M Roadster high performance & adjustable suspension upgrade.....

Here are a few pictures of one of our latest projects done at Weaver Motorsports this week. It's a 1998 BMW M Roadster and our customer has requested a full suspension upgrade. The car must be able to be used as a regular street car but with adjustable settings for track & autocross days. We suggested the Bilstein Sports for this setup as they have a slightly shorter length than the Bilstein HD's. The Sports are more suitable for this car, as the factory Roadster has slightly lower springs than the standard Z3. 


While replacing the rear shocks we also replaced the rear shock mountings with the upgraded HP rubber/aluminium version from Turner Motorsports. We did away with the old noisy factory mountings and installed a mounting with a quieter and sturdier design. They look great too!

The rear sway bar was replaced with a 21mm H&R adjustable version to decrease body roll and to reduce the excessive under steer experienced with these models. Sport Sway Bars are designed for drivers who desire improved handling without lowering or affecting ride quality. H&R Sport Sway Bars increase your suspension’s roll stiffness or its resistance to roll in turns, while maintaining ride comfort and dramatically increasing cornering control, lateral stability, and grip. 

We also replaced the original factory FCAB's (front control arm bushes) with upgraded stiffer urethane Powerflex variety from Bimmerworld. The front control arm bushings are one of the first parts to upgrade when looking to increase the handling performance of your E30/E36 3 Series or Z3. The stock bushings are extremely soft and wear quickly, causing unnecessary deflection, uneven tire wear, and bad steering feedback. These Powerflex front control arm bushings (FCAB) solve this issue by using 100% urethane construction. This bushing reduces control arm defection to a minimum, while still offering compliance for everyday use. 

While installing the front struts we replaced the factory mountings with the KMAC stage 2 camber plates. The Stage 2 KMAC plates are a mixed street/track camber/caster plate meant to be used in a variety of suspensions. This design allows maximum range of adjustment since no other hardware interferes with the adjustments. These plates can work on both coil over and stock-type suspensions. The Stage 2 camber plates are shorter than a factory mount so may not be suitable for cars will little suspension travel. These are designed mainly for adding negative camber for improved handling. The beauty of these plates is that it literally takes 2 minutes to change them from regular road settings to maximum negative camber settings for track use. It's a matter of loosening 3 nuts, moving the plate in the desired direction and retightening. There is no need to lift up the wheels to make an adjustment. 

All of the suspension components are available directly from us at the following prices:

Bilstein Sport shock absorber set - $598
KMAC stage 2 camber plates - $339
Rear shock mount - HP aluminium/rubber  - $99
Powerflex FCAB's - $65

Call us for more information or friendly advice....