swaping struts?

[bmw ken]

i was at the track a few days ago with my 97 328i and someone said that i can get 3 degrees negative camber if i swap my struts to the other sides. has anyone heard of this before? thoughts on if it will work?

[pDubs]

Swapping the strut mounts is what they are referring to. I believe on your car they are centered and it wouldn't change a thing. Same goes with the 1995 m3 strut mounts. They are centered and work on both sides.

However on the 96+ strut mounts they are labeled Left and Right and are offset so if swapped side to side you will gain a bit of negative camber in the front.

[GGray]

i was at the track a few days ago with my 97 328i and someone said that i can get 3 degrees negative camber if i swap my struts to the other sides. has anyone heard of this before? thoughts on if it will work?

You need 96-99 US spec E36M3 upper hats. Or you can shim the struts and get a little camber.

I run the flipped 96-99 hats on my E36M3 how much camber also depends on how low the car is. I have H&R sport springs on mine I have right at -3.0 up front.

[MatthewH]

These are actually the best way to adjust the static camber in front (bolt on the right with a 13mm cam):

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/p180x540/10338332_4027765427903_6360396173246371419_n.jpg

M3 mounts add caster which is good. Swapped 96+ M3 mounts increase the SAI which is actually bad.

[Level8drummer]

Yes, and that's how camber plates work, same angles as swapped hats. Know what else is bad? McPherson struts. Damnit BMW.

I do love my e36 though...

L8d

[GGray]

These are actually the best way to adjust the static camber in front (bolt on the right with a 13mm cam):

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t1.0-9/p180x540/10338332_4027765427903_6360396173246371419_n.jpg

M3 mounts add caster which is good. Swapped 96+ M3 mounts increase the SAI which is actually bad.

Nothing that bad about the swapped hats.. Tried and proven to work for years. You cannot just put the eccentric bolts in an E36 without doing a fair amount of work, to do it properly, you have to elongate the hole on the strut housing, and weld on a stop so the eccentric actually works properly. The shim kit on the bottom two bolts is far easier to use. VW uses the eccentric bolt method on the Mk I and Mk II Gti works but you still cannot get enough camber from the eccentric in that location due to the geometry involved.

[FastFabM3]

I was running the swapped strut mounts on my car and it worked very well, but tire wear is worse for daily driving.

If you are only concerned with track use, then using the '96-'99 mounts is a good way to go.

Camber shims are a good idea, but won't work for everyone, as in some cases, too much shim will result in the tire/rim hitting the strut (depending on wheel/tire choice).

The smartest long term investment is to use shims if/where possible and fine-tune the camber with adjustable camber plates. If you have to use an OEM piece for some reason, then the swapped strut mounts are about your only option.

What Gary said about the eccentrics.

[MatthewH]

You cannot just put the eccentric bolts in an E36 without doing a fair amount of work, to do it properly, you have to elongate the hole on the strut housing, and weld on a stop so the eccentric actually works properly.
Wrong. These bolts fit perfectly in unmodified E36 struts. Give about 2.5° of adjustment range.

I don't see any good reason to shim the lower holes other than that is what you sell.

[GGray]

Wrong. These bolts fit perfectly in unmodified E36 struts. Give about 2.5° of adjustment range.

I don't see any good reason to shim the lower holes other than that is what you sell.

Ahh try no... I used the shims way before I worked at BimmerWorld. I shimmed my first E36M3 I tracked 13 years ago.

There are other reason NOT to use an eccentric bolt in a location not designed to use them. On an E36 that bolt is a stressed part of the suspension NOT where you stick a smaller bolt to gain camber. I would be real surprised if you get 2.5 in a bolt... In any VW I had you were lucky to get -1.5 degree of camber and that was with a factory designed piece...

[bmw ken]

After many discussions it seems most everything works. Then personal preferences come into play. Tomorrow's mission will be to shim the two bottom spindle mounts and replace with longer bolts ( front) and more or less the same for the rear and make my own adjustable lower control arms. Then put it on a rack to adjust toe. Takin it to the track for a test before race in 4 weeks. Will keep posted. Also after the huge discussion about cutting springs. (There's a right and wrong way) I cut mine last month and tracked it twice with nothin but good feedback. Car handles way better with absolutely no issues.