E30 Zone

please help me out.

E30 with M60b40 conversion done, sitting on brand new BC coilovers with camber top mounts and powerflex eccentric wishbone bushes.

front wheels; 8.6x17 et20 (225-45-17)

problem;
drivers side tyre on full lock (right hand turn) rubs badly on the chassis rail near where the wing and door join.

camber is maxed out on both sides but no issue with passenger side.

obviously from this pic below the issue is caster is not high enough and from looking underneath the wishbone doesnt go allthe way through the lollipop bush like the passenger side does (about 5mm too short).



question;
what could be causing this on one side and the more negative camber?

can the wishbone be damaged - how to tell?

thanks

What's the full suspension setup you're using? What arms, bushes etc?

A difference side to side could be a slightly bent arm, or the car could have had a knock at some point and shifted the subframe or lollipop mountin points.

I would also suggest that your tyres are too big for an e30, 225 45 17 are e36 sized, and they generally run larger tyres than e30s ( base models run 205 60 15 vs e30s 205 55 15 )

A 215 40 or 225 35 would give a fair bit more clearance. I've run 215 40 and 215 45 17 on the front of an e30 m3 with no issues.

205/45/17 front tyre size is what you need to be using on a non M3 E30.

Also, do you have adjustable front top mounts? If so the adjust the drivers side on to even up the camber to 3 degrees as there is half a degree extra neg camber on the drivers side.

Castor is also out by over half a degree as well, possible bent wishbone or strut.

As it stands as stated above is the setup mate

Powerflex front lollipop bushes eccentric
Bc coilovers 10kg F 10kg R
No arb front.

I could switch to 215 40 17 but then I won't have the grip I'm after and not to mention they clear fronts fine on passenger side

Oh and I forgot conversion spacers are 20mm so that makes an et of 0 upfront

Well, if that tyre size with that combination of parts doesn't touch on the passenger side then it shouldn't on the drivers but as said, the camber needs adjusting on the drivers side and the castor issue looking at.

bss325i wrote:Well, if that tyre size with that combination of parts doesn't touch on the passenger side then it shouldn't on the drivers but as said, the camber needs adjusting on the drivers side and the castor issue looking at.

this is what im trying to work out mate?

i know its because of the caster its rubbing on the drivers side however i dont know how to rectify it - im not buying caster top mounts just yet as ive spent alot on these coilovers with adjustable camber top mounts and they have proved to be sufficant.

i can see the wishbone is not sitting all the way through the eccentri bush on drivers side however can it be fitted incorrectly - dont think so??

i could try a new wishbone but this one honestly looks fine, or i could drill turret holes slightly bigger (slotted effect like e46 m3) and move the caster up this way... anyone ever tried this one?

I know there shouldn't be a difference side to side, but the big tyres aren't going to help.

E30 m3s which use the same geometry wishbones, have the same body structure and turret layout got offset lower arm bushes when they moved to 16in wheels to get extra clearance front the back of the arch, and that was with 225 45 16 tyres.

I've never seen e30 bc coilovers, who made them? We're they done from the factory or has a third party welded them onto cutdown used struts? It could be that theyve not been set and welded perfectly square.

harry_p wrote:I know there shouldn't be a difference side to side, but the big tyres aren't going to help.

E30 m3s which use the same geometry wishbones, have the same body structure and turret layout got offset lower arm bushes when they moved to 16in wheels to get extra clearance front the back of the arch, and that was with 225 45 16 tyres.

I've never seen e30 bc coilovers, who made them? We're they done from the factory or has a third party welded them onto cutdown used struts? It could be that theyve not been set and welded perfectly square.

This may help show the setup with pics

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=225509

A bit of a long shot, along with the above advice is your steering rack centered ? Worth checking that lock to lock is even. By the sounds of it that would have to be done with the front wheels off. By the way whats the benefit of removing the front arb?

reepers13 wrote:i can see the wishbone is not sitting all the way through the eccentri bush on drivers side however can it be fitted incorrectly - dont think so??

are you using genuine/quality wishbones? i had this problem when building my rally car that on some of the cheaper wishbones the 'fin' is thicker so it wont go into the bush fully.

Are you sure you've installed your rear wishbone bush the right way round? And that it hasn't slipped?

I'll try and get some pics this week but the fin certainly does not go all the way in the bush

here's a picture of mine not fully going in the bush, does yours look similar?

Errrm , isnt the bush ment to be in the lollipop lol :/ correct me if im wrong if its a completly diffrent setup from standard ! :/

BATTS91 wrote:Errrm , isnt the bush ment to be in the lollipop lol :/ correct me if im wrong if its a completly diffrent setup from standard ! :/

it's a powerflex two-piece bush; very different to standard.

Ahh 2 piece i see , so in turn using two = less movement in the arm in and out of the normal bush ?

what i can also add to the pic above is that when fitting the wishbone back in place on the drivers side it was a right bitch to get the bracket (lollipop) holes to line up for the bolts to go through - passenger side piece of piss but drivers side which is the problem side took some real effort to line up and bolt back up...

thinking possible bent wish bone - maybe that would also account for the more negative cmber?

You are aware that the wording is wrong on the powerflex bushes and the one that says "right" goes on the other side?

At least that's what the crack was when I had a set fitted. I used Lemforder brand new arms which are OEM quality and they didn't want to fit over the fin. I had to smack the purple parts on with a rubber mallet.

E30BeemerLad wrote:You are aware that the wording is wrong on the powerflex bushes and the one that says "right" goes on the other side?

At least that's what the crack was when I had a set fitted. I used Lemforder brand new arms which are OEM quality and they didn't want to fit over the fin. I had to smack the purple parts on with a rubber mallet.

wording is wrong? what you mean a misprint from factory or something?