In a BMW E30 doing the conversion to a hub of five lugs has several advantages. On one hand there is a bigger market of rims in 5x120 than in the 4x100 that comes as standard and on the other hand the brakes size is increased.
When doing the conversion with parts of an E36 in its most basic version the front brakes are increased from 260 mm to 286 mm and the rear brakes from 258 mm to 272 mm.
- Front axle.
Hubs, struts, breaks, shocks and springs of the E36. It shall be used the E30 strut mounts since the E36 studs are different and it would be necessary to do new holes. The room left to insert the cup to tight the upper nut is small so it is necessary to have a thin cup or to turn it until it fits.
The ideal suspension arms or boomerang are the ones of a M3 E36 321 cv since with a normal E36 or M3 e36 286 arm the wheel is not centered because it gives less advance.
To prevent the wheel from falling behind, it shall be used the eccentric silentbloks from the M3 e30 or a mount that gives extra advance. In any case if the M3 e36 321 arms are not used, there is a new special version of the mounts that gives even more advance in order to be able to do the conversion with the normal arms. For more information about these mounts you can contact us using the following link: Contact
With the struts of the e36 to improve the front breaks it is possible to change only the caliper holder and the break discs by the ones of an e46 of 300 mm. In order to increase the size of the break discs up to the 325 mm the calipers, caliper holders and discs have to be changed by the ones of an 330 e46 either petrol or diesel. In this last case it is important to use rims of at least 17 inches so that the break discs can fit.
In order to use front breaks of the M3 e36 (that has 315 mm discs) the best option is to use also the M3 strut so that it is not necessary to adapt anything since it is different from all other e36.
- Rear axle
Change the whole rear arms with their breaks by a compact e36 or Z3
The break lines of the e30 are fully compatible with the new pieces so there is no problem in this sense.