Negative camber in the rain

[ahlem]

On my 1990 535i The suspension is set up with about 1 to 1.5 degrees of negative camber and I suspect has a bit of rear toe in to boot. The front end has adjustable Kmac camber/caster plates and the rear has eccentric bushings. H&R lowering springs and adjustable Konis all around. I noticed on a 550 mile drive last weekend it was pretty squirrely in a steady rain. I was constantly slowing down so I felt the white knuckles minimize. There was a stretch of about 60 miles of semi dry pavement in the middle. Is this mostly due to the camber or the possible toe in or because the close to stock tires I just put on it to replace the corded wide ones you see in the photo are less than desirable? Once I get to zero camber and proper toe in and alignment, I will be putting a different set of tires on the M parallels after the snows come off in the spring. I'm just wondering if the cool factor of negative camber is really worth it on a 99.9% street driven car.

[genphreak]

I'd set it to M5 specs, and adjust from there. I posted all the details some time back. What toe have you got on the rear- that needs to be set hand in hand with the camber setting if you are 'working it'.

[ahlem]

I think the rear bushings may be at their limits of adjustability and life expectancy. Before I start modifying the rear end I will get some driveway measurements. It's my understanding this is about as close as you can get in the rear before you have to move pivot points.

[BigKriss]

I think its more of the hardness of the suspension. I dont have much confidence in the rain. But in the dry its a different story.

[Paul in NZ]

i never had any worries about the 535 in the rain,In fact the very foirst weekend i had it i drove through some of the worst rain i have ever driven in,with a bit of heat and a/c the vision was perfect,the wipers were excellent,and the grip and stabilty was excellent,most other cars were pulling over but i honestly never felt any anxiety

[Tiger]

You need to check all your suspension parts... dogbones, sway bar links, subframe bushing... they are all probably shot by now id you never changed them before. Alot of people forgets about these things.

Changing sway bar links on all 4 corners make the car solid and stable.