what do you mean "off the bolt"? was the nut for the bolt for the bottom of the shock there? if not, then it sounds like the nut loosened over time and fell off, then the shock came off the bolt. any idea if it was torqued to the proper spec?

I have both; I'm not sure what happened first, but I did notice the elimination of that nasty windshield creak when the strut brace was installed.

The X-brace was developed for firewall shake in the convertables.

I'm seriously thinking of upgrading the rear shock mounts, since we all know what happens to the E36 rear floor when the shock mounts fail and start to tear.
This might be a stupid question, but our rear suspensions (318ti) are that of the E30 design and set-up. Does this change at all or is the 318ti the exception to the E36 infamous mallady?
If we still hav eto worry about this, has anyone here (God forbid) have had this problem?
How do we prevent this from happening? New OEM shock mounts or aftermarket mounts such as BMP's or Turner's?

I've read through this thread and I'm still confused about what I should replace up front. I just want to "freshen up" the front end, not upgrade the hell out of it.

It going to keep the stock sway bars for now. I have HR sports and bilstein sports already. I'm using stock rubber ball joints, but there are crap.

Should I get the meryl control arms with ball joints installed, and the control arm bushing? Or just replace the ball joints with the metal ones? Do the control arms wear out? Or what is the reason for replacing?

the steel control arms won't wear out. you'd only need to replace them if they got bent or something (or showed some signs of stress). the reason i'd go for the whole arm is that you're going to have to remove the old ones and press in the new ones. if you're paying a shop to do this, it'll end up costing about the same anyway ... ease of install :)

according to sheridan, the recommendation for replacing control arms every couple years was for the aluminum ones (which cost more too!). he's been tracking his car with the steel arms for a number of years with no issues (he even still has the stock ball joints).

Thanks cali-ti. Where is the best place to buy the control arm/ball joints? Bavauto has them, but they are usually more expensive than everyone else. I also need to replace my window regulators and some other parts, so I'm trying to find a place that sells it all.

Should I run the treehouse offset bushings too? Where can I buy those?

i think they may have one of the best prices. you could check e-bay, but likely you won't be able to get all your stuff there in one place.

i believe you can get the treehouse racing arms directly from there or from bimmerworld.com (which may or may not have the other stuff you want too).

as to whether or not to get them, that's up to you. check your PMs as i responded to the one you sent me. other than what i had in there, i can't advise you any more since i haven't personally used them :(

I think my rear camber kit consists of new subframe bushings. Isn't that part of the what makes up the BavAuto rear camber kit?

bavauto (and other kits) are trailing arm bushings only. subframe bushings won't change your camber (at least they better not :)).

My mistake. I meant trailing arm bushings.:tongue:

Good thread.
In my opinion (from owning 5 E36's, I'd replace suspension items in this order).

1) Quality shocks (add lowering springs if lowering is your goal)
2) RSMs with Z3 reinforcement plates
3) Solid front control arm bushings (M3 stock, delrin, urethane, whatever)
4) Front/Rear Swaybar end links (these wear out and are super cheap to replace)
5) X-Brace
6) Front/Rear upgraded sway bars
7) Full rear bushing ovehaul, subframe, trailing arm, and differential (major $$$$ if you pay for someone else to do this though)
8) Finish up with new front ball joints (or M3 spec front control arms which have the upgraded ball joints already in them), inner/outer tie rods, front strut brace (rear does nothing)

heres my cheap and nasty recipie :)

E46 M3 Frontstrut mounts , Rotated to give camber
Powerflex Wishbonebushes (can also get E36 M3 3.0 bshes with added camber if you dont rotate topmounts)
E30 Solid fixed balljoint wishbones (same as M3 but without the camber correction)
adjustable droplinks from FK / eibach / UUC..

Xbrace fixed at all points

Powerflex swingarm bushes
Powerflex rear beam bushes
E46 Cabrio RSMs (BMW orig only)
Z3 reinforcement plates
Powerflex Diff bush

Antiroll bars are a question of preferance to which make is used, but are recommended in any case

Its not a top notch mega bucks selection, but ive read about these many a time from other posters, and they were m ore than happy with the results :)

On my car one of the bolts holding the front sway bar bushing broke out of the attachment on the subframe. That will be my first thing to reinforce...

Can the M3 strut mounts be used on the ti? If so, what are the advantages to doing so? Better/different geometry? Beefier mounts? Both?

Yes.

They give additional caster for better high speed stability.

Beefy-er? Maybe. At least slightly I would guess but the bearing appears to be the same dimensions.

Use the strut top reinforcement plates regardless of what else you do.