Thanks all... Should I "assume" that I will be able to see or feel slop in control arm bushing and sway arm bushing? I will be tied up at work all week so no fun and games till Sat. Larry

 

...mildly worn...perhaps not...really worn, I hope so. In truth the PF bushings are a good idea if you don't want to replace these again.

 

I had cracked strut top mount 'rubber like' bushings and was concerned about the strut tower mushrooming problem.

I put on IE front fixed camber plates in June 2009 on my 2006 Mini Cooper S JCW package. As directed I waited for the suspension to settle then had the alignment done by dealer. The very top of the strut (where dust cap sits) is higher on the right side than the left side. The suspension is stock other than the IE fixed camber plate component.

1315 miles on the IE plates and normal 17 inch tires (not runflat).

Camber LF: - 1.5 degrees
Camber RF: - 2.0 degrees

2686 miles on the IE plates and normal 18 inch tires.

Camber LF: - 1 degree 57 minutes
Camber RF: - 2 degrees 02 minutes



I will make a separate post because I have radial cracks in the 'rubber' bushings that came with the IE fixed camber plates. I observed the first cracks 15 months after I put them on the car. I believe those bushings are for some BMW model, maybe the Z4.

 

I believe that the IE plates do incorporate Z4 bearings...from memory...but I removed mine about 4 years ago.

 

Is there a better bearing/bushing for street use that goes with the stronger top plate? Appears to me that BMW cannot get this correct.

I first observed the radial cracking at 15 months and only 5366 miles on the IE fixed camber plates/BMW Z4 bearing.

 

I spent some time R&D -ing Megan adjustable coilovers in 2005.

Altough there were a few issues with the dampers, rear upper perch and bumpstops, the front camber plates with pillowe ball/heim joint was indestructable. I began to dig a little deeper into the manufacturing of their individual components...my goal was to have their manufacturer provide a pillowball/hiem joint that would fit stock damper piston diameter.

I might think that some of the other adjustable coil over kits might fit the Megan camber plate. You may be able to call megan and order the camber plate.

I put about 35K miles on these during a summer, winter and spring on nasty public roads and track. I grew tired of the failed dampers and moved on...but always wondered about those plates.

While on the subject of camber...if you increase front track width, the camber curve relaxes a bit...if you increase it enough and use a fairly stiff spring you may well find that you do not need camber plates...I posted some fairly quick times at LRP without them using Koni yellows and JCW springs.

 

Well, did not get time to check suspension any closer this wkend, I did however measure car on real flat concrete pad. Are the small differences in ride ht. typical ? I guess i am hoping control arm bushing looks bad on rt front when car is in air.
rt ft 25 5/8 camber 1 1/4 inch to t sq from top of wheel rim
lt ft 25 9/16 15/16
rt re25 3/8 15/16
lt rr 25 3/16 1
tires are 195 /55 /16 at 35psi
Hopefully I can spend a lot more time trying to figure out camber issue this week. Larry
ps. I think will get powerflex bushings no matter what I find wrong.

 

Got car in air Sat. Looked over all bushings and ball joints, did a little prying, and found nothing obviously wrong. I am app 130 miles from Indy. ,can anyone recommend a shop? Larry