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Thread: E36 Adjustable Lower Control Arms

  1. #1
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    E36 Chump, E46 Off-Road

    E36 Adjustable Lower Control Arms

    I'm in the market for adjustable lower control arms for an E36. I would appreciate any feedback on all the available brands. Since seeing the thread on replacing the rod ends on the Turner arms (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...6#post20130496), I have some inspiration to pick up some cheap chrome-moly arms and replace the bushings with rod ends.

    Has anybody tried the "K-Sport" pieces? How about any of the ebay ones? Thanks.

    JFrank
    NASA,BMW CCA,THSCC Instructor

  2. #2
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    I installed the Ebay ones recently that were 128$ shipped and seemed to be of decent quality and my alignment guy/bmw racer said they weren't bad at all. I'd recommend them. I just did want to pay a ton for the huge beefy ones and run the risk of potetially hitting a curb and putting the control arm through the entire subframe haha


  3. #3
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    You can't go wrong with UUC Motorwerks...

    With a lowered car, non-adjustable original control arms cause unwanted negative camber as the tops of the rear tires angle in too much. This condition causes uneven tire wear and ill effects on handling.

    These adjustable rear control arm correct this problem and can be tuned for any ride height, whether on a street car or a full-on race car. Adjustment range is in the +1.0 to -3.0 range.

    Features Include:
    * 4130 Chromoly center bar
    * CNC machined billet aluminum end components
    * High durometer sqeak free bushing at inboard end
    * All installation hardware included

    Click HERE for more information.


    Please let us know if you have any questions! Feel free to shoot me a PM or email.

    Best,
    ECS
    Last edited by ECSTuning; 12-27-2011 at 10:18 AM.

  4. #4
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    I want to keep the negative camber. It's a racecar. I just want to be able to make both sides the same and upgrade from the factory barbecue tong design.
    I don't want a rubber bushing, but rather a spherical bearing at the inboard end. If you have any worn-out UUC RLCA that I could replace with inboard bearings then I may be interested in some used stuff, but not going to buy them new.
    Last edited by shogun; 12-09-2018 at 07:26 AM.

    JFrank
    NASA,BMW CCA,THSCC Instructor

  5. #5
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  6. #6
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    '00 540it, '97 B4 TDI
    Just aligned (Thursday) a '98 E36 M3 coupe with the UUC rear arms. I was very impressed with their finish, machining & range of adjustment. Car was lowered 2" on Billy sports & H&Rs.

  7. #7
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    996, 914, X5
    Ground Control aluminum arms with spherical inner bearings for me.

    http://www.ground-control-store.com/.../II=655/CA=254

  8. #8
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    are slow.
    http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EIB-5-67110K/

    Eibach rebranded SPC steel lower control arms.
    "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
    -Dr. Seuss
    DIY BMW Tools. Charlie For President

  9. #9
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    I have the ground control ones and they are great.

  10. #10
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    The Turner ones look like the easiest to adjust.
    '97 M3, Estoril blue, 2 dr, euro 6-spd, EFR 9180 divided T4 .92 IWG, RK tuning, CP 8.5:1 pistons, Eagle rods, Schrick cams, L19 11 mm ARP studs, O-ringed block, Supertech stainless/inconel valves, Supertech springs & Ti retainers, ported head, S54 oil pump/pan, 80 lb. injectors, OBD1 intake manifold, Steedspeed twin scroll T4, 3.5" SS exhaust, eBoost2 EBC, HFS-4 W/M injection, AEM Failsafe, Zeitronix data logger, Racelogic TC, OpenOBC w. ethanol %, Ireland Eng. engine mounts, UUC black tranny mounts w. enforcers, UUC twin disc feramic, ARC-8's, MCS 2-ways, Z3 rack, Rallyroad strut bar, X brace, Eibach sway bars, Ground Control LCAB bushings, Bimmerworld RTAB's, Powerflex subframe bushings, 210 4-clutch LSD, Stoptech BBK, titainium shims, steel braided lines, brake cooling ducts.

  11. #11
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    '98 E36 M3, '02 Camry
    Im interested in Getting adjustable LCA's as-well. Any recommendations would be nice. You can't go wrong with ground control/uuc but you can't go wrong with the ebay one's prices. What are the major differences?

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by arthothezilvian View Post
    Im interested in Getting adjustable LCA's as-well. Any recommendations would be nice. You can't go wrong with ground control/uuc but you can't go wrong with the ebay one's prices. What are the major differences?
    On has spherical bearings and one doesnt.
    Eric WONGer
    2012 NASA Nationals GTS3 First Loser
    EX-#121 IP/GTS3 M3 SOLD
    Now-#121 GTS3 E46 M3

  13. #13
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    944 Turbo
    I'll tell you the ebay ones may seem nice at the beginning, but one of the reasons they are cheaper is they use inferior rod ends....you'll have to replace them sooner

    Buy American. VAC, Turner, or UUC. (not sure where Eibach's come from)

  14. #14
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    Eibachs are SPC steel arms.

  15. #15
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    1992 325is
    just wanted to know is there a difference between a 4 door and a coupe

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tutu View Post
    just wanted to know is there a difference between a 4 door and a coupe
    Nope no difference between coupe or sedan.

    I have the Ground Controls and they're awesome, picked 'em up from Mark at Ground Control in person and couldn't be happier.

    /M3/4/5

  17. #17
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    THought I'd revive an old thread for anyone looking into the eBay RLCA's. I bought a set, ran it for 6 months with some light track use. When I say light, I mean it... street tires, and pussy-footing around the track to get my suspension setup right.

    The STEEL sleeve cracked. The crack started at the end next to the jam nut, and extended 2" up the sleeve. When the crack reached far enough up the sleeve, it finally pulled off the end heim joint... which in turn allowed the wheel to nearly come off. It pulled the axle out of the diff. Fortunately it came loose at low speeds <10mph, and in a straight line, which made controlling the car an easy thing to do...


    Needless to say, this could REALLY have been a bad day. It could have gone bad on the city streets, or while doing 75mph on the freeway. In that situation, it could have caused a serious accident. For everyone's safety - do NOT buy these cheap eBay RLCA's.

    Contact with the eBay vendor (name withheld) resulted in nothing but a return email saying 'no warranty'. I do not care about replacing them with the same, since they are obviously cheap junk, but wanted to see how a vendor would stand up to such a situation. Their response was as I expected from an eBay vendor and a cheap product.
    Last edited by dangerwillrbnsn; 12-23-2011 at 10:26 PM.
    CURRENT:
    Racecar: '81 e21 320i Group2. GT28 @ 25psi, MS2, e28 M5 suspension/brakes underneath, forged, cammed, 400bhp, 2190lbs, etc, etc...
    Daily: '95 e34 540/6. DUDMD tuned, vogtland/koni, Schnitzers, other minor touches.
    Project: '94 525iT. S50 swapped, supercharger in the works, manual swapped, Airlift supsension, Mpars, Brembo's, clean machine.
    New daily: e60 530i sport package. Stock.

  18. #18
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    e36 332i
    Quote Originally Posted by Hova View Post
    http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EIB-5-67110K/

    Eibach rebranded SPC steel lower control arms.
    These are the ones I have, 5 years on the street 2 years on track. No problems yet

    Quote Originally Posted by chikinhed View Post
    The Turner ones look like the easiest to adjust.
    I do my own alignments, the arms are tough to lock the inner jam nuts closest to the diff especially on the exhaust side. Thankfully I dont adjust the rear to often. When I do I always think about the Turner arms that have adjuster and lock nuts lockated at the outer end.

    Quote Originally Posted by dangerwillrbnsn View Post
    THought I'd revive an old thread for anyone looking into the eBay RLCA's. I bought a set, ran it for 6 months with some light track use. When I say light, I mean it... street tires, and pussy-footing around the track to get my suspension setup right.

    The STEEL sleeve cracked. The crack started at the end next to the jam nut, and extended 2" up the sleeve. When the crack reached far enough up the sleeve, it finally pulled off the end heim joint... which in turn allowed the wheel to nearly come off. It pulled the axle out of the diff. Fortunately it came loose at low speeds <10mph, and in a straight line, which made controlling the car an easy thing to do...

    Needless to say, this could REALLY have been a bad day. It could have gone bad on the city streets, or while doing 75mph on the freeway. In that situation, it could have caused a serious accident. For everyone's safety - do NOT buy these cheap eBay RLCA's.

    Contact with the eBay vendor (name withheld) resulted in nothing but a return email saying 'no warranty'. I do not care about replacing them with the same, since they are obviously cheap junk, but wanted to see how a vendor would stand up to such a situation. Their response was as I expected from an eBay vendor and a cheap product.
    I guess Its time to take a close looksy. Do you have rubber ends or heim joints on the inner parts of the arm where it attaches near the diff?
    Could you please post up some pics of the failure point.
    Glad to hear you didnt have a bad off, could have been really bad if you were at speed.
    Last edited by eye145; 12-23-2011 at 11:48 PM.

  19. #19
    Join Date
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    '95 M3,'04 ZHP, 01 330Ci
    The SPC arms are decent, but if you drive the car hard you need to check for this. The arm itself slides off over the bushing flange and there is metal on metal contact at the subframe.

    If you find yourself with this issue there is a member here, Motomoron, who makes a poly limiter kit to keep this form re-occuring. If you are goung to be unstalling a set, I'd recommend you spend the extra $50 on the limiters and install them at the same time, or go with the newer style Ground Controls with 100% of the adjustment at the hub.

    BTW, the oil on the diff is from the weep hole in the diff cover blowing fluid due to NSS being a Roval. NOT an actual leak


    SPC Right Side Bushing Damage by 20xclean, on Flickr


    SPC Right Side Bushing Damage by 20xclean, on Flickr
    Last edited by 284Shooter; 12-24-2011 at 09:16 AM.

  20. #20
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    I got the rubber ends... figured I don't need heim joints since it's not a race car. The failure was on the other side though, at the side that attaches to the trailing arm. I'll try to get pics when I crawl under to install my new ones.
    Last edited by shogun; 12-09-2018 at 07:17 AM. Reason: unnessary quotes removed
    CURRENT:
    Racecar: '81 e21 320i Group2. GT28 @ 25psi, MS2, e28 M5 suspension/brakes underneath, forged, cammed, 400bhp, 2190lbs, etc, etc...
    Daily: '95 e34 540/6. DUDMD tuned, vogtland/koni, Schnitzers, other minor touches.
    Project: '94 525iT. S50 swapped, supercharger in the works, manual swapped, Airlift supsension, Mpars, Brembo's, clean machine.
    New daily: e60 530i sport package. Stock.

  21. #21
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    After reading the last few posts I will be getting ground control or something of the likes

  22. #22
    Join Date
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    BMW E36 N3
    You can search ultraracinginstock ebay store.

  23. #23
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    As requested, here is a pic of the failure point on the cheap ebay arms. The male to female fitment is very poor and feels like it has a couple mm of play, as you can see in the photo's below, I can literally move it left and right inside the sleeve. Needless to say, they're junk. These could have really taken me out... worse if my better half were driving.
    Last edited by shogun; 12-09-2018 at 07:10 AM. Reason: non working pics removed

  24. #24
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  25. #25
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    washington dc
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    Avus Cosmos Calypso!
    go with VAC. They are super easy to adjust, deform in a crash, and the bushings can be replaced with the OE ones when they go bad.

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