover springs for the rear suspension!

[Soravia]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Is that because of this? See below:

EDIT:

HA! found a thread by a very thorough BMW enthusiast here: https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1079383 By ditching the bushings and putting balljoints in, you're lowering the effective spring rate by a significant amount.

Sounds like the OP needs some height adjusters and coilover springs for the rear suspension!

It might be the case. I just torqued the spring arm and lower trailing arms but the rear height is still the same.

I can look into replacement springs.
Not sure if "coilover" springs will help. They lower the car already, including with non-M control arms. M3 springs lower the car, too?
Time for X1 or X3 springs? I've read ppl put in X1 springs for Audi All-Road look on their wagon.
But I looked up X1 springs on eBay and they have same number of coils as 328i xDrive coils (wagon?)

If only I can figure out the spring strength on the xDrive wagon vs X1 or something tall. I can always cut the springs to size.

Hard lines in the rear from body to sub frame is leaking. They are the old ones and I think the flare nut is not sealing on the flare itself. I'll have to drain and check again. Firestone doesn't want to work on the Bimmer, so I'll have to work on it and then send to local Bimmer shop for alignment. Definitely not sending there for the brake line. They will charge me $,$$$ to get it replaced.

Included pics from before with OE worn dampers and OE control arms on same wheel and 235/45/18 tires.

You can see that while Bilstein B6 HD raised the front vs worn out OE dampers, rears were lowered at least an inch instead of being raised almost an inch like the fronts.

The AFTER pics have zero torque on front suspension arms, torqued non-M rear arms, and about 3/4 tank of gas and 100+ lbs of crap in the wagon, tools, jacks, jack stands, parts. I'll take pic again with stuff removed.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by Soravia

Not sure if "coilover" springs will help.
...
If only I can figure out the spring strength on the xDrive wagon vs X1 or something tall. I can always cut the springs to size.

Don't cut OEM springs. If you take a 10" long 500 pound spring and cut an inch off of it, you've now got a 9" spring with a much higher spring rate because the number of coils has changed. Also, OEM springs are often not linear. When I say "coilover springs" I'm talking generic racing springs with standard diameters like 2.5 or 60mm.

I suggested coilover springs because they come in a ton of different rates and lengths. Stock on an E91 is around 450 lb/in and about 10" long. You could get THESE and add THIS and then you'd have an adjustable height rear suspension with a pinch more spring rate to compensate for the lost bushing spring rate.

[Soravia]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Don't cut OEM springs. If you take a 10" long 500 pound spring and cut an inch off of it, you've now got a 9" spring with a much higher spring rate because the number of coils has changed. Also, OEM springs are often not linear. When I say "coilover springs" I'm talking generic racing springs with standard diameters like 2.5 or 60mm.

I suggested coilover springs because they come in a ton of different rates and lengths. Stock on an E91 is around 450 lb/in and about 10" long. You could get THESE and add THIS and then you'd have an adjustable height rear suspension with a pinch more spring rate to compensate for the lost bushing spring rate.

Thanks! I guess I'll have to go that route. A bit more than OE but I can tune the height and still not too far from OE spring rate.

Just ordered two springs and perch set. Perches ar sold at Turner as well but EACH instead of pair. Free shipping but I paid for USPS Priority from Bimmer World to ship today.

Considering that original with 16" were already low, this isn't too bad. But I wanted the original to sit taller in the first place, or get less lower when loaded.

Rear brake fittings will have to be redone. Rust did number to the flare nuts and heat got them loose but made a mess out of the anti rust coating outside of the line and got them into the flare nut.
A visit to NAPA should get me what I need.

I already cut a 11 mm / 9 mm flared nut line wrench in half for the line to rear sub frame. I guess I can cut and rework the line itself

[Soravia]

How do I install the spring perch and spring? Perch on top? Remove the original spring captive piece? Just pry it out?

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by Soravia

How do I install the spring perch and spring? Perch on top? Remove the original spring captive piece? Just pry it out?

Different height adjusters have different install locations. Some go on the bottom, some go on the top. I'm not sure where the Turner ones go, but there's probably install instructions included with them.

[Soravia]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Different height adjusters have different install locations. Some go on the bottom, some go on the top. I'm not sure where the Turner ones go, but there's probably install instructions included with them.

So the OE rear is same as aftermarket springs on top and bottom?

Does this meat at 10" length aftermarket doesn't need height adjuster to prevent falling out at max expansion?

[Soravia]

Pulled out the hard lines from body to middle soft lines and found the rusted nuts were messed up inside.

Cut them out and used a patch to extend the lines back to middle soft lines. Couldn't reflare because there wasn't enough space to fit a new fitting nut and flare tool before the bends.

I'll have it all replaced with factory later at a repair shop.

Spring perch from Bimmer World will get here Monday. They shipped fast. I'll have to figure out how to take out OE upper cup and replace it.

[Soravia]

Wagon is home after one month at the garage. $45 per day for 5 days a week minus holidays for about $800. Still cheaper than brake job at repair shop.

Left driver side front 335i calipers from Advance Discount Auto has a sleeved smaller bleed nipple. It leaks out easily when it's supposed to be shut off. Replacing it with rebuilt Duralast brand from AutoZone. Will have to swap out the brass caliper slide bushings. But they go in and out without much effort so it should be easy.

[Soravia]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Don't cut OEM springs. If you take a 10" long 500 pound spring and cut an inch off of it, you've now got a 9" spring with a much higher spring rate because the number of coils has changed. Also, OEM springs are often not linear. When I say "coilover springs" I'm talking generic racing springs with standard diameters like 2.5 or 60mm.

I suggested coilover springs because they come in a ton of different rates and lengths. Stock on an E91 is around 450 lb/in and about 10" long. You could get THESE and add THIS and then you'd have an adjustable height rear suspension with a pinch more spring rate to compensate for the lost bushing spring rate.

Is the 2.5" ID spring able to mount without lower spring perch rubber on the OE non-M rear spring arm?

The Bimmer World Spring mount I bought goes on top and replaces the OE upper spring perch. I assume I will need 4 spring isolators for 2.5" ID springs.