Alignment Question (pictures) after M3 control arms/Vorschlag plates/Coilovers

[liquidshadow22]

Hey guys,

So I just finished installing the M3 control arms on my 135i. The car already has Vorschlag camber plates and KW street comfort coilovers.

The guy doing alignments at this local shop set my car -3.5 camber on the right and -1.9 on the left, and told me he would be limited by how far the bolts can move over (he claims 0.5 adjustment). I was left scratching my head, as to how this could not be further adjusted. Is there something I may have missed on the install, or maybe it's that this guy has no idea how to work with these plates.

I would appreciate it if someone could enlighten me as to how I can instruct this shop to achieve -2.0 camber on both sides?

[slonik]

it looks like this guy loosen only stock nuts and trying to move all top mount assembly (not adjustable part of the mount).

you can see on pic, that central absorber nut location differs a lot on left and right sides.

he need remove strut brace, loosen all three nuts, jacking up the car, to lower top mount in turret, and then try to loosen middle adjustable part of mount.

[_Ryan_]

Originally Posted by slonik

it looks like this guy loosen only stock nuts and trying to move all top mount assembly (not adjustable part of the mount).

you can see on pic, that central absorber nut location differs a lot on left and right sides.

he need remove strut brace, loosen all three nuts, jacking up the car, to lower top mount in turret, and then try to loosen middle adjustable part of mount.

To clarify, on a Vorshlag plate, you can simply jack the car, loosen the top three nuts and lean on the wheel to locate/align, then retorque the top nuts.

Is the alignment person slack? Failing that, the installation could be bad?
Also, check out the 1M strut brace ends, under $200 and makes working with the strut tops easier.

[slonik]

To clarify, on a Vorshlag plate, you can simply jack the car, loosen the top three nuts and lean on the wheel to locate/align, then retorque the top nuts.

may be on vorshlag like you said. on st/kw top mounts you have not enough room for loosen bolts for adjusting, when top mounts tightened in turrets.

[_Ryan_]

Originally Posted by slonik

may be on vorshlag like you said. on st/kw top mounts you have not enough room for loosen bolts for adjusting, when top mounts tightened in turrets.

Correct. Different design. Check out the detail on their website.

[liquidshadow22]

I see 3 allen key adjustments. Do these need to be loosened in order to get the strut to move? Or simply jack the car up, loosen the outer three bolts, and wiggle the strut out of camber?

[slonik]

I see 3 allen key adjustments. Do these need to be loosened in order to get the strut to move? Or simply jack the car up, loosen the outer three bolts, and wiggle the strut out of camber?

inner allen bolts.

[E82MSport]

Originally Posted by liquidshadow22

I see 3 allen key adjustments. Do these need to be loosened in order to get the strut to move? Or simply jack the car up, loosen the outer three bolts, and wiggle the strut out of camber?

I would imagine the plate is stuck or it was initially put together wrong because you should have about 4 degrees of negative camber adjustment with these plates. Here's an image I put together that should help with the confusion. I couldn't get a good look at the bottom of the plates so you might actually have to remove the allen bolts to adjust caster but that really wouldn't make sense.

[liquidshadow22]

Appreciate the diagram. I ended up calling Vorschlag, and as per the above diagram, the allen keys are to adjust castor, not camber. The shop ended up loosening the top three bolts and was able to shift the strut out of the excessive camber. Thanks for the help guys!

[E82MSport]

Originally Posted by liquidshadow22

Appreciate the diagram. I ended up calling Vorschlag, and as per the above diagram, the allen keys are to adjust castor, not camber. The shop ended up loosening the top three bolts and was able to shift the strut out of the excessive camber. Thanks for the help guys!

Glad the diagram helped and you were able to get it sorted.

[_Ryan_]

Originally Posted by slonik

inner allen bolts.

As per previous posts, that is castor.

[slonik]

As per previous posts, that is castor.

i already saw pics which E82MSport posted .
i've wrote as on kw top mounts adjustment working.