Removed front strut bar - messed up alignment?

[yura]

Hi guys,

Yesterday I removed my front strut bar. On the driver's side, one of the strut bolts wasn't an original, and it fell in when I took the bracket off. Didn't think it was a big deal, but when driving to and from work today I felt like I oversteered several times. Each time it was in a left turn. I would turn the car in, and end up much further than I wanted. Perhaps it's in my head, but could removing the strut bar have messed up my alignment? Any sure way to find out without shelling out a few hundred for re-alignment?

For what it's worth, pics of the struts:

Passenger side, all original bolts:

http://i.imgur.com/Y3d0h.jpg

Driver's side, two original bolts, one missing as of yesterday:

http://i.imgur.com/jEz8C.jpg

Any advice would be appreciated!

[danewilson77]

Just put the bolt back in the FSM.

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[MrMaico]

It looks like you have, or had, some type of camber kit?

I see your factory pin that locks your camber into one position is gone so it's possible it could have moved when all the bolts were loose. I'm not sure how likely it would be though with all the weight of the front of the car on there. Can you tell if the bolts are in the same position they were before you loosened the nuts? If it's steering different now though you'd almost have to think it messed up the alignment.

Barry

[MrMaico]

If you have a level, or an iPhone, you could compare sides and see if both look to be at the same angle and get some idea if one may have moved....

http://photos.linquist.net/Vehicles/330i/30252698246edcfab41bo/420602911_zn9Z8-L.jpg

http://photos.linquist.net/Vehicles/330i/302527111062c01d7104o/420602943_bgGwU-L.jpg

[danewilson77]

Looking back at your pics though, those don't look like the typical FSM. You've got something else going on there.

You removing the strut bar, car on ground, suspension loaded, should not have affected your alignment.

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[yura]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I've been carefully paying attention to it all week and think the whole thing was/is in my head. I haven't noticed anything since I posted. Will still keep an eye on it.

[danewilson77]

I see you have camber plates. I was looking on my phone....earlier.

[yura]

So, some news: when I took the strut bar off, I took off the little bolts + plates which held the camber plates in place (I had no idea what these were and thought they were part of the strut bar). Today I went down to put these plates back on, and noticed that the struts had moved quite a bit. Went to my mechanic (needed an oil change anyways), they raised the car and the wheels simply dropped down. Struts were completely loose. They didn't move around much when the car was on the ground, but could have easily fallen out altogether if the front wheels caught any air over railroad tracks or something. The guys were pretty amazed that I was still alive and car uncrashed. Anyways, put the plates back in, now I need to do an alignment and should be golden. Lack of knowledge on my part is what led to this, but no permanent issues, so all is well.

[danewilson77]

They don't look loose in the above pics.

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[MrMaico]

They don't look loose in the above pics.

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Aren't the bolts and nuts that allow you to adjust the camber missing in the pics? I have zero experience with camber plates but I assume the 3 factory strut mount studs and nuts are what hold the camber plate mounts in place and the camber plate adjusting bolts and nuts are what actually hold your strut assembly to your shock tower via the fixed slotted plate.

The 4 allen head bolts in this pic are missing on Kerunts plates.....

http://mrmaico.smugmug.com/Cars/BMW-ZHP-misc/i-PfVzbQG/0/L/camberplatee30single-L.jpg

[danewilson77]

Yes. They aren't there.... However I am not entirely familiar with the setup has.

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[MrMaico]

So, some news: when I took the strut bar off, I took off the little bolts + plates which held the camber plates in place (I had no idea what these were and thought they were part of the strut bar). Today I went down to put these plates back on, and noticed that the struts had moved quite a bit. Went to my mechanic (needed an oil change anyways), they raised the car and the wheels simply dropped down. Struts were completely loose. They didn't move around much when the car was on the ground, but could have easily fallen out altogether if the front wheels caught any air over railroad tracks or something. The guys were pretty amazed that I was still alive and car uncrashed. Anyways, put the plates back in, now I need to do an alignment and should be golden. Lack of knowledge on my part is what led to this, but no permanent issues, so all is well.

Glad to hear you got it figured out. That could have been nasty if you had hit big enough bump or pothole!

Barry

[MrMaico]

Yes. They aren't there.... However I am not entirely familiar with the setup has.

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Ya, same here. Once he mentioned that the struts weren't secured at the top that's when I got to wondering just where are the tops of the strut shafts and what are they mounted to? Good thing they caught it when they did.

[yura]

MrMaico is spot on - the little plates that are part of the installed camber adjustment kit are missing in my pics above; these were the ones I took off without realizing what they were.

[danewilson77]

MrMaico is spot on - the little plates that are part of the installed camber adjustment kit are missing in my pics above; these were the ones I took off without realizing what they were.

Oh Shiiiiiiii....................

[LivesNearCostco]

Last year I did a lot of thinking and reading about camber plates for the E46. Those looks like the UUC or SPC/Eibach camber plates.

UUC plates
http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/80750_x600.jpg

SPC/Eibach plates
http://www.nexternal.com/vacmotors/images/SPC-CCP-E30F-M.JPG

[yura]

The little plates I had taken off do have the SPC logo on them. They are the smallest, round plates with 4 holes. I think I have the bottom kit of the two you posted.