Project STX: TCKline Racing l APEX l Vorshlag l Eibach l Hawk l Schroth l BMW Performance
adjusting the rear camber from 2 deg to 3 deg of neg camber takes the toe out of factory spec and results in just over .5 deg of total toe in. not far from factory specs and I think advantageous to putting power down coming out of corners...
Previously (prior to camber increase) if I wasn't completely done braking when I went to turn into a high speed corner the rear would loosen and try to come around...
Yeah, agree, I think the tour event will be somewhat overwhelming... and exhausting, never done 3 straight days before...
Wow, that's a TON of toe.
I'm no where near that (actually less than half of that) of total toe on my rear tires and I don't have issues with power down out of corners. Rear coming out (especially off throttle) seems like an issue with a rear bar, or suspension and/or shock settings. I run -2* rear with less toe and don't have issues with the rear coming around.
Food for thought. If it works for you run with it, but I think it almost is hiding another issue.
Project STX: TCKline Racing l APEX l Vorshlag l Eibach l Hawk l Schroth l BMW Performance
nice, that's a good amount of work to tackle! love your hitch-mounted rack, too, that is cool.
is that standard 330i arm aluminum and really dirty? if so, yes, the only difference between them and the ZHP arms are the ball joints.
let us know what you think of the meyle HD's.
peter
peter
2004 330i ZHP
2005 330iT ZHP
2010 328iT M Sport
It is quite a bit of rear toe. I am going to reset up the car and measure it out this week. I haven't since I just recently put the Z4M bushing in, will report what my induced rear toe is... however, since increasing rear camber and putting the wavetrac in, rear stability under braking has been fantastic. more to follow... I do think some toe in, in the rear is beneficial for coming out of corners, it will give the outside, planted tire a slightly better angle.
Yeah, the std 330i arms have been sitting beside my house for ~3 yrs, waiting for me to accumulate enough scrap to drop it off a recycling yard... so yes, they are quite dirty. I ran meyles on my previous 330i as well. I have never driven brand new genuine bmw, so its hard to say. but, considering the ball joints are the only difference in the ZHP arms and the meyles are re-engineered from ZHP ball joints they should be comparable. I don't think anybody could realistically discern a handling difference between the meyles and zhp arms...
On the E46 non-M Ground Control normally sells a front spring rate of 440 lbs/inch with a rear spring of 550 (actually 547) lbs/inch. Or a front spring rated 500/525 with a rear spring of 650. So if your rear spring is 550, the front is probably a 440, though of course people do order custom rates or change them afterward. And I'm not sure what rates they recommend for E46 M3. If you loaded the front wheel with 850 lbs and it actually compressed 1.93" instead of 1.75" that would make your front spring rate 440 lbs/inch.
Can you tell if the front spring is branded Ground Control or just Eibach?
Thanks for the thoughts. The kit was purchased for an M3, I bought the GC kit used. the only part of the kit that I currently are the springs and perches. the person who bought the kit was not a 'car-guy' so I don't see him special requesting spring rates. they are eibach springs, the rears still have their logo and part number. I am pretty confident in the 1.75" measurement, but the amount of weight on that tire at that time is a bit of a guess. I didn't use a scale, in fact the car has never been on a scale or corner balanced...
I meant Ground Control sells both standard Eibach race springs and special "Ground Control" branded Eibach Race Springs in special rates. If they are labeled only Eibach, that's one set of available rates, and if they are labeled both Ground Control and Eibach/ERS, that can be a different set of rates. The Eibach 6" length 2.5" ID coilover springs are available from 400-1450 lbs/inch mostly in 50 lb/in increments, so 400, 450, 500, etc. The GC spec spring in that size is 440 lbs/inch.
The 16 GC spec Eibach springs: http://www.ground-control-store.com/...ory.php/CA=214
Regular Eibach spring catalog (see page 19): http://eibach.com/sites/devperforman.../ERS_19_US.pdf
As for the weight on the corner with the wheel jacked up... I think if you jacked it up to the ride height where it sits when the car is sitting flat on level ground, then the weight on the spring should be the same as the normal corner weight of the car. That is if the front right corner normally gets 900 lbs on the ground and compresses 1.75", then compressing it 1.75" must have put 900 lbs on the spring (minus about 100 lbs of unsprung weight from the wheel, hub, brake and strut in that corner).
Based on the free size and options, makes me pretty sure they are 500s up front. thanks for links.
I got around to setting the car up for the track for purposes of taking alignment (mechanical) measurements this afternoon. I am maxing out front neg camber and going two full turns on the rear lower control arm.
both of these changes result in 2.9-3.0 deg of neg camber.
this induces 0.5 deg of total toe out in the front and more than 0.5 deg of toe in out back. think both of those numbers are desirable and felt pretty good the first time out. but that was on concrete. next weeks event is on old asphalt. swaybars will be set at max stiff up front and max loose out back, going to start with 38-39 psi in the rivals.