BMW E30 5 Lug Conversion Guide For Rear | How To 5 Stud Swap E30 + Rear Suspension Install | 023

BMW E30 5 Lug Conversion Guide For Rear | How To 5 Stud Swap E30 + Rear Suspension Install | 023

In this BMW E30 build video, I detail the method of 5-lug swapping the rear end of the car.

Having spent many hours working on this rear end, and getting into the reassembly phase, I decided to take the opportunity to five lug swap this rear end as I'm putting it back together.

Here are all the parts I used in this video:
1. E90 5x120 Rear Hub x2: https://ebay.us/VSoN9Q
2. Rear brake caliper adapters from SRS Concept: https://ebay.us/Uigxzy
3. Rear calipers and carriers from a 6cyl E46 or Z4: https://ebay.us/1EwBHy
4. Rear discs from a 6cyl E46 (294mm vented): https://ebay.us/psXtqU
5. Wezmoto E30 Inner rear brake lines: https://ebay.us/qEnkSk
6. Wezmoto E30 front brake lines (used as outer rears): https://ebay.us/p5oE51
7. HSD Monopro Coilovers (although not necessary for the swap): https://www.driftworks.com/hsd-monopr...
8. 5x120 16" Style 5 Wheels from an E38 7 series: https://ebay.us/mGJk3F
9. Appropriate tyre sizes, I went with 215/45R16: https://ebay.us/SGQSdE

I believe this method is the easiest and cheapest way to do an E30 5 stud swap on the rear. But it's worth noting that if your E30 is a 4 cyl standard model (not a 318is as they have discs all round) it will come with rear drum brakes. If this is you, your first task will be to acquire standard E30 rear disc arms, which 6 cylinder and IS models came equipped with as standard.

The E90 rear hubs are a straight fit up with the E30 rear wheel bearing, so you simply need to swap the old 4 stud hubs for these new 5 stud ones. I used a press to do this.

Be aware, to do this swap you also need to modify your rear brake shield by trimming it down to accommodate the larger rear caliper in a higher position, and bending the outer rim flat, to accommodate the larger diameter brake disc. I have a previous video with more details about doing this, which is here:    • Brake Shield Clearance – BMW E30 5 Lu...  

I mention this now, because you must install the brake shield before pressing on the hub, as the hub will obstruct you from fitting this shield later, which I found out the hard way.

With the E30 disk rear arms fitted, the brake shields modified, and the E90 hubs pressed on, you're pretty much all set to finish the 5 lug conversion. The next step would be to fit up the original E30 handbrake mechanism which will work perfectly with your new E46 discs.

In my video I had not yet received all of the handbrake parts to do this section so I skipped over it and moved straight on to fitting the larger E46 brake disc and larger E46 rear calipers, which is done via the SRS Concept brake caliper adapter.

The SRS Concept caliper adapters come in raw steel as standard, so I had taken the time to powder coat them silver to avoid them rusting straight away and dragging down my otherwise completely fresh rear end.

With the new calipers fitted up with the caliper adapters, I then fitted my new Wezmoto braided stainless brake lines. The inner line is the same 22.2mm female to female line which is standard to the E30, linked to above. And the outer Wezmoto line is actually the E30 front size, but used on the rear. The fitment seems good.

Following this, you will want to bleed your new calipers up, but as I am planning to follow up with the front 5 lug swap, which also involves fitting a larger caliper, I will hold off on this, for now, so I moved onto fitting my new HSD Monopro rear coilovers.

Yes I know they're not really "coilovers" on the rear because the spring and damper are separate on an E30, but nevertheless its part of a coilover kit which also includes fronts which have E30 top hats and E36 hub mounts, required for the front 5 stud conversion (subscribe so you don't miss that upcoming video).

As this video isn't about setting up coilovers, I decided to fit them at sensible, tall ride heights, for now, no doubt I will spend hours getting these dialled in, but not today!

With the suspension fitted, I threw on my E38 style 5 wheels and lowered the car down onto the ground for the first time in a very long time. I believe the track width with this conversion is increased by 3mm total, which is not really a noticeable amount, and the IS23 offset wheels seem to sit perfectly flush with the rear arch, which I'm very happy about as a starting point.

I hope this information about the rear E30 5 stud conversion has been helpful!

If you're looking for the front 5-stud swap explainer video, here it is:    • How To Front 5 Lug Swap A BMW E30 | F...  

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