[KrisL]

I'm an avid autocrosser. I've got a set of R-compound tires on a separate set of rims that I haul down to the autocross site with me. Believe it or not, the performance package doesn't have enough negative camber (stock) to use the INSIDE of the rims I have. At this rate, I would have corded the outside of the tires while the insides had never even touched the ground (the tires are quite rounded at the edges).

I have 3 autocrosses on these tires so far. I had my local shop flip the tires around on the rims.

I also had them install a set of SPC camber plates. These are the same ones the UUC Motorwerks resells:

This will allow me to jack the car up and increase the amount of negative camber at least another degree (probably closer to two) for autocrossing, and quickly change it back to my preferred street setting.

 

[ffej]

Those are nice. Very nice...

did those come with a set of free rear control arm bushings, too???

 

[ClubSpec330i]

What is your street camber setting Kris? Stock ZHP is -1.1, no? I am afraid if you go more than 1.5 neg. more than your street setup, the toe will be out of setting. How about your rear camber setting?

Nice plate by the way.

 

[KrisL]

What is your street camber setting Kris? Stock ZHP is -1.1, no? I am afraid if you go more than 1.5 neg. more than your street setup, the toe will be out of setting. How about your rear camber setting?

Nice plate by the way.

Yeah, -1.1. My autox setup will be ~-2.4 to stay in my current class.

It would move my toe out even after I move the camber back?

 

[ClubSpec330i]

If you move it back, the toe should be the same or close to what your have aligned to stock spec. Since I don't drive my car much, -2 camber is for everyday usage as well as for track day. Toe-in is about 1/8. @-2.5 to -2.75 would be neutral for me. I would align your car to -1.5 for street and -2.5 or -3.0 for AutoX.

Enjoys..

 

[SocalZHP]

I appologize for reviving such an old thread but this is what the search button had to offer . I am looking into lowering my car with coilovers and installing camber plates. Do you guys take your car to the shop everytime you want your camber changed or is there a tool I can use to measure my camber. Im doing this mainly for canyon runs, meaning I don't want to have someone adjust my camber every weekend or so.

 

[jvr826]

After installing the coil over suspension and camber plates and setting the ride height to your liking, you'll want to have your car setup by a shop who can do corner weighting and alignment. The corner weighting is very important for a balanced suspension and best handling.

When you adjust camber, the toe changes. So, having your car set up one way for street driving and another for canyon carving, you'll have to make two adjustments.

I purchased a camber gauge and a set of toe plates...

Camber Gauge
http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecId=1206

Toe Plates
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/align2.htm

Use of the camber gauge is highly subject to garage floor imperfections. You must be certain the concrete is level for both wheels. My garage is not and I received a false reading. One side was at -3.0, the other -2.5. When I turned the car around, the readings swapped sides, then I knew my floor wasn't level.

Adjusting depending on my use of the car is a PITA so I just roll with -3.0 camber up front all the time. I don't care about tire wear and this setup gives me best handling for how I use my car. I have never owned a BMW since 1996 that wore tires evenly anyway, so I have mine setup for max handling in the twisties.

 

[SocalZHP]

Thanks alot. You're right, I will have a shop do it. How do you like your coilovers for street use?

 

[KrisL]

by the way, I've no longer got those POS camber plates (the bearings went out on them with quckness)... went with ground control coilovers + vorshlag camber plates pretty soon thereafter.

It's can be a *bit* rough on the street, but the turns make up for it..

 

[Keyser Soze]

KrisL I am bumping this as Camber plates are my next obvious suspension upgrade. How are these working out, are they easily adjustable by you and did you DIY install?

 

[MalibuMafiaV]

KrisL I am bumping this as Camber plates are my next obvious suspension upgrade. How are these working out, are they easily adjustable by you and did you DIY install?

Yes I'm also interested to see the replies to those questions as I would want to make my
M3 with the best possible handling I can.

 

[KrisL]

KrisL I am bumping this as Camber plates are my next obvious suspension upgrade. How are these working out, are they easily adjustable by you and did you DIY install?

They came as a part of my coilovers so yes, I DIY'd...coilovers are a breeze to install.

They are easily adjustable, but generally speaking, you don't bother adjusting them - because when you adjust camber, toe is adjusted too. I had the suspension adjusted the way I want and keep it there.

A few degrees makes an amazing difference.

 

[jvr826]

You should note with stock springs you won't be able to get as much negative camber as you can with coil overs. The springs on coil overs are a much smaller diameter and provide more tilt with camber plates.

My Vorshlags are still going strong too.

 

[f5racing]

My Vorshlags are still going strong too.

+1 Mine aren't that old, but they are still working great. I had the front setup adjusted a couple times to get it where I wanted, but left it there for all driving. Last time I checked it, it was still right where it should be.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I got H&R sports and Bilstein sports and the Turner reinforcement kit in there already. I assume the Camber kit will fit in there as well. Has anyone used the non adjustable Turner kit? It's -2.5 or -3 depending on which car you have

 

[jvr826]

I got H&R sports and Bilstein sports and the Turner reinforcement kit in there already. I assume the Camber kit will fit in there as well. Has anyone used the non adjustable Turner kit? It's -2.5 or -3 depending on which car you have

Don't assume. The camber plates have a mounting perch that has to match the spring diameter you have. I know with my TCKline springs it's 60mm, which I think is common. I don't know about the H&R Sports.

The camber plate and spring perch replace the top part of your stock front suspension... everything above the spring in this diagram.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BD53&mospid=47713&btnr=31_0408&hg=31&fg=10

I left my original strut assembly in tact as I removed it as an assembly... I didn't swap in a new damper and retain the spring part, all were replaced on mine.

Not sure about the reinforcing plate. On my car the camber plate is on the bottom side, M3 strut bar on the top. Those two sandwich the strut tower and prevent mushrooming.

 

[KrisL]

I've got the reinforcement plate. Fits between the camber plates and the strut tower.

 

[smolck]

I noticed today that the inside of my tires are on the cords again. WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!!?????????

 

[KrisL]

I noticed today that the inside of my tires are on the cords again. WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!!?????????

A combination of too much negative camber and not enough hard cornering.

You can knock out the alignment pin to reduce your camber if you want.

 

[smolck]

You can knock out the alignment pin to reduce your camber if you want.

I wish I lived closer to you, I'd let you teach me how to corner hard on a regular basis. So plan "B" is to knock the pin. You are talking about the one that is next to the 3 threaded parts on the strut mount, right?