E46 Front Camber Settings

[ChosenGSR]

BMW claims that the zhp model is has more camber than the zsp

[AG]

BMW claims that the zhp model is has more camber than the zsp

I believe that the slightly lower ride height of the zhp package gets you the additional camber.

[WNNAM3]

You are right - the car does handle great for a heavy sedan and I experienced hardly any understeer with the 225/40/17 Falken Azenis tires I use for the track and I don't think adding what amounted to maybe 1 degree of camber will be detrimental to my future driving experiences but I do see your point. The changes are more for the 'tinkerer' in me than anything else.

I would like to know more about regulating tire pressure though.

-Dave

[Barry]

You are right - the car does handle great for a heavy sedan and I experienced hardly any understeer with the 225/40/17 Falken Azenis tires I use for the track and I don't think adding what amounted to maybe 1 degree of camber will be detrimental to my future driving experiences but I do see your point. The changes are more for the 'tinkerer' in me than anything else.
I would like to know more about regulating tire pressure though.
-Dave

Dave,
I still think it's very premature to be messing with things like camber. With my 330 I experimented with different air pressures. My car had Michelin Pilot Sports. I found that cold psi settings of 35 in front and 42 in the rear worked best. The car had no understeer. Try those and see what you think.
Barry

[jhm5]

This is an interesting mod which I've considered, but to be done properly, this should be done on an alignment rack. Increasing negative camber will change toe-in, increasing it i believe. For better turn in autocrossing, you'd want minimal toe-in, perhaps slight toe-out.
Just shifting the strutt towers along these slots is not an accurate way to set the camber. It seems to me you at least want to make sure the camber change is still in spec regarding side to side variation.
I also suspect whatever max negative camber this allows, it will not exceed 1-degree negative, which should be fine on the street, not likely to result in excessive tire wear.
After the camber is set, toe should be adjusted.
I suspect these slots are really there to allow some flexibility over the years for keeping alignment near BMW spec allowing for wear and tear and body repair, but it's nice to have some flexibility, however little.

[WNNAM3]

Let's table the camber discussion for now...at VIR I started with 35psi cold all the way around and there was a 5psi gain on all but one tire (3-4 psi on drivers rear) after each 20-25 min session with no appreciable tire rollover showing. I'll try higher rear pressures next time and see how it goes.

Thanks,
Dave.

[ChosenGSR]

I've been running 38F 39R on my stock zhp setup at DE/Autox, should I lower the pressure on the fronts?

[jhm5]

generally speaking, ignoring the factory's conservative recommendation of more pressure rear than front...
less pressure in rear tires compared to front helps minimize the inherent understeer in bmws when pushed hard.
this may vary with different tires. 35 all around is what i use on street -- seems soft for track. and i definitely would not run more in rear... probably 2 pounds less. for autox, 5 lbs less in rear relative to front, so something like 39F, 34R. that might be a bit loose, but fun, if you're not used to oversteer.

[Dirichlet]

I had some serious sidewall wear from the first autox and driver school this year. I kept upping the pressure hoping it would get better. At the last autox, I was at 45psi on my Michelin PS2's, and still got huge roll-under on my front tires...(http://www.teamwtf.org/index.php?set...view_photo.php)
That is why i'm thinking of getting camber plates

[bren]

I've been running 38F 39R on my stock zhp setup at DE/Autox, should I lower the pressure on the fronts?

Don't confuse track setup with autox setup.

[ChosenGSR]

Don't confuse track setup with autox setup.

I am not, I just ran the same setup under both conditions

[ChosenGSR]

I had some serious sidewall wear from the first autox and driver school this year. I kept upping the pressure hoping it would get better. At the last autox, I was at 45psi on my Michelin PS2's, and still got huge roll-under on my front tires...(http://www.teamwtf.org/index.php?set...view_photo.php)
That is why i'm thinking of getting camber plates

I agree, my sidewalls look miserable also...

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

The only way to avoid sidewall wear is to run 3-4 degrees of negative camber. But I am NOT goign to recommend that to people who haven't got a decent bit of experience.

[ob325]

I agree, my sidewalls look miserable also...

That's because you chose to skid across the course versus drive it.

[ChosenGSR]

That's because you chose to skid across the course versus drive it.