E46 M3 BAD tramlining. Need help.

[Thoglan]

Have you said anywhere in the thread what tyres you are running? I have run eyeball alignments which were way off on toe and camber with square 265 and pretty much no tramlining. I don't buy that a fractional difference in camber left to right is what's giving you your problem. Factory toe in as you have it set should be reducing tramlining. Only thing I can think is cheap tyres. The only time I've ever had problems with tramlining is when running cheap chinese tyres on the front temporarily.

For reference i'm currently running 255/40 square MPS4S with a track alignment (3.5deg negative camber on the front, toed out front and 0 toe rear) and I get zero tramlining unless it's quite wet and I'm going over standing water.

[thetypicalm3guy]

Forgot to mention. Car is on DINAN springs and koni shocks. I believe there is some camber but hard to say for sure. 245/35/19 pirelli pzero nero in the front, 275/30/19 pirelli pzero nero in the back. Wheels are competition oem

these are the tires im running. From 2018 with good tread still

[Kdubski]

When I first got my car, it would "wobble" under WOT. It was on Hankook v12's at the time, which added to it, but the bigger culprit that I found was the RTAB. Once I replaced these it really changed the handling dynamic of the car. This was before I tackled FCAB, RSM, and dozens of ball joints...

[thetypicalm3guy]

Well definitely still not fixed. Its a little better but its to the point where im not comfortable driving over 50mph. this is my 4th e46 m3 and none of them ever did this. I even ran 285s in the front on one of mine and never did this. Could be the tires?

[Thoglan]

Well definitely still not fixed. Its a little better but its to the point where im not comfortable driving over 50mph. this is my 4th e46 m3 and none of them ever did this. I even ran 285s in the front on one of mine and never did this. Could be the tires?

That was my first thought when I saw the thread earlier. Get some MPS4S's and see if it's still there.

[lvm3sm46]

Maybe see if someone would be willing to wheel swap for a ride. Tires are expensive so it might not be the parts to "throw" at the problem in this case.

[lvm3sm46]

Brand new tie rods thats actually why i got the first alignment in the first place

Was it tramlining before the new tires rods?

Im still going with something was incorrectly installed. Like I dealt with on my Audi, the alignment would be perfect on the rack but when driving the improperly installed trailing arms would bind up and cause tramlining. The I would put it back i=on the rack and everything looked fine.

[EthanolTurbo]

Well definitely still not fixed. Its a little better but its to the point where im not comfortable driving over 50mph. this is my 4th e46 m3 and none of them ever did this. I even ran 285s in the front on one of mine and never did this. Could be the tires?

Put another set of wheels and tires on. If it's still doing it after that, something is wrong with your suspension. I feel like something is wrong or adjusted wrong.

[FBloggs]

The tires are 4 years old. The "problem" has caused unwanted toe changes, which resulted in tramlining, but it also causes the tires to be shoved along the surface at an angle as opposed to rolling straight.
so they have atypical wear and they are hard from age .
I think that after the correct alignment, the tires are still trying to track according to the pre alignment condition.

I don't see where you have replaced the rear outer bushings for the lateral links.
If these are worn you'll have a chassis that requires frequent, irrtating steering correction in response to wandering as it is driven down a straight road.
And avoid the cheap Febi bushings/bearings if you intend to do this maintenance.

[M9Seth]

Did you check your steering rack?

[thetypicalm3guy]

Was it tramlining before the new tires rods?

Im still going with something was incorrectly installed. Like I dealt with on my Audi, the alignment would be perfect on the rack but when driving the improperly installed trailing arms would bind up and cause tramlining. The I would put it back i=on the rack and everything looked fine.

Yes it was happening before i replaced the tierod to try to fix this issue

[thetypicalm3guy]

The tires are 4 years old. The "problem" has caused unwanted toe changes, which resulted in tramlining, but it also causes the tires to be shoved along the surface at an angle as opposed to rolling straight.
so they have atypical wear and they are hard from age .
I think that after the correct alignment, the tires are still trying to track according to the pre alignment condition.

I don't see where you have replaced the rear outer bushings for the lateral links.
If these are worn you'll have a chassis that requires frequent, irrtating steering correction in response to wandering as it is driven down a straight road.
And avoid the cheap Febi bushings/bearings if you intend to do this maintenance.

Which bushings exactly are you referring to?

[thetypicalm3guy]

Did you check your steering rack?

Steering rack seems fine from what i can tell. If anyone is in the san diego area and wants to drive my car or swap wheels I’d greatly appreciate it!

[EthanolTurbo]

Steering rack seems fine from what i can tell. If anyone is in the san diego area and wants to drive my car or swap wheels I’d greatly appreciate it!

As luck would have it, I am in San Diego. and I can either pull wheels off my M3 or 535d or 335d to test on your car.

[FBloggs]

Which bushings exactly are you referring to?

At each rear hub there are 2 inner bushings (one for the upper lteral link that supports the spring and one for the lower lateral link that is the camber arm.)
There are two bearings on the outside(the hub) that the two links connect to.( pt # 33326775551)
The outer bearings wear and cause tracking and handling instability at the rear end.
The rear end will wander and be prone to follow surface camber, as well as unsettling toe change when the car is launched out of a corner (feels like the outside tire lost grip momentarily).
If they are worn, they will affect the static toe on the alignment rack.
The tech will reset the toe to spec, but the sloppy bearings will absorb the adjustment and the alignment will not be effective.