BMW 318 Sway Bar

chrisp2281

Hi there

If my car is rocking as I go around corners, does the sway bar need replacing? Any idea how much this would cost on a BMW 318is coupe 1994?

Thanks

Mr.David

By sway bar do you mean anti roll bar? Will cost a few hundred depending where you get it from....

chrisp2281

Mr.David wrote: »

By sway bar do you mean anti roll bar? Will cost a few hundred depending where you get it from....

I think so. the car kinda of sways or rocks as I go around corners so this looks like the most likely problem. Any idea of a cheap place to get the work done?

Mr.Diagnostic

From what you have posted both on this thread and the others it is plain that you have no idea what is actually wrong with your car. Dont get me wrong, there is no harm in not knowing.

Best advice, get someone who does know to look at it.

chrisp2281

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

From what you have posted both on this thread and the others it is plain that you have no idea what is actually wrong with your car. Dont get me wrong, there is no harm in not knowing.

Best advice, get someone who does know to look at it.

You're right. I have no idea but I don't know any mechanics but I do know mechanics have a reputation for saying its one thing when its not and costing people a fortune. I'm just hoping to find someone who maybe had the same problem and can tell me what they ahd to get done

Mr.Diagnostic

chrisp2281 wrote: »

You're right. I have no idea but I don't know any mechanics but I do know some mechanics have a reputation for saying its one thing when its not and costing people a fortune.

^^^ There, I fixed that for you ^^^


I'm just hoping to find someone who maybe had the same problem and can tell me what they ahd to get done

It is 100% not possible for anyone, no matter how tallented, to diagnose your problem online.
Since cost is your major concern, are you not concerned about wasting money fitting parts that strangers online have guessed to be faulty.

Your best bet is to get a recommendation for a garage to go to.

chrisp2281

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

It is 100% not possible for anyone, no matter how tallented, to diagnose your problem online.
Since cost is your major concern, are you not concerned about wasting money fitting parts that strangers online have guessed to be faulty.

Your best bet is to get a recommendation for a garage to go to.

It is not my intention to take 100% of the advice of people online, rather it will give me an idea of what could be the problem and then I can bring the car to a few garages and see what they all say. At least it ight give me an idea of what I need to get done. I have no intention of buying parts or anything else

Notch000

Ouch,
I had a 95 318is and it was the same, I was never happy with the handling, 2000 euro of work coudent fix it either, took it to 4 garages
got 4 shocks, all bushings done, tyres, different wheels, tracked a heap of time, mounts, strut mounts, load of other bits and pics and it was still the same, in the end i learned that they all go like this with age, the e36 coupe is a bit of a boat really !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I discussed this with a lot of people and have had similar experiences with this model,
In the end i sold mine with frustration, luckil;y i got a really good price,
If you really want to tighten it up, you will nedd to polly bush the lot, fit new struts, lower springs and fit strut braces all over the shop,
even then........

[edit] as for steering i did the steering gator (shockabsorbing connection recall part), replaced entire steering rack, tie rods, ball joints etc

-Chris-

OMG Chrisp, is this the 5th or 6th thread trying to diagnose your rocking BMW??

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

From what you have posted both on this thread and the others it is plain that you have no idea what is actually wrong with your car. Dont get me wrong, there is no harm in not knowing.

Best advice, get someone who does know to look at it.

+1,000

Take it and get it diagnosed. There are some pretty knowledgeable BMW folk on here, if they knew for definite what was wrong, they'd have told you 3 threads ago!

chrisp2281 wrote: »

You're right. I have no idea but I don't know any mechanics but I do know mechanics have a reputation for saying its one thing when its not and costing people a fortune. I'm just hoping to find someone who maybe had the same problem and can tell me what they ahd to get done

So you want to find someone who maybe had the same problem as you (the same symptoms at least...) and you want to find a cheap mechanic to replicate the repair that was done to their car on yours in the hope that it will fix your problem?

That sounds like a very cost-inefficient way of going about it.

And what if they're not technical and even though they had the same problem, when the mechanic explained what they had done, the driver didn't understand. You'll be back in a bind because you'll be receiving advice that's not only wrong but sends your mechanic in the wrong direction too!

Bring it to a garage/mechanic. Tell us what they tell you. We'll tell you if the diagnosis & cost seem reasonable. You can go ahead based on that advice.

Mr.Diagnostic

Notch000 wrote: »

Ouch,
I had a 95 318is and it was the same, I was never happy with the handling, 2000 euro of work coudent fix it either, took it to 4 garages
got 4 shocks, all bushings done, tyres, different wheels, tracked a heap of time, mounts, strut mounts, load of other bits and pics and it was still the same, in the end i learned that they all go like this with age, the e36 coupe is a bit of a boat really !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I discussed this with a lot of people and have had similar experiences with this model,
In the end i sold mine with frustration, luckil;y i got a really good price,
If you really want to tighten it up, you will nedd to polly bush the lot, fit new struts, lower springs and fit strut braces all over the shop,
even then........

[edit] as for steering i did the steering gator (shockabsorbing connection recall part), replaced entire steering rack, tie rods, ball joints etc

Age has nothing to do with it. They are far from being a bit of a boat. The biggest mistake most people make with the E36 is big wheels. A bog standard e36 with no worn suspension bits and properly set up will drive and handle very well.

Andrewf20

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Age has nothing to do with it. They are far from being a bit of a boat. The biggest mistake most people make with the E36 is big wheels. A bog standard e36 with no worn suspension bits and properly set up will drive and handle very well.

+1

Notch000

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Age has nothing to do with it. They are far from being a bit of a boat. The biggest mistake most people make with the E36 is big wheels. A bog standard e36 with no worn suspension bits and properly set up will drive and handle very well.

How will i 14 yr old car have no suspension wear ??
Also where did i mention having big wheels there ??
What i tried to do is say that replacing all the suspension consumables had no impact on improving the handling (which was a roppy boat)
Have you ever owned an e36 mr diagnostic ?

DublinDilbert

Notch000 wrote: »

How will i 14 yr old car have no suspension wear ??
Also where did i mention having big wheels there ??
What i tried to do is say that replacing all the suspension consumables had no impact on improving the handling (which was a roppy boat)
Have you ever owned an e36 mr diagnostic ?

But the problem may not even be in the suspension, it could be in the steering column for example.

For example the E36 like alot of cars was designed as a LHD, so on our RHD version the steering column is squeezed between the exhaust and wheel arch ( very close too both ).... The heat from the exhaust will cause the rust protection on the steering column to fail over time, then cause the rubber coupling inside the steering column joint to fail also, resulting in play in the steering column. Many E36's suffer this faith and there's also a free re-call if you check with the dealer. I brought my 10 year old E36 and got a new column fitted for free, the even washed it

Mr.Diagnostic

Notch000 wrote: »

How will i 14 yr old car have no suspension wear ??

I didn’t say it wouldn’t. I said one without any wear will handle properly.

Notch000 wrote: »

Also where did i mention having big wheels there ??

I never said you did. I mentioned them because the point is relative to the subject. Also you mentioned that you changed yours for different wheels.

Notch000 wrote: »

What i tried to do is say that replacing all the suspension consumables had no impact on improving the handling (which was a roppy boat)

Yes, i am aware you said that, and I disagreed. That’s what happens on a forum.

Lets look at it this way. You spent 2k trying to sort yours and failed whereas I have sorted literally dozens of these.

Notch000 wrote: »

Have you ever owned an e36 mr diagnostic ?

Yes, I have owned a number of E36's and worked on lots more.

Have you noticed my sig?

gezas

Have you ever thought about new car? Just call to any garage and they will tell you how much it will cost.

Good luck!