E46 M3 BAD tramlining. Need help.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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]

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

[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]

Are your tie rods new? Or did they use the torch to heat them up to get them to move? (Often seized) I have seen alignment shops do this and then not take the time to wait on them fully cooling down, metal expands and can make the entire setting of toe useless because of that. We're talking like 20 minutes of a degree toe out or more.

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

[bmwfnatic]

Realigned it and its driving much better but not perfect. the alignment had changed dramatically in the front after only a week so i wonder if something changed or is loose

Are your tie rods new? Or did they use the torch to heat them up to get them to move? (Often seized) I have seen alignment shops do this and then not take the time to wait on them fully cooling down, metal expands and can make the entire setting of toe useless because of that. We're talking like 20 minutes of a degree toe out or more.

[01SG]

Could be. It could also be the alignment rack. Did you go to the same place as before? Perhaps it is not calibrated right.

[thetypicalm3guy]

Realigned it and its driving much better but not perfect. the alignment had changed dramatically in the front after only a week so i wonder if something changed or is loose

[01SG]

The steering rack does not often go bad. If it is not leaking, that would be the last thing to look at.

My car does not tramline a bit on 255 all around. Your problem is likely alignment as everyone said. That is a hell of a lot of front toe.

I enjoy 1/16th (about 13 minutes I believe) in on the rear, and zero or a little out on the front. However, I do not care about tire wear. Agree with above that being off just a little bit can make a big difference.

[Arith2]

Tell them match your camber on each side as well. There's no reason to have a .3 difference of camber in the rear. All tire should be slightly toed in because as you drive it creates stability and the tires tend to push outward towards a negative toe the faster you move. It will not mess up your tire wear to have alight toe inwards. 0 toe on a street car is bad advice and should not be given, however the idea is right. If set to 0 toe while sitting still, you will have negative toe while driving. The idea is to create a balance to have 0 toe while driving at average speeds. I do multiple alignments a week, every week. In my experience, BMWs are very sensitive to toe adjustments. .1 degrees can really screw up alot moreso than other brands.

[lvm3sm46]

Im not positive about the M3 but vague steering in the middle could be tie rod ends

[thetypicalm3guy]

I am going to get it realigned. I also have very vague steering in the middle I hope it’s not the steering rack