# I did a rear sway bar swap!!!! Here is my feedback and opinion!



## GOKOOLJAPAN (Mar 10, 2003)

I have a 1997 528i "NON" sport. A while back I upgraded my shocks and springs (bilstein sport shocks and eibach prokits). The body roll was reduced, but there was still that body roll which I was not used to when a car was lowered (i used to be a honda guy and hardly any body roll when lowered!).

But anyways, a couple of days ago I purchased a 03 540 sport rear sway bar and I have to tell you....it is probably the most noticeable thing I have done to the suspension.

Don't get me wrong. A lot of people have said that changing the rear sway does not make a big difference (changing a sway from 540 sport to M5 sway or 528 sport to M5), but in MY case, this did make a big difference! I can take decent turns at a reasonable speed with ease!

So in conclusion, if you have a NON 528i sport and want to improve your handling.....get a suspension upgrade, wider tires, and a 540 sport sway bar! 


~gokooljapan


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

Great to hear! I am now even more anxious to get my M5 rear sway bar installed!!

:beerchug: 



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## GOKOOLJAPAN (Mar 10, 2003)

btw:


my wheel and tire set up is:

Staggered
18x8.5 Speedline Alesios up front~ matched up with 245-40-18 Yokohama ES100's
18x10 Speedline Alesios in the rear~ matched up with 275-35-18 Yokohama ES100's.



Just wanted to let you know that I have some wider wheels on my set up!


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## DSPTurtle (Oct 4, 2003)

I have a 1998 540i6 sport... you have me concerned since I am getting ready to do this mod to an M5 Rear sway. Why do you think it will not make a difference?


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## GOKOOLJAPAN (Mar 10, 2003)

DSPTurtle said:


> I have a 1998 540i6 sport... you have me concerned since I am getting ready to do this mod to an M5 Rear sway. Why do you think it will not make a difference?


OOps, I didn't mean to say that going from 540i sport to a M5 rear sway will not make a difference. What I intended to say was that I have read in another forum that going from a 540 sport to M5 bar does not make a BIGGGG difference. Although it will make a difference on your particular application, it will not be AS huge as what I have encountered with my application.

Being my 97 528 non sport yields a 13mm rear sway. The 540 sport yields a 15 mm sway bar. The M5 yields a 16.5mm sway bar...(correct me if I am wrong here).

It will make a difference in your car, but someone in another forum has stated that 540-M5 sway is not a big difference. But i beg to differ since there is a 1.5 mm difference in your type of application.

It probably has something to do with the front bar as well. I don't know, but in my opinion with my results, I wanted to give a heads up to people with 528 NON sport applications.

Hope this helps and does NOT steer you away from your decision in swapping to an M5 rear anti-sway bar.


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## GOKOOLJAPAN (Mar 10, 2003)

correction????


I have read that the 2003 540 SPORT sway is larger than 15mm...can someone confirm or correct me?> thanks


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## jvr826 (Apr 22, 2002)

GOKOOLJAPAN said:


> correction????
> 
> I have read that the 2003 540 SPORT sway is larger than 15mm...can someone confirm or correct me?> thanks


This info was posted by RonV on another thread on the topic:

M5 front
OEM 27mm

540 front
OEM non-sport 24.5mm
OEM sport and sport II 25mm
Dinan 27mm

525/530 front
OEM non-sport 22.5mm
OEM "for vehicles with payload increase" 23mm
OEM sport 24mm
OEM sport II 25mm
Dinan 25mm

M5 rear
OEM 16.5mm
Dinan 17mm adjustable length

540 rear
OEM non-sport 14 mm
OEM sport and sport II 15mm
Dinan 17mm adjustable length

525/530 rear
OEM non-sport 13mm
OEM sport 14mm
OEM sport II 15 mm
Dinan 17mm adjustable length

I did the M5 rear and noticed a substantial improvement in handling in the corners. For the $125 and 30 minutes of time I spent, there is no better mod IMHO!


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## DSPTurtle (Oct 4, 2003)

Is this one of those cases where bigger is not always better?
Stock 25 / 15
M5 27 / 17
Eibach 28 / 18

Would there be an advantage of going to the 28 / 18 setup? Relatively stock 540i6 Sport. I plan on doing H&R Bilsteins after the holidays so I want to make sure I have enough sway bar to match that planned upgrade.
JB


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

GOKOOLJAPAN said:


> correction????
> 
> I have read that the 2003 540 SPORT sway is larger than 15mm...can someone confirm or correct me?> thanks


According to Roundel a few months back, one of the things they did for the '03 model year was to make a larger (than previous years) rear sway and add eurathane bushings. I am doubtful that they made a whole new part (though they could have) for 03, so they probably just used the M5 bar for that year.


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