Floating, pull, tram line maybe?

[Firstbmw528]

Never mind I was stupid and forgot my wife's appointment so the tech ride along will wait but at least I got my extra key.

Could the knuckle effect caster and camber since everything else is new? Can the front sub frame effect it?

[Firstbmw528]

I'm unsure if these pictures and videos will help I took them for the tech. The picture is me holding the steering wheel in a way where it mainly goes straight and is on the edge of drifting left.

One of the videos shows me intentionally letting it drift to show how much it drifts.

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[Firstbmw528]

Better after the second trip I had 3 techs and the shop foreman drive it and work on it they couldn't identify what was causing my caster camber issue though I suspect that wasn't their intention anyway.

What they did to get it as best as possible as was explained to me they brought the front toe in it's still within spec range they said so it shouldn't wear.

It didn't fully fix my drifting or pulling but certainly feels a lot more solid so I'm happy. Maybe if im feeling particularly bored one day I'll get a knuckle and sub frame from the scrap yard and swap them out.

[geargrinder]

Well. The toe may be in spec but the others for sure aren't. I'd suggest to try an alignment sepcialty shop. Kinda place that does a lotta track aligns, that sorta thing g.

[Firstbmw528]

Yea everything but caster and camber on the left I believe is in spec. I may try and find one of those shops or try and do a more thorough inspection on that left side and do some research so I can prove the condition of my strut tower, knuckle and sub frame.

A bent sway bar can't cause my issue right?

[geargrinder]

Not really. Almost impossible to bend a sway bar. But even if you did worst case you'd have maybe a little more ride height and therefore camber on one side... But it would be noticeable in ride height. and wouldn't explain caster. Well at least not on these cars. I’ve had cars where the sway was a “locating member” and could affect axle placement, but not for a bmw.

[Firstbmw528]

Ok sounds good based on my limited knowledge it seems that my issue can pretty much only exist in the strut tower, subframe or knuckle. So they are where I will start.

[geargrinder]

Yeah, the strut town can mushroom on these cars, I'm no expert but I'd hazard to guess that would be more likely to create negative camber but who knows... sometimes things do the opposite of what your layman instinct thinks. Agreed I'd look at SF and attachment points etc. Like I said a real pro alignment shop (not just regular hack corner joint employing kids who are still learning the business...) should be able to track things down a bit better

[Firstbmw528]

Yea I'll call around like I said that was the actual bmw dealership where 3 techs and shop foreman looked and road tested my car and still nothing stood out. For right now it drives ok.

[computiNATEor]

Have you got down underneath the car and inspected that strut? I've seen struts, post-accident, mildly bent at the halfway point. The camber/caster isn't out by much, so I wonder if the strut is not fully seated in the knuckle, the knuckle, or strut itself, are mildly bent.

My strut towers were mushroomed after the previous owner's shop installed shocks without bump stops; it didn't cause any alignment issues.

[Firstbmw528]

The struts are new I installed them myself it may be possible that the strut isn't all the way down in the knuckle but I doubt it because this is the side I accidentally put the strut too far down in and caster and camber were put on my previous alignments too.

[Firstbmw528]

After reading the caster and camber have been the exact same since before I fixed the suspension so sounds like it isn't anything I replaced or did looks like it's something that hasn't changed

[computiNATEor]

Ok. It's possible that one of the suspension arms is bent from an impact. If the "straight" control arm (lower) is bent slightly, that could pull the bottom of the wheel in and back. Of course, if the thrust arm is bent, it could do the same thing.

I've been in two heavy left front impacts in E39s; both times, the subframe was fine, so I doubt you have any bent brackets on it. The swaybar, likewise, is nearly impossible to bend in anything less than a total loss collision.

The only other thing that occurs to me is if the left side frame rail is bent downwards, but I would think that would cause a whole host of other issues that would be obvious, including an ill-fitting core support.

[justinca540i]

How are the bushings?

[Firstbmw528]

Control arms, thrust arms, end links, strut bushing, bump stop, rack, inner outer tie rods all new Less than 4k miles.

The only thing that's a stretch but maybe when I put the left strut in and accidentally sat it too low you can see where it bumped the control arm maybe it bent it in the 5 miles to pop boys although my stupid memory gets it confused I may have had it flatbedded to pop boys since I had changed so much about my suspension.

The knuckle looks like it could have took an impact at some point same with the front bumper and I do have a large dent on the rocker maybe I'll post some pictures later of that left side and see if anything jumps at yall.

[computiNATEor]

From experience, if the knuckle's been hit hard enough to bend it, in all likelihood the aluminum would break/tear/crack.

- - - Updated - - -

Pictures would be nice.

[Firstbmw528]

Finally have time off work and my daughter so I will take pics today.
another fun side effect of whatever is going on is I park like an idiot. every once in a while I get lucky and can get it straight. But mainly it ends up crooked with the front end to the left and rear diagonal to the right which is annoying.

First main picture will likely be my rocker panel dent. I hope the body isn't bent in any way. I'd rather not have to transfer my Bunches of parts to another body even though it would be nice to have a nicer body because mine needs work. I would love a stick too.

PS. I hate that I bought this car because now that I am fixing this thing man do I love driving it.

[Firstbmw528]

Sorry didn't happen had to stop and take it easy on my back and put in my brace maybe next week.

[Firstbmw528]

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[Firstbmw528]

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[Firstbmw528]

I am hoping in the next week or two to get it on a frame rack. it is just strange to me that the wheels don't look very different and the caster is pretty out of spec. Someone also suggested part of my issue may be related to a shift in the rear end or otherwise.