» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | My 318ti build 05-21-2024 04:48 PM 05-28-2024 06:42 PM 1 Replies, 2,025 Views | | OMG!OMG! 05-28-2024 08:53 AM 05-28-2024 08:53 AM 0 Replies, 458 Views | | | | | | | 11-22-2013, 04:01 PM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Rear suspension uneven I have the 318ti back when my daughter bought a new car. I will be rebuilding the front suspension system with new control arms, tie rods and sway bar bushings. Already have all the front suspension parts ready. Now I just noticed that the rear passenger side of the car sits a little lower compared to the driver side rear. Is the coil spring to blame or the rubber pads are compressed? Thanks. __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 | | | 11-22-2013, 11:05 PM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: NJ Posts: 373 | You can check if the spring has a broken coil. Otherwise, it would have to the the rubber that has compressed. | | | 12-03-2013, 10:20 PM | #3 | Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Lake in Wisconsin Posts: 67 | Look at the bottom of the spring its a surprisingly common failure on e36s. | | | 12-04-2013, 01:48 AM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Ithaca, NY, USA Posts: 147 | Probably a broken spring. I doubt it's the spring pads. Might also be a broken shock mount. You can inspect the shock mounts by pulling back the carpet on the sides of the trunk. | | | 12-04-2013, 11:42 PM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Sag Harbor, NY Posts: 192 | rubber isn't thick enough to show a noticeable "lean". at least not on my car | | | 12-05-2013, 01:16 AM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Detroit Posts: 164 | At 130k miles with **** Michigan roads I had 3 broken coils. 3... Common failure I'd guess. | | | 01-04-2014, 08:54 PM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Finally had the chance to look at the passenger rear suspension. When I jacked up the rear, the first thing I noticed was movement on the rear passenger subframe mount. The rear subframe went all the way down when I jacked it up. Brought the rear down and the subframe went up. It looks like the rear subframe bushing is shot after 227k miles. Can the bushing be replaced with the subframe in place? Looks like a big job. __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 | | | 01-04-2014, 10:03 PM | #8 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: NJ Posts: 373 | On the E30's you can as you're supposed to knock out the bolt that the bushing connects to. I don't believe you can do the same on the Ti as the bolt will always be protruding through the bushing. You're gonna have to remove the subframe... __________________ 2000 M5 -> 1996 318ti -> 1997 328i Instagram: ndrewchow YouTube: MINIzguy | | | 01-06-2014, 01:15 AM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Quote: Originally Posted by MINIz guy On the E30's you can as you're supposed to knock out the bolt that the bushing connects to. I don't believe you can do the same on the Ti as the bolt will always be protruding through the bushing. You're gonna have to remove the subframe... | I have been reading up from other forums how to replace the bushing with the subframe in place. There is a combination puller and pusher to pull the bushing from the bottom that I can make based on the pictures from bimmerforums. I don't have to pull out the subframe. Who sells rear subframe powerflex bushings? __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 | | | 01-06-2014, 01:42 AM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: NJ Posts: 373 | I see. I'm not familiar with that tool. The one I know of is this: http://zdmak.com/wbstore/main.asp?ac...CTMP=1&LowCt=0 Bimmerworld sells the full line of Powerflex products. __________________ 2000 M5 -> 1996 318ti -> 1997 328i Instagram: ndrewchow YouTube: MINIzguy | | | 01-06-2014, 03:19 AM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: norcal - 94590 Posts: 3,186 | Bimmerbum also has a couple of different options for bushings; http://www.bimmerbum.com/suspension18.html __________________ James 95 active w/leather interior and sport interior conversion, Vaders, full M-Tech exterior conversion. Now m50 swapped* Eibach sway bars, D2 Coilovers, Depo's w/AE's, blacked-out sides and grills, LeatherZ console and door armrests, 1 series starter button mod, and custom finished Style 5's <--- in this color! Named "Roddy": *M50 6 cyl. swap with fan delete, S50 cams and chip, AFE stage 2 intake, M3 clutch and 11.5 lb Fidanza flywheel, 3.15LSD, battery relocated to rear and complete custom exhaust. Sweet! 97 318ti sport, Alaska Blue, Contours, coilovers, Dove Vaders and custom black/grey interior named "Max" 95 318ti Active in Cosmos, S50 swap in progress... named "Pit" SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! NOW! | | | 01-06-2014, 12:15 PM | #12 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Quote: Originally Posted by wolferj | Thanks for the link. Here is the pusher/puller set up for removing the bushing in place. __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 Last edited by bazar01; 07-10-2017 at 01:44 PM. | | | 01-06-2014, 04:52 PM | #13 | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 595 | Ordered the urethane subframe bushings. Nice guy to deal with. I already have the correct 2-jaw puller and I need to figure out the bottom pusher. The pusher looks like a ball joint extraction tool. Anyboy has a source for this extraction tool? __________________ 1996 Ti 280k miles and still going.... 1993 964 - holding on to this one 2001 Burban, 240k miles 2018 Suburban Z71 | | | 01-17-2014, 09:21 AM | #14 | Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Greeley CO Posts: 233 | I replaced my rear subframe bushings this past summer. As I wanted to replace my rear trailing arm bushings as well, I lowered the entire subframe/differential from the vehicle. This necessitates disconnecting the rear brake lines and parking brake cables, which was OK since I needed to flush my brake fluid anyway. I think you could do this without dropping the subframe. I'll include a picture of the tool I used for removal, which consists of a two jaw puller, a timing chain puller, a few pieces that I turned on the lathe, and some common hardware. The tool that I used for installation is rather crude - some threaded rod, wooden washers, and a piece from a Greenlee punch. If you do this on the vehicle, you'll have to deal with the bolt that secures the subframe through the bushing. The problem that I ran into was, the flange bending on the bushing during removal, which others have experienced. I used either a heat gun or propane torch to heat the area around the bushing (can't remember which), and they did finally come out. If I was doing this on a regular basis, I would make a split collar to distribute the force around the bushing flange. I''ve reached my limit on pics, so I'll post again, with a pic of what you'll be up against upon installation. Paul | | | 01-17-2014, 09:49 AM | #15 | Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Greeley CO Posts: 233 | Well, I'm looking at the picture of the stud that holds the subframe in place and I'm not sure that you can do the install on the vehicle. It would entail removing the stud, so as to be able to pass a threaded rod through the bushing, but I'm not sure how you would get the stud back in, without dropping the subframe. Here's a link to a commercially available tool, which may give you some ideas: http://youtu.be/WCIlYkttQ2s Also, as you search the web for info, you'll want to look at what the e30 guys are doing, as the 318ti rear suspension is very similar to the e30. By the way, that's a common ball joint puller that most of the guys are using, an autostore commodity that they just grind down to fit openings in the bushing flange. Paul Last edited by paul somlo; 01-17-2014 at 09:51 AM. | | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |