Delrin was fine on smooth roads. You really notice it when both wheels hit a bump at the same time like an expansion joint. My SPL spherical FCAB are just as bad. Powerflex poly were a good compromise while they lasted. I went though a set of purple 80A and a set of black 95A but never tried 75D FCAB. Delrin is probably pretty close to 75D. I have a new set of stiffer rubber ones that have bolt through metal covers that I found cheap on eBay or amazon that I plan to try soon.
Typically I have over modded my cars. It’s an affliction. But as I get older, loud and stiff aren’t as much fun. I am getting to the point where I want something like an M5 so I can have power with more comfort. I’d have to decide whether to get rid of my turbo E36M3 or my modded N/A E90M3 to make space, but I will likely go in that direction in the next year or two and try to keep mods to a minimum.
I'm having fun with the car, it will undoubtedly become a beast in the end but I am trying to keep it mild mannered. 400whp seems like plenty for this chassis, and honestly anywhere between 350-400whp is what I am looking for, along with boost by 3K rpm. I am not trying to beat the baddest car on the street, or even race... Maybe auto cross, but this is really all about me having fun with a car that I love.
I will ponder over the delrin fcabs I have... Not sure if I want to use them, I may purchase some new M3 perches though as mentioned in the other thread on the eccentric bolt.
With the 96+ M3 spindles and 96+ M3 strut mounts, you will have 2 of the 4 front suspension parts needed for proper geometry. You still need 96+ M3 front control arms and 96+ M3 FCAB.
So I cant use the M3 control arms without the crappy M3 end links and struts right? I have Meyle HD control arms that have served me well. I would prefer to keep them.
So right now I have 96+ M3 Spindles (installed) I have M3 offset delrin FCABS (not yet installed, unknown year but they have the alignment screw you mentioned) I plan to get the 96+ M3 guide supports.
So if I go to an M3 control arm, can I still use my new struts, swaybar, end links? I assume I would at least have to drill a hole in them to mount the traditional sway bar end link.
I don’t know. If you want your endlinks mounted to the control arms, which is less effective and why the sport bar had to be big, maybe you could drill the M3 arm or rig some kind of collar.
I am not sure camber plates will give you less negative camber. Usually they are set up to give more.
There are several manufacturers of camber plates that are full floating like the Kmac's, these plates allow for full adjust ability of the front strut! They are also quite expensive!
These are what I am thinking about getting...
https://k-mac.com/product/bmw-e90-e9...eet-192416-1j/
Eibach Swaybars $400
H&R Sport Springs $250
Kmac adjustable plates $400
Front Adjustable Links $100
Rear Adjustable Links $100
New rubber, gaskets ect $100
Shit left to buy, roughly $1350... My car needs a gofundme acct. This is on top of the +2K I have in the rest of the brakes, suspension and bushings.
Last edited by FiberFast; 05-24-2019 at 12:42 PM.
I know you like to figure everything out yourself and it is a good way to understand things, but you have also made a lot of expensive and unnecessary work for yourself in the process. I have been there and done that. I had too much negative camber from lowering my car and in part because my car is a little off due to an accident in 1999 that was not fixed perfectly. I tried Kmac plates but they did not help much in reducing negative camber so so tried Vorshlag and they did not help much either. I still run the Vorshlag and accept killing tires prematurely.
Don't suppose you still have the Kmacs?... What is bothering me is that the camber is greater on one side than the other, so I have to do something about it.
I hear you on the mistakes, its a learning process for sure. I really don't want to rebuild everything but that basically whats going to have to happen.
I am also looking into possibly making some eccentric studs for additional camber adjustments so that might help with your issue pbonsalb.
Oh hey, if you are reading this in the bay area and want to help sponsor my shitbox by buying some parts off of me I have.
Set of 5 Style 30's with two good mastercraft tires and one good sumitomo $400
I have a new set of raceland shorty headers I am not using $100
I will be selling these bavarian springs for $100 when I remove them.
I have a spare good Getrag G250 I would sell for $200
I have a good (Barely used) sachs performance clutch (My issue was the pilot bearing not the clutch) and LUK dual mass flywheel (good condition, barely used) $200
OE M-sport springs $100 Set (available)
OE M-sport swaybars $100 Pair (When removed)
I honestly don't want to sell some of this stuff but I need to get some money coming in quick to cover some of these expenses. I probably have some more stuff but I would need to look around, Like I have a set of oldschool BBS centercaps that I think are fairly rare. I will put up a CL add as well and hope the admins don't give me the whacky stick for this post lol. If you are interested you can PM me for my phone number. Also totally happy to trade for any of the suspension components mentioned above.
Last edited by FiberFast; 05-24-2019 at 04:50 PM.
KMac were sort of junky. I am pretty sure sold or gave them away 10 years ago. The eccentric stud is something I have seen in other cars for decades. I use a BMW crash bolt on the offending side shimmer and locked down to reduce negative camber as much as possible while still resting structural safety. It got me close to equal side to side, but I still have about 2.5 - 2.7 degrees negative the last time I checked. I thought about swapping the Vorshlag plates but never tried it.
Sounds to me like you need to pull the motor and trans. Get a bottlejack and a come-along (Ratchet pully thing) You will need a tree or concreted post or some such to lash the rear of the car too. I would just use a ratchet strap off the rear subframe. When you have it setup, use the come-along to pull the frame forward on the offended side, you can use the bottle jack or another ratchet strap off the opposing frame rail to either bend in or push out the damaged frame rail. Most likely needs to be pushed out with the bottle jack and a 4x4 or some such between the rails. You will also want to pull the sheet metal strut tower to ensure you have corrected the camber. To do this I would simply bolt an old strut to it upside down and whack it with a mallet. Use a tape measure to verify you have moved the tower roughly 1/8" from the opposing tower. You will want to do all this while the chassis is taught between the straps and cable. Obviously you will want to attach the cable directly to the face of the rail/bumper support mount. That's a lot of work... Its easy to see why you haven't fixed it yet. Might even be worthwhile to swap chassis at that point eh?
The accident was in 1999 and the car has gone 125k since. I am not going to worry about it. It is sort of a toy at this point. Fully built engine, turbocharged, about 700 rwhp, coilovers and just about every suspension, chassis, brake and drivetrain mod available. I’d have to be retired and looking for a project to restore it and at that point I might just look for a perfect chassis. I drive my cars year round including winter in NH and it takes a toll on them over the years.
I don’t have the time at present but I have thought about buying a car out west or down south and trailering it back if it is not driveable. But I have swapped chassis before and it’s a big job and I don’t want to get into that now. My car actually drives pretty well according to everyone who has driven it, but I would say the the right front fork is maybe 3/16”off.
I am doing some parts configuring to reduce the costs. I am thinking the UUC bars come with adjustable end links and are only a little more than the Eibach kit. I am considering trying to run a set of Ireland engineering plates backwards to get the positive camber I want, I will call them to check that first. I will keep the bavarian springs for the time being, and run an ebay adjustable front link. That setup would be $810 shipped. Which is much more manageable albeit not optimal.
I think there is 20% off and free shipping at a UUC this weekend. I typically look for used bargains, but you have to be patient and have the cash to jump on a good deal.
Word, I have done pretty damn good on craigslist so far. I stretched my dollars super hard but I have to smog the car like right now, and I need to alighn it before doing that. You can see my bind lol, I am just going to have to bite the bullet and buy mostly full price bargan parts. lol... That being said, I havent put any ebay shit on my car despite the temptation. Those front adjustable links will be the exception and they look damn nice tbh.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Adjusta...YAAOSwbLZa6gr5
Last edited by FiberFast; 05-24-2019 at 11:01 PM.
Update, Ordered the UUC kit. Ended up paying $520. I was going to go with the Eibach kit for $403 shipped but by the time I went to buy it from tire rack one of you fuckers had already swooped so...
On the upside, it comes with adjustable rear links, so at least that part is covered. I need adjustable front links, and adjustable camber plates... More Grind... I been slaving on this bitch for two fucking months... I REALLY want to drive my car! FACK!
Hey So I am looking for descent economical camber plates.
I want something that is not shit, but also dont want to get gaped.
Right now I am looking at these ebay plates for $150 which look surprisingly descent.
Looks like the same manufacturer as UUC or at least a descent knockoff. I may give these a try. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Cambe...4383.l4275.c10
$350 UUC Kit for comparison.
My other option was to spend almost twice as much for these IRP units. $300
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-irp-_-in...FRwfrQYds8sMJg
I like the IRP design more, I just don't like $150 more. These Ebay offerings actually look half descent. Thoughts?
As a side note, looking at the specs for these ebay units is quite interesting. "Camber -1.00~+3, Caster +/- 0.50" which is pretty much what I need, about +2 or 3 degrees Positive camber. Now why you would want plates that only have -1 degree camber adjust ability under normal circumstances is beyond me, I suppose you could just as easily invert them. Am I trippin? Are they trying to say +3degrees Negative camber? Regardless should get the job done.
Last edited by FiberFast; 06-08-2019 at 01:02 AM.
For $150, give the UUC copies a try. Hopefully they will do what you want.
Ordered the ebay plates and got my swaybars. Swaybars are missing hardware, bolts, lube, and the rear bushings were cracked in half. Bars look heavy duty and the adjustable links look good too. I think this will fix the problem, and I believe ecs will take care of it. I would blame it on fedex cause the driver THREW the swaybars out the back of the tuck into the middle of the street, then proceeded to kick the package to the kirb. I walked over and said "Hey I just paid $500 for that." He replies "Have a nice day" I wanted to punch this guy... At any rate, the hardware and lube should have been in the box with the end links which was sealed, it was not. For the bushings, one was already in two pieces, and the other broke in half when I tried to put it on the bar (The bushings are in two pieces, I know they are cut, but they arent supposed to be cut and cracked in half) that being said, the one that arrived cracked in half is too thin and was a manufacturing defect. We will see how this gets resolved, hopefully I will have the new bushings by the time the camber plates get here so I can button up the suspension and get it aligned.
Last edited by FiberFast; 06-10-2019 at 06:34 PM.
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