[rbaldenhead]

I picked up the Z from the shop last Friday after IE rear kits installed; readings are now: left rear camber 0; toe 0; right rear camber -0.7; toe 0. It looks like they did a good job on everything, welds look good, everything's painted, handles fine. I,m not sure they took enough off of the top of the right camber kit, though. How much room do I need from the top of the bracket to the gas tank?

 

[Blacklane]

You should have a little toe out and negative camber in the rear for better handling. The specs call for about 0.5 degrees (=30 seconds) of toe-out and about 1.5 degrees of negative camber.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76390

You should have had polyurethane subframe bushings installed, which will provide a lot of stiffness between the subframe and body, so a half-inch of so of clearance should be fine.
There are some good pictures from the master here:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=747726

 

[rbaldenhead]

Thanks. I forgot to mention I also had the IE polyurethane subframe & rear control arm bushings installed at that time. It seems to handle & ride good for my preference, I'll probably never take it to the track. A couple of days after picking it up, I noticed on two separate occasions a cracking noise coming from the rear while driving: took it back & found they didn't tighten bolts enough. Everything's fine now.

 

[rbaldenhead]

when I picked up the car last week the rear wheels looked straight when viewed from the rear, but after the cracking noise the right side was cambered in some. I jacked it up & with the wheels removed checked all the welds on kits, they looked ok. I also couldn't see any problems with spot welds on differential mount below trunk. I checked & found the bolt for the right camber kit wasn't very tight so I loosened, adjusted it back up & tightened it. Returned it to shop & had them recheck everything including alignment. After telling him about the loose bolt he said he was afraid of stripping threads in serrated nut plate, this being his first IE kit install. I said I thought it could take plenty of torque.

 

[Blacklane]

Those bolts can take a lot of torque, but it's impossible to swing any kind of wrench under there.
They should be torqued to 80 ft-lbs with the suspension on the ground (or fully compressed to normal load position).

 

[rbaldenhead]

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Commuter88]

Correcting Neg Camber

I have a 1999 2.3 Z3 and experiencing the same inner tire edge wear that others talk about associated with the negitive camber. My camber ranges from -1.75° to -3.25°! I've had the car on a lift and there appears to be play associated with the bushings on the subframe, rear trailing arms and front control arms. I am planning to replace all of these bushings and also want to add the Ireland Engineering Rear Camber Kit since I have will have the entire rear end out. I am planning to use OE rubber bushings everywhere. Should OE rubber bushings be used with the IR Kit? I am not an expert wrencher (weekend repairs), but consider doing the work myself. Any advice , videos and/or directions available? Thanks

 

[rbaldenhead]

IE camber & toe kits

From my experience I can tell you that the urethane bushings I.E. recommends are fine for the subframe mounts, but if you use them on the trailing arms also as I did they will squeak a little.