Hotchkis vs turner sway bar

[Dat.E46M3]

What arms and bushings have been replaced? Total mileage on chassis? Also curious about ride height.

Have you put it up in the air and checked each wheel for play?

All the arms and bushings are OEM. I say it’s about one and a half inch lower front and rear. It’s about 154,000 miles car is very well maintained.

[Dat.E46M3]

Here is the ride height

[EthanolTurbo]

All the arms and bushings are OEM. I say it’s about one and a half inch lower front and rear. It’s about 154,000 miles car is very well maintained.

Ok but WHEN were they replaced? Are they new? Original? Those BC coilovers are junk and gotta go.

[Dat.E46M3]

Ok but WHEN were they replaced? Are they new? Original? Those BC coilovers are junk and gotta go.

The bushings were never replaced. Coilovers are 4 years old. About 4k on them. I’m looking for some kw’s coilovers now. I will Change all the bushings as well. Hopefully it will resolve this issue

[Halftim3]

Since only 4k on bc, I would first replace bushings before replacing with KW coilovers, but that's just me.
For a mostly street car with your miles most would suggest monoball Rtabs and oem lemforder Fcabs.

[Tbonem3]

What are the bc spring rates? I would assume they're quite stiff up front (like 7k+), in which case a bigger sway bar would just cause more understeer.

[fattycharged]

BC's aren't great, but doubtful that's causing your issue. At 150k miles, you could definitely replace all bushings


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[bmwfnatic]

What are the bc spring rates? I would assume they're quite stiff up front (like 7k+), in which case a bigger sway bar would just cause more understeer.

They are 8k/12k by default according to Google.

Also not a fan of BC, not a company that does much R&D besides measuring OEM struts and sending that data to China. There are many choices for better suspension, as often discussed on this forum. I personally like the Öhlins.

Also to OP. check your RTABs, they are often shot and cause such weird behavior on the road.

[Dat.E46M3]

Since only 4k on bc, I would first replace bushings before replacing with KW coilovers, but that's just me.
For a mostly street car with your miles most would suggest monoball Rtabs and oem lemforder Fcabs.

I will do that! Thank you

[Dat.E46M3]

They are 8k/12k by default according to Google.

Also not a fan of BC, not a company that does much R&D besides measuring OEM struts and sending that data to China. There are many choices for better suspension, as often discussed on this forum. I personally like the Öhlins.

Also to OP. check your RTABs, they are often shot and cause such weird behavior on the road.

I ordered them! Front and rear bushings

[dreamdrivedrift]

Agree w rest. Sounds like bushing.

replace your RTAB and FCAB with a mechanic that knows what they’re doing. RTAB need to be clocked appropriately.

[Tbonem3]

Go with spherical rtab, not factory. Dinan, fallline, turner, synchrodesignwerks, cmp...

[bmw m3 s50]

I think it's also worth noting that the Hotchkis sway bars are not really available at the moment for the e46 m3. There is a manufacturing issue where they stopped producing the bar so they are pretty hard to come by unless maybe you find them used.

I would go Hotchkis over Turner simply due to weight factor. Both bars are similar in thickness and adjustability.

Also as many said, look at replacing bushings first then potentially the coilovers. I have the KW V2's on my e46 m3 vert and honestly not a fan. I would consider Bilstein PSS-10's for a more compliant car on the street that does not give up ride quality.

[enjoy_m3]

BC Racing coilovers. I’m trying to figure out what’s is going on… It loses stability when I’m on highway, happened a few times when I’m changing lanes or getting off an exit…
If changing the sway bars doesn’t help I will get a better coilovers. Already tried an alignment, and it didn’t help. I Tried my winter wheels with brand new tires, and still the same. Maybe the sway bar will fix it. Already took to a mechanic and nothing is broken or loose.

How is it losing stability? Is the car bouncing like crazy? Could be your alignment settings or something is loose in your suspension.

[Nate047]

154k miles, bushings have never been replaced, it's definitely time to do all of that. If the front end is loose feeling, it could be tramlining from negative camber, or more likely a worn front suspension component.

If the rear end gets loose and wanders around at speed, that could very likely be rear trailing arm bushings. Badly worn RTABs can create a very uneasy feeling at high speed cornering. It could be low tire pressures but I would honestly just do all the bushings.

It's a sucky job, time consuming and therefore expensive if you can't DIY it, at least partially. If you have a place to work on the car, I would remove everything from the car and bring it to a shop and have them remove and press in all the new bushings/bearings, and put it all back onto the car yourself. You can do it all yourself if you want to get the tool, and if you really value a few hours of self loathing over paying a shop like $500.