Fixing front camber (e36 m3 suspension)

[cokeisgood00]

So I bought this e30 with the front 5 lug swap done with e36 m3 parts. He drilled holes in the towers to accomodate the struts, however I have ~5* of negative camber up front and I'd like to bring it back the other way a little bit.

What can/should I do? Camber plates, which ones fit the drilled towers?

[MR 325]

I hate when people do it that way. E30 strut mounts fit right on to the E36 struts.

Since you already have the extra holes you can buy either E30 or E36 camber plates.

Can you post a picture of your current top mount setup?

[cokeisgood00]

Yeah, I was really confused because most things I read said to use e30 mounts.

I'm just trying to figure out the best, cost-effective way to do this right,

[jalopi]

wow your caster must be quite low. get some ground control plates, they're one of the best IMO.

[cokeisgood00]

wow your caster must be quite low. get some ground control plates, they're one of the best IMO.

e36 or e30? Will they fit with the strut mount farther forward?

Would I be better off getting some e30 strut assemblies w/ camber/caster plates?

[jalopi]

Per MR 325, if the e30 plates will fit on the e36 struts I'd get e30 plates. Even in the standard position you'd be gaining 3-4 degrees of caster, minimum. On the other hand, if you don't mind reverting to 4lug and all the work it entails, why not?

Just out of curiosity... you didn't specifically mention what kind of control arms the PO used during the swap. Does this car have e46 arms? That'd explain the extra camber too.

[cokeisgood00]

Per MR 325, if the e30 plates will fit on the e36 struts I'd get e30 plates. Even in the standard position you'd be gaining 3-4 degrees of caster, minimum. On the other hand, if you don't mind reverting to 4lug and all the work it entails, why not?

Just out of curiosity... you didn't specifically mention what kind of control arms the PO used during the swap. Does this car have e46 arms? That'd explain the extra camber too.

Well I don't have any 4 lug stuff...

It has e46 arms.

[jalopi]

Unless you have specific plans to drift the shit out of your car, get a set of e30/36 control arms. This will reel your camber back in a few degrees. For reference, my car has e46 arms and with the camber plates at full positive I'm at around -3* of camber.

[cokeisgood00]

Will I need to change out any tie rods? I've got an e36 rack, e46 arms.

Will it fix the caster too? Will this be the AIO solution?

[MR 325]

The caster is messed up because those strut mounts are totally wrong!

The camber is missed up because of those E46 control arms!

If you swap to 96+ E36 M3 arms, E30 M3 offset control arm bushings, and stock E30 strut mounts things will improve A LOT. You really don't even need to buy camber plates. You will want to switch to E30 or E36 tierods. It sounds like whoever did this 5 lug didn't know what they were doing.

What spindles does the car have? Those should be 96+ E36 M3 as well.

[cokeisgood00]

Alright, so I plan on buying all the parts MR 325 mentioned, but there's no way I can buy them all at once, and I'm running low on tire with the camber. What should I buy first. Offset bushings and mounts, then arms?

[jalopi]

Those mounts look pretty centered as far as camber goes - the thing that's gonna fix your camber most is the control arms. If you have to do em one at a time, do arms>lolis>mounts. Keep in mind though... changing any of these is gonna fuck your alignment up real good. Minus well keep rocking the current setup, save for all parts + 2 front tires and an alignment.

[cokeisgood00]

What's the difference between e36 M arms and e36 non M arms? They look the same.

[cokeisgood00]

If it makes any difference, I have e36 inner tie rods and e34 outer

[jalopi]

I think the arm angle is ever so slightly different or it's the length... one of those.

FWIW I'd get some kind of offset bushing and camber plates. My car felt much more stable after I put the e46 arms on my car. With the plates maxed out full positive you can reel the camber back in to about -2~2.5*.

people use that tie rod combo to compensate for the additional length of the e46 arms