Correcting toe on my 95 318ti

[Big G]

A while back, I lent my '95 318ti to a young friend (not a smart thing to do) who promptly folded the right rear wheel under when he slid into a curb. I replaced the swing arm but the wheel was severely out on toe so I took it to a local body shop and was told the cross member was bent. So I had them replace the rear cross brace with a used part from another '95 318ti and it fit up great - so Im told. But when I went to pick it up, they told me that the toe was out by approx. 1.5 degrees on both sides and the body shop didnt know how to correct it. So now Ive got a car that handles poorly and gets extremely squirrely in the rain. There must be something they did or didnt do in replacing the cross member to throw the toe out equally on both sides. Any help would be appreciated.

[Bluebimma]

They replaced this?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...99&hg=33&fg=30

[tiFreak]

I hope your friend is paying for the damage

[Big G]

Originally Posted by Bluebimma

They replaced this? http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...99&hg=33&fg=30

Yes sir... The crossmember was replaced but thats all. All other parts were off the original crossmember assembly. Now before they replaced the crossmember one tire was strait and the other was out. After they replaced it; both were out. So it has to deal with something that influences both sides equally. My guess is that the cross member is rotated backwards causing the swing angle of the lower control arm to change. Granted they probably aligned the camber to spec but were left with a toe of 1.5+ on both sides. I'm open to suggestions and any help would be great.

And no the kid didn't pay.. He didn't even fess up to it till I brought it up the fact that I knew he was doin donuts at the mall parking lot. Even then he still tried to pawn it off that the lot was wet and he lost control. He hit so hard he bent the seat-back. Its now all twisted. I'll have to find one at a junk yard and re-upholster it.

[Bluebimma]

First thing i thought was, is the crossmember iinstalled backwards?, then i thought for a second, i dont think you can install it backawards because of the diff carrier unless that can be unbolted from the crossmember itself.

[thesk8nmidget]

yeah i really dont think it could be installed backwards

actually i know for a fact, unless they did a WHOLE lot of fabricating

[zboot]

Originally Posted by Big G

Yes sir... The crossmember was replaced but thats all. All other parts were off the original crossmember assembly. Now before they replaced the crossmember one tire was strait and the other was out. After they replaced it; both were out. So it has to deal with something that influences both sides equally.

Impossible to install backwards - if you did, you couldn't bolt up the diff or the trailing arms. Are you sure they put everything back? Take a look at the control/stabilizer/sway? bar. I can't imagine what else would contribute to the problem you're having unless the subframe (rear crossmember) that you put in was bad too.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by zboot

Impossible to install backwards - if you did, you couldn't bolt up the diff or the trailing arms. Are you sure they put everything back? Take a look at the control/stabilizer/sway? bar. I can't imagine what else would contribute to the problem you're having unless the subframe (rear crossmember) that you put in was bad too.

We'll get under the car this weekend to see if there is anything we can see that they might have installed incorrectly. I dont think the replacement cross brace was bad because they said it bolted up great. If it was bent, I would think they would have problems getting the bolt holes aligned. But do you think that if the cross member is rolled up or down to some degree it could throw out the toe?