Camber Kit

[nakadian]

So I've had the problem since I bought the car. Hardly to notice but once you do, you see it.
The right wheel is leaning to the inside on its upper part. Had a friend take a look and found out the car was lowered in the back. He said a camber kit would fix the problem. Does anyone know which kit will fit? I searched a couple of web sites but it's hard to find one that lists 318ti as a model that will fit on. I know we have similar rear to z3. Would one for a z3 fit? or maybe 318is or 318i? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Ilin

[mohaughn]

You question doesn't specify if you are looking for front or rear camber correction. Since you say it was lowered in the back, I'm assuming you me you want to correct it in the rear. There are only two rear kits that fit our cars.

The KMAC eccentric trailing arm bushing/bolt, the problem with this kit is that it will adjust camber and toe together. So you might correct your camber issue, but have the toe in the wrong position in terms of good tire wear. Less expensive, somewhat easy to install, make sure you have an alignment shop that will work with them as some of your average tire shop/alignment places will not work with non OE parts, and most of them are clueless on BMWs to begin with.

The Ireland Engineering weld in trailing arm mounts with eccentric bolts. Can be setup to adjust camber/toe independently. More expensive to install, but works the best. Same problem with actually adjusting them, make sure your alignment shop knows how to use them.

[macilona]

hello Nakadian---your message suggests you consider this a "problem", and you describe the right wheel as having the tilt---I would hope the left wheel is the same. If the left wheel is still straight, then you would want to have it checked out properly. But any vehicle that is lowered will have this inward camber at the top of both rear wheel/tires, and it is a performance enhancement, to keep the rear end more firmly planted in hard cornering. A consequence of this, however, is that the inner side of the tire will wear more quickly than the outer edge. So the evaluation should be the cost of the camber correction kit, compared to the cost of the two tires as they may wear a bit more quickly w this configuration. The tire wear issue can be mitigated somewhat by regular rotation, including periodic remounting of the tires to get the inside edge switched to the outside of the wheel, so the wear will balance out.

[nakadian]

Thanks to both of you. mohaughn- very helpful on which camber kit to look at.
macilona- yes it is only the right wheel. i guess it doesnt need to happen 100% of the time when you lower so the left stayed straight and the right tilted. I will check it out again though, but I'm pretty sure thats it. I wouldn't be too worried about the tire wear. As you said you can rotate and switch the tires so it wears somewhat evenly. A friend had this problem and i believe not on all wheels as well, because he said his car would turn to one direction as he breaks down.
Thanks again

[318ti_pt]

i had that camber issue a long ago the car was so low that the rear tires only last 6 months even rotating so i put some weld in kit to correct camber and toe, an alignment of the sport oem and now the tires last many more and the rear tires run straight!!

[nakadian]

The thing that concerns me is that it is only on the right side on the rear... It deff looks like camber kit will do it but it's weird

[pdxmotorhead]

If they are not the same you very likely have a bent part somewhere, the design just simply can't be much different side to side IF the ride height is the same on both sides.

Dave

[UberWagen]

Mine does this also. I have a '98. My back right rear was sagging so I got to looking under the car, and took some measurements with a measuring tape. My right spring was sagging pretty bad. Looked kinda worn out. So it's going to get bilsteins, H&Rs, and some new tires soon. Maybe if there's enough money, a camber kit.

Check your ride height on both sides, I bet you it's your spring.

[leighsean95ti]

hopefully not a bent control arm...

[nakadian]

a control arm shouldnt be that expensive though.. right? I hope it's the spring. A local guy took a look at them said the camber kit should do it. He seemed like he knew what he was doing. His shop was full with customized cars that have been in an accident before. I'm gonna check the height on both sides. Looks the same but you never trust the eye on that..