This. I would love to have -1.1* camber in the rear. You should be pretty satisfied with how much longer your tires will last.

Do you guys hear some ticking noise when you turn the steering wheel during parking/slow driving after Kmac installed?

To give an update....I installed the rear bushings this past Saturday, but didn't have time to finish the alignment. I have about 0.5° too much toe-in on the driver's side, but the camber values are perfect at 1.5/1.6° per side as opposed to the 2.5/2.6° it was previously. I will post the write-up when I have time to get the alignment redone, depending on when my schedule matches with my father's. Hopefully that will be either this weekend or next. Good thing I work from home and don't drive much.

This is actually not true. The toe link has 2 mounting bolts on the body and one on the hub. The body mounting bolt towards the middle of the vehicle is actually a 2-pc bolt where the inner part is a lock and the outer part is an eliptical on it for adjusting. However, the amount of adjustment it allows for is about as effective as the MB crash bolts for the front, which isn't much.

Long term reviews (5k+ miles) with bushing pics is what we all need. Looking forward to something positive from the actual bushings themselves instead of from a Kmac spokesperson!

Excellent, Heissrod. Please keep us all updated. Ive managed 8k miles on my current set of tires while the car is lowered but I know I'm running on borrowed time. I'd love to pick up a set of these bushings if they hold up.

Kevin @ K-MAC generously offered to replace kits for the guys like you who had issues in the past. Have you contacted him yet?

You are starting to sound like the kind of guy who would rather complain endlessly about problems you had in the past, rather than accept help (and free parts!) to resolve the issue.

In any case, short of testing these on your own car I don't see how anyone else's review or long-term durability report will ever be enough to convince you that the product is solid now. Why not just send a PM to Kevin with your shipping address and you can test the new stuff any way you see fit....

You DO still own an E55 don't you?


-G

Spend the amount of time and money I did trying to dial these in only to watch them fall apart and you won't have to ask me why I'm waiting for others to report back. Sorry, I wouldn't be a guinea pig for these again, even if they are free and Kevin offered to do the labor himself!! However, If they prove themselves I'll be next in line. You can label me a complainer all you want but until you install your own kit, you're nothing but a cheerleader.

When launching with 3 passengers I felt something give way at the rear and having just replaced the front shocks I assumed the rears had now gone also. Wasn't until I had ordered new rear shocks from Arnotts that we worked out it was the stock bushes. Doh!

@thetherapist are you saying that your KMACs went in the rear?
If so are they the new ones?
I'm looking to get something to help with tire wear I want something thats reliable.

No not kmacs just the standard bushes - I was just surprised it was torque that killed them, but I guess I've never owned an AMG before lol

Yes mine fell apart at the front after approx 3 years. Had them replaced for free, I did labour and hate it, getting the aliment right takes time too.


I am on my third set of adjustable rear camber arms too. Snapped twice in 4 years.


YOU CANT BEAT GENUWINE ORIGINAL MERCEDES PARTS

Yep, I've decided to leave the suspension closer to stock height and/or accept premature tire wear. Either one are better than riding in a death trap that tries to randomly throw you off the road under hard acceleration!

My conclusion too.

Yes although you do get what you pay for.


http://www.renntechmercedes.com/www/node/292

Don't forget the separate $200 tool needed to install them.

http://www.renntechmercedes.com/www/node/1180

Although, I'm not sure the addage of "getting what you pay for" really applies to Renntech. Their I/C pump kit is $1,400, for goodness sake.

http://www.renntechmercedes.com/www/node/488

Always have the engine running which ensures that the Airmatic system is maintaining the car in the overall normal road operating height.

Has anyone attempted to their use the mb-arts camber & toe setup? Reviews

Please start a new thread and keep this one on topic. MB Arts is not associated with K-MAC. Thanks.

HeissRod,

Great write up. Can you give an update on the K-MAC bushes as far as quality? Are they holding up? Any issues?

Thanks

I'm getting a re-alignment this week, so I'll post a long-term update.

Nice! really looking forward to this

HeissRod,

So how did that realignment go? How are the bushings doing?

Thanks

Sorry guys, Ended up having tire problems and Discount had to order new tires in for warranty. Haven't had time to get it done since.

really looking forward to the update, in the set there are 4 identical bushings correct?

Since I have the KMac bushings, I can provide feedback on mine.

I installed the KMac front bushings with new tires 24,000 miles and 17 months ago (I also rebuilt the entire front suspension at the same time; ball joints, tie rod ends, air springs). I verified the alignment last November (12,000 miles into the install) but inspect my tires weekly. As of today there is no undue wear on the tires (BF Goodrich G-Force Comp 2) or quirks in the handling. I believe I can get 35,000 to 40,000 miles out of these tires. Since my car is a long-distance daily driver I used the KMac bushings to obtain minimum recommended camber on the front tires (-1.1 degrees).

I installed the KMac rear bushings at the same time as the fronts but removed them after 5,000 miles and 3 iterations of the clamp design. I believe those bushings would work on the steel control arm non-Airmatic cars but in my case I found the soft alloy control arms of the Airmatic-equipped car would literally "flow" where the KMac part would grab onto the alloy arm. The bad part was when the camber suddenly went much more negative the toe goes out! Not good at all when accelerating hard and the tail of the car wants to come around and lead.

Kevin was easy to work with and helpful so I have nothing but praise for his interactions with me. He even sent me on his own nickle another iteration of the rear bushing clamp assembly but my heart is just not into tearing apart the rear suspension again. On the bright side, I did get to buy some really nice tools and a bushing press/pull kit and I'm really, really good at disassembling the rear suspension!

So, I highly recommend the front bushings but not so much the rear bushings (at least for the Airmatic alloy arms).