Rear sway bar link bracket upgrade - E30/318ti/Z3

[Ron Katona <ron3b@xxxxxxxx>]

I found someone who makes a beefier rear sway bar link bracket for
theses cars. The bracket is almost exactly the same size and shape of
the original, except it's slightly wider due to the thicker material.
The bolt holes are in the proper location and it's made of the same
material as the original. The 8 mm bolt tack welded to the original
bracket is replaced with a 10 mm bolt. This requires drilling out the
bolt hole on the trailing arm. The bracket is made of 3.5 mm thick metal
compared to the 2 mm thick stock piece - a 75% increase. It looks much
beefier and I seriously doubt it's the weak link anymore.

The part is made by a German auto manufacturer; BMW. It's the front
bracket for non-M E36s. P/N 31-35-1-127-263 "Bracket." $4.63 before BMW
CCA discount. I installed mine today without a hitch. Other than
drilling out the bolt hole, the small raised tab that keeps the piece
from rotating has to be bent down a bit because of the added thickness
of this piece. I did it with a vice grip. A simple cheap fix available
at your local BMW dealer.
- -- 
Ron Katona

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