Camber adjustment

yvel26

Member
Hello,

I was wondering if it is possible to adjust the camber on a Z4 M (2006) with standard suspension?
I had my car alligned at my local allignment shop and the told me they could not adjust it.

These are the results after the alllignment:

Front:

Caster Left: 6°13'
Caster Right: 5°57'

Camber Left: -1°01'
Camber Right: -1°39'

Toe Left: 0°01'
Toe Right: -0°01'
Toe Total: 0°00'

Rear:

Camber Left: -1°17'
Camber Right: -1°10'

Toe Left: 0°08'
Toe Right: 0°08'
Toe Total: 0°17'

As you see the front right wheel camber is not ok. (Min = -1°20' and Max = -0°40')

Anyone knows if these settings are ok? I'm quite a noob at this.

Thanks for the help!

Regards Yves
 
Is it roadster or coupe as the geo is slightly different. To answer your original question of course you can adjust the camber. You can adjust it past factory by removing the pins on the strut towers too.
 
I was told similar, Protyre with their laser alignment system said "not much could be adjusted" on my Z4m... I was then told by BMW that "set up is expensive as these things are quite intricate on the M cars" :wink:

Anyone recommend a decent laser alignment place near Oxford as I am about to buy new tyres all round and mine is pulling to the left :thumbsdown: I took my 350z to the land rover place and they were great with the Hunter machine, affordable - however the ground clearance was an issue with the higher 350z and they took AGES
 
Hi, I had my 3.0C geo'd here very recently. There is adjustment on the rear which needs to be reset anyway if/when bushes are replaced as I had done. Also as Playalistic said if you look at the front strut top mounts you will see the three retaining nuts plus a pin. That pin can be unscrewed and the camber adjusted.
Not sure where you are in the Fatherland but I had mine done at Bliss Autosport in Lahr 77933. Website is www.bliss-autosport.de or if you want to have a chat with them Herr Bliss can be contacted on 07821 92 13 98. If your German is not so good ask for Herr Nielson who speaks good English.
Disclaimer. Other than as a satisfied customer I have no connection with Bliss Autosport.
 
You can adjust camber and toe but not caster.

The range is very limited on stock suspension, removing the two pins as the others mentioned allows to add a bit more camber.
 
with the z4m i BELIEVE you can grab -1.25 with the camber pins pulled and the struts shoved as far as they can go......

some good neagtive camber makes a HUGE difference on the z4m which has a terrible stock alignment, bmw REALLY had to be careful sending out this shortwheel base car with 338hp, with a good alignment you'll notice a good difference.......
 
ga41 said:
Beedub, got -1.65 on mine with the pins removed

WOW thats definatly the most ive heard by just removing the pins, was that a physically noticeable camber??
mines currently set @ -2.25 and i have to say i was shocked how the much the wheel was visibly angled.... made a great difference on turn in but it Definatly follows the road camber MUCH more!! Every mod has a downside i guess, i was sick of shoulder wear at the track..... not to mention the z4ms terrible understeer issue.
 
Beedub said:
ga41 said:
Beedub, got -1.65 on mine with the pins removed

WOW thats definatly the most ive heard by just removing the pins, was that a physically noticeable camber??
mines currently set @ -2.25 and i have to say i was shocked how the much the wheel was visibly angled.... made a great difference on turn in but it Definatly follows the road camber MUCH more!! Every mod has a downside i guess, i was sick of shoulder wear at the track..... not to mention the z4ms terrible understeer issue.

It tidied up the front of the car a bit, less understeer, not noticeable for regular driving but on really fast mountain runs you can feel it turning in a bit better. Not a big difference really. Visually i cant tell a difference. :idunno:

You got the shim kit right? That's probably my next mod.
 
ga41 i got CA to inport me the turner kit, understeer is all but gone, i get to the point where i think this can grip much more, its made a great difference......

as soon as my stock items get alittle baggy ill swap into something else, i cancelled my nitrons to use the money for vt2 and also to pickup my new family wagon.

byron
 
For everyone's information the shim kit we're talking about is this thing here: http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-424-e36-z3-front-camber-bolt-kit.aspx

Check this post here to see how it works http://www.zpost.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6920687&postcount=5
 
GA41, fully installed pics here, see here what i mean about the visibly angled wheel.....

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=422123
 
These are the settings I think are right for me as I am not an expert in these matters (aggresive street driving)

Front:

Caster Left: 6°13'
Caster Right: 5°57'

-> Isn't it neseccary to have the caster equal on both sides?

Camber Left: -1°50'
Camber Right: -1°50'

-> Will reduce understeer?

Toe Left: 0°00'
Toe Right: 0°00'
Toe Total: 0°00'

-> Car will be less stable in straight line, but tire wear will be less

Rear:

Camber Left: -1°17'
Camber Right: -1°10'

-> What do I do with the rear camber. I read it is better to have less camber here. So will -1°10' on both side do?

Toe Left: 0°08'
Toe Right: 0°08'
Toe Total: 0°17'

-> value is positive so toe in. Better for straight line stability. I leave it this way.

Some extra questions:

Straight line stability is mainly achived by rear wheels toe (toe in), front wheel toe is for fatser turn in (toe out). Is this correct?
Do settings on left and right has to be as equal as possible? Like my current rear camber L: -1.17 and R: -1.10 or is 0.07 negligible?

Thx Yves
 
Can you Belgian guys :D recommend a good shop to do the geo? Mine was done last ime but they took the Z4MR params and I understand that it's slightly different...
 
yvel26 said:
Hello,

I was wondering if it is possible to adjust the camber on a Z4 M (2006) with standard suspension?
I had my car alligned at my local allignment shop and the told me they could not adjust it.

These are the results after the alllignment:

Front:

Caster Left: 6°13'
Caster Right: 5°57'

Camber Left: -1°01'
Camber Right: -1°39'

Toe Left: 0°01'
Toe Right: -0°01'
Toe Total: 0°00'

Rear:

Camber Left: -1°17'
Camber Right: -1°10'

Toe Left: 0°08'
Toe Right: 0°08'
Toe Total: 0°17'

As you see the front right wheel camber is not ok. (Min = -1°20' and Max = -0°40')

Anyone knows if these settings are ok? I'm quite a noob at this.

Thanks for the help!

Regards Yves
Looking at the camber values measured, it looks like the car was not ballasted when the measurement was taken. Make sure the place that does change the camber and toe values either ballasts the car or has a modified spec that takes the lack of ballast into account. The rear value will change more with ballast (0.4 to 0.8 degrees) the front changes much less (0.2 or so).
 
Is this shim kit also available for a non M car? Turner motorsport says no on both m and non m cars.. Also as far as the ballast is concerned, last tme I had my car done at the stealer they didn't place a ballast. To make up for the absence of the ballast they measured they ride height and then put the data on their hunter machine. Then the technician obtained the corrected values for my car.
 
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