I was a passenger in an E36 M3 on Saturday, and was suitably impressed with the comfy, supple ride, simply put it was sublime.

Its made me realises just how tired the suspension is on my V6, I'm thinking of fully polybushing the car, popping on new drop links, track rod ends, top mounts and bearings, and also new dampers and springs.

What kits are out there? A small lowering wouldn't go a miss, but I'm after ride quality and supple handling, rather than being slammed and rock hard.

All advice gratefully received!!

Tom.

PS - FSDs are not available for the Mondeo. :(

Tom mate, do yourself a favour.

Stop. At this rate you will have spend £3-4k on your car before it needs it. Go take the car up an MOT centre and see what they say. If it's knackered get either OEM (Cheap as anything) or standard height and springs or get a reasonable priced kit and new bushes and DIY it.

Your car will never in a month of sundays get near an M3 with the M sport suspension as a lot of that work is in the excellent chassis too.

Sure you can improve it if it's dead, but you're going to have to accept that it's a more refined barge and with a big V6 lump at the front and FWD it's never going to handle like a VRS never mind an M3.

I had the Ford RS (Eibach) springs on one of my Mk1 V6 Mondeos.

I think they were about 135 quid and I also had the 5 spoke 16" RS wheels.

It handled pretty good.

If I were you Tom I would just do the springs and replace any bushes/shocks with OEM while you are there.

Or go the ST200 suspenders route.

3-4k?? £400 on some suspension (OEM replacents would be what, £250?), and £100 on bushes is all it needs mate, on a car that owes me about £1300. Gosh. I bought the car to save money on the vRS (which would have received Eibachs/FSDs at over £700 btw), not to be the cheapest a-b car possible, or I'd have bought £500 worth of diesel Fiesta or something.

I'm not after M3 like performance, just something a bit more supple than I have now.

I had the Ford RS (Eibach) springs on one of my Mk1 V6 Mondeos.

I think they were about 135 quid and I also had the 5 spoke 16" RS wheels.

It handled pretty good.

If I were you Tom I would just do the springs and replace any bushes/shocks with OEM while you are there.

Or go the ST200 suspenders route.

I think its definitely worth doing dampers as well. I've got good experiences with Eibach springs so may go with them.

I do have new wishbones and track rod ends, but pattern lower arms never last more than a few months, I was planning to rebush the original Ford arms with powerflex items.

The rest of the car is sound, brakes are strong, engine smooth and strong (and frugal ), its just the suspension thats seriously lacking. Its a Mk2 Mondeo, they have independant rear suspension after all, they should handle really quite well, and mine simply doesn't.

Eibachs

Any recommendations on dampers?? Koni adjustables any good? What about Weitecs? FK?

Tom Tom Tom... dont bother...

your car is NEVER going to drive like a M3

save yourself the money.. replace stuff only when it needs replacing

I've got Eibachs on my car, and it's a better/smoother ride than it was as standard but still that bit firmer when you're in the mood for a bit of fun. Eibach (probably?) do a set of matched dampers too.

3-4k?? £400 on some suspension (OEM replacents would be what, £250?), and £100 on bushes is all it needs mate, on a car that owes me about £1300. Gosh. I bought the car to save money on the vRS (which would have received Eibachs/FSDs at over £700 btw), not to be the cheapest a-b car possible, or I'd have bought £500 worth of diesel Fiesta or something.

I'm not after M3 like performance, just something a bit more supple than I have now.

£3-4k was a suggestion towards the total of what you have spent, plus what you would spend on the suspension plus what you could end up spending on it in your time of ownership if you are not careful.

Every little £10 here and £10 there adds up and if you're going for economy motoring then you can't do that. I managed to run an old car for about £50 a year plus fuel and that included a DIY service and fix it for the MOT costs.

If you want a car that's more supple, then in all honestly I think you got the wrong car.

Edited 22 July, 200817 yr by cheezemonkhai

*panders off to look at old 328s etc...* :P

Well older ones are going for £1500 on the trader, so if you could get a good price on one and the insurance wasn't too insane that would probably be a better option.

You could just accept the mondeo for what it is a hack, and save all this money to buying something that isn't one.

Sure a year or two of not so much fun, but then you can buy a fun car with no or much less finance.

Edited 22 July, 200817 yr by cheezemonkhai

Eibach Pro-kit part no. E3576-140 or should be available from your friendly neighbourhood Ford dealer.

new springs, dampers, top mounts, bushes etc aren't going to be that cheap tom especially once you've paid someone to fit a lot of it too.

powerflex kit for front and rear is £150 for parts from powerflex

eibach springs are £150 for parts from larkspeed

koni springs are £100

koni spring and adjustable damper kit is £520 for parts from larkspeed

koni basic dampers are £250 front and rear parts only from larkspeed

your looking at around £500+top mounts+fitting so could easily reach £6-700

Like Neo says. Dont bother. Just replace things when they are needed (with better items).

Buy a M3 and then you'll be happy lol

I can fit them myself, no problem there.

I don't know what I want to do really, I'd love a 328 saloon with sports leather seats and climate, but are there any in the world? Plus theres the Nikasil problems... :(

very very few cars have the nikasil issues as they were done under warranty and you might not be able to do all jobs yourself as some bushes need pressing.

Seriously, maintain your mondeo and replace things only when they are broken or dangerous and need replacing.

Put the £500+ you would have spent on all the suspension bits into a savings account (similar to that isa your mate has) and save it up towards a house or a new car in a year or two.

Any time you have some spare money on a month save it up.

You can't polish a turd (no don't post that pic) and while i'm not calling the mondeo a turd, you won't turn a mondeo or any generic road car into a car that is as great as an M3 all around without huge amounts of cash and even then you might struggle.

If you think the dampers and springs are sh*gged then I'd suggest going up GSF and getting the pattern part OEM equivalent ones and fitting a set of them at minimal cost.

If you or an MOT centre thinks they are ok, then leave them until they say otherwise.

If you really want sporty, do lots of research into the cars you may want, then get your mondy looking spotless sell it and the other one if you have it and stick the money in a savings account.

Then find a good example of the car you want. If it is a 328i or even a 323/325i then do some serious research into it. Take some for a test drive get insurance quotes and real world fuel economy.

Only when you're sure you can afford and want it do you buy something and make a promise to yourself that this one has to last for 3 years short of anything going badly wrong.

Sell it and buy an old Beemer

You are aware how many times Tom has sold a car, bought a new one and found out it isn't what he wants or has too many costs?

very very few cars have the nikasil issues as they were done under warranty and you might not be able to do all jobs yourself as some bushes need pressing.

Good job I've got a 10T press then

I have to agree with the general sentiment Tom, and advise to leave it alone unless you're forced to do otherwise by MoT/failure of a part.

I can't see the benefit of investing in a cheaper runabout type vehicle, even if it is a Mondy with a decent spec and V6.

A 328 or similar Beemer is another matter entirely, but only if it makes sense financially, and fits your purpose better than anything else you can find for a set budget/mileage/age or any combination of the aforementioned

Steve

Tom if you must replace the suspension then go for OEM ST200. iirc 20mm lower than standard and will help the handling no end.

HTH

Carl:thumbup:

If you plan to keep the car then I would consider modding it but if you are only using as a stop gap for a year or so then just keep it running for as little cost as possible or you might aswell just give your spare cash to me instead of spening it on your car;)

You say you've allready spent around £1,300 on it, are you really going to get your money back when you sell it.

Just my 2p worth, but I know where your coming from, you still want to have a nice car to drive around in that give's you a smile now and again