Camber plates and NVH

[titium]

Trying to decide on camber plate options for a 135i e82 narrowed it down to two options:

Dinan plates with M3 arms - Guessing this will net me around -2deg camber

or

Vorshlag camber plates - -2.5ish deg camber

With the vorshlag plates I get more camber plus adjustability (plus the option for m3 arms later) however there is supposedly more NVH.

Interested on people's thoughts (that have the vorshlag plates installed) do they noticeably increase NVH? Car is mainly road driven with the intention for the occasional track day.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by titium

Trying to decide on camber plate options for a 135i e82 narrowed it down to two options:

Dinan plates with M3 arms - Guessing this will net me around -2deg camber

or

Vorshlag camber plates - -2.5ish deg camber

With the vorshlag plates I get more camber plus adjustability (plus the option for m3 arms later) however there is supposedly more NVH.

Interested on people's thoughts (that have the vorshlag plates installed) do they noticeably increase NVH? Car is mainly road driven with the intention for the occasional track day.

For a mainly street driven car I'd go with the Dinan + M3 control arms. Just my $.02

It's worth it to keep things simple where you can; if you can get -2 degrees camber with fixed parts then I'd take any day over -2 with adjustable parts (more parts is more problems). Do you think your driving skills will require more than -2 at the track? That's a reason to go adjustable.

[HP Autosport]

Lowered or not lowered? M3 arms plus the alignment pin removal will give you a healthy amount of camber.

[titium]

Originally Posted by HP Autosport

Lowered or not lowered? M3 arms plus the alignment pin removal will give you a healthy amount of camber.

lowered with swift spec r springs. So you think that will net me enough camber to not bother with any plates?

[HP Autosport]

What you current camber reading with just the springs?

[titium]

Originally Posted by HP Autosport

What you current camber reading with just the springs?

not installed yet. I'm at around 0.8-0.9 with just the pins pulled

[modernbeat]

Adding the Vorshlag camber plates adds about the same NVH as going to a +1 tire fitment. I should know. I've done enough test drives in cars before and after.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Dinan plates & M3 LCA's netted me -1.8 degrees. Switched to Ground Control "street" adjustable plates and am now at -2.7 degrees. I think the additional negative camber really helps with turn in, but I have a bunch of other mods besides. And I wouldn't necessarily spend the time/money unless you have plans to track or AX the car.

NVH isn't really an issue with the GC street plates, as they're designed for dual-duty cars.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by titium

lowered with swift spec r springs. So you think that will net me enough camber to not bother with any plates?

With Spec-R springs, M3 lcas and Dinan camber plates I'm at -2.3 degrees.

[titium]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

With Spec-R springs, M3 lcas and Dinan camber plates I'm at -2.3 degrees.

how is tyre wear on the street with that much camber?

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by titium

how is tyre wear on the street with that much camber?

Perfectly even.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by titium

not installed yet. I'm at around 0.8-0.9 with just the pins pulled

With the M3 arms you may end up with -1.2 or just a bit more, but not what you are looking for.

Camber plates all add some NVH, but it's expected. A fully adjustable camber plate is the way to go if you are looking for additional camber. Camber plates also allow you to square up the car in the event that you can't get the LH and RH camber settings to match.

[titium]

Originally Posted by HP Autosport

With the M3 arms you may end up with -1.2 or just a bit more, but not what you are looking for.

Camber plates all add some NVH, but it's expected. A fully adjustable camber plate is the way to go if you are looking for additional camber. Camber plates also allow you to square up the car in the event that you can't get the LH and RH camber settings to match.

yep sounds like the way to go. ground control street plates claim to add less nvh is there any truth to this? would I notice the difference with the two plates back to back? if not I think I'll go with the vorshlags

[chris82]

Originally Posted by titium

yep sounds like the way to go. ground control street plates claim to add less nvh is there any truth to this? would I notice the difference with the two plates back to back? if not I think I'll go with the vorshlags

Well compared to the race plates yea. I actually just made the switch from the GC race plates (which are now for sale) to their street plates, all else remaining the same) and it was a nice decrease in overall road noise. Reason being is that the street plates eliminate the spherical bearing that the race plates have and instead use polyurethane. In terms of steering and all other ways they feel the exact same.

[MightyMouseTech]

Just curious, are you adding camber to increase handling, or doing it for more tire clearance?

Adding the M3 arms with increase camber, but will actually make tire clearance worse at the fender.

And for another data point, I have M3 front arms and Dinan plates and sitting at -2.3 left and right, stock springs.

[titium]

Originally Posted by chris82

Well compared to the race plates yea. I actually just made the switch from the GC race plates (which are now for sale) to their street plates, all else remaining the same) and it was a nice decrease in overall road noise. Reason being is that the street plates eliminate the spherical bearing that the race plates have and instead use polyurethane. In terms of steering and all other ways they feel the exact same.

thanks Chris. how do you find the street plates? do they have the same adjustment as the race ones?

MightyMouseTech handling.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by titium

thanks Chris. how do you find the street plates? do they have the same adjustment as the race ones?

MightyMouseTech handling.

Well there's no caster adjustment, and not as much camber adjustment but I'm at -2 ish now and I should be able to achieve -2.5 which is enough for me as I daily my car.

[titium]

any other mods @chris82? m3 arms, lowering ect?

[rac]

Fixed dinan plates and m3 control arms, pin removal and slotted strut towers. -2.5.
Stock springs. Will be installing coil overs when back home in a month and there looks like there might be enough room to get to -3 on all fixed parts with a few extra mm of slotting.

[John_01]

I used Ground control street plates for the last 2 years. IMO, they add noticeable NVH compared to the OE rubber mounts. I think its preferable to keep the stock rubber mounts if you are concerned about NVH when driving on typical Australian roads. The M3 arms are a good upgrade for both street driving and also for track. The give some negative camber and improved steering feel without much change in NVH.

If you are just getting started with track driving, you don't need camber plates right away. However once you have done 1 or 2 track days then you will probably want to get them. The main issue is the outside shoulder of your front tires will get destroyed if you don't have the correct amount of front camber. If you decide to upgrade shocks and struts, then that that is the ideal time to have the camber plates installed.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by titium

any other mods @chris82? m3 arms, lowering ect?

It's lowered a bit on coilovers but I still have stock control arms

[titium]

John_01 would you say -2deg is enough to get decent tyre wear?