Brakes and Suspension for B8 4.6 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

BlackB8 · 23rd March 2003, 01:48

Hi there all you B8 friends,

After approx. 150 tkm I will have to replace my shocks and possibly other parts of the suspension in my B8. Since I'm also expecting the disks of my front brakes to be ready for changing, I was wondering if any of you have experimented with alternatives to the stock Alpina parts.

Not that I'm unhappy with the Alpina equipment, it's just that I feel especially the front of the car could be a bit stiffer when turning into curves.

The same goes for the breaks, although they are doing a good job, I still have the feeling, they could be better. I've had some comments, that MovIt produce some nice parts based on the Porsche breaks. Any experience with those ?

Thanks for your help.

Alex

Danish · 23rd March 2003, 02:31

Alex, I have the exact same wishes as for the suspension and brakes. I would like a stiffer suspension especially when turning into curves at moderate to high speeds. I also would like brakes that last longer and don't produce as much brake dust.
My B8's are still stock but I have considered KW Gewindefahrwerke (Variant 3) or an AC Schnitzer suspension. As for brakes either Movit or Stoptech, with a preference for Movit.
The B8 brakes a very good when run in properly - but they fade just like M3 brakes on a racetrack and braking gets uneven after 20-30k km it seems.

Michael

BlackB8 · 23rd March 2003, 02:55

Hi Michael,

I've been in touch with KW Suspensions since they look very promissing. According to their information, they've spected their suspension (Variante 3) to a max. axle load of 890 kg for the front axle. As you know from you own cars, the B8 has a max. axle load of 920 kg on the front axle. This means we would have to get our TÜV to accept this and certify the setup. Apart from that, I have no experience in setting up the fine tuning of the dampers to suite the difference in power and weight of the B8 compared to the stock E36 for which the dampers have been setup. I'm also not sure if the springs are hard enough.

I've heard from a B10 BiTurbo Driver in another forum that he is extremely satisfied with the breaks from movit. I've requested a price quote from them to see what this would cost me.

I've also contacted Alpina to see if they changed the specs for suspension and breaks after my car was build (it's number 12 of the 4 doors, so it's one of the first ever build) but seemingly they still used the same parts for all others build later.

Did you already find a cross bar for the front of the B8 ?

Let me know if you find anything interesting.

Regards

Alex

N.B. Just read your old story on chasing the Ferrari during the Gumball. I once had a Porsche Turbo infront of me. Speedomer was well over 300 km/h (approx. 310). Sure would have loved to see his face seeing an old BMW 3 Series behind him :-)

Danish · 27th March 2003, 16:07

KW sounds promising but also H&R could be interesting. You could also consider using the front springs from the B8 Cabrio since they are stiffer.

I have the x-brace mounted on the Cabrio. This goes underneath the engine and provides extra stiffness. Other than that I have been searching everywhere for a sway bar (real term? I mean "domstrebe") without luck. I really like the AC Schnitzer model for the E36 Compact but am not sure if it will fit? Do you know? If you are interested in getting a few custom made we should discuss it.

Haha, yeah that was a great day

Those people in that Ferrari threw their car to the right when Johan and I came from behind doing something like 300 km/h on our speedos. The most I ever saw on the speedo of my coupe was 315 km/h and I think that is almost 300 "real" km/h. It is always fun to surprise people with an "old 3 series"...

Michael

kees · 27th March 2003, 16:26

stabi = sway bar
domstrebe = strut brace

Danish · 27th March 2003, 17:03

Thanks Kees

I knew it but sometimes juggling three languages in one day makes my brain spin

kees · 27th March 2003, 17:06

I know the feeling...doing the German translation just made it 4 today...

A naturally spinning brain is a great substitute for illegal substances.

BlackB8 · 27th March 2003, 23:48

Michael, I've just sent out a round of e-mails to all the companies I could think of that provide parts for the BMW E36 (e.g. Schnitzer, H&R, MovIt, ...) to see if they have any thing for the B8. Let's see what they have to offer.

I didn' realize that the Cabrio had stiffer springs compared to the other B8s. I wonder why Alpina didn't mention that in their reply. Is there any reason for this ?

I'm also going to try to contact some of the BMW Alpina Garages to see if they have any experience with modifying the setup of the B8. Only sad that BMW Faltz in Essen gave up his company. I had worked for them a while back for a short time and got to know many of their really good mechanics - they would have probably known a solution.

Regarding the strut brace, if I can't find one, getting a custom made one would definetly be an option. Do you know someone who could make them ? Maybe I should drive over to AC Schnitzer directly since they are almost next door to where I live and talk to them personally to see if they could help.

Where did you get the x-brace from ?

Cheers, Alex.

Danish · 28th March 2003, 02:21

Alex, great to see another B8 enthusiast who have given some thought to what can be done to perfect this already pretty awesome car.
The x-brace is a BMW part no. 51 71 8 410 212.
This link shows you how to install it:
http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/sus...e_install.html
I have it on the Cabrio but not the Touring.

Having AC Schnitzer to make a strut brace would be awesome

I would like to buy 3 and I know at least a couple of other people from the Alpina club (www.alpina-gemeinschaft.de) who would buy a brace each. We should do it if we dont find a brace that fits.

The AC Schnitzer strut brace for the E36 318is compact 31 31 36 41 just might fit the B8. Since you live next door to AC Schnitzer, could you perhaps try it out?

I think the reason for stiffer springs on the B8 Cabrio is higher weight in the reinforced chassis. I suspect those springs will work excellent in the Coupe, Limo and Touring actually.
Alpina part no. 31 33 114.

Yeah Faltz had a good operation. Really a shame that he had to close his company.

If you have any other good ideas I am all ears.

Cheers,
Michael

Danish · 28th March 2003, 02:28

I looks like ACS did an E36 V8 themselves once:

Btw, the ACS strut brace 31 31 36 41 is also for the 318is and the 316i-318i from 9/93 and on.

Cheers,
Michael