Tweaking the rear alignment

#1

A couple of months ago I bought an 88 325 which already had the spec E30 springs/shocks/struts/bars on it. The previous owner threw in a set of IE camber plates, which I put on last weekend.

Yesterday, I brought it down to a local ship (Bimmerhaus in Broomfield, CO) to have the alignment set. First the good news: I now have -2.7 degrees of front camber on both sides, caster is 8.9L, 8.4 R, and toe is 0L, 0.06R.

Now the bad. They said, "You’re gonna have to think about the rear subframe." Seems that I have -2.3 degrees of camber and 0.84 degrees of toe on the left rear and -3.3/0.48 on the right. OK, kids, how do I fix it in a manner that’s legal?

A guy I know offered me a good deal on a set of K-mac adjustable RTABs that he bought but never installed. Bimmerhaus also suggested slottin the subframe, but that’s not legal. They also thought they might be able to tweak it with careful use of a hydraulic ram.

#2

I bolted-in the KMac offset bushings and my alignment guy got it right where I want it.

Neg. 1.5 on both sides and zero toe. I leave it alone throughout the season and have him check/adjust it in January, although it’s never been off by much.

9.3.8.2 Use of eccentric/offset bushings at the control arm pivot points or at the strut-to-bearing-carrier joint is permitted.

Carter

Post edited by: Carter, at: 2006/08/09 16:48

#3

Sounds like a nice job on the alignment. Do you recall what camber/toe you were at before the adjustable bushings?

Post edited by: ajvdh, at: 2006/08/09 18:16

#4

I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday…
:slight_smile:

Seriously, I don’t remember the specifics but I do remember a lot of neg camber and some toe-in.

Carter