Sway bars

There is also an eibach one that is adjustable and much cheaper than dinan.

I chatted with Bimmerworld about the Hotchkis bars. They partnered with them to make them, that's why they aren't listed anywhere else, and are pretty much brand new. The price is outstanding for a high quality set of bars.

Given the problems RD Sport has had of late, I was hesitant as well. Although I did like that their front bar was 2mm smaller than the Hotchkis.

I went ahead and calculated the % stiffness over stock (soft to hard), for reference. BW lists the Hotchkis roll rates but not compared to stock. I asked them to update their site, as it would be beneficial.

Stock swaybare rate: F: 194 lb/in R: 112 lb/in

Hotchkis:

Front 4 way adjustable- 295 lbs/in (52%) , 335 lbs/in (73%), 380 lbs/in (96%), 435 lbs/in (125%)
Rear 3 way adjustable - 175 lbs/in (56%), 195 lbs/in (74%), 215 lbs/in (92%)

Front: Ø1.25” x .156”wall (Ø32mm x 4mm wall)
Rear: Ø1.00” x .156”wall (Ø25.4mm x 4mm wall)

M43S7RO wrote

From what I've gathered, it came down to being between the RD Sport and Dinan adjustable but there seem to have been some possible quality issues with the RDSport after reports of them breaking under load.

Thank you! Guess I'll look into the Dinan. Seems pricy, but, their products are always very high quality.

What stiffness are people setting for the Eibach or the DINAN?

becausephilchow wrote

What stiffness are people setting for the Eibach or the DINAN?

Dinan bar here. Set to middle position. Transformed the car from one that rolls to one that has very little roll.

admranger wrote

Dinan bar here. Set to middle position. Transformed the car from one that rolls to one that has very little roll.

No coilovers for you? Looks like you're still on stock suspension?

becausephilchow wrote

No coilovers for you? Looks like you're still on stock suspension?

Eibach springs.

Coilovers aren't my priority. I'm not looking for the fastest time. I'm out there having fun with what I have. The sway bar just minimizes the roll that was throwing my balance off (tilting my head). Don't like that.

So my RD Sport front bar finally snapped, and it was one of the "good" early batch. 63,000 miles on the bar. Probably snapped leaving my driveway this morning and the short end clanked on the ground 1/4 mile later, luckily at low speed

Dinan bar on the way.

Remind me to punch myself in the face the next time I consider buying an RD Sport product

Would have tried the Hotchkis but that just would have snowballed into a "while you're in there" rear subframe bushings/control arms/shocks/diff//brakes/bearings catastrophe like the last time I replaced a relatively simple, quick to replace part and you have to know your weaknesses to avoid them. NO DOWNTIME IN THE SUMMERTIME

That's crazy. The M5board E60 section is full of stories of RD sport bars failing, but I mistakenly assumed the E90 design wasn't as bad. Imagine being on track at say...VIR in the climbing esses at ~110mph and having that damn thing snap. Instant oversteering spin and huge (potentially catastrophic) off.

Do you have a aftermarket rear bar on your car Rich? I have the original Dinan front, solid bar plus I added the Eibach rear 25mm bar. Car is really nicely balanced now with both swaybars (and yes, I'm not autocrossing it in street any longer ).

I'm just glad I have a nice curb on my driveway that twists the bar each time I go up and down, if it was going to fail that's when it was most likely to...but yeah glad it wasn't on an onramp or something

No rear bar and no plans for one, I like the idea of more roll stiffness in back but I think I'd rather do it with springs, in conjunction with a rear track change (spacers, heh, but that sounds fancier, my recent experiences with Mustangs tell me my car wants more rear track), but I have to figure out which dampers I want to use if I start fooling with it again. Enjoying my simple, failure proof (ha), wide front wheel/front bar/stock ZCP springs/stock "dumb" dampers setup with Dinan plates up front for now. Plus I'm waiting on my new Apex 17's which are going to change how I want to mess with balance and compliance too, so...yeah. Stop trying to spend my money, I already spent it all!

I have the front and rear Hotchins setup on the E90 but I agree, it turns into an exercise of now you have to do subframe, diff bushings, etc etc.

On top of it I was installing JRZ this weekend and while disassembling the rear suspension I saw how much play it has. WTF!!! I'm aching to do the BW rear arm bushings but they require a spot weld which I cannot DIY.

SYT_Shadow wrote

I'm aching to do the BW rear arm bushings but they require a spot weld which I cannot DIY.

Do you know where the weld is required? I have them and wasn't aware (they have yet to be installed).

kamber wrote

Do you know where the weld is required? I have them and wasn't aware (they have yet to be installed).

I have no idea. In the BW description is says 'spot weld is required' which is what has put me off so far

My experience with their front arm solid bushing has been excellent so I'd happily install this if it weren't for the welding part.

Just use some thermite to welder it up good.

SYT_Shadow wrote

I have no idea. In the BW description is says 'spot weld is required' which is what has put me off so far

My experience with their front arm solid bushing has been excellent so I'd happily install this if it weren't for the welding part.

Found some info in this thread. Apparently loctite sleeve retainer will do the trick just as well:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1005262

kamber wrote

Found some info in this thread. Apparently loctite sleeve retainer will do the trick just as well:

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1005262

Nice! Thank you!

SYT_Shadow wrote

Nice! Thank you!

Or just learn to weld. Its not as hard as everyone makes it...especially MIG welding. If you can do rod bearings...you can do welding.

bigjae1976 wrote

Or just learn to weld. Its not as hard as everyone makes it...especially MIG welding. If you can do rod bearings...you can do welding.

The funny part is I did weld as part of my materials science minor. However, I was a youngling back there

SYT_Shadow wrote

The funny part is I did weld as part of my materials science minor. However, I was a youngling back there

Prices are pretty cheap nowadays for welding stuff.

I bought an Eastwood 135 MIG welder. With gas, hood, gloves, etc. I've spent about $450 so far. I want to get the $200 spool gun. So $750 total to weld steel, stainless, and aluminum.

Dinan bar on. anybody else noticed their adjustable endlinks are a little long? Had to shorten them all the way (with stock dampers) to get the (larger, 32mm vs. 30mm RD sport) bar to fit right on the middle setting. No way ty would fit on the stiffest setting, but I'm not going to use that setting anyway, middle both sides for now. If I had a standup bandsaw I would just take 1/4" off each end of both center hex sections and call it good. They're beefy, certainly won't break or bend, and there is no noise unlike my BW endlinks which were noisy from day 1 in certain conditions.

It weighs within half a pound of the RD Sport bar, might be the same, might be a bit more, might be less, I'm using a bathroom scale. The RD Sport bar has gigantic blades made of 3/8" or so steel plate at the bar ends so I think those probably make up for the weight difference from the Dinan's thicker tubing and heavier duty endlinks

Definitely a nicer piece in every way than the RD Sport bar, for instance the RD Sport bar didn't come with zerk-equipped bushing brackets with channeled bushings, nor did it come with endlinks.

Also, I ordered Friday and got it from ECS on Tuesday (had to pay about $35 extra for expedited shipping).

Richbot wrote

Dinan bar on. anybody else noticed their adjustable endlinks are a little long? Had to shorten them all the way (with stock dampers) to get the (larger, 32mm vs. 30mm RD sport) bar to fit right on the middle setting. No way ty would fit on the stiffest setting, but I'm not going to use that setting anyway, middle both sides for now. If I had a standup bandsaw I would just take 1/4" off each end of both center hex sections and call it good. They're beefy, certainly won't break or bend, and there is no noise unlike my BW endlinks which were noisy from day 1 in certain conditions.

It weighs within half a pound of the RD Sport bar, might be the same, might be a bit more, might be less, I'm using a bathroom scale. The RD Sport bar has gigantic blades made of 3/8" or so steel plate at the bar ends so I think those probably make up for the weight difference from the Dinan's thicker tubing and heavier duty endlinks

Definitely a nicer piece in every way than the RD Sport bar, for instance the RD Sport bar didn't come with zerk-equipped bushing brackets with channeled bushings, nor did it come with endlinks.

Also, I ordered Friday and got it from ECS on Tuesday (had to pay about $35 extra for expedited shipping).

How is the handling with the bar? Is the ride stiffer over bumps?

Same as it was with the RD Sport bar