bmwe21.net forums

Hi Folks, I hope you don't mind but I'm moving my thread to this section cause I think it fits better. Anyhow, I'm creating a reliable driver (I hope) out of a 320is that I purchased for a few hundred dollars. I put in a new battery, renewed the rear brakes complete and flushed the brake system and changed all the (rubber) fuel lines. I drove her around the block a few times and everything under the car is making noise, ball joints are lose, tie rod ends lose bushings have rotted from the front sway bar, U-joint noisy etc. I put her back up in the air and I'm getting my parts list together and I already have a question;

The 320is supposedly has a larger diameter sway bar up front, will I have to order different lower control arms (with larger bushings) or will the standard 320i arms work?

Thanks in advance!

Bood wheels, sportsteeringwheel, great seats with some work, pop out windows, no shifter, bad paint, no rot. Sounds like a great base for a (small) project!!

Bigger swaybar is just thicker, rest is same dimensions, so only different part is the bushings that hold the swaybar. No problemen with your standard arms.

haha love the "short shifter"

Not bad at all! I'd measure up that sway bar first though, then you know for sure.

BTW think it may be better to keep this thread in the Owner's Gallery so if you don't mind I'll move this topic to the 4 cyl section of the owners gallery. Keep on posting!

Jeroen, Why not combine it with the intro topic under general?

I'd be very curious to find out what those BOHEMOTH bumpers weigh! Got to be a performance advantage in replacing those with Euro versions!

Thanks Jeroen,

Ok, looks like the thread has found a new home! Thanks again for all the comments, regarding the bumpers, I can give a weight on them when I take them off but for now I'm concentrating on getting all the little things under the car fixed. I drained the diff and found it only half full but with the help of a good light I was able to look at the gears (some of them) through the drain hole and there is no wear on the edges that i could see so I just re-filled it. The U-joint is shot so I'll renew the drive shaft with a new flex disc and CSB and I'll try to replace the U-joint myself. that could be tricky because of the press fitting of the original but we'll see what happens. As you can see from the shots every bushing needs replacing. I also took down the fuel pump assembly and refreshed all the lines the only tricky one is the pre-formed line that goes from the end of the filter to the tank area, that can be cut and spliced using a high pressure fitting which the PO did and it made the removal and refreshing easier. So, a couple of questions,

What are the widest tires I can put on these wheels safely without hitting anything underneath, I was thinking 205/60/13 (the current tires have cracks all the way down to the steel belts)?
Is there a preferred shock/strut/spring set up?
On the 3rd picture down there is a blue electrical fitting, right by the steering shaft, where does that go?

Again, thanks for the comments and help!

That blue plug could be the cold start injector. K-jetronic wiring tends to be colour coded and the injector is blue

Thanks Andy, not sure your engine is clean enough

If only it WAS my engine! Mine looks the same but carbed and oily!

On the 320is that has the 13 in. wheels has anyone tried 205/60/13 on the stock basketweave wheels? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

when I first bought my yellow car it had 6" basket weave wheels and 205/60/13 tyres and they looked ok if a little bit bulbous.
Never drove on them so can't comment on how they would feel or perform.

I have used 205/60/13's on a 7" wheel and they are a great option for the E21

Check out pics in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=5116

Regards

Ben

Ben, that's really cool! I think that I will put on the standard size tire (tyre) and if I get the urge I'll put a set of sticky ones on 7" wheels later on. I'm attempting to do a "quality/budget" job on this one. She's a bit tired but allot of elbow grease and a few new suspension parts and she should be OK. More pics to come and thanks for the reply.