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Originally Posted by dahamler  Guys I hate to say it but the E36 rear is really better than ours, I have see it time and time again at the track. BMW did this due to space and cost constraints. |
Without more info on this, I'm inclined to respectfully disagree. What exactly do you see time and time again? The whole space and cost theory just doesn't add up for me. They could've easily designed the trunk floor to accomodate the e36 trailing arms and subframe. And the multi-link design couldn't have possibly costed much more than it did to engineer and produce the tried and true semi trailing arm setup on the compact chassis, not to mention completely different halfshafts and differentials. Wouldn't it have been cheaper for them to just use the same existing multi-link setup that they had been mass producing and using on regular e36's for 5 years?
FWIW, I pulled the entire rear suspension and subframe off of my M3 donor as a complete unit and the space under the car wasn't much greater than under the ti. The only real difference between the two undercarriages is aft of the subframe which is irrelevant to any suspension fitment issues. Keep in mind, the wheelbase is the same between compact, coupes and sedans. The shocks even mount in the same place. If it's so much better, then why is it that e36 subframes tear even with the dual eared diff hangers. Plenty of 6cyl ti's rolling around with single ear diff hangers and no one is complaining of any problems
Z3's and Mcoupes had a problem with the trunk floors tearing, not the actual subframes like regular e36's do. Neither seems to be an issue for the ti though.