New Product: Vorshlag camber plates for BMW 1M/M3 with OEM springs

[Fair!]

New Product! - This new camber plate + spring perch solution is past the prototype stage and into pre-production testing. We will post here when these are available for sale to the public.



The E92 M3 and the BMW 1M are the performance versions of the 1 series and 3 series chassis, and both come with great engines and decent tire improvements over their non-M cousins. These cars have more aggressive suspension settings, but still are severely "camber limited" in the front suspension. This can and does lead to premature front tire wear and understeer when these cars are driven hard, either on a road course or at an autocross. As with any other McPherson front strut equipped car, these 1M and M3 cars benefit greatly from adjustable camber-caster plates, and should be the first "mod" done to these cars if they are driven on track or through cones in anger.



Both the E90/92 3 series and E82 1 series M cars utilize essentially the same suspension components, including a unique aluminum front strut housing and very compact upper strut mount. This strut mount is different than most other BMW units we've made camber plates for in the past, with a very compact "stack up height", having an integral spring perch / radial bearing built into the rubber strut top mount. See the exploded picture below of this unique M part. The height of this factory strut mount and the unique spring diameter these cars utilize made for some new challenges when it came to designing a new Vorshlag camber plate for the factory strut/spring set-up.



The trick with this installation, like all we tackle here it Vorshlag, is to have the new Vorshlag upper spring perch assembly we substitute for the OEM unit to have the same smooth turning, sealed from the elements, double row radial bearing assembly that goes into all Vorshlag designs. This unique perch design, along with the monster 3/4" ID spherical bearing we use in all of our top mounts, is what keeps our camber plates quiet and trouble free for years of street or track abuse.



Since drivers that are utilizing the OEM springs (or lowering springs that utilize the same OEM upper spring perch/mount) do not want to raise or lower their cars, we have to make sure that the total stack up height of our new Vorshlag camber plate + upper spring perch assembly is within 0-1mm of the stock height. When we make a coilover spring perch set-up, we always try to minimize stack-up height which (when the lower coilover perch is adjusted upwards to compensate) allows for more bump travel. We've put our super popular Vorshlag E82/90 camber plates on dozens of 1Ms and E92 M3s that were utilizing coilover shocks, including cars with AST 4200s, 4100s and 5100s that we have installed here at Vorshlag.



An AST coilover kit is a good chunk of change and not every 1M driver is going to make that commitment, but there are a LOT of these cars showing up at race tracks. And when they track their cars on bone stock suspension, they shred the front tires. There were not any adequate options out there and we had many 1M customers asking and even begging Vorshlag to make a camber plate + OEM spring perch solution for these cars. So we dove in, and with 3 engineers working on it we came up with a design that stacked up, worked with the OEM spring, and still utilized our radial bearing.



This new design uses our existing E90/E82/E36 camber/caster plate, but with a unique upper spring perch. This new Vorshlag perch is thin and compact, to match the factory strut mount, and has the same external dimensions - so it can re-use the factory spring isolator. It is thick in certain areas, to accept our beefy, sealed, double-row radial bearing assembly. It starts as a big chunk of billet aluminum and costs more than most of our BMW upper perches - but that's what it takes to match the spring diameter and stack-up of the OEM E92 M3/E82 1M top mount.



The final result is the perfect dimension and when assembled onto the stock struts it matches the same stack-up and installed height of the OEM spring/strut/top mount components. It also can articulate fully without interference between the camber plate and upper perch, unlike some other designs out there.



I will post again below showing the installation steps, additional details, and the first pre-production tester's 1M that has been using these for a week without issue.