Strut Mount and Camber Plate Comparison

[PetrolM3]

Yes! It’s the popping at low speeds. It’s now a vague memory for me but thanks for chiming in, I don’t want to be the outlier here crapping on GC units lol

[George Hill]

I've installed GCs on a few cars and not everyone makes noise, but of all the cars I've installed camber plates onto its the GC ones that make noise... and primarily its popping with low speed turns. We generally don't install GCs anymore.

Right now we put:
-Vorshlag on track focused cars.
-TMS on street cars that need more camber OR planning for the future/don't want to buy stock when you can buy these at a similar price.
-Stock on "OE" cars.

[D-O]

I have been leaning towards the Turner street or hybrid, but the fact that they no longer offer 14mm spacers or 60mm perches means sourcing and pressing in your own spacers (which someone has done using off the shelf spacers from McMaster-Carr - Tbone has done it as well, but I don't know where he sourced the spacers), and figuring something out for the perch. The other options I am considering are the Vorschlag "racing" camber plates, Ground Control Streets, or figuring out how to make the E36 hats work.

[bavarian3]

Thank you sir. Makes sense when you consider TCK has this on the page for the SA fronts:

This strut fits the following vehicles:

2003-2009 BMW Z4 2.5i, 3.0i, 3.0si
1999-2005 BMW 323i, 325i, 328i, 330i, coupes, sedans, wagon, cabrio. (excl. xi AWD)

2001-2006 BMW M3 Coupe and Cabrio. (requires TC Kline camber plates on all E46 M3 because the OE shaft on the M3 is shorter and is also a larger diameter)

Nice find!

So where that leaves us is simply using any camber plates but with the proper sleeve...or non-m, correct?

[D-O]

D-O Tbonem3 bigjae46 Ok so here is the followup email. This, clears it up, i think? 🤨


Me: About the dimensions you mention, which are you referring to? Is the strut shaft diameter the issue? Would love to hear more because I still don't understand the issue.


TCK: Yes. Shaft diameter varies on M3 struts.

Thank you sir. Makes sense when you consider TCK has this on the page for the SA fronts:

This strut fits the following vehicles:

2003-2009 BMW Z4 2.5i, 3.0i, 3.0si
1999-2005 BMW 323i, 325i, 328i, 330i, coupes, sedans, wagon, cabrio. (excl. xi AWD)

2001-2006 BMW M3 Coupe and Cabrio. (requires TC Kline camber plates on all E46 M3 because the OE shaft on the M3 is shorter and is also a larger diameter)

[heinzboehmer]

It’s a subtle change and I can easily see how most would not notice the difference. I think this comes down to personal tolerance and feel. I will say the NVH difference for the RTABs was more pronounced than the front upper strut mounts. No clunking, just a different tone and feel from sharper impacts, a different sort of thud.

Completely agree. Subtle differences for both that are easy to miss, especially if a bunch of other parts were changed at the same time or the car is already pretty loud. Differences really only became apparent for me after driving your car and mine back to back.

[Bry5on]

I used to work on these e46s when they were new as a tech and I’m sensitive to NVH. I installed, then removed both GC street upper strut bearings and solid RTAB monoballs due to NVH on my personal car. It’s a subtle change and I can easily see how most would not notice the difference. I think this comes down to personal tolerance and feel. I will say the NVH difference for the RTABs was more pronounced than the front upper strut mounts. No clunking, just a different tone and feel from sharper impacts, a different sort of thud.

You can’t really get around this, GC uses urethane bushings which inherently won’t have the same stiffness and damping as thick rubber with a large shear area. You trade better damper control for NVH isolation. In this case it really is a trade. Personally, I’d choose either solid uppers for great damper control OR stock for NVH, but its dealer’s choice here.

[oceansize]

Do you guys have any other mods that would 'hide' the NVH? Poly/solid bushings, coilovers, loud exhaust? If your car is otherwise stock and all you changed is the top mounts for GC street plates, you must be able to notice the change - it's impossible not to.

I also recall several others on this forum complaining of clunks with GC street plates so I know I'm not the only one. Not sure why some clunk and others don't but as I said, I tried two separate sets both brand new. There's a small chance I had two lemon sets but then again, several other people on this forum alone complained of the clunking as well as increase in NVH. Some of these members ended up removing them and went back to OE or some other brand but GC certainly lost my trust and I wouldn't get them again... my 2 cents.

All stock up front other than coilovers, end links, and strut tower reinforcement plates. No clunk, no NVH. I'm not being a disagreeable idiot either, I seriously don't have any issues. All of my rubber suspension bits (from front to rear), motor mounts, etc. were replaced around 7k miles ago so I'm nice and fresh.

[01SG]

Do you guys have any other mods that would 'hide' the NVH? Poly/solid bushings, coilovers, loud exhaust? If your car is otherwise stock and all you changed is the top mounts for GC street plates, you must be able to notice the change - it's impossible not to.

No other mods for me but Bilstein shocks and solid subframe bushings, otherwise all refreshed OEM.

I think your problem probably stems from using them with the lowering springs. Maybe it's inconsistent manufacturing, or they updated the design at some point..who knows. But I can say for sure I'm happy with mine, absolutely no noise and good ride quality.

[PetrolM3]

This is my experience as well. Only had them for about a year and a half and maybe 3-4k miles, but absolutely no noise from my GC street plates. Also didn't notice any NVH. If there was any, it wasn't significant. Still a very comfortable car unless you hit a big pothole.

Do you guys have any other mods that would 'hide' the NVH? Poly/solid bushings, coilovers, loud exhaust? If your car is otherwise stock and all you changed is the top mounts for GC street plates, you must be able to notice the change - it's impossible not to.

I also recall several others on this forum complaining of clunks with GC street plates so I know I'm not the only one. Not sure why some clunk and others don't but as I said, I tried two separate sets both brand new. There's a small chance I had two lemon sets but then again, several other people on this forum alone complained of the clunking as well as increase in NVH. Some of these members ended up removing them and went back to OE or some other brand but GC certainly lost my trust and I wouldn't get them again... my 2 cents.

[bigjae46]

Is this true for all brands of plates?

Not sure. You do need to have a caster adjustment to add the caster back that you lose. I’d guess that any plate with a caster adjustment should yield a similar result.

if it doesn’t have a caster adjustment, probably not a huge deal but it should work.

Again, never tried. My Vorshlag plates have been flawless for almost 13 years. Never had to try a different plate on this car.

[bigjae46]

D-O Tbonem3 bigjae46 Ok so here is the followup email. This, clears it up, i think? 🤨


Me: About the dimensions you mention, which are you referring to? Is the strut shaft diameter the issue? Would love to hear more because I still don't understand the issue.


TCK: Yes. Shaft diameter varies on M3 struts.

I thought the TCK struts were the same for all E46s. I think the complication is the shoulder on the shaft where the plate sits on is different which causes an issue with most plates. Most use the TCK plate, Vorshlag makes a TCK specific plate, not sure about the others…doubt it.

[01SG]

That's a weird one. I've got GC street with the GC coilovers and I have no clunk and if they introduced NVH I didn't notice. Around 8k miles on them currently (not a track car).

This is my experience as well. Only had them for about a year and a half and maybe 3-4k miles, but absolutely no noise from my GC street plates. Also didn't notice any NVH. If there was any, it wasn't significant. Still a very comfortable car unless you hit a big pothole.

[Ubaderb]

You can run non-M plates and get a significant increase in negative camber. Perfect for track, probably too much for street driving.

Is this true for all brands of plates?

[bavarian3]

D-O Tbonem3 bigjae46 Ok so here is the followup email. This, clears it up, i think? 🤨


Me: About the dimensions you mention, which are you referring to? Is the strut shaft diameter the issue? Would love to hear more because I still don't understand the issue.


TCK: Yes. Shaft diameter varies on M3 struts.