Just Installed My Front Sway Bar, A Few Questions - BMW Forum

Autotechnica · 09-23-2004, 05:10 PM

Hey guys, I installed my front H&R 28mm sway bar today. Basically everything was very straight forward. I took off my previous 23.5mm strut mounted M3 front bar and I put my old control arm endlinks back on. The problem is here. When I put the endlinks back onto the control arms, I couldn't install it perfectly straight. I know the little rubber bushing in the endlink allows for some adjustment. Anyways, it's installed flush with the control arm obviously, just not exactly facing the sway bar holes properly, so the little adjustable bushing with the bolt in it is tilted at an angle, the installation on both surfaces are still flush though. I was just wondering if it would make any difference if the endlink was installed turned in a bit. After going to my favorite testing grounds, it seems to be working flawlessly.

Here's a poor drawing to illustrate what I did.

The main reason I did not install the endlink facing the sway bar was because when I was tightening it, I couldn't hold the stupid thing tight enough. Each time I tightened with a wrench the endlink would keep moving. Anyways, let me know if any of you see a problem with how I mounted it. It's very tight though. I'm just afraid I'm putting too much pressure on the endlinks.

Kevin325i · 09-23-2004, 05:22 PM

So, you tried to put the sway bar on. The control arm mounting points didn't line up. So you twisted the mounting points to hook up?

It sounds like it should work, but will wear that mounting point out quickly with a lot of unneccesary strain.

You didnt happen to have the wheels hanging freely when you installed the new sway bar did you? That little bit of movement in the mount might have throw it off.

A picture would be nice, I think I've got the gist of what you're saying but I'm not sure.

Kevin325i · 09-23-2004, 05:34 PM

Nevermind, it looks like it should be good. (Went out and looked)

Why switch back to a control arm sway?

Autotechnica · 09-23-2004, 06:15 PM

The mounting points line up because there is just 1 hole for the endlinks. What happened was that while I was tightening the nut from the bottom for the endlink the endlink would turn. I couldn't hold it straight. So I ended up mounting the endlink slightly turned to the right. Basically I had to push the adjustable part of the endlink to the left to compensate. It still mounted flush to the sway bar and control arm. I was just wondering if it mattered whether or not the endlink actually faced the sway bar. However, the bottom part of the endlink which is attached to the control arm also has a rubber bushing, it looks like it's a bit streched which is why I was concered about applying too much stress to it. If I had a brand new endlink I'm sure I could screw the nut in there easily without moving the endlink.

I didn't have a choice of what design I wanted. I'm an H&R distributor so I get really great deals. Unfortunately, H&R doesn't make any sways for the M3. The 28mm would have been way to thick to mount to the struts. So now I have 28mm in the front (set to soft) and 21mm in the rear (set to stiff). The car balances out quite nicely. I'm drifting around every corner

Not much in the way of oversteer, but it's very easy to get the car in a sideways drift which is what I want for the track.

The M3 bars are great for the street, but just didn't cut it for agressive track driving. I would have liked to keep the strut mounted design, but oh well.

Thanks for the help. So you think I'm good to go??

Bry

Kevin325i · 09-23-2004, 06:22 PM

I'm assuming what you did was loose the little bolt underneath and turn the mount slightly sideways so the bolt would line up straight with the sway bar?

If that's what you've done, you shouldn't have any problems.

There's a guy that comes out to the local auto-xs that just put that same bar on his 325is. He said it's really nice. To make things better he said I could have his old sports package sway bar.

Autotechnica · 09-23-2004, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kevin325i@Sep 23 2004, 04:22 PM
I'm assuming what you did was loose the little bolt underneath and turn the mount slightly sideways so the bolt would line up straight with the sway bar?

If that's what you've done, you shouldn't have any problems.

There's a guy that comes out to the local auto-xs that just put that same bar on his 325is. He said it's really nice. To make things better he said I could have his old sports package sway bar.

[snapback]197819[/snapback]

Nice!

No what I did was I had to tighten the bolt at the bottom, when I did that I couldn't hold the endlink straight, so while I was tightening the endlink would turn. What I did to compensate for this was move the little adjustable bolt at the top of the endlink (which has a rubber bushing) and pushed that part into the swaybar. It's all very tight, but just a little crooked. So instead of being perfectly straight, the endlink is pushed to the right and the adjustable bolt pushed to the left.

I know it's confusing, I'd go take a picture, but I'm too lazy to take my wheel off right now :lol: I'm pooped, it takes a lot of strength to push the sway bar in enough to get the nuts in for the bushings. That bar is damn HEAVY!!!

Kevin325i · 09-23-2004, 06:31 PM

Ahhhh, gotcha. Yeah you'll be good for awhile. Judging from the way you say you drive (the whole blowing a new set of shocks in like a month i believe) that little rubber part will just wear out a little quicker but so long as it's not rattling around you're good.

I don't think having it slightly crooked will affect how it transfers the torsion from one wheel to the other at all.

Good luck with the new set up, my next purchase is one of those nifty G-timers, so I can see what my new sway bar does for me. It'd also be nice to see what G-s I was pulling around a track (Going for the brand new G-tech RR 300 bucks!)

Autotechnica · 09-23-2004, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kevin325i@Sep 23 2004, 04:31 PM
Ahhhh, gotcha. Yeah you'll be good for awhile. Judging from the way you say you drive (the whole blowing a new set of shocks in like a month i believe) that little rubber part will just wear out a little quicker but so long as it's not rattling around you're good.

I don't think having it slightly crooked will affect how it transfers the torsion from one wheel to the other at all.

Good luck with the new set up, my next purchase is one of those nifty G-timers, so I can see what my new sway bar does for me. It'd also be nice to see what G-s I was pulling around a track (Going for the brand new G-tech RR 300 bucks!)

[snapback]197828[/snapback]

$300 is a bit steep. But a G-meter sounds like something I'd like to have in my car

Is that the only difference from the old G-tech's that sold for 100 bucks? I remember the new ones also had self-leveling. The old ones were such a pain, you had to find a perfectly flat road.

Kevin325i · 09-23-2004, 07:01 PM

They've got three axi. So you can mount the damn thing sideways and it will work. They've added 0-100-0 better screens.

The SS is 200, but the RR has more memory and can store 4 different cars. It also records "runs" so you can see your max Gs you were pulling at any given time. It also has dyno plots (which i wouldn't swear by) and rpms.

I'm thinking the RR is the way for me because then we can swap it between our 3 cars at the auto-x quickly for everyone to use. It also records the runs and it sounds like the SS doesn't.

A little OT never hurt anyone.

Autotechnica · 09-23-2004, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kevin325i@Sep 23 2004, 05:01 PM
They've got three axi. So you can mount the damn thing sideways and it will work. They've added 0-100-0 better screens.

The SS is 200, but the RR has more memory and can store 4 different cars. It also records "runs" so you can see your max Gs you were pulling at any given time. It also has dyno plots (which i wouldn't swear by) and rpms.

I'm thinking the RR is the way for me because then we can swap it between our 3 cars at the auto-x quickly for everyone to use. It also records the runs and it sounds like the SS doesn't.

A little OT never hurt anyone.

[snapback]197857[/snapback]

How the heck does it measure your RPM?

Kevin325i · 09-23-2004, 10:26 PM

Aparently it can do it all through the cig lighter because of pulses it sends. I read around on their forums and people say they work but are ussually a little off.

When I get one next month I'll report back.