211.070

I finally installed the rear camber adjustment bushings. My car is lowered a little bit, and camber was an issue. I was at -2.34 degrees in the rear. I was seeing some significant inner edge wear. I have now set it at -1.25 camber, and -5" of toe. The rear feels much more connected now!




The install was quite simple, but I do have a few gripes. They state that the toe links should either be in the 3, or 9 o'clock position. This is garbage. At either one of those positions. You will be severely in/out for your toe settings. I think that I would have been closer by leaving the stock outer bushings in place. I could not leave the toe adjustment bushing in these positions. So, they ended up being closer to center. This allowed me to fine tune the toe setting with the stock adjustment.

chiromikey

Please report back after a few thousand miles. I found the K-Macs to start allowing too much deflection and then just distort all together.

GunMoto

+1

Long term reliability of the KMACs are what I'm concerned with as well.

StarvingArtist

We are getting a group buy together on the CLS forum, any info you can give is appreciated. If there's a problem with the rear what else can you do?

Quicksilv3r

I personally had a terrible experience with K-MAC's camber bushings when I had my E39 M5...ughh never again. Hope your situation is better.

GregMB

I've got a complete set (Front & Rear) of the K-MAC bushing kits that will be installed on my E55 in the coming months.

Kevin @ K-MAC has been quite pro-active in dealing with negative feedback about the E55 kits, and has made several changes to his product to address people's concerns about ease-of-installation and long-term durability over the last 6 months or so....

He has reached out to me directly on a number of occasions through email and phone calls, and has even provided me with samples of the "upgrade" parts that are now standard on his E55 K-MAC kits. Not to diminish the negative experiences that some people on MBWorld have had.... but I can say that it is refreshing to see a vendor who takes real-life feedback from users and uses it to improve their product.

I would encourage anyone who has had a less than stellar experience with the K-MAC bushing kits in the past, to contact Kevin directly about it. Give him the opportunity to send you some "new design" componentry and take a fresh look what is being built now.


-G

chiromikey

Mind posting pics of the new components? Their website pics look identical to the same stuff I tried...

Try Me

I had fronts and rear K-mac in mine, the rears were horrible, literally disentagrated, complete crap, made the car dangerous to drive.

Quicksilv3r

+1 same thing happened when I installed them on my E39 M5. Bolts continuously worked their way loose, forcing the rear trailing arms forward into the fender, ultimately making the car undrivable. What a nightmare. Cost me thousands (and very nearly, my life). Their R&D budget must be pocket change.

chiromikey

Yep! My problem had nothing to do with the thread pitch that the new kits addressed due to bolts backing out, or the horribly poor end cap design...it was the fact that the bushing material deflected then flat out distorted so much that the car was dangerous to drive.

mdgonzo101

So I take it that it's not worth it to get the K-MAc rear kit?

chiromikey

So far the only positive discussion I've seen is from those that have yet to install the kit or just had their kit installed but don't have enough miles to determine long term reliability. All of us with enough post install miles have experienced significant problems.

K-Mac

Yes we recall, heard about this.

As manufacturers/distributors it is essential to ensure clear labeling of packaging, shelf stock.

So for you to be fair/accurate....

K-MAC packaging clearly stated all BMW E39 models including 'M'series

Then listing E39 as P/N 193526
E39 'M' P/N 194026

Yet 193526 (with noticeably undersize 12mm diameter bolts) was fitted to "M" series that has 14mm diameter bolts.

So its certainly no wonder the end result when 12mm bolts are moving around in 14mm holes!!

K-Mac

...and it certainly is at K-MAC. Unlike other companies, we are not sitting on our hands! Where out there designing, innovating.

If there is something we can improve on - it happens fast.

Unlike most other companies we do not import. Proudly we have in-house manufacture allowing us to make rapid, ongoing updates and with total control over quality.

Also at K-MAC we back it up by being heavily involved in motorsport. Ultimate all out 10/10th competition racing - proving the reliability of each and every refinement.

Anything and everything can be improved. This philosophy has allowed us to amass over 20 new design patents for Camber, Caster, Toe adjuster kits which would have to be more than all other alignment and bushing kit companies combined!

So yes, constant inventive steps, bushing design break throughs, new locking devices, reliability is what it is all about at K-MAC.

211.070

I will definitely keep an eye on them. I can put the car on the alignment rack any day of the week. Like I posted earlier. The only gripe I have at this time is the suggestion for the toe adjustment bushings. With my 1.09 degree reduction in negative camber the suggested positioning does not work. It was either severely toed in/out. They had to be set in a nearly neutral position in order to have a proper toe setting.

K-Mac

The current series of rear kits are just as bullet proof as the K-MAC front kits.

Race track tested to withstand far more arduous conditions - main straight top speed, then hitting race curbs, becoming fully airborne and slamming down lap after lap - then ever experienced off the track

TheVazha

^

Hi Bud,

I posted on the CLS forum and I am very interested in purchasing a set for my car. My question was, and I will post here again, what sort of guarantee do you give for your product?

Assume they are installed and 6 moths later bolts are coming loose, there are squeaks, etc etc.. Will you warranty the parts?

Do you have an installer that you can recommend so there is no finger pointing if there is a problem?

Thanks, I look forward to buying a set of these.

Quicksilv3r

Indeed. I wonder how many other individuals K-MAC put at risk due to improper labeling on that product. I'd like to think this sort of negligence doesn't occur elsewhere in the company, or worse, more frequently...

K-Mac

Did ask you to be fair/accurate, so will have to let fair minded MB World Members decide...

Fortunately we do know about this through one of our distributors. As per previous thread the labeling on packaging clearly stated all BMW E39 Models including 'M' Series.

Then actual Part No. listing below showed E39 and separately E39 'M' series.

Both in large equal size type (1/2" size letters).

We simply could not highlight anymore!

Then surely on installation and removing the original 'M' Series 14mm diameter bolts and replacing with the stock size E39 12mm diameter bolts then reinserting into the larger 14mm diameter holes this should have been noticed and raised the alarm.

K-Mac

As per our CLS forum reply products have a 28 day money back guarantee and also applicable (as we advertise) "If not the biggest adjustment range of any bush kit in the industry".

But also re ongoing warranty - yes of course we do. At K-MAC we're proud of our products and having in-house manufacture.

We're now in our 50th year - World's largest range of bushings and Camber, Caster, Toe adjuster kits - Audi to Volvo.

Re bolts coming loose, squeaks - with any suspension component bolts coming loose is the number one problem.

We already patented the breakthrough design of using a single wrench and still to be able to gain precise adjustment of suspension bushings instead of removal and labor intensive reassembly required each time.

So out latest challenge was to resolve once and for all any possibility of a bolt/nut working its way loose.

And we've done it!

Our current kits (both front and rear) its now impossible for this to take place.

Re durability of bushings/squeaking - with bolts fully tightened there's no metal to metal contact and no squeaks. Unlike spherical bearing adjusters which in day to day commuter use soon pound out allowing this metal to metal contact.

The actual K-MAC bushing design has now been in production and proven for close on 20 years.

The effort and refinements that we have put into this design has resulted in negligible requests for replacements (actual bushings not even warranting a separate part number)

TheVazha

Buddie,

I appreciate the hard work you guys put into the product. I know if I order a tune/pulley/TB/wheels/etc from any of the vendors here they will go out of their way to make sure the product is functional. They do it because they are car guys and are proud of what they sell.

I posed very simple questions to you and all I got is a 28 day warranty and a marketing pitch.

Please confirm so I understand:

You only offer a 28 day warranty on your product.

Any additional coverage?

edmond1129

I got my front set installed and since the first day after installation, there are ticking noises when I am turning the steering wheel in low speed, dont know if anyone have experienced it.

Quicksilv3r

I agree the smaller diameter bolts should have raised a flag, but when my BMW tech contacted Turner Motorsport to verify we had the correct kit, we were assured it was appropriate for the M5 application. It was only after a driving the car for a few days that we concluded something definately was not right. It was a bit scarey to say the least and it cost me a couple grand to put the car back to stock, so naturally I have reservations about both companies since it's really become a bit of a p!ssing match at this point with regards to who is to blame.

chiromikey

Don't confuse guarantee with warranty. There's nothing on their website regarding a warranty of any kind and the 28 day money back guarantee he mentioned sounds like it only covers the return of an unused product. Make sure you get something in writing prior to purchase...something that covers bushing material for a long enough period of time to to get in some mileage!

TheVazha

It sounds like you're SOL if there's a problem with this part, therefore I would not be a buyer.