Re: negative camber & oil change indicator questions

["Mudry, Robert (CAP, AMR)" <rob.mudry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Excuse a possible duplicate, but I may have been using a wrong email address
for the list.

Andy asks...
 
>Could someone explain exactly what handling
>benefit negative camber ads? Increased steering
>feel? More lateral g? How the hell does it do
>this? (I know what negative camber is, but don't
>know what it does in practice). 

Andy, here is a very simple explanation.  I'm sure you'll get more in-depth
analysis from the Bubbas...  Picture the tire patch on the road during heavy
cornering when the weight of the car shifts to the outside tires.  More neg.
camber, more rubber on the road, more traction.  Less neg. camber, the
inside edge of the outside tire starts lifting, loosing grip.  So why don't
all cars come out of the box with massive neg. camber?  Tire wear.  You
start wearing out more the insides of your tires when going straight.  

>Also, does anyone know if the oil change indicator
>system on newer BMWs takes into account how old
>the oil is? I still have 3 green lights even
>though the oil hasn't been changed since January
>(car only has about 4,000 miles on it in that
>time). I was going to change it this week anyway &
>was just wondering. 

You can basically ignore the indicator LEDs and do your oil changes when you
feel comfortable.  To the best of my knowledge, the BMW oil change indicator
monitors the mileage, number of times you start the car, and the RPM
changes.  A special algorithm uses those inputs to determine when you should
change the oil.  Average 7-8K miles on my car.   

>TIA

>Andy '95 M3 negative-camber deprived

Rob Mudry
BMWCCA #135536
'96 328is massive neg. camber, one more green LED left on the oil change
indicator.  

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