How to reduce understeer: 3 cheap or free mods you can do

[larryn]

On your front shock towers, you'll see three nuts that are fastened to each strut hat. In addition to the three threaded studs that pop out of the strut hat, there's the alignment pin, that simply protrudes through the shock towers, and are immediately evident, once you open your hood.

Here's a diagram of the strut hat, where I circled the alignment pin.

[FreeBMW.net]

Thanks Larry! I will do it this evening.4

[adc]

On my E46 I had to do an alignment after this, because the toe angles were messed up after moving the suspension.

Is this not necessary on the 1?

[burlington-track]

Has anyone installed an

H&R Triple C Eccentric Systems
Precise camber settings are an integral part of any performance suspension. H&R’s Triple C Eccentric System uses a pair of specially-designed eccentric bolts that replace the original upper fastening bolts on all McPherson strut applications with bracket fixation. A simple turn of the bolts allows adjustments of +/-3 degrees for precise camber settings. In Germany, the supplied TÜV certificate makes the individual homologation of the H&R Eccentric System a snap.

H&R Triple C Eccentric Systems
Precise camber settings are an integral part of any performance suspension. H&R’s Triple C Eccentric System uses a pair of specially-designed eccentric bolts that replace the original upper fastening bolts on all McPherson strut applications with bracket fixation. A simple turn of the bolts allows adjustments of +/-3 degrees for precise camber settings. In Germany, the supplied TÜV certificate makes the individual homologation of the H&R Eccentric System a snap.

H&R Triple C Eccentric Systems
Precise camber settings are an integral part of any performance suspension. H&R’s Triple C Eccentric System uses a pair of specially-designed eccentric bolts that replace the original upper fastening bolts on all McPherson strut applications with bracket fixation. A simple turn of the bolts allows adjustments of +/-3 degrees for precise camber settings. In Germany, the supplied TÜV certificate makes the individual homologation of the H&R Eccentric System a snap.

H&R Triple C Eccentric Systems
Precise camber settings are an integral part of any performance suspension. H&R’s Triple C Eccentric System uses a pair of specially-designed eccentric bolts that replace the original upper fastening bolts on all McPherson strut applications with bracket fixation. A simple turn of the bolts allows adjustments of +/-3 degrees for precise camber settings. In Germany, the supplied TÜV certificate makes the individual homologation of the H&R Eccentric System a snap.

H&R Triple C Eccentric Systems
Precise camber settings are an integral part of any performance suspension. H&R’s Triple C Eccentric System uses a pair of specially-designed eccentric bolts that replace the original upper fastening bolts on all McPherson strut applications with bracket fixation. A simple turn of the bolts allows adjustments of +/-3 degrees for precise camber settings. In Germany, the supplied TÜV certificate makes the individual homologation of the H&R Eccentric System a snap.

H&R Triple C Eccentric Systems
Precise camber settings are an integral part of any performance suspension. H&R’s Triple C Eccentric System uses a pair of specially-designed eccentric bolts that replace the original upper fastening bolts on all McPherson strut applications with bracket fixation. A simple turn of the bolts allows adjustments of +/-3 degrees for precise camber settings. In Germany, the supplied TÜV certificate makes the individual homologation of the H&R Eccentric System a snap.

[3.2 liter weedeater]

How much of an affect does lowering have on the suspension geometry of these cars? I ask because on my car for example anything lower than 1/2 an in. starts to point the control arms north. Not so sure about rwd but in fwd and awd that means torque steer. Specially on these new Vws

[larryn]

Originally Posted by burlington-track

Has anyone installed an

H&R Triple C Eccentric Systems
Precise camber settings are an integral part of any performance suspension. H&R’s Triple C Eccentric System uses a pair of specially-designed eccentric bolts that replace the original upper fastening bolts on all McPherson strut applications with bracket fixation. A simple turn of the bolts allows adjustments of +/-3 degrees for precise camber settings. In Germany, the supplied TÜV certificate makes the individual homologation of the H&R Eccentric System a snap.

Those won't work on our cars. Our struts don't mount like that.

I know of people that have shimmed their e36 M3, that does what those bolts do. The main problem is that it allows the wheels to cant in towards the strut, almost requiring spacers (or larger spacers if you're already running with spacers). Camber plates move the entire strut inward, neither increasing or decreasing the gap between the tire and the strut/spring.

It can also change the geometry of how the strut was designed to compress. Camber plates do not do that either.

[burlington-track]

So this means that the bolts either:

1. can`t be installed,
2. or they will not provide enough negative camber to help reduce the understeer or
3. camber plates are the only solution to get neutral handling
at the track?

[adc]

Another trick that was done on the E46: exchange left and right strut tower aluminum hats (while rotating them 180 degrees to fit the holes).

I think this was good for around 1.5 degrees.

[spdrcr]

Originally Posted by adc

Another trick that was done on the E46: exchange left and right strut tower aluminum hats (while rotating them 180 degrees to fit the holes).

I think this was good for around 1.5 degrees.

Does this work on our cars?

[larryn]

They look round to me on my car. I don't think that would work on the e8x. E46 hats have a semi-triangle shaped hat.

[BerkTechnology]

BerkTechnology, why aren't you recommending KW club sport that has a adjustable top mount? It will allow about negative 2 degrees camber if I am not mistaken...

The main reason is are the Redline Time Attack rules. The rule book does not allow tripple adjustable shocks in the street class. The EuroTuner Super Lap does in the street class. Plus, the V3's are readily available and more affordable than the Clubsports. IIRC the Clubsports aren't an "off the shelf" product. We're using Vorshlag camber plates to dial in camber and caster.

We've run KW's on all of our cars since 2005, they're yet to let me down.

nice post. I am totally on the fence between KW's and a TCK setup. Very hard to decide. Any insight? Also interested in hearing why no the club sports.

Nothing but great things to say about KW. Not just for BMW's, we use them on everything (Honda, Toyota, Nissan). Very, very, very good stuff. They have features that you don't normally find on a sub $2000 coilover. And those features work.

The Clubsports are a high end coilover. For how fast we can go on street tires, the V3's are plenty. The Clubsports have more adjustability and are a "faster" setup, but you have to be a good enough of a driver/engineer to set them up properly. So you are talking at least 1 full day of testing to get it right.

I don't have any personal experience with TCKline, but it looks great. So can't really comment.

Just curious -- why is the rear sway a pain to install? On other vehicles, I've found this to be one of the more painless ones to do (although these were all FWD cars...so I've probably just answered my question....)

Even most RWD cars aren't that hard. But the 1er rear sway bar is mounted on top of the rear subframe. It's sandwiched between the subframe and unibody. You don't have to drop the subframe entirely, but nevertheless, I don't recommend that you guys attempt it at home. For the vast majority of you, I recommend that you take it to a qualified mechanic.

Here's our rear sway going in. As you can see, the rear subframe is lowered a few inches. There's lots of crap down there.



Burlington - some cars have the strut mounted to the hubs via a clevis. Having a slotted clevis or eccentric bolts, as you add negative camber, your wheel gets closer to the strut.

Larry's correct, they are round and centered. Swapping from L to R won't do anything.

[mistermojorizin]

Originally Posted by BMWeber

get a good par of vise grips

jack up the car

loosen the three nuts on the strut top.

then use the good set of vise grips on alignment stud and twist.

can anyone post pics for this DIY? Thanks. Also, would this cause problems with tire wear?

[Gray135i]

Alright, for those of you that wondered like I did, I just did the alignment pin removal and it was very easy. I posted a DIY in the DIY section but I took the pictures afterwards, mostly of the general area, so people know where the pin is that is to be removed.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15571

[cpt97m3]

Originally Posted by adc

On my E46 I had to do an alignment after this, because the toe angles were messed up after moving the suspension.

Is this not necessary on the 1?

If you change the camber on a BMW, it will change the toe on the 1 or the 3, or any other strut suspension. More negative camber will get you more toe out or less toe in.