K-MAC e34 rear camber adjustment range?

[attack eagle]

I really don't see any other options for the e34.

My question then becomes simply, how much?

How much negative camber can I dial out with them?
I read that IEs are limited to 1 degree, that is not NEARLY enough...

IF you take a look at this pic you can see that my options are:
rotation every 3 months, then replacing all 4 annually or every 10k-12k miles, or fixing/minimizing the camber/toe problem.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b106/AttackEagle/bimmer/100_0647.jpg

Thanks for any insight you can provide

[Mr Project]

Have you looked into the offset trailing arm bushings, or the adjustable M5 subframe? Those seem like better ways to address the problem IMO, since they are closer to the cause.

[BigKriss]

K-Mac is near where I live. GJPinAu has them installed. What about some taller height springs, ?

[DanDombrowski]

I can't see your picture at work, and I don't know if your car is lowered, but have you taken a look at the bushings that are in there now?

Could be that the stock bushings are just worn and new ones would fix your wear problem.

I'm dealing with the same thing right now, and I'm putting in new stock bushings and new bilstein shocks and hoping for the best.

[BigKriss]

I thought that the stock bushings almost never wear out. I asked both winfred and billr if they had replaced them before and neither of them had. we are talking about the trailing arm bushes right?


I can't see your picture at work, and I don't know if your car is lowered, but have you taken a look at the bushings that are in there now?

Could be that the stock bushings are just worn and new ones would fix your wear problem.

I'm dealing with the same thing right now, and I'm putting in new stock bushings and new bilstein shocks and hoping for the best.

[attack eagle]

Have you looked into the offset trailing arm bushings, or the adjustable M5 subframe? Those seem like better ways to address the problem IMO, since they are closer to the cause.
Kmacs are the offset trailing bushings in the rear, not the strut mounts like the front set...:D
Complete Rear M5 subframe would probably:
A: be more $ than I have right now.
B: take longer than I have to install.
C: take longer than I have to find and get shipped.

But I will look into it... What exactly does the Dinan piece below consist of?


EDIT:
Just found some info on a Dinan product. IF it is the same thing as the ones for the e28 it lets you make slotted holes and reinforce them. Kind of expensive to pay $300 for that though. +12 hours of friggin labor???

Part #: D170-1051

http://dinancars.com/SeriesPrint.asp?prod=2105


I have access to a lift etc, since the guys at the shop have ok'd me borrowing one on a weekend, but I'd need to knock the job out in one long day.

Time constraint:
I'm taking my family in the wagon on a road trip in a month to visit my folks some 1200 miles away. I expect to have put 3000 miles on it by the time I get back so I have to get some of the camber dialed out for safety's sake. The tire wear is shocking after going 3 years on a set of tires in my DSM with loads of aggressive driving and no rotation. About 3,000-5,000 miles per shoulder.

It's not really that low... I think I just drive it enough miles (About 12,000 miles annually in town alone) to where the camber and toe eat thru tires more rapidly than I am willing to live with at $250-$280 a tire.

[Mr Project]

Ah, sorry, I assumed they were strut top plates. We are talking about the same thing then. From what I've read on here before, it's the toe as much or more than the camber that causes the inner tire wear on the lowered E34s. If the adjustable bushings could help get the toe closer to spec, that might provide a bigger benefit then just the 1 degree of camber would indicate. Of course the problem with the offset bushings is that they adjust the toe and camber at the same time, so it's a install-measure-loosen-adjust-install-measure process that would be expensive and time-consuming to pay an alignment professional for, I would think.

Your experience is exactly why I've been sticking to narrower tires on 16" wheels as the max for my car. I'm afraid of the same result on my lowered SLS-deleted Touring. I've always wondered if the M5 subframe would be an option, but the downsides are just as you've indicated...time and cost, at the very least.

I'll be interested in what you come up with....I'll probably be doing something similar when I eventually tackle the rear end to do the subframe bushings and diff mount.

[DanDombrowski]

Well, yes and no. Yes, I am talking about the rear traling arm bushings. They're not as common as the thrust arms failing, but mine are definitely bad.

First of all, my car is chewing tires on the inside edge ONLY on the right side, which suggests that it is not the ride height or springs/shocks (as I originally thought, but oh well, I probably needed new shocks anyway).

That, and the fact that I can see a tear in one of the right trailing arm bushings when lifting the car makes me pretty certain that this is my problem. It really can't be anything else in there other than wheel bearings, and I can tell they're fine.

[attack eagle]

I think I am going to have to call Dinan and find out if they can forward me a .pdf of the installation manual for the Dinan adjustable rear camber subframe. Looks like it is just the weld on kit like the e28. I wonder if I was doing it on a lift if I would even have to take the subframe off the car at all?

[GJPinAU]

K-Mac is near where I live. GJPinAu has them installed.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7808/absrear3dr.jpg
Still get wear on the inside but no where near as much as without them. I was charged extra because they had to take off the exhaust to fit and adjust.

[attack eagle]

your ride height appears to be about the same as mine if those are 18's.

[liquidtiger720]

Be like me and keep the rear near the stock height :)

My front tires wear more than my rears. The rear tires still look new after 1.5 years, ~20k miles.

[attack eagle]

Liquid:

Considering it is an SLS car, but was SLS deleted before I bought it, it would cost me more to lift the rear than to simply correct the camber and toe. Especially since I don't have any original parts and would have to repair the SLS system and source new rear hydraulics.

Plus It would look like a stinkbug and be a bigger PITA to load the stroller and/or 3rd row seat into... :D

Lifting is not an option. It stays lowered.

[Anton CH.]

Your camber doesn't look all that bad. Its good to have some camber in the rear anyway. Stock BMWs now run about the same. I'd just rotate the tires once in a while b/c you will probably wear the outside of the fronts away due to the lack of camber on the front.

[attack eagle]

Let me make this clear for the people who don't bother to read the entire thread.

I won't lift the car up.
I'm not going to go thru a grand's worth of tires every 6-9 months after rotating every 1-2 months. Wearing a tire to a slick on the outer 1" edge in 3-4k miles means the alignment is WAY off despite what you think.

Tire wear is excessive.

If you have info on Kmacs adjustment range or the Dinan crossmember (mod) kit's range of adjustment, or installation of either, feel free to pitch in your 0.02. If not I really don't want your useless .02 opinion/unrelated comment posts, thanks.