Suspension setup

[chrisbec]

So I figured at ~250K miles it was time to tighten up the original suspension on my 1995 318ti. I installed Raceland coilovers since they are ride height adjustable and easily fit into my budget. I don't need a ultra high performance suspension setup and for the price I thought what the heck I'll give it a shot. I'm not going to slam the car because I didn't want the tire wear issues that come along with that even though I like the look. I just want the car to have a slightly more aggressive stance.

[chrisbec]

Fronts: LCA's were completely rebuilt with solid outer ball joints and new inner ball joints. LCA bushings are '95 M3 offset type. The upper strut bearings were the '96+ offset type & and I installed M3 reinforcement plates.

[chrisbec]

Rears: Replaced the TA bushings with rubber eccentric bushings (p/n 33 32 9 058 822) pressed into the trailing arms. The bushings are installed to compensate for the maximum camber and toe possible for their limited offset. I didn't want to go eccentric poly bushings because of the squeaking noise potential and also hearing that they have the possibility of slipping out of adjustment. I also installed Z3 shock tower reinforcement plates

[chrisbec]

Also while I had everything apart I installed new wheel bearings all around. I installed fresh brake calipers and SS braided brake hoses too.

[chrisbec]

I thought I would post the numbers that I got with this set-up just as a data for everyone to see.

If I'm looking at this correctly, for the rear I could use a little more (half a degree or so) more negative camber and a slight amount of more toe on the right rear to bring it into spec? Maybe if I lower he rear down a bit it may come into range for camber and toe . I left myself ~3/4" in the rear for adjustment down.

I asked the shop if they would adjust the height to bring the rear into spec but it was late Saturday afternoon and the shop was closing and they said they didn't want to deal with it. But ideally I think that this could be done by a shop that is willing.

I'm guessing that the numbers are a little off on each side in the rear because I didn't get the bushings installed identically the same on both sides. I eyeballed them and then when I pressed them in they shifted slightly because of the way I was pressing them in. Next time I think that I'm going to use a dish soap (or something) to lube the rubber bushings to get them in. I started dry without a lube, this was a mistake because the rubber just will not slide.

[zoner]

That spec. on the rear camber looks a little off- On the sheet I have, it shows the range for rear camber should be -1.5 to -2.5 to fall within spec., not -2.0 to -3.0. I think your rear camber is fine- any more negative camber and you're going to start wearing the insides of your rear tires and the stance will start looking funny from the rear (top of the wheels will tilt noticeably inward).

Front caster looks exactly where it should be for the parts you have installed.

This is the printout from when I first installed the identical parts (except coilovers and R bushings- I had the H&R Sport/Billy Sports setup and non-eccentric rear bushings) on my '95:

[BimmerBum]

Very nice. How does it feel?

I have a few ti and Z3 customers that cannot get the rear suspension settings to match on each side... even with all new non-adjustable bushings. I think the only way around it are the weld in camber and caster trailing arm mounts.

[chrisbec]

Thanks for the comparison numbers Zoner. I figured that the less camber and toe in the rear the better for tire wear. But some camber is probably better than none for handling in the corners. I suppose the same is true with toe except some small amount is good to keep the car tracking straight down the raod. I think that I"ll resist the urge to adjust the rear ride height since the numbers fell out pretty good.

Funny how different the numbers are from left to right, probably many reasons for the differences. It messes with me and my natural tendency to want find perfect symmetry though .

Overall the car rides 100% better than it did, it is truly like driving a different car. I think that the new springs have a slightly higher rate but the ride isn't harsh when I compare before and after. In all fairness the suspension that I replaced was totaled, so any replacement would be a great improvement. But in my opinion I like the ride, the lower stance and it seems to be good up front. So for now I'm very satisfied and there are no problems to speak of.

[patriot]

I'm at 235xxxmiles amd in the process of doing the same thing right now.
I know I don't have much of a reputation here since I mostly lurk and research, but from my professional opinion, that alignment is absolute crap especially considering you have eccentric trailing arm bushings.
Unless I'm missing something, what reason is there for a shop to take your car in for an alignment but really, only just do front toe?(which by the way, is uneven as heck) Why didn't they even touch the rear adjustments?

[zoner]

Originally Posted by patriot

Unless I'm missing something, what reason is there for a shop to take your car in for an alignment but really, only just do front toe?

Because front toe is the only thing that can be adjusted on these cars with a stock setup and even the front toe being off can cause irregular tire wear and wheel shimmy at speed. The lack of factory alignment adjustments is why many people install things like adjustable camber plates; M3 strut bearings; offset LCA bushings- all to dial in a desired alignment spec.

Originally Posted by patriot

Why didn't they even touch the rear adjustments?

Because there are no rear adjustments from the factory on the E36 compact. This, again, is why people install things like eccentric bushings and aftermarket camber adjusters in the rear.

[patriot]

Yes, I'm well aware of all that, however he DID install eccentric bushings.

[chrisbec]

Pat, I used eccentric bushings in the rear, that is correct. But, take another look at the pics that I posted and you will see that the rear bushings are fixed eccentric bushings, not the adjustable type. So when the car is on the rack the mechanic has no adjustment to make less taking the trailing arms off and resetting the bushings (that is what Zoner was getting at).

For me the alignment doesn't have to be perfectly even, just good enough.

[patriot]

Oh, then what was the purpose of using eccentric bushings if they offer no adjustment other than the static changes made during installation?
How are those coilovers, BTW?

[chrisbec]

The OEM rubber eccentric RTAB can be used to correct something like 10mm of toe alignment (the attachments explain in detail). I have a M coupe TA and it has the eccentric bushing installed only on the inner hinge to correct toe most likely due to the lower ride height.

But, to use these most effectively the alignment values would be known beforehand. Since I didn't have that data I just took a stab at it and set these to correct toe and camber. I knew that since I was lowering the car that both would be out and I was looking for a simple solution to the alignment problem that I was going to have if I didn't do anything.

I suppose that if I wanted to make more of a project out this I would put the suspension together first, set the ride height, take the car in for an alignment to find out how far it is out in the rear. Then I would install the OEM eccentric bushings according to the following directions. That way the rear numbers may have been a little more even. But for now it is good enough for me.