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I'm dropping off my M3 at Kenny Hawkins for the day and picking up the IS 300 that is finally repaired after 5 weeks of bending and twisting.

My question is this, is there decent place to get an alignment on the bimmer near Kenny Hawkins' shop since I'll be dropping off the car all day anyway?

thanks,
Matt

Performance Chassis is only about 15 minutes down the road from there. I'm not sure if that qualifies as "close by" though.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Don't forget to tap out the camber pins (might be allen screws) and slide struts in for max negative front camber (which isn't much on the E46 but better than nothing). Mark Cooper is well familiar with the routine.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

I didn't have time to take it anywhere or check this post prior.

But I truely have to say Chuck, in 2-3 years of surfing bimmer sites, I have to say this is the best advice I've heard considering I killed a 50% treadlife on a front set of PS2's at the Test-n-Tune last year. Cording the outer shoulder ftl...

I'll be calling Mark next week.

Yeah, for street driving and autox, I wouldn't get crazy with the toe setting (i.e. if you tell him you want an autox alignment, you'll get toe out up front and slight toe out in rear -- it will be very darty on the street, follow ruts, etc, and you'll be back to him soon to readjust). Also, for the camber adj up front, if you remove one of the sturt nuts you can see how much (little) the strut can be moved inward).

Go with a full tank and sit in the driver's seat while he does the alignment. I would shoot for max neg camber up front with pins out, set the front toe in at the least amount to stay within spec range. Set rear camber toward the lesser end of spec range (-1.8 is what I did on the E46 330i) and rear toe to middle of spec range or a bit less.

You might want to hunt for other opinions on the E46 M3 alignment for autox/street combo.

P.S. On the E46 ZHP, with the pins out I can only get about -1.2 degrees camber up front, but it's better than nothing even though still WAY too little.

Chuck

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

Did you find that this setup helped with the outer tire wear at the auto-x? Also, is there any downside to running less camber if the car is a daily driver (i.e. like cupping on the inner edges)?

Edit: Just called Mark and he's going to knock it out next week for ~$125 including the pin mod.

Maybe he'll be able to balance my front RE01-R's that Just Tires have unsuccessfully attempted to do twice now. Apparently, their balance machine only balances up to speeds of 70 mph, exactly where the horrific steering wheel dance begins.

It definitely helped some, and it had no effect on inside edge wear (more camber that is) as it's not much. I've been running -2.3 degrees on the M5 now all the time for a few years, and with the toe set for a small amount of toe in (0.08 degrees per side), inside edge wear has been minimal.

Your car likely is getting close to needing thrust bushings. They are a weak point on E46s and a progressive wear item.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

Is that legal in stock class to remove those parts?

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http://www.greywinds.com