Is hotchkis 33.4/25.4 sway bars overkill for street?

[drivingmachine1]

Getting ready for spring mods and have my eye on hotchkis sways. They come with end links and rear support brackets. I originally wanted h&r made, turner sways and thought solid was stronger. Upon researching it seems hollow bars give more strength for purpose of reducing body roll.

I have bilstein sport shocks/struts and eibach pro kit springs on the car. Would the hotchkis be ok for street or overkill?

http://www.hotchkis.net/press_release.html?ID=18

http://www.hotchkis.net/_uploaded_files/bmw-e36-sport-sway-bar-setproducts488promo_pic.jpg

[RRSperry]

Overkill.

[drivingmachine1]

Overkill.

What would you recommend? Turner/H&R/Eibach

[HeelAndToe85]

What would you recommend? Turner/H&R/Eibach

I would recommend sticking with the stock bars. Refresh the bushings if they need it. That's it.

[McKinney]

Wow thats a bar!

[rajicase]

Well would there be and down sides to running such a stiff bar?

[BMWJNKY]

Well would there be and down sides to running such a stiff bar?


Stiffer ride. I upgraded my front bar to a 25.5mm bar off of a 1994 E36 M-Technic and it has made the car noticeably stiffer. It has made a big improvement in handling but at the cost of ride comfort, I can't imagine what it would be like with a bar almost 8mm bigger that what I have in the front.

[ChrisV990]

Those things are huge overkill for the street. I am rubbing UUC sway bars and I can't imagine having anything stiffer on the street.

[M3only]

There are plenty of threads that discuss this: with the E36 M3, don't bother changing out the rear sway bar. Just keep it OEM. As for the front, Hotchkis is a great brand with a long history. The ability to grease the bushings without removing them is also a nice plus.

[RobertFontaine]

An adjustable front sway bar to dial out oversteer is a common mod for guys who know how to drive. If you don't know how to drive having an ass happy car can bite you... especially if you lose traction at an inopportune moment.

[Eric98Sedan]

A big front bar definately flattens the cornering of the car, no question. But the ride gets stiffer (somewhat) and I personally prefer the balance of the stock bars. If you don't like body roll then this is a good mod.

[EricP]

A big front bar definately flattens the cornering of the car, no question. But the ride gets stiffer (somewhat) and I personally prefer the balance of the stock bars. If you don't like body roll then this is a good mod.

Is a bigger front bar for the purpose of eliminating body roll worth it with stock springs/shocks? I recently replaced all the shocks with stock before I got a new DD, not planning on going back through the suspension all over again just for some handling for a rare autocross.. but adding a front bar would be nice if it was worth it by itself (maybe + x-brace)

[Steve Pratel]

Hotchkis is top knotch! I upgraded my 86 442 (ala Grand National chassis) to a Hotchkis spring/rollbar setup transformed the car. Now instead of plodding through the twisties like a 300lb drunk hooker, she is more respectable, but not stellar. Because of the weight of the car and unsprung weight of the suspension is is stiffer but not unpleasant. It already had the 'performance" (what a joke) FE___ performance system, but the Hotchkis brought real improvements. Great quality, and has held up over the last 4 years, looks new still. That said, I think you'd find this to be unpleasant for daily street use, especially if you are in the frost belt. Too stiff an antiroll bar will negatively effect handling on poor roads, not to mention stiffen up the ride. I imagine the sport springs have already tightened/stiffened the ride, and given the balanced nature of the car, these bars would be overkill, maybe make it unpleasant for a DD. I'd say refresh/upgrade the endlinks and bushings, and add some upper suspension/chassis bracing.

[Eric98Sedan]

Is a bigger front bar for the purpose of eliminating body roll worth it with stock springs/shocks? I recently replaced all the shocks with stock before I got a new DD, not planning on going back through the suspension all over again just for some handling for a rare autocross.. but adding a front bar would be nice if it was worth it by itself (maybe + x-brace)

Yes it will make a difference with any setup, even stock. Whether its "worth" it only you can say. I guess it depends on how much body roll buggs you. Not worth it for me since I like the more natural feeling of body roll. Normal high speed street stuff these cars roll very little in my opinion. It's not until you get them on the autoX course do they trip all over themselves. But I'm not going to mod my car for something it rarely does at the sacrifice of its street balance since that's where it's used 99% of its life.

[nleksan]

Different bars are, well, different. I went through a few trying to nail down both my E46 328CiSC and E46 M3 (KW CS/JRZ), and the Hotchkis are by far the best I've used. I have not felt a difference in ride quality, and you generally shouldn't w sways.
The TMS bars are very good, definitely second place, and GC are great as well. HR/etc were very disappointing (funny since they make the TMS).

Also, the Hotchkis bars are hollow, and weigh significantly less than not only stock, but than any of the other aftermarket bars I've had. That's a number of unsprung pounds you are removing from the vehicle, not something that you can usually do for so little cost.

Plus, the components they come with are very high quality, somethingI ccan't say for everything else.
The UUC bars were disappointing, as the bushings were trashed in no time. This is the only time I've ever trashed bushings like that!

Oh, and I run the Hotchkis on my 01 325i DD, and love it!

[VaTechE36]

I'd totally run them if that's what you want. Is it overkill, most likely, but its adjustable so you can set your stiffness however you want to get whatever handling characteristics you're trying to achieve. I really like having an upgraded set of bars on my DD which makes turn in on on ramps and around town nice and responsive.

Pick those up and don't look back!

[EricP]

Yes it will make a difference with any setup, even stock. Whether its "worth" it only you can say. I guess it depends on how much body roll buggs you. Not worth it for me since I like the more natural feeling of body roll. Normal high speed street stuff these cars roll very little in my opinion. It's not until you get them on the autoX course do they trip all over themselves. But I'm not going to mod my car for something it rarely does at the sacrifice of its street balance since that's where it's used 99% of its life.

Thanks, yeah I decided that my 528i having fantastically less body roll and chassis flex is starting to make the E36 feel a bit more annoying in those aspects, though the M3 still has better agility (a few fresher suspension components as well.) The body roll has always annoyed me since having pictures of the car looking like it was sinking down into the earth at an autocross.. and now the M3 is the weekend car that gets driven 95% less than it did as a DD so I think it'd be worth it. Thanks for your input :)

[Eric98Sedan]

Thanks, yeah I decided that my 528i having fantastically less body roll and chassis flex is starting to make the E36 feel a bit more annoying in those aspects, though the M3 still has better agility (a few fresher suspension components as well.) The body roll has always annoyed me since having pictures of the car looking like it was sinking down into the earth at an autocross.. and now the M3 is the weekend car that gets driven 95% less than it did as a DD so I think it'd be worth it. Thanks for your input :)

No problem. I hear ya on the chassis flex - that's my single biggest gripe with this car. On a previous '99 coupe I had the Mason front, Mason rear 3pc bar and Xbrace
- made a significant difference, especially the rear. Car felt composed and solid just driving down a normal road. I will be doing the same combo again on my '95.

[nleksan]

Agreed on the ME strut bars! Combined with the BMW Motor sports X-brace and the rear MEstrut xX-brace, and the chassis feels almost as good as the E46 M3!