Ideal "performance driving" alignment specs

[yokomo963]

Hey everyone,

Now that I have the TcKline SA coilovers installed, I'm going to get the car aligned this coming week. My question is what is the ideal ride height and alignment specs for a autox and hpde car on the 135i?

Currently on my e46 m3, i'm running -3.5* of camber 0 toe in front with 13" from wheel center to fender. Rear I'm running -2.5* camber and 0.5" toe roughly.

If I followed these specs, would it be too aggressive for the 135i? (not even sure if I can get to these specs as I'm stock arms all around minus the camber plates up front.

I will currently be running the stock wheels this season with 225 and 255 width tires. Ride height is set to 13" wheel center to top of fender on all 4 corners right now. May change after corner balance at the shop while alignment is being done.

Any tips would be awesome before I take it into the alignment rack.

Thanks,
Eric

[lowside67]

You won't be able to anywhere near -3.5 degrees with stock arms, but you want as much as you can get without question. In my car, I got a maximum of -2.8 without arms.

-Mark

[bchalks]

Your desired specs will be fine. You'll need camber plates to get that much camber up front.

0 toe up front is ideal for HPDE. For the rear, most people run a bit of toe in. 1/2" toe in is a lot, but if that is what you like on your e46, it will be fine to run that on the 135. If the car does not rotate enough, try less toe in for the rear.

For reference, I will be running approximately 1/8th total toe in for the rear of my car and I do lots of HPDE.

[yokomo963]

Originally Posted by lowside67

You won't be able to anywhere near -3.5 degrees with stock arms, but you want as much as you can get without question. In my car, I got a maximum of -2.8 without arms.

-Mark

Originally Posted by bchalks

Your desired specs will be fine. You'll need camber plates to get that much camber up front.

0 toe up front is ideal for HPDE. For the rear, most people run a bit of toe in. 1/2" toe in is a lot, but if that is what you like on your e46, it will be fine to run that on the 135. If the car does not rotate enough, try less toe in for the rear.

For reference, I will be running approximately 1/8th total toe in for the rear of my car and I do lots of HPDE.

Thanks guys. I had -2.5-3* camber up front in mind and 0 toe.

Rear since i'm stock right now and not sure what camber it'll actually acheive so i'll just ask them to max it out on the rear until it matches and set some 1/8" toe in to start. Once i do the rear subframe bushings in a couple months after a few events (hopefully they start back up), i'll see how the alignment is and adjust from there.

[bchalks]

Camber is adjustable on the rear. Just have them set the rear camber 1 degree less than the front. Then adjust toe for 1/8th in.

[yokomo963]

Originally Posted by bchalks

Camber is adjustable on the rear. Just have them set the rear camber 1 degree less than the front. Then adjust toe for 1/8th in.

Gotcha. i just didn't know how much adjustment is in the rear for the camber in stock form.

[yokomo963]

i meant to type .15" toe in on my e46 lol. 0.5 would be a ton

[beattiecj]

I like to lurk on this forum to see what is going on in the track thread... but anyway here is what I ran when I had Ohlins coilovers, getting negative camber is a pain... you'll need e90 m3 suspension bits. just rip the e46m3 on track 😀.

Setup ohlins, swift springs and vorschlag camber plates