E36 Performance Suspension &
Lowering Your BMW
Wayne R. Dempsey

Difficulty Level: 6
Difficulty scale: Adding air to your tires is level one
Rebuilding a BMW Motor is level ten

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Shocks and springs

     The PSS performance suspension kit from Bilstein is the one of the top performing kits available for the E36 3 Series. The system includes two front coil-over spring/shock setups, two high-performance rear shocks, and a set of rear springs that integrate with adjustable spring perches. Both the front and rear springs are easily adjustable for tweaking the exact ride height you desire. The kit is a bolt-in replacement available for all non-M3 E36 cars manufactured since June 1992 and can be fitted to all earlier E36 models (including the M3) with a few minor suspension retrofits. The kit comes in two varieties: The PSS kit incorporates adjustable spring perches for both front and rear height adjustment. The PSS 9 kit is identical to the PSS kit, with the added feature that the four shock absorbers are easily adjustable.

     Installation of either kit is no more difficult than installing stock shock absorbers and new springs (see Projects 60 and 61). The installation of the rear spring is a little different, as it incorporates an adjustable spring perch (see Photos 4 through 6 for installation).

     After you’ve installed the PSS kit, have the car realigned. Due to the design of the front suspension, the alignment specs will change when you lower the car from the stock height (see Project 58). In addition, the PSS kits are lower at their highest spring perch setting than the stock struts, which can cause issues with clearance of wider wheels and tires. Before you test the suspension to the max, check your tire and wheel clearances. See Project 61 for a tip on raising the rear of your car if you encounter any tire clearance issues.

Sway bars

     The M3 uses a different sway bar mounting setup than other E36 models. On E36 M3s, the sway bar mounts to the strut instead of the control arm (see Photo 7). Mounting the sway bar on top of the strut allows the sway bar to be more effective than the stock mounting location. The actual geometry and mounting configuration of the M3 roll bar and the regular E36 roll bar are nearly identical; the main difference is in this drop link setup. Most aftermarket manufacturers only offer sway bars for the M3 models, but they will also fit other E36s. However, due to the change in this drop link orientation, sway bars have varying degrees of effectiveness, depending upon whether they’re installed on an M3 or an E36.

     This is important for a variety of reasons. Installing a sway bar designed for an M3 into a stock E36 setup will work fine; however, it will not give the exact effect the manufacturer originally designed it to have. If you wish to upgrade your sway bars, choose an aftermarket M3 set that will produce a measured increase in anti-roll stiffness while balancing the changes with upgraded springs and stiffer shocks. To demonstrate this difference in sway bar effectiveness, compare the various sizes of stock sway bars: 

     The front sway bar for the M3 is thinner than the stock sway bar for the 328 because the sway bar drop linkage on the M3 is more effective and doesn’t require a heavier, thicker bar.

     If you select the PSS suspension system for your M3, first convert the sway bar drop links to the stock E36 setup. You will lose some of your effective anti-roll capabilities because of the shorter drop link configuration used on the stock cars. Counter this by installing a beefier sway bar at the same time. The conversion to the stock drop links is easy and requires only about $40 worth of parts. Here are the part numbers required for this conversion:

 
     Unbolt the drop link from the sway bar and strut, and attach the new drop link and U-bracket to the control arm. There should be a mounting hole pre-drilled in the control arm. E36 cars manufactured before November 1991 also have this strut-mounted sway bar setup and may require this conversion in order to use performance shocks and springs designed for late-model E36s.

     If you own an E36 manufactured prior to June 1992, you may have noticed that most performance suspension kits are only available for later-model cars. This is because BMW changed the front strut mount in June 1992 (for the 1993 models). Fortunately, the early cars can be retrofitted with these later-style components in order to use the same shocks, springs, and performance kits as the later cars. Simply swap the late-model parts with the ones on the top of your struts, and you will be able to use any late-model suspension setup. Total cost for this retrofit is about $175.

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