[Travishksar]

I've got a KW v1 suspension installed recently. When I went for an alignment afterward, here's what I got from Firestone. It seems off spec, right? What should I do?

Thanks,
Steve

[bolty]

Hi, I cant comment on the numbers but Iam curious to know how it feels when you drive?

[Travishksar]

Originally Posted by bolty

Hi, I cant comment on the numbers but Iam curious to know how it feels when you drive?

When the steering wheel is dead center, the car pulls to the left

[fisherbln]

The coilovers probably lower it too much to take the car within spec for camber. You'll need camber plates (front) and adjustable rear control arms (rear) to get the car back within spec for camber. I do find it odd that you have more camber on the left side than the right though.

Some people don't bother to upgrade camber plates and control arms to get camber back down to spec because they prefer the increased camber. While the cornering abilities of the car are higher with more negative camber, you'll decrease your tire life quite a bit. In any case, you'll need to get the left and right side camber closer to equal and it may or may not be possible with your current suspension setup.

[Force[FED]]

I also went with KW V1s within the last 2 weeks, and had an alignment done at a local NTB that actually has good techs. My numbers look way better after my alignment. My car is sitting about 1.25" lower than stock at all 4 corners...not slammed, but certainly lower.

Don't be overly concerned with the negative camber, though the rear is somewhat adjustable stock, and they were able to get mine from -2.5 to -1.7 on the left, and from -1.8 to -1.6 on the right. I actually prefer the negative camber, and that is not enough camber to really cause any problems with wear. My fronts are at -.8 left, and -1.0 right for camber...again, all good enough for me.

The thing you really should focus on is toe, which gets thrown way out of wack when you lower the car at all. For my rear tires, the left toe was .38deg before, and .07deg after. The right toe was .25deg before, and .12deg after. The total toe was a whopping .64 before, and .19 after they adjusted it, and it's in a good range after the adjustment. The thrust angle is also now at -.03deg, which is in acceptable range. But my before numbers were off just like yours (even more so), and the guy had no trouble dialing it in.

For your report, the front toe is fine, but the rear toes are off. Matter of fact, the before and after look almost identical for everything in the rear on your printout, did they make adjustments at all for the rear? They should have been able to correct some of the rear camber, but more importantly, the toe. You don't want the rear of the car "duckwalking" down the road.

Kev

PS Looking at your report again, it is strange the big disparity in your front cambers, which makes the Cross Camber so high on your car. Mine is only .2 in the front since they are -.8 and -1.0 respectively.

[Travishksar]

Originally Posted by Force[FED]

I also went with KW V1s within the last 2 weeks, and had an alignment done at a local NTB that actually has good techs. My numbers look way better after my alignment. My car is sitting about 1.25" lower than stock at all 4 corners...not slammed, but certainly lower.

Don't be overly concerned with the negative camber, though the rear is somewhat adjustable stock, and they were able to get mine from -2.5 to -1.7 on the left, and from -1.8 to -1.6 on the right. I actually prefer the negative camber, and that is not enough camber to really cause any problems with wear. My fronts are at -.8 left, and -1.0 right for camber...again, all good enough for me.

The thing you really should focus on is toe, which gets thrown way out of wack when you lower the car at all. For my rear tires, the left toe was .38deg before, and .07deg after. The right toe was .25deg before, and .12deg after. The total toe was a whopping .64 before, and .19 after they adjusted it, and it's in a good range after the adjustment. The thrust angle is also now at -.03deg, which is in acceptable range. But my before numbers were off just like yours (even more so), and the guy had no trouble dialing it in.

For your report, the front toe is fine, but the rear toes are off. Matter of fact, the before and after look almost identical for everything in the rear on your printout, did they make adjustments at all for the rear? They should have been able to correct some of the rear camber, but more importantly, the toe. You don't want the rear of the car "duckwalking" down the road.

Kev

PS Looking at your report again, it is strange the big disparity in your front cambers, which makes the Cross Camber so high on your car. Mine is only .2 in the front since they are -.8 and -1.0 respectively.

I should have found another shop for the alignment. The firestone guys told me that he couldn't get to the back side to adjust the rear because the rear was too low. Seriously, would that happen? It doesn't make sense to me though. Btw, the front of my car was slammed while there is about a turn left on the rear.

[Darth Bobo]

I have a 2010 335xi on V1 and I'm going in for the initial alignment either the 15 or 22 this month.

I have noticeable camber on the driver rear but not really bad anywhere else. The same shop did the install and corner balance, that was decent and I'll scan that and post up when It's done.

I think with an aggressive drop you will have to deal with camber, I had a G35 real low and that camber after drop was crazy like -3 degrees.

I dropped about 2" from stock on the 335 by my tapemeasure, handles WAY better but I think we will pay the price in tirewear. Pay to play and find a decent shop used to dealing with modded cars.

[Force[FED]]

If you went that "low" with the collars, you are certainly way lower than my car. At least another 1/2" or so. Not sure if that would make that big a difference though, especially in the rear setup.

"The firestone guys told me that he couldn't get to the back side to adjust the rear because the rear was too low."

Wasn't the car on the actual alignment rack? What does he mean he couldn't get to the back side to adjust...that is the whole point of the alignment? It honestly looks like he didn't attempt to adjust the rear at all, and from your statement, it sounds like he basically admitted that. Was this some odd 2 wheel alignment or something? (which is obviously not what you would have wanted).

I would complain that they didn't really align the car, or go somewhere else with more knowledgeable people.

Kev