318i Excessive Rear Camber Help!

[brian9146-356]

Folks, I have a 1997 318i which is showing excessive but different rear camber. sometimes it looks alarming and sometimes looks near to 0 degrees, its always greater on the nearside. Both toe bushings were replaced with OEM parts, when the car is jacked up there is no discernable movement. ALso since the last toe bushing was replaced the car now pulls to the left....

What is the stock camber setting?

All help or comments welcome!!
Brian, Galway Ireland

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I don't know what the stock setting is, but it would be a good idea to verify the actual camber angle instead of eyeballing it. You can pick up an "angle finder" (think, protractor and level, more or less) at a hardware or home-supply store. That will tell you, more or less, what the camber angle actually is relative to dead-level. Note that it won't take the tilt of the road into account...

If the camber angle really is changing, I would suspect the upper shock mounts. Those are a known weakness on the E36 cars, particularly those that are driven "hard". Other suspension parts might also be to blame, but those are a known weakness.

Have you checked the toe angles on all four wheels after you had the toe bushing replaced? You probably should have a little bit of toe-in on all four wheels of a daily-driver type car. I would not be surprised if the toe had changed when the bushing was replaced--and that would explain the pull.

--DD