[dleccord]

Can we drive our E90's around with sway bar end links? Asking for front and rear end links. I drove over some nasty bay area freeways this past holiday (looking at you 680 and San Jose) and now the rear of my car has been making these clunking noises. My car is lowered on Dinan springs and it's about a zero finger gap back there. Thanks!

[DialedIn]

The E30s didn't even come with a rear sway bar, it was an optional extra.

Our E9X come with a very weak rear sway bar which doesn't do very much to be honest.

I'd think it would be perfectly safe to disconnect the rear sway bar by disconnecting both end links (and tying up the sway bar somehow away from any moving suspension parts). But for the front I wouldn't, I imagine the handling of the car would be significantly altered.

He's obviously asking for diagnostic purposes...not performance reasons.

Yes, driving without the swaybar attached is fine; some newer SUVs allow you detach swaybars electronically from the cab...this is no different.

[Antetokounmpo]

you'll flip over man

[dleccord]

Hey guys. For enflinks do you guys recommend using loctite so it doesn't loosen? If so which kind of loctite?

[parksjm7]

Originally Posted by DialedIn

Our E9X come with a very weak rear sway bar which doesn't do very much to be honest.
.

Agreed and FYI if you are looking for some easy improvement, switch out the rubber swaybar bushings for polyurethane, you'll have a noticeable increase in rear end response. Doesn't take long on the driver side but passenger side would take some fiddling due to the fuel filler pipe

[hassmaschine]

Originally Posted by DialedIn

The E30s didn't even come with a rear sway bar, it was an optional extra.

Our E9X come with a very weak rear sway bar which doesn't do very much to be honest.

I'd think it would be perfectly safe to disconnect the rear sway bar by disconnecting both end links (and tying up the sway bar somehow away from any moving suspension parts). But for the front I wouldn't, I imagine the handling of the car would be significantly altered.

uh, no. all E30s came with rear sway bars. Even the lowly M10 318i.

Anyway, it would be fine to drive it without for a short time.

[ckanderson]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

uh, no. all E30s came with rear sway bars. Even the lowly M10 318i.

Anyway, it would be fine to drive it without for a short time.

Actually not true. As my first car was a 1984 318i that didnt have one. I added one and promptly broke off those stupid ears on the trailing arms that they connected too

[hassmaschine]

Might have depended on year/trim & options. In any case, 99% of US E30s came with them stock.

[dleccord]

Originally Posted by parksjm7

Agreed and FYI if you are looking for some easy improvement, switch out the rubber swaybar bushings for polyurethane, you'll have a noticeable increase in rear end response. Doesn't take long on the driver side but passenger side would take some fiddling due to the fuel filler pipe

Does the subframe need to be lowered? Which brand do you recommend?

[feuer]

Originally Posted by ckanderson

Actually not true. As my first car was a 1984 318i that didnt have one. I added one and promptly broke off those stupid ears on the trailing arms that they connected too

Only 84' and 85' 318i didn't.

[parksjm7]

Originally Posted by dleccord

Does the subframe need to be lowered? Which brand do you recommend?

PSB by Armstrong. I did not have to lower the rear subframe but it is a tight squeeze to fit the 10mm wrench in there.

[The Nightman]

Originally Posted by dleccord

Hey guys. For enflinks do you guys recommend using loctite so it doesn't loosen? If so which kind of loctite?

I recommend it after having the nuts loosen on me. Medium strength should be fine

Originally Posted by parksjm7

PSB by Armstrong. I did not have to lower the rear subframe but it is a tight squeeze to fit the 10mm wrench in there.

Thanks for sharing. I just ordered these after verifying my RSB was 13mm. I could move the bar very easily by hand so hopefully these bushings tighten things up

https://www.armstrongdistributors.co...ing-13mm-06-12

[parksjm7]

Originally Posted by freedomfries

I recommend it after having the nuts loosen on me. Medium strength should be fine

Thanks for sharing. I just ordered these after verifying my RSB was 13mm. I could move the bar very easily by hand so hopefully these bushings tighten things up

https://www.armstrongdistributors.co...ing-13mm-06-12

hope they work out for you - I felt the rear end a bit tighter than I'd hoped for so I changed the fronts to poly as well. fronts were much easier

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

If you remove the rear end links, the sway bar will jam into the axle boots and ruin them. You'll need to take out the sway bars entirely, which I don't recommend.

[The Nightman]

Originally Posted by parksjm7

hope they work out for you - I felt the rear end a bit tighter than I'd hoped for so I changed the fronts to poly as well. fronts were much easier

How did it feel after doing the fronts as well?

I'm hoping the poly rear bushings tie everything together as I already have:
- 27mm solid front sway bar w/ poly bushings
- M3 front tension struts
- rear subframe poly inserts
- M3 rear subframe bracing

I'll report back once they're installed

[parksjm7]

Originally Posted by freedomfries

How did it feel after doing the fronts as well?

I'm hoping the poly rear bushings tie everything together as I already have:
- 27mm solid front sway bar w/ poly bushings
- M3 front tension struts
- rear subframe poly inserts
- M3 rear subframe bracing

I'll report back once they're installed

If you already have poly front sway bar bushings already, the rears will work nicely to reduce understeer. For me, the rear end felt too twitchy at highway speeds after doing just the rear sway bar bushings. Doing the fronts firmed up the front to balance the added stiffness at the rear but did not bring understeer as I expected.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by dleccord

Can we drive our E90's around with sway bar end links? Asking for front and rear end links. I drove over some nasty bay area freeways this past holiday (looking at you 680 and San Jose) and now the rear of my car has been making these clunking noises. My car is lowered on Dinan springs and it's about a zero finger gap back there. Thanks!

I would say absolutely fine to disconnect rear end links. Some E8x/E9x didn't even come with a rear bar from the factory, and it's very weak if you do have the stock one in place. However, I would def not recommend disconnecting the front bar. You will get a tremendous amount of roll from doing so.

**Edit: I'm saying it's fine to disconnect the rear from a handling standpoint, I feel like you should secure the bar in place somehow so it's not moving around and possibly damaging other components.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by chris82

I would say absolutely fine to disconnect rear end links. Some E8x/E9x didn't even come with a rear bar from the factory, and it's very weak if you do have the stock one in place. However, I would def not recommend disconnecting the front bar. You will get a tremendous amount of roll from doing so.

Yeah but it's not the end of the world. If you drive the car not as aggressive as you did before you'll get to your destination.

[The Nightman]

I've driven with my FSB disconnected at one end while diagnosing end links and it's surprisingly not a big deal. A little more roll and less steering response but otherwise unnoticeable when driving like a sane human being. This was both city and highway driving with high speed on and off ramps.

Not to say the FSB has no function as the handling is better with it, but the car is completely driveable without a FSB.