Hi Robin,
Seems a bit drastic to cut off the top spring mounts?
Mine seemed to be OK and certainly not that far out like yours.
I guess the question is………. Are your spring bump stops in the wrong place? (As you suspect) or Are your trailing arms positioned wrongly in some way? A small displacement at the bushes could give a large movement at the bump stop. Maybe the trailing arms mounting holes are in the wrong position?
If you look in your Bentley Manual section 13 pages 35-36, you will see that BMW do eccentric bushes for the adjustment of toe at the rear wheels. I wonder if you have eccentric bushes fitted? Or perhaps you could fit these as a solution? Are your rear wheels parallel or not?
Do you have proper BMW trailing arm bolts fitted? These have an slightly enlarged shank to locate snugly in the metal centre part of the bushes.
My understanding from reading books on suspension set up is that the most important aspect is the geometry of the rear suspension and wheels, their toe-in or out and their alignment with the front wheels. There are 4 wheel alignment jigs available at some tyre fitting bays and I am going to wait until my car is on the road and the bushes have bedded down after a few hundred miles before having mine measured. (Great article about this in Car Mechanics, April 2006, page 24)
Best regards,
Peter
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