[brianlamar]

After I purchased my e92 i've been noticing alot of BMW's on the road which is normal I guess. I've been looking at the rear wheels of other BMW's in stop and go traffic and some of them look really "knock-knee'd" like the suspension is bad or they loaded too much stuff in the rear of the car. I pull up beside them and most of the time nothing is in the rear seat (can't tell in the trunk). Just wondering why they look so.... "retarted". I had a friend with a 2000 528i and his looked knock-knee'd from the rear as well without anything in the car.

Is our suspension setup supposed to look like that after many miles of driving or is that a defect?

[E90Fleet]

Are you reffering to the Camber of the suspension ?



Its what gives the car such great handeling

[brianlamar]

Yes i'm referring to the Negative Camber in the pic above. It just looks like something broke inside the suspension.

So it is normal?

[The Cleaner]

I think it looks good, My X5 has a lot of negative camber, 335 not so much.

[brianlamar]

Oh and i've also noticed that the rear tires on my car toe in noticeably when looking from behind (pidgeon toed). Not too much just enough for me to notice it.

[maggio]

Take a look at an F1 car

[brianlamar]

What makes it have alot of negative camber?

I only see some BMW's with negative camber, the rest are vertically aligned.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by brianlamar

Yes i'm referring to the Negative Camber in the pic above. It just looks like something broke inside the suspension.

So it is normal?

Yes, its normal

the sport has even more cammber than the regular suspension
And the M sport suspension even more

It creates great handeling in corners, but eats up the inside lip of the tire faster

[TinkySD]

There are all kind of trade offs for camber and toe and what not which is an entire article in and of itself. If you want to boil it down to a general rule of thumb a little negative camber tends to give better handling/traction while taking corners.

Of course there it's all a delicate balance and there is such a thing as too much.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by brianlamar

What makes it have alot of negative camber?

I only see some BMW's with negative camber, the rest are vertically aligned.

Suspension settings

Looks at some sport cars, they will have the same

[brianlamar]

So are the suspension on different BMW's why I see more negative camber on some models or trim levels more than others? Because some bimmers I see just looks like the axle is broken.

[E90330iS]

Yea when I first noticed the inclined wheels (negative camber), I was really shocked and thought it's a sign of aging suspension on my X5. But then I asked the same question on E90Post after I took delivery of my 330i and noticed the same thing and i realized its a way BMW set up its rear wheels to improve handling!

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by brianlamar

After I purchased my e92 i've been noticing alot of BMW's on the road which is normal I guess. I've been looking at the rear wheels of other BMW's in stop and go traffic and some of them look really "knock-knee'd" like the suspension is bad or they loaded too much stuff in the rear of the car. I pull up beside them and most of the time nothing is in the rear seat (can't tell in the trunk). Just wondering why they look so.... "retarted". I had a friend with a 2000 528i and his looked knock-knee'd from the rear as well without anything in the car.

Is our suspension setup supposed to look like that after many miles of driving or is that a defect?

Like all those guys said. Negative Camber. Enables our fat@ss cars to handle fairly well.

[brianlamar]

Well that explains it, I just don't see that effect on any of the BMW's at the dealership, I suppose it increases with mileage.....

[dkbimmer]

You also see it on cars like G35s, especially when they have passengers in the back.

[Revlis]

Can't just say it's normal, really. Visually Obvious negative camber prolly means ghetto lowered and NOT re-aligned.

Unless you're at an Autocross event, or a track day, any visually obvious Neg camber is probably the result of torch on the springs and has nothing to do with handling or performance and everything to do with worn out destroyed tires in 5k Miles. On the streets it'll do nothing but look stupid and wear out tires.

I'd say that the 1-2deg of negative camber isn't something you are likely to notice, even when looking pretty hard.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by brianlamar

Well that explains it, I just don't see that effect on any of the BMW's at the dealership, I suppose it increases with mileage.....

Shouldnt

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by Revlis

Can't just say it's normal, really. Visually Obvious negative camber prolly means ghetto lowered and NOT re-aligned.

Unless you're at an Autocross event, or a track day, any visually obvious Neg camber is probably the result of torch on the springs and has nothing to do with handling or performance and everything to do with worn out destroyed tires in 5k Miles. On the streets it'll do nothing but look stupid and wear out tires.

I'd say that the 1-2deg of negative camber isn't something you are likely to notice, even when looking pretty hard.

Its pretty noticable on the M Sport suspension, on both my E90 and E36 when looking from behind

[brianlamar]

I notice it mostly on X5's and the previous generation 5-series

[Revlis]

Originally Posted by E90Fleet

Its pretty noticable on the M Sport suspension, on both my E90 and E36 when looking from behind

Huh, seems that the resultant tire wear would be a little too much...

I'll start looking more closely though. Mostly I'm talking about the really Over the Top neg Camber you see on some of the Ricers cars running around here.

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by Revlis

Huh, seems that the resultant tire wear would be a little too much...

I'll start looking more closely though. Mostly I'm talking about the really Over the Top neg Camber you see on some of the Ricers cars running around here.

Its not over the top, but you do notice it

[pokerface]

Originally Posted by brianlamar

I notice it mostly on X5's and the previous generation 5-series

I actually agree with him on the 1st Gen X5s. It's pretty noticeable. I can't exactly say that it has the right kind of aggressive look though. just looks broken, sorta