Request - Factory M-Sport Alignment Specs

[asbrr]

All,

Just got my B12/Dinan Camber Plates/Dinan RSM/Whiteline RSFBs installed. Car feels great so far - more in a separate thread. I asked for the alignment to be done to factory M-Sport specs, except for ensuring that front camber is max negative and try to keep front toe as close to zero as possible. It all came out fine, but the rear is wacky with less camber than expected and way too much toe out. Before I go back and ask them to re-adjust the rear, I want to verify what the factory M-Sport values are, for the life of me I can't find a definitive post stating what these are, just lots of talk about various settings for street/track etc.

Would love to come to a consensus on what the factory/BMW settings are. Here is what the machine software stated is factory spec at the place that did my alignment, some of these values seem odd for an M-sport equipped car (I will stick to just camber and toe here):

FRONT Factory Ranges:

Camber : -0.6 to +0.2 degrees
Toe : 0.11 to 0.16 degrees


REAR Factory Ranges:

Camber : -1.5 to -1.5 degrees
Toe : 0.13 to 0.18 degrees

Any thoughts on if these match the "official" set of alignment specs from BMW?

TIA


EDIT: Removed incorrect assumption on Toe

[AlexR6]

Toe on factory spec is always positive, so it is toe-in.

If you have toe-out in the back, well that's not good! Rear end becomes very light in this way and the car tends to oversteer too much!

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by AlexR6

Toe on factory spec is always positive, so it is toe-in.

If you have toe-out in the back, well that's not good! Rear end becomes very light in this way and the car tends to oversteer too much!

Argh, thanks for the correction, my mistake. Positive toe = "in" and negative toe = "out".

Any comment on if the above ranges are factory m-sport from what you've seen?

[asbrr]

Ok, so I got the car back on the alignment rack for some tweaking on the rear, and this time the tech actually picked the right damn car on the machine software! So factory values as defined on this machine (Visualiner Alignment Rack) for an E82 w/ sport suspension and 18" wheels (excluding 135is) are as follows:

FRONT Factory M-Sport
Camber : -0.9 to -0.1 degrees
Toe : 0.11 to 0.16 degrees

REAR Factory M-Sport
Camber : -1.9 to -1.8 degrees
Toe : 0.13 to 0.18 degrees

Not sure if this matches what BMW factory alignment racks state, but it's here FWIW as a reference.

[StarThreat]

Originally Posted by asbrr

Ok, so I got the car back on the alignment rack for some tweaking on the rear, and this time the tech actually picked the right damn car on the machine software! So factory values as defined on this machine (Visualiner Alignment Rack) for an E82 w/ sport suspension and 18" wheels (excluding 135is) are as follows:

FRONT Factory M-Sport
Camber : -0.9 to -0.1 degrees
Toe : 0.11 to 0.16 degrees

REAR Factory M-Sport
Camber : -1.9 to -1.8 degrees
Toe : 0.13 to 0.18 degrees

Not sure if this matches what BMW factory alignment racks state, but it's here FWIW as a reference.

I had an alignment after putting on some new 225F and 255R with a 12mm front spacer and 10mm rear spacer respectively.

After alignment:

LF Camber: -0.6 deg
RF Camber: -0.4 deg

LF Toe: 0.14 deg
RF Toe: 0.14 deg

---

LR Camber: -1.5 deg
RR Camber: -1.5 deg

LR Toe: 0.18 deg
RR Toe: 0.14 deg

I believe I am experiencing a bit of rub on the rears on deep dips. Should I go back and ask them to adjust camber closer to -2.0 deg?

EDIT: Also my car comes with the M Sport suspesion from factory...does it seem like they may have aligned it using regular suspension specs?

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by StarThreat

I had an alignment after putting on some new 225F and 255R with a 12mm front spacer and 10mm rear spacer respectively.

After alignment:

LF Camber: -0.6 deg
RF Camber: -0.4 deg

LF Toe: 0.14 deg
RF Toe: 0.14 deg

---

LR Camber: -1.5 deg
RR Camber: -1.5 deg

LR Toe: 0.18 deg
RR Toe: 0.14 deg

I believe I am experiencing a bit of rub on the rears on deep dips. Should I go back and ask them to adjust camber closer to -2.0 deg?

EDIT: Also my car comes with the M Sport suspesion from factory...does it seem like they may have aligned it using regular suspension specs?

I had the exact same setup (225 front + 255 rear) on factory M-sport before I had the suspension installed and before spacers. With no spacers, there was no rubbing/no issues. I had the B12 suspension installed, still no rubbing. As soon as I put in the spacers I had rubbing in the rear, no matter what I did with rear camber.

Now I realize you're on stock M-sport suspension and it's probably 10-15mm higher than my B12 suspension, but any large dip/bump you will get mild rubbing in the rear like I was.

You can try to increase camber a bit, but I did that, it never cleared it up. Only way to deal with it was to get the rear fenders rolled a bit - you need to do that at the rear where the fender meets the bumper at least. I also had them roll the lip all the way around a little (not a full/flat roll).

It stopped rubbing for the most part - the fender liner will get worn through still. When those tires wore out I went back to factory sizes (215/245) and that has helped even more, as there is no contact with the fender liner anymore.

Long story short, you can try some extra camber but I doubt it will fix it, you will either need to remove the spacers, go back to factory tire size, or roll the fender....!

[StarThreat]

Originally Posted by asbrr

Only way to deal with it was to get the rear fenders rolled a bit - you need to do that at the rear where the fender meets the bumper at least. I also had them roll the lip all the way around a little (not a full/flat roll).

Hey thanks for your quick reply! I plan on going back to them and asking to get rear camber adjusted to m sport spec but am still expecting to rub on dips.

I've also been in contact with Ontario Fender Roll out of Cambridge. They've already given me a quote for all four corners, do I ask them to focus on where the rear fender meets the bumper or will they understand what I need to roll exactly? I wouldn't want it to be noticeable that my fenders have been rolled either, would want it to look normal.

I love the way the car looks right now with the 225 and 255 setup along with the spacers, if I can just get it to stop rubbing by rolling the fenders to an extent where it is very minimal / doesn't eat away at my tires then I'd be happy with that.

[ShocknAwe]

The problem is the offset no longer fits your fender lips at full compression. Either reduce suspension travel, reduce the fender lips size (roll/cut) or increase the offset with a smaller spacer.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by StarThreat

Hey thanks for your quick reply! I plan on going back to them and asking to get rear camber adjusted to m sport spec but am still expecting to rub on dips.

I've also been in contact with Ontario Fender Roll out of Cambridge. They've already given me a quote for all four corners, do I ask them to focus on where the rear fender meets the bumper or will they understand what I need to roll exactly? I wouldn't want it to be noticeable that my fenders have been rolled either, would want it to look normal.

I love the way the car looks right now with the 225 and 255 setup along with the spacers, if I can just get it to stop rubbing by rolling the fenders to an extent where it is very minimal / doesn't eat away at my tires then I'd be happy with that.

You should be able to sort it with a roll. If they are careful you won't really notice it, there is a slight change to the way the fender contours which jarred me after the rolling, but it's not that bad. If you've driven the car over some dips/bumps there will be markings on the inside where the tire has made contact with the fender. For me (and most) it was mostly at the point where the fender meets the bumper, but they did roll up the rest of it as well (not rolled flat, just increased the angle of the fender lip).

For the front you might be ok without a roll at your tire size and offset. Do some full lock turns to ensure you have full range of motion and no rubbing.