I purchased a rear camber kit off ebay for $90 for my 96 328i over 3 yrs ago when I replaced my rear tires with Toyo Extensa 225/40/18's. I asked the alignment guy to go ZERO toe, ZERO camber. He said it was off the recommendations set by BMW. I told him "Yes, this is what I want". I read this on the Bimmer forums and this is what they do for their DD that they do not take to the track. I still have the same tires with VERY minimal inner tire wear! If they did wear now, that's fine because they out lived their purpose. The front are also ZERO/ZERO or as close it as possible. They do have more wear but that's because they turn, and they carry the weight of the engine but not like they would if I ran the BMW recommendations. The wear is more across the tires. So I'm pleased. People should really do this mod to their DD to save money on tire replacments! Good job fixing it yourself!
Yes, everyone on the boards seems to think they need more camber than factory- that is fine if you are tracking your car, but I finally gave up and decided my car was a daily, and did not need to be setup as a track car. My rear tires have lasted twice as long so far- no exaggeration.
Thank you for mentioning this. I've been trying to search for info on this for a long time. I'm tired of my E46 daily driver eating tires. I wanted to know if I could eliminate all camber without damaging anything or making the car unsafe to drive.
eric jimenez I would think you could, it's just a matter of getting the correct length link and the adapters to fit the fastners on your particular vehicle.
Thank you! This video is what I was looking for. I have a 06 330i and I bought it with rear coilovers, new shocks and control arms in the trunk. I installed the coilovers and shocks and not the arms. The car is all over the road and I couldn't figure out how I messed up the tow. Alignment shop wouldn't touch the car with the 19" wheels so I'm going to try and get it as close as possible so I can drive it then eventually borrow a set of wheels off someone to get the alignment done. Appreciate your video 👍
This is well past many weekend warrior abilities. And is correcting a true factory f up. I am glad I watched this as the fix is a bit more hard core than I thought at first. seems like it would be easier to just flip the tires half way down than do all this and get it aligned.
I did replace the bushings as well. Note that adjusting rear toe-in also changes camber, so you have to chase rear toe/camber when it's on the alignment rack. So far my rears are wearing great!
When I saw you horse kick the tire off and roll it into position to sit on, I was like, my man, I do the same exact thing, helps my legs and knees out big time
You mention 2 different types of jam nuts. If you mean the notch on each corner that simply designates Left hand thread I think. Thanks for this video. My E46 wagon has worn both rear tire to the steel belts on the inside corners. The dealership put on a new gas tank but failed to notice or at least mention that both tires were dangerously worn. Oh well. Doc Marty
Hi Martin Nation, yes I did use a left and a right thread, but the nut sizes were different too- I didn't do that on purpose, they were simply out of stock of the ones I wanted. Yes those inside rears can really sneak up on you! Keep that wagon going, you are now in classic status.
Sorry if this has been covered, but my bmw is an e84 nearly identical suspension from what I can see and my rear camber is adjusted by the inner bolt on the lower control arm with an eccentric washer on one end that moves it in and out. Does yours not have this? or are you moving beyond factory adjustment?
Hi Wvadam, Yes that is spot on. The factory setup is really designed to adjust toe-in (or toe-out) with the eccentric cams you describe. This will also adjust the camber at the same time When you add lowering springs, like my eibach pro-kit, it throws the entire system out of its factory range. What you end up with is excessive camber with the proper toe-in. The negative to all this, as you can see in the video, is I ended up chasing the toe-in and camber as adjusting one, also adjusts the other. Hope that helps!
After having the rear camber adjusted to factory specs on a Hunter alignment machine, my rear tire wear has been perfect! First summer I haven't had to buy rear tires...
The only issue I have had is with actually adjusting the rear. The camber adjusters are tough to get to with the wheels on, and you have to "chase" the toe on the rear. With the car on the lift on the machine, its doable, but not fun. When you make an adjustment to the camber, it also affects toe, which you have to adjust with the factory cams on the bottom- that in turn changes the camber- so its a bit time consuming. I love mine though- I've more than justified the cost with the money saved in tire replacement.
Not at all. I've been very happy with the results so far. The only issue has been the link adapters rusting- If I had to do it over again, I would probably heat the adapters with a torch, and quench them in oil several times to try to prevent rusting of the carbon steel.
I think that this is the original problem. The shorter springs pulled out the lower control arm a bit more and from there appeared the negative camber. If you go with the stock strings on the stock suspension the camber should be all right.
Hi Sammy, sorry for the slow reply- It does not replace the bushings on the control arms. I replaced the outboard control arm bushings before doing the adjustable camber arms..
I purchased a rear camber kit off ebay for $90 for my 96 328i over 3 yrs ago when I replaced my rear tires with Toyo Extensa 225/40/18's. I asked the alignment guy to go ZERO toe, ZERO camber. He said it was off the recommendations set by BMW. I told him "Yes, this is what I want". I read this on the Bimmer forums and this is what they do for their DD that they do not take to the track. I still have the same tires with VERY minimal inner tire wear! If they did wear now, that's fine because they out lived their purpose. The front are also ZERO/ZERO or as close it as possible. They do have more wear but that's because they turn, and they carry the weight of the engine but not like they would if I ran the BMW recommendations. The wear is more across the tires. So I'm pleased. People should really do this mod to their DD to save money on tire replacments! Good job fixing it yourself!
Yes, everyone on the boards seems to think they need more camber than factory- that is fine if you are tracking your car, but I finally gave up and decided my car was a daily, and did not need to be setup as a track car. My rear tires have lasted twice as long so far- no exaggeration.
MountainTech can i do this to my 745li ?
jost servis
Thank you for mentioning this. I've been trying to search for info on this for a long time. I'm tired of my E46 daily driver eating tires. I wanted to know if I could eliminate all camber without damaging anything or making the car unsafe to drive.
eric jimenez I would think you could, it's just a matter of getting the correct length link and the adapters to fit the fastners on your particular vehicle.
Thank you! This video is what I was looking for. I have a 06 330i and I bought it with rear coilovers, new shocks and control arms in the trunk. I installed the coilovers and shocks and not the arms. The car is all over the road and I couldn't figure out how I messed up the tow. Alignment shop wouldn't touch the car with the 19" wheels so I'm going to try and get it as close as possible so I can drive it then eventually borrow a set of wheels off someone to get the alignment done. Appreciate your video 👍
The camber is adjusted on the lower control arm inner bolt. You can see the eccentric end on the nut side. Good luck.
This is well past many weekend warrior abilities. And is correcting a true factory f up. I am glad I watched this as the fix is a bit more hard core than I thought at first. seems like it would be easier to just flip the tires half way down than do all this and get it aligned.
thank you for this video, the shop refused to replace the camber adjustment for me so now i have to do this myself.
I did replace the bushings as well. Note that adjusting rear toe-in also changes camber, so you have to chase rear toe/camber when it's on the alignment rack.
So far my rears are wearing great!
When I saw you horse kick the tire off and roll it into position to sit on, I was like, my man, I do the same exact thing, helps my legs and knees out big time
You mention 2 different types of jam nuts. If you mean the notch on each corner that simply designates Left hand thread I think. Thanks for this video. My E46 wagon has worn both rear tire to the steel belts on the inside corners. The dealership put on a new gas tank but failed to notice or at least mention that both tires were dangerously worn. Oh well.
Doc Marty
Hi Martin Nation, yes I did use a left and a right thread, but the nut sizes were different too- I didn't do that on purpose, they were simply out of stock of the ones I wanted. Yes those inside rears can really sneak up on you! Keep that wagon going, you are now in classic status.
Sorry if this has been covered, but my bmw is an e84 nearly identical suspension from what I can see and my rear camber is adjusted by the inner bolt on the lower control arm with an eccentric washer on one end that moves it in and out. Does yours not have this? or are you moving beyond factory adjustment?
Hi Wvadam, Yes that is spot on. The factory setup is really designed to adjust toe-in (or toe-out) with the eccentric cams you describe. This will also adjust the camber at the same time
When you add lowering springs, like my eibach pro-kit, it throws the entire system out of its factory range. What you end up with is excessive camber with the proper toe-in. The negative to all this, as you can see in the video, is I ended up chasing the toe-in and camber as adjusting one, also adjusts the other. Hope that helps!
May I ask how many miles you drove with -2 camber angle to cause such worn?
will it make my 325xi act like its got a flat rear tire when i hit dirt or snow if its not adjusted rite
Very interesting video. I have the same problem with my 03 bmw z4
After having the rear camber adjusted to factory specs on a Hunter alignment machine, my rear tire wear has been perfect! First summer I haven't had to buy rear tires...
Have you had any issues with the toe?
The only issue I have had is with actually adjusting the rear. The camber adjusters are tough to get to with the wheels on, and you have to "chase" the toe on the rear. With the car on the lift on the machine, its doable, but not fun.
When you make an adjustment to the camber, it also affects toe, which you have to adjust with the factory cams on the bottom- that in turn changes the camber- so its a bit time consuming.
I love mine though- I've more than justified the cost with the money saved in tire replacement.
Not at all. I've been very happy with the results so far. The only issue has been the link adapters rusting- If I had to do it over again, I would probably heat the adapters with a torch, and quench them in oil several times to try to prevent rusting of the carbon steel.
Probably you need to order the toe arms as well
What if I swap my sport springs to non-sport springs?
I think that this is the original problem. The shorter springs pulled out the lower control arm a bit more and from there appeared the negative camber. If you go with the stock strings on the stock suspension the camber should be all right.
Did this stop uneven tyre wear
His answers in some replies to comments.
Do Does replace the Control arm bushings??
Hi Sammy, sorry for the slow reply- It does not replace the bushings on the control arms. I replaced the outboard control arm bushings before doing the adjustable camber arms..
App name?
Clinometer
The whole video is too long. Why do Americans give us a life story each time. Get to the point . I don't want to hear your droning on.