330d sport e46 saloon

[n0v0s]

Hi there,

 

I can think of anyone better whose opinion to seek. Please bear with me, this might turn out to be a long post..

I've had the geometry set on my 330d with a hunter 4wheel alignment machine last week. Thing is, it was through a friend of a friend at kwikfit for £30 (fkin lol I know, I know kwik s**tt... 'pay peanuts, get monkys' etc etc..). The tech apparently trains others though, mmmh..

Anyway, as you can see from the attatchment, the front and rear were out and are now within spec. Seems symetrical enough. The car was weighted, but with only half a tank of fuel. Dampers and shocks are all good. No broken springs or excessive sagging. Although the rear n/s is sitting slightly lower (might be o/s not sure... common problem though to do with spring seats iirc...)
All bushes are ok, very slight play on n/s front rear wishbone bush. Acceptable though. I've noticed the front tyre outer shoulder getting worn moreso, avon zz3. (In the damp/wet if i corner sharp right i notice the car rolls on its shoulders badly and just understeers. A result of the buggered shoulders me thinks!?)

The front camber wasn't touched because of some crap about kwikfit not being allowed. basically couldn't be bothered to knock pin. My question is, the settings applied on the hunter were: 'sedan/touring; except 330i, 330d sedan:sports suspension: 18inch wheel' ...

I have an msport saloon... So surely the 'except 330i, 330d sedan' bit means this is the wrong setting? I didn't check this till after, typical. From what I can find, it would appear the rear camber is a bit excessive, possibly -1degree too much. After having put about 250miles on the car, i can report the car seems a bit improved on the mway. There is less violent veering when crossing the lorry ruts on the left lane. But its still occurs. The tramlining is still quite bad, slightly improved . I feel that the steering wheel is now a bit lighter in feel than before, whereas it felt a bit more weight previously. Overal, there just appears to be a bit less feedback. On my local side roads, ive noticed it wonders left/right more strongly, following the camber of the road much more sensitively than before. If i let go of the steering wheel it just veers. Would this be due to the extra rear camber?

After having recently driven a TT, it highlighted how bad my 330d likes to tramline. I know they are sensitive to tyres so that might be something to consider. The tt is hardly a performance/handling bench mark but the steering felt more heavier, which in turn translated to more feedback for me. It just felt that bit more sharper on turn in. I'd like my 330d setup like that. 

How does it look? I would welcome opinion from those more clued up than me please. Just how much will my front o/s camber being out affect things? Should i change any settings, if so what would you recommend?

I might be popping in tomorrow, where im hoping to set the front camber myself as the other fitters are off. Is there any further adjustments i could make to improve road handling? To get a good idea; I'd like the steering to have optimised feedback and weight but not at the major expense of new tyres every few weeks. I do 80%mway miles, about 250 total a week.

Many thanks in anticipation! And much love if you managed to read all of that 

 

 

 

[Tony]

Hello and welcome to wim

 

To the point

1: The  target datum is wrong, but you know this already

2: If you have run-flat tyres the rear camber needs to be set to -1 degree 35'

3: If you decide to set the front camber there are two types a build pin that needs removing

3a: The dome type just gets knocked out

3b:
The dome type with a hex needs to be snapped by inserting an alan key
WARNING! the snap is an anti-clockwise turn, get this wrong you will
round the hex and have to drill the pin out, this is a real pain in the
arse.

4: I strongly feel your handling problem is the front control arm bushing

[n0v0s]

Hello and welcome to wim

 

To the point

1: The  target datum is wrong, but you know this already

2: If you have run-flat tyres the rear camber needs to be set to -1 degree 35'

3: If you decide to set the front camber there are two types a build pin that needs removing

3a: The dome type just gets knocked out

3b:

The dome type with a hex needs to be snapped by inserting an alan key

WARNING! the snap is an anti-clockwise turn, get this wrong you will

round the hex and have to drill the pin out, this is a real pain in the

arse.

4: I strongly feel your handling problem is the front control arm bushing

control bushing.jpg

Hi Tony, thanks for your reply.

 

1) even though the datum is wrong, are the other values set to what you would expect from this model (apart from rear camber of course)?

 

2) I have standard tyres, should I still set to around -1, 35mins? What would you recommend I set front camber to?

 

3) I have the dome pins, cheers for the heads up

 

4) mmh, ok something to investigate. Although, the play is ever so slight. I've even had the car up on some national tyre ramps where they rock the front tyres side to side to check loaded play and it was ok. I do appreciate that this slight play could be getting amplified though, as could the slight (0.5mm)lower steering uj play. Shame really, as overall I was sorely tempted to sell it after the audi comparison yesterday.

 

Many thanks for your time

[Tony]

1: The other angles are fine and although the datum is wrong the only real difference is the tolerances

 

2: I would still shoot for 1d 35', the sport settings are to aggressive

 

3: That's lucky, the hex type is a

 

4: The play would be fore/ aft not side-to-side