Re: E30 rear suspension problems / tyre pressures?

[John G.Burns <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>I have just had a nasty shock on my E30 325i. Last year I lowered the
>suspension (35mm), and fitted 17" rims with nice 205 40ZR 17 Yokohama's,
>it looked good. Yesterday I was driving home when I thought the road was
>getting even bumpier than usual. After a few seconds I realised that I 
>had a puncture in a rear tyre.............

>When I got home, (I was just around the corner from my house when it
>happened!), I removed the rear tyre to find that it had completely worn
>through the rubber, canvas and steel belting on the inner edge and had
>actually created a hole in the sidewall!!! Now I know that lowering the
>suspension increases the rear camber angle, BUT I have 5-6mm of tread onthe
>outer side of the tyre and holes where the inner sidewall should be!!! These
>tyres are only 11 months old and have covered about 6000 miles.

If you keep an eye on your tyres you could have a garage
remount them on the other side of the car for you when 
the inner edges wear to much. At least they'll last longer 
this way.

If you're in a part of the UK that gets snow then I'd invest
in some smaller wheels and all season or snow tyres for winter 
use. It will be interesting driving in snow and ice with that 
tyre setup and lots of inner edge wear!

>Question - Does this sound excessive? Is there any way of adjusting the rear
>camber or are there any kits available to do it? Or am I going to have to
>shell out =A3215 (as I had to today) ,every 11 months for new boots?

You can probably get rear camber plates somewhere to raise
the car back up a bit. I should really do this myself as the
new springs and shocks on my 635 have taken it down a bit
further than I'm happy about. With BMW semi-trailing arm rear
suspension lowering will always screw up the rear camber :-(

Questions?
	
	Does anyone on the list know WHERE you can get
	camber plates? 10mm would do.

	Advice on tyre pressures are welcomed. Too low and
	you'll generate a lot of heat in the inner sidewall
	due to increased flexing. Too high and you'll have a
	very small contact patch and more inner edge wear. I
	run 225/50ZR Fuldas at 2.3 bar rear and 2.4 front.

- --
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)   
Email: john@domain.elided, John G.Burns B.Eng, Aberdeen, Bonny Scotland
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