[Da808dad]

For those that have lowered their car (or even stock height with alignment), did anyone run into issues with alignment? I just tried to get my car aligned after dropping it on KW HAS and the alignment shop is saying they can’t align the car at all because the arm on the alignment machine that attaches to the wheel won’t clear the fender. They said even if the car wasn’t dropped they wouldn’t be able to align the car because of the arm clearance issue.

Also, the shop is saying that camber plates are needed to make any type of camber adjustments on this car.

I know folks have got their lowered cars aligned on here before so trying to see if this might be a specific issue to the shop I took it to or if there is a known issue with the new M3s with regard to alignment.

As a note, I’ve taken my other cars (non-BMW) to this guys shop for regualr mechanical work so know the guy and know he’s not just making stuff up.

[Itson451]

This thread may be directly related to my thread beneath

[Da808dad]

Originally Posted by Itson451

This thread may be directly related to my thread beneath

Maybe? But sounds like you at least were able to get an alignment. The shop I took my car to couldn’t even do the alignment at all to begin with.

[Itson451]

Was this a performance shop? I went to a big-name alignment shop and they could not do it for my m340i so I went to the dealer. For my m3 I went to a performance shop that has an alignment rack

[Da808dad]

Originally Posted by Itson451

Was this a performance shop? I went to a big-name alignment shop and they could not do it for my m340i so I went to the dealer. For my m3 I went to a performance shop that has an alignment rack

No, not a performance shop, but not a big-name alignment shop either. Was just a regular mechanics shop (friend of a friend) who can do alignments. I have to make some calls to other shops here on island who specialize in alignments and see if they can do it.

[Itson451]

Originally Posted by Da808dad

No, not a performance shop, but not a big-name alignment shop either. Was just a regular mechanics shop (friend of a friend) who can do alignments. I have to make some calls to other shops here on island who specialize in alignments and see if they can do it.

Worst comes to worse you can take it to the dealer, they will align it to factory spec

[superiaultra]

What type of machine do they have? By “arm” I’m assuming you mean the 4 claw thing that connects to the wheel? If so their machine must be old since most alignment machines I have seen connect to the wheel and there is a good 8 inch space between that and the fender.

And as far as camber, unless things have changed there is no camber adjustment on the front of these cars. You will need camber plates, or since you already installed your springs, cheaper option would be SPL arms so you don’t have to take off the shock again.

[Da808dad]

Originally Posted by superiaultra

What type of machine do they have? By “arm” I’m assuming you mean the 4 claw thing that connects to the wheel? If so their machine must be old since most alignment machines I have seen connect to the wheel and there is a good 8 inch space between that and the fender.

And as far as camber, unless things have changed there is no camber adjustment on the front of these cars. You will need camber plates, or since you already installed your springs, cheaper option would be SPL arms so you don’t have to take off the shock again.

See that’s the same thing I was thinking. I wasn’t at the shop as my wife took the car there but they called me to explain the situation and I couldn’t grasp the reasoning and the explanation. I was thinking they had an older machine also but my wife said they told her their alignment machine was new and they just got it.

Ended up calling another shop that specializes in alignments and they said shouldn’t be a problem and they also couldn’t understand the reasoning that was given to me.

[RM73]

I took mine to do an alignment after I installed H&R sport springs and although the fronts in fact have no adjustment (need camber plates), they had no issue setting the rear camber, and toe front and back.

[Da808dad]

Originally Posted by RM73

I took mine to do an alignment after I installed H&R sport springs and although the fronts in fact have no adjustment (need camber plates), they had no issue setting the rear camber, and toe front and back.

What did your front camber specs come out to since it can’t be adjusted?

[richysh]

The newer alignment system sensors typically mount the sensors on the tires, not the edge of the wheels.

I had the same issue aligning my car after MSS HAS. As we rolled the car forward, I had to hold the sensor onto the wheel with one hand while pushing down on the arm that's touching the bumper/fender and roll the car forward slowly, while my other friend (technician) did the same for the other side.

The fronts came out to -2 and -1.8 for the camber while the rear came out to -3.2 and -1.6.

The driver side was at -3.2 and wouldn't adjust more for some reason so I'm planning on grabbing a pair of SPL rear upper arm set to remedy the issue.

[RM73]

Originally Posted by Da808dad

What did your front camber specs come out to since it can’t be adjusted?

They were a bit out of wack, the right at 2º and the left at 1.7º if I'm not mistaken.

[Skyscraper]

Originally Posted by RM73

They were a bit out of wack, the right at 2º and the left at 1.7º if I'm not mistaken.

That is fine.
I usually run 1.5* to 2.5* on all my cars (depending on the car) or I get accelerated outside edge wear.
My F150 has 1.5* neg camber. At factory settings the outside edge is gone in 15/20K.

[BIGW0RM]

Interesting. Mine is lowered to about 1finger gap and my front camber is -2.0 and -1.9. My rears are whatever OEM alignment calls for. The front camber cant be adjusted. But Im fine with -2.0 and -1.9 up front.

[RM73]

Originally Posted by Skyscraper

That is fine.
I usually run 1.5* to 2.5* on all my cars (depending on the car) or I get accelerated outside edge wear.
My F150 has 1.5* neg camber. At factory settings the outside edge is gone in 15/20K.

Yeah, it drives all right, a bit better than stock under load. Too soon to comment on wear at this point, but anyway I would aim to something around -2 to -2.5 in case I'd get camber plates, so I guess I'm good.