[punohu]

Hi

i drive a 325is. Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs
I've had an alignment done and was told i need a camber kit in the front and a toe kit for the rear.

Im having a hard time deciding on an adjustable camber kit or a fixed camber plate and on which company/site to order from. any suggestions?

your help is much appreciated!

 

[_Ethrty-Andy_]

you dont need either.

your tyre shop is looking for work.

 

[cmac2012]

I've wondered a few times about the lack of adjustment available for front end alignment on the E30. Maybe most or all Bimmers are like that, not sure. I do know that when I thought I had a front end alignment problem it was solved by better tires, proper inflation.

 

[_Ethrty-Andy_]

its not just BMW. MOST cars only have front toe adjustment available for an alignment. rear is almost allways no adjustment at all, except on some cars like Nissans that have the 4 wheel steering etc

 

[punohu]

I'm also having warp/wear on the inside of my tires
I want to go bigger with my wheels and tires but not sure on the size. If I do that would I even need a camber kit? and what's the best wheel and tire fitment for an E30; that wouldn't require you to roll your fenders?

 

[punohu]

I'm thinking of staggered 16"

 

[Newman271]

I bought camber plates for my bimmer because I was scrubbing bridgestone Potenza's, which are too expensive to have to replace every 3 months. I recommend them fully. I bought the Specialty Products camber plates. http://www.spcalignment.com/component/spc/?task=part_description&pid=72065&region=USA&make=BMW&model=3+Series&year=1984+-+1991&from=USAFrom&to=USATo

I noticed a huge difference in handling after the alignment. I'm going on 6 months on the front tires and they wear correctly and no inside wear.
It's worth the investment longterm.. especially if you plan on going to a track day or two.

 

[[email protected]]

Lots of guys with lowered E30's aren't running camber correction. It doesn't hurt the car but it certainly can wear the tires faster and in many cases make the car tramline on uneven surfaces. Actually this is why when I did the suspension on my car I used convertible springs. It handles like a lowered car but it's not terribly low and doesn't wear tires. And I drive about 100 miles a day. Most fixed front plates and rear bushings aren't going to be a perfect match for an aftermarket setup like you've got. What we sell for E30's is adjustable upper camber plates that can adjust for both camber and caster. In the back we have eccentric adjustable bushings to replace the stock trailing arm bushings. These are adjustable for camber and toe. They really do work but if you don't put a ton of miles on the car it may not be worth the expense. Another cheap trick I've done in the past is to actually raise the car up slightly to lessen the amount of camber up front and toe in the rear. The factory sport package cars (es and is models) used a thicker upper spring pad up front. When used on a regular car it usually raises the front about 1/2" or so. In the rear you can get different thickness spring pads too to do the same thing. But of course a lot of people don't like the look once they are raised up a bit. I had an Eibach/Bilstein setup on my first E30 15 years ago and it did wear the rear tires noticeably faster than the fronts. But it wasn't horrible.

 

[[email protected]]

I'll admit it's been a long time since I've worked on a VW. I do recall using camber bolts on the front of a friends A2 golf back in the early 90's. But I can assure you there is NO way to use eccentric camber bolts on the front of an E30. And that's what we're talking about here.



For the front there are several different options for camber plates. You can get fixed factory upper mounts with a 1/2 degree of correction that will ride just like stock because it is built just like the factory part except the hole for the strut is slightly offset. Then there are camber plates that are fully adjustable with a urethane insert around the bearing. These are what we sell as our "street" kit. They transmit a bit more road feel into the car but not a ton. Then we also offer race kits that have a pillow ball bearing with a small urethane insert around them. Those will transmit noticeably more road noise and feel into the car.

There are camber bolt kits with weld-on plates available for the rear subframe though. We don't sell them as they aren't a bolt-on and really require removing the subframe to install properly. If you're a decently skilled welder and have the subframe out these are kind of a nice way to go as it allows you to keep rubber bushings in the trailing arms. But once you have it apart you'll likely want to put new bushings in anyhow. Once you add up the cost of the bushings, the kit, welding it all together, etc. it can get fairly pricey. Especially if you can't do it yourself. Most people go with adjustable bushings for the rear. Remove the stock bushings (which can be a chore on a 25 year old car) and replace them with the eccentric bushings. That allows for toe and camber adjustment depending on how you set them up. There's also stock rubber offset bushings for the rear too. But like the front stock offset bushings they are fixed and only allow a slight amount of correction. In other words they won't correct for much and you better know the right position to press them in or you may make things worse.

Right now we have camber kits on sale. The street kit for the front is $283.45 and the rear kit is $242.95. Those stock 1/2 degree front mounts are $130.95 each. The stock offset rear bushings are $52.95 a pair and you would need 2 pair for maximum correction.

 

[hornhospital]

As an owner yourself if you want to join in great but you don't see me or other shop owners soliciting business on this forum that's not why were here.

Toybuilder, he's more than an owner. He's a fest sponsor, and has PAID for the right to solicit business here. Besides, he hasn't twisted anyone's arm to buy their parts. It's not like he jumps in and says "here's our product! This is what you need!!!" How 'bout backing off on the verbal attacks on him, OK?

And just because we share a first name doesn't mean I'm sticking up for him automatically. I don't know him from Adam's housecat, but I do appreciate his participation and forum support.

Which reminds me....why don't more of you guys ante up to support the forum? It's less than $20/yr, you get a bigger limit to your PM mailbox, a larger avatar, all the free bimmerfest.com stickers you want (within reason), and you get your screen name in lovely lavender/pink/whattheheckcoloristhatanyway?

The following commercial announcement is brought to you by me. Copied and pasted from the new member forum:

Become an bimmerfest.com Supporting Member! Preferred method!

Avatar, increased PM space, username in italics highlighting your status as a Supporting Member and stickers sent to you at our expense

Get all the details and sign up as a Supporting Member here http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/payments.php

Once you join simply send an email with your address and we deal with all the hassle to get the stickers sent out to you.

 

[Newman271]

Cool, I'll have to do this next week. I spend most of my work day on this forum lol. I might as well.

 

[_Ethrty-Andy_]

Cleaned up this Thread. Keep it on Topic guys, dont need the childish stuff :thumbup:

Being a supporting member has more benifits tha just a flash username. Im a Moderator here so my name is in red, but im also a supporting member. Its cheap, and it goes toward running and improving this site. I dont know if this site is a not-for-profit or a proper business, either way, its a great resource and social platform for us all, so i like to pay my share :thumbup: (and no, moderators are not paid ha)

 

[hornhospital]

:bow:


(thank you)

 

[toybuilder]

All that typing