Got Some 6mm Offset Castor Bushes Made

watrob · #1 05-12-2009, 09:12 AM

This is my 3rd E70 X5 ( RHD for Australia), and I am tied of them driving left all the time. With the lefthand front wheel setting back some 4mm than the right front wheel (great for LHD drive X5's in Europe & the States) and tracking left all the time I had some Castor Bushes made with a 6mm offset.

Will install next week when my X5 arrives.

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NOVAX5 · #2 05-12-2009, 09:31 AM

I have no idea what you are talking about or what they are, but they do look cool. Maybe it's the Aussie thing.

Roadster · #3 05-12-2009, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by watrob

This is my 3rd E70 X5 ( RHD for Australia), and I am tied of them driving left all the time. With the lefthand front wheel setting back some 4mm than the right front wheel (great for LHD drive X5's in Europe & the States) and tracking left all the time I had some Castor Bushes made with a 6mm offset.

Will install next week when my X5 arrives.

is this because of the 'wrong' camber of the LHD roads for RHD cars?
I thought you guys had only outback roads down there

watrob · #4 05-12-2009, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roadster

is this because of the 'wrong' camber of the LHD roads for RHD cars?
I thought you guys had only outback roads down there

Yes, that's correct, you have to constantly keep righthand down pressure on the steering wheel to keep the X5 straight on the road due to our road camber.

It's not so bad around town where there is not must camber but on the highways its a pain in the a**e, so much so on my first X5 e70 BMW they flew in 3 different control arms from Germany to fix the problem, did'nt work so I got a new X5.

The 2nd X5 we altered the setting so much and then had to run 6-8lbs less pressure in the righthand side wheels just to have a half reasonable outcome.

Anyway enough was enough and had these castor bushes made for my new X5 for next week.

y5choi · #5 05-13-2009, 12:14 AM

You know, it's kind of funny, I counter steer to keep my X from following the camber too (i'm in Canada, LHD, it follows the camber and pulls right toward the curb)

Bozz · #6 05-13-2009, 07:02 AM

Would you think that with all the technical research and manufacturing that BMW does that they could get something as simple as this correct for the vehicles being exported world wide.

Come on BMW this is basic 101 vehicle manufacturing wheel and steering geometry for different countries. Pathetic when a customer has to sort out these problems for you.

watrob · #7 05-13-2009, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by y5choi

You know, it's kind of funny, I counter steer to keep my X from following the camber too (i'm in Canada, LHD, it follows the camber and pulls right toward the curb)

Well a little birdie told (someone in BMW Australia who spent a month in the USA) that knew about my problem told me he drove about 3000 miles in a X5 there and said it drove right, followed the camber of the road.

That's why you need castor bushes to fix the problem, whether its a LHD or a RHD X5, if they pull to the curb it needs adjustment.

Its a simply fix, my AMG Merc has Castor bolts installed and the bolt adjustment suits both lefthand & righthand drive cars, and the wider the wheels you put on the worst it gets.

y5choi · #8 05-13-2009, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by watrob

Well a little birdie told (someone in BMW Australia who spent a month in the USA) that knew about my problem told me he drove about 3000 miles in a X5 there and said it drove right, followed the camber of the road.

That's why you need castor bushes to fix the problem, whether its a LHD or a RHD X5, if they pull to the curb it needs adjustment.

Its a simply fix, my AMG Merc has Castor bolts installed and the bolt adjustment suits both lefthand & righthand drive cars, and the wider the wheels you put on the worst it gets.

Yup. 20" with 315 rears, it's most definitely more noticeable. As a matter of fact, I am going in this Friday to drop my car off at the dealers for a break fluid change (yes it's been 2 years already) . I'm going to mention this problem again to them, see what they can do.

y5choi · #9 05-15-2009, 10:35 AM

I went in to drop the car off today, and the service manager was kind enough to entertain me on the subject of alignment. He said front camber and caster are really never adjusted on the X (by design) and the rear camber can be adjusted, although rear caster is not adjustable unless other parts (aftermarket) are used. Simply put, following the road camber while being driven is "normal". So when the dealer does alignment, it's really just the toe adjustment and that's it. He also kindly mentioned that "you get this 80,000 car and it pulls to the road camber, especially with wider tires, and you can't do much about it". How true...

I'd imagine that on an AWD, the toe angle would just be 0 on all fours. Any comments or thoughts?

watrob · #10 05-17-2009, 04:30 AM

Thats right a $80k X5 there and and a $150k X5 here and no Castor adjustment in the front. Piss more, hence the first E70 I bought I handed back it was that bad.

Merc has castor adjustment via Castor kit they sell, and the BMW dealer gives you that bullshit about the X5 being neutral, well thats a lie because I had engineers check the X5 and they found on average a 4mm shorter wheelbase on the leftside to the right, helpful on LHD's but terrible for us with RHD

Thats why I have these bushes to over overcome the problem.

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