'98 328is - Camber uneven after lowering

[Pop-o-matic]

After new BIlsteen(PSS) and ride lowered 1.5" all around, the front camber is now uneven. It increased significantly more on the passenger side(around 2deg) compared to the driver side (.8 deg). The car has a tendency to pull a tad to the left. The ride height is even all around. I could correct this with camber plates but that seem excessive as a corrective measure.

Any idea what faulty/bent suspension component could typically cause this?

Is there anything I can measure to pinpoint where is this difference coming from?

Is it possible that I didn't install those struts properly? There doesn't seem to be any margin for correction/adjustment, everything is fixed. I mounted the new struts with fresh new OEM top plates.

Thanks

[Hasselhoff]

Originally Posted by Pop-o-matic

Any idea what faulty/bent suspension component could typically cause this?

Lower Control Arms and/or bushings

[Pop-o-matic]

4 months ago I changed the LCABs to Powerflex. That seems to be in good shape. All other ball joints on the control arm or rod ends seem solid. No major slop that could produce such a difference.

[Hasselhoff]

Originally Posted by Pop-o-matic

4 months ago I changed the LCABs to Powerflex. That seems to be in good shape. All other ball joints on the control arm or rod ends seem solid. No major slop that could produce such a difference.

Bent arm perhaps? There's not too many components that have the ability to affect camber.

I'd double-check your install to see if there's any difference at all between the two sides. The camber difference could be a result of something as silly as a top plate installed upside down etc...

If there's nothing discernable between the sides, you may want to go the camber plate route - it'll at least allow you to fully dial in your ft alignment.

Bear in mind that the usual acceptable limits for camber are usually +/- 0.5 to 0.7, so a 1.2 deg difference in camber is really not that far out.

Here's some more info that may be useful: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=995556

[thinair]

Worn control arm bushings would really affect caster significantly, not camber. It's possible you have a bent control arm, subframe, spindle, strut tower, etc. Where did you take the car to be aligned?

As mentioned above, 1.2 degrees isn't THAT much to worry about unless you're hitting the track, just make sure the toe is even and that should solve your issues regarding the car pulling to a side.

[Pop-o-matic]

Hey Hasellhoff,

that write up you suggested
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=995556
was really informative.

It pointed out stuff I never realized.

When I changed my RTAB myself (last year), I never realized that the 3-bolt bracket IS ACTUALLY the toe ajdustment! ha ha
I just bolted the thing back on... now I know why some of the holes were "oval". So that's probably why I have toe-out in the back, not because I lowered the car. I'll get that fixed.


Mine is not an M3 though, so inverting the strut tower wont probably make a diff because they're simmetrical on a E36 328is right?

Anyways I still need to figure out why the camber is so pronounced on the right side.

[Pop-o-matic]

Thinair,

What do you mean by the toe is "even" ?? Would an uneven toe (tie rods adjustment not simmetrical) in the front just make the steering wheel off centered? I think the rear toe is more touchy to set because the wheels are not linked together so you have to make sure the toe is set for each wheel separately AND in reference to the center of the body of the car... so you really need the shop computers for that one.

To answer your question, I didn't get an alignment yet. The reason being that I don't think there's enough provision for adjustment with the stock adjustments for the shop to do their job correctly. That's why I need to isolate the problem of the crazy camber on the right wheel before I go ahead with a solution to correct it.