e36 compact with e46 lower arms.

jay-young

jay-young

Active Member
I've done a lot of searching on here and Bimmer forums to find a 100% definite answer for this.

I'm going to be fitting E46 lower arms to my E36 compact.

I know I need:
E46 lower arms
60mm lollipop bush ( BMW E46 3 SERIES (1999 - 2006) Powerflex Front Wishbone Rear Bush - PFF5-4601 | eBay )

Now this is what throws me, some people say you NEED E92 rods ( Comline Front Tie Rod Joint Track Steering Genuine OE Quality Replacement | eBay )

but others say you don't. Can anyone confirm or deny this? And will I need anything other than this and maybe a set of 25mm spacers along with an alignment?

Thanks.
 
You will need to cut and extend or buy e92 inners.
I have cut hubs and the standard track rod has about 12mm of thread engagement. Not enough.
Fitted 46 arms to a standard 36 and no where near long enough just lots of tow in.
 
Thanks, not messing with cutting and extending when I can buy OE replacements. E92 rods it is. Will update this as a definite for anyone else looking at the same thing.
 
So to update this.

So far e46 wishbones are on, fitted to e46 bushes. I thought these would go on without modification, i was wrong so needed to grind down the hexagons.



So just waiting on e92 tie rods and i'll be done. Once they're on I'll update how much I chop off the rods for others to reference.
 
Iv done this same set up today e46bottom arms but I also used cut hubs. Was stuck at the same hurdle as people say I can use e36 inners and others say there won't be enuff thread? Can u point me in the right direction cheers
 
General theme seems to be:

Cut / modified hubs - stock inners will be fine.
Stock hubs - longer inners needed.
 
All depends on how the hubs been cut.
It's fairly easy to thread a rod end on and align it roughly then see how much thread engagement you have.
 
I've heard that you can fit regular e46 arms without grinding down the hexagonal portion as long as they're EARLY e46 arms rather than the later ones.
 
So I got this done on sunday.

I put it all together as it arrived first with 4mm rack spacers and it toe'd out massively.

So I chopped the track rods as per this photo


And about 1cm (5 ish threads ) off the new inners

I now bottom out the inners in the track rods and it's about straight, take more off and you'll have more toe in (provided you bottom them out)

I hope this thread helps people in the future.

To Confirm:

E46 wishbones
E46 60mm polybushes in stock lollipop housing
E92 inners with about 1cm chopped off
Stock outer with a bit chopped off as per photo
4 mm rack spacers.

Easy.
 
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