Rear camber questions

[JacobS20]

I have a set of 18x9 ET39 Sparco Pro Corsa wheels with 255 Hankook tires on the rear of my '11 135i. I knew the offset was not ideal when purchasing, but I've experienced that only the right rear rubs over big bumps.

To the naked eye the right rear seems to have less camber than the left rear. I put a level against the wheel and measured the gap from the edge of the wheel to the edge of the level. The right side is ~1/8" and the left is ~5/8". (I'm aware that this is not an exact form of measure camber).

How much adjustment does the stock suspension allow for the rear camber? Is this something that can be adjusted in a driveway or is it best left to a shop? I recently had an alignment done and they said everything was fine (it's a shop with a good reputation) but unless the body isn't straight or the wheel is junk, I can't imagine that being so at this point.

[asbrr]

There is probably about 1 degree of rear camber "range", perhaps a tad more. I have the rear sitting at -2.2 both sides right now, and after my suspension was installed I saw it at around -1 before the alignment, so that gives you an idea on range.

Better to get it done at a shop - but if they say both sides "match" in camber terms, then not much more to do. The body may have small variances that cause a rub on one side more than the other. With that wheel/tire package, best bet is to get the rear fenders rolled mildly, probably rubbing at the point where they meet the rear bumper that is very common.

[chris_flies]

I am (during summer) running 17x7.5" ET42 wheels with 245/45-17's. It rubbed over large-ish bumps when I first go the new tires. No amount of camber changing (with M3 upper control arms) stopped the rubbing. I eventually got the fenders rolled and didn't have any un-fixable issues since then. I had our track day tool box in the trunk, and it made it rub like crazy on the drive down, but moving it to the back seat fixed that.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by JacobS20

I have a set of 18x9 ET39 Sparco Pro Corsa wheels with 255 Hankook tires on the rear of my '11 135i. I knew the offset was not ideal when purchasing, but I've experienced that only the right rear rubs over big bumps.

To the naked eye the right rear seems to have less camber than the left rear. I put a level against the wheel and measured the gap from the edge of the wheel to the edge of the level. The right side is ~1/8" and the left is ~5/8". (I'm aware that this is not an exact form of measure camber).

How much adjustment does the stock suspension allow for the rear camber? Is this something that can be adjusted in a driveway or is it best left to a shop? I recently had an alignment done and they said everything was fine (it's a shop with a good reputation) but unless the body isn't straight or the wheel is junk, I can't imagine that being so at this point.

Alignment should be performed only if you have the proper tools. If you have a tape measure or two along with a camber gauge, you can certainly perform the task at home.

The amount of camber, depending on your ride height, is sometimes limited by the toe links(the rubber bushings bind up and don't allow additional adjustment). If additional camber is required beyond the factory window, you can want to consider upgrading to an adjustable toe arm and/or adjustable upper camber links(this will give you even more camber adjustment). Keep in mind that anything more than -2 on the back of the car will cause excessive tire wear on a street car.