my bmw e46 on air suspension, how to get lower?

i've been running my air suspension setup for almost a year now. it's a custom setup put together by some random shop in san diego. they did a horrible job so i've had to do a lot of repairs to the install but everything's been running ok now.

my new shop that setup my front shocks setup a UAS single non-convoluted airbag on an aftermarket shock with something welded lower. i'm assuming it's the plate where the bag sits on. they did this so that i could get the car to drop lower, but for some reason the car just won't drop as low as i expected it to be.

i think it has something to do with my tires. as you can see in the video below, there is a lot of rubber on the top of the inner fender. i'm not sure if this came from the inner tire rubbing on something or if the inner fender itself is what's limiting my drop. i just recently installed 20mm spacers and the car was able to drop a little bit more than usual so i think it just has something to do with clearance.

i'm thinking of either going with a different tire setup (stretch them on my current wheels) or finding smaller/thinner wheels. what about cambering? will it help? i've never adjusted the camber of my car and i'm assuming a little bit of negative camber will help with the clearance? any thoughts with some of you more experienced guys out there would be greatly appreciated.

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bump

stretching tires will help, running a little camber will help also.

but when it comes down to it, nothing helps you ride lower like radiusing your fenders.

[url]http://www.vipstylecars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2132[/url]

i'm not sure if the outside of the fender is the issue. when i had them pulled and got the extra clearance, it was still stuck on something. i definitely want to try giving it some camber though so hopefully that helps

The rubber marks you see there are from when you turn the wheel, so wouldnt be from when you drop the suspension normally.
 
What you need to do is get the car up on some planks of wood then drop it, and then get under there and just feel around the top of the tire etc to see if it is touching anywhere

[QUOTE=Dominik;299579]The rubber marks you see there are from when you turn the wheel, so wouldnt be from when you drop the suspension normally.
 
What you need to do is get the car up on some planks of wood then drop it, and then get under there and just feel around the top of the tire etc to see if it is touching anywhere[/QUOTE]
i'll give that a shot when my car's on a lift for the camber. the e46's fenderwell is crowded with so many accessories and such that when it's dropped, i can barely fit my arm in there let alone feel around.

but i think another thing i'll probably do is line the entire inner fender with paper/tape and just check to see where the scuff marks are located. hopefully that helps me source the problem.

Is the strut maxed out? On the bump stops?

I've got an E34 M5 I'm working on right now,  the (nameless) coilover manufacturer had to send me 3" shorter front struts to get the car as low as my buddy wanted.

Does the tire rub the strut tower or inner fender at the top?

Actually, just watched that vid you posted. Based on where I could see it was rubbing and everywhere it wasn't I'd say the problem is your front struts are too long and when aired out you're on the bump stops.  You can try trimming the stop or getting shorter struts. That e34 I referenced in my last post is lower than your E46 with 245/45-17's and china coilovers.

that's interesting because the 2nd shop that did my custom setup took some aftermarket shocks and modded them with new internals to get the car to drop lower. maybe that has something to do with it after all. i'll definitely give the struts some consideration when i get the car on a lift, thanks

[QUOTE=bagged_46;299992]that's interesting because the 2nd shop that did my custom setup took some aftermarket shocks and modded them with new internals to get the car to drop lower. maybe that has something to do with it after all. i'll definitely give the struts some consideration when i get the car on a lift, thanks[/QUOTE]


If its not rubbing on top of the tower/inner fender you're maxing out the strut. Does the E46 use a strut insert or does the strut bolt to the knuckle? I couldn't tell in the video and I'm too lazy right now to look it up personally. 

The e34 is like that where the front spindle is welded to a tube that the front strut drops down in to. We wound up having to get E30 front struts and have them re-valved to work with that heavy E34 (drift car). But in order to fit them I had to cut 2.5" out of the length of the strut tube itself.

I'd post pics and all that crap but since I'm not a sponsoring vendor I don't want to get in trouble.

[QUOTE=DRS;300005]If its not rubbing on top of the tower/inner fender you're maxing out the strut. Does the E46 use a strut insert or does the strut bolt to the knuckle? I couldn't tell in the video and I'm too lazy right now to look it up personally. 

The e34 is like that where the front spindle is welded to a tube that the front strut drops down in to. We wound up having to get E30 front struts and have them re-valved to work with that heavy E34 (drift car). But in order to fit them I had to cut 2.5" out of the length of the strut tube itself.

I'd post pics and all that crap but since I'm not a sponsoring vendor I don't want to get in trouble.[/QUOTE]
i believe it bolts to my spindle from what i remember, but i also think there's a strut insert too in this new setup that my shop had done. i could be wrong though?

there definitely isn't any tube that the strut goes into at the spindle area, just 2 bolts. my current struts were also re-valved too.

i guess i'll find out exactly if it's bottoming out or not when i use paper to check for rubbing when i drop the car. hopefully some of the smudges will help me source out the exact problem.

DRS is right, you're maxing out the strut.  And I see rub marks on the bag, scary.  If you want to go lower, you're going to have to have a new tower fabricated (cut and lifted and re-welded), but that's irreversable.  You can also run hydraulics too, we've done a few in the San Diego area.

trefive, i think you and DRS may be right. i looked into the clearance a bit more and the tire definitely isn't resting on anything. i may have to look into modifying my strut again.

And i'm aware of the rubbing. I had another set blow on me and this one got a few rub marks because i accidentally dropped the car while driving on the freeway. I'm hoping to fix that issue very soon though.

no matter if the strut is too long, the bag needs to be raised above the tire which will raise the car. To get it lower you will have to raise the tower up like Trefive said and quite a bit.

Save yourself the headaches and replace the airbags with hydraulics. No strut length problems, no bag diameter/ height problems, no raising the towers.

I have a 2002 e46 on V-maxx coilovers and my car is more slammed then yours. the first thing we need to know is what is your wheel spec? tire spec? and if you rolled or shaved your outer fenders? on the e46s they have this really really hard compound  on the inner fender lip that you have to grind off to clear more room for the tires. also, you have a sedan.... so, it's a must that you have to shave the fender and cut part of the inner fender cover to clear.
 
mine is a coupe and i have 19x10 +32 offset in the back with 225/35/19 tires. and i still have to shave alittle to clear. 
 
hope this helps

going to get the work completed next week. there aren't any bumpstops in there so i'm just going to assume the strut is too long and i'm maxing out on that. having my front setup rewelded and redone and my guy from socalsuspension told me i should be able to get another inch or so of travel. i'll keep you guys posted :biggthumpup: