Uneven ride height

[Rumator]

Hello,

Recently I dealt with mushroomed strut tower (most likely pothole hit) - I flattened the shock tower as best as I could and replaced pretty much whole front suspension.

I noticed even before the repair though that the car was leaning to passenger side. I measured ride height (bottom of front wheel to fender) and difference is 0.7-0.8 mm. BMW apparently tolerates 10mm.

The problem is that when you stand in front of the car, you can clearly see that it leans to passenger side. Enough to notice just by looking from the front of the car.

What can cause this?

[tracer bullet]

You might still have an issue with the shock tower. But you might also have a blown strut on that side? The gas pressure in a strut can raise its corner of the car what I want to call 1/4" or more, so ~ 6-7mm. Perhaps even more. If the pressure in just one strut is gone, that corner will be lower than the other side.

[Rumator]

I actually replaced both shocks and springs (Sachs). All new hardware too.

[fast1eddy]

I think you’re over analyzing things. If it sits higher on the drivers side it’s likely to compensate for the driver. I remember these discussions in the E36 community as it was common on those cars too.

[Rumator]

Yes, I've seen threads on E36 and E46 forums, some claiming it to be normal.

My OCD won't let me sleep in peace.. because everytime I look back at the car I can see it leaning to passenger side. The photos don't do it justice how noticeable it is on level ground.

[Spielmp3206]

Originally Posted by Rumator

Yes, I've seen threads on E36 and E46 forums, some claiming it to be normal.

My OCD won't let me sleep in peace.. because everytime I look back at the car I can see it leaning to passenger side. The photos don't do it justice how noticeable it is on level ground.

I think it is perfectly normal to have a little discrepancy on the height however ... That is a perfect justified reason to move to coilovers and adjust the height by the mm on each corner. When I was renewing the suspension on my 128i I spend like 4 weeks of daily research on forums and also saw some cars in person with different combination of struts, springs etc. I was never satisfied because some were too low in the front or uneven height from right to left so I ended up going to coilovers just because of that...

[Rumator]

I guess I'll just have to deal with it then..

I didn't replace rear springs/shocks.
With right front corner sitting only on the spring itself (front right shock absorber was destroyed when I removed it) for however many KMs, could that cause right rear to also weaken over time because of that hence causing the car to lean even more?

[tracer bullet]

Anything is possible, but I doubt it, the hard points where things mount aren't that wimpy especially over a short time.

It's also theoretically possible that everything is identical and perfect, and that particular corner of the car is simply a little heavier because of where things were placed when it was made. You'd have to go to coilovers with adjustable heights to be able to balance that weight out better... and the funny thing is that it has a 50/50 chance to make the height difference worse.

Unless you discover something broken, I think you need to try and ignore it!