One front wheel pokes out more than the other?

[BigRussia]

I've had my 2004 M3 for about 2.5 years now and over the last year or so I've noticed the front drivers side wheel pokes out a bit more farther from the center of the car than the passenger side. It is almost a good 5mm more, like I have a wheel spacer on the drivers side only. Its always been like this since Ive owned the car, but it's bothering me more seeing it lately and wanted to see whats the cause or anyone else's car does this or has any ideas? Figure it could be a fun mystery for us to try and figure out to take our minds off things while we're all stuck at home ha!

A few points to rule out now to save time:

1. The front wheels are both the same specs so its not that i put different spec wheels or accidentally put the rears on the front. I see this happen with both my two different sets of wheels (Volks 9.5 et20, and ARC8s 9.5 et35) The drivers side is consistently poking out farther than the passenger.

2. The alignment for the fronts is the same -3.0 using GC street plates. Cant say for sure if the issue got more noticaeble after the plates and more aggressive camber since i dont have any good comparison pics from then.

3. The car did have a front end accident from previous owner many years ago. Did not seem was a bad one, but wondering if this couldbe have cause some misalignment?

4. Another friend with a E46 M3 mentioned his car has the same 'quirk' and has never been in an accident (I forgot which side pokes our further on his car).

Pics below, sorry I don't have any better ones off hand, with being on quarantine/lockdown my access to the garage where i keep the car has been very limited. But you can clearly see how much further the drivers side wheel 'pokes'. The passenger wheel is perfectly flush with the fender, while the drivers is poking past it.

Could it be something caused by the accident? Or maybe how the front subframe was reinstalled after a rod bearing job right after I bought the car? Is it a major issue and is the cars natural alignment affected? Car seems to drive fine and have had multiple alignments with no issues, and car driving perfectly straight.

[Tbonem3]

When was the last alignment? Wonder how much visual difference there'd be if one side has a little different toe, camber, tire pressure, etc... From the front, toe out might make it look further out, toe in further in.

Ride height matters too. Macph strut is on a curve, so lower ride height, more camber vice versa. maybe it's just a bunch of little things adding up to a very slightly perceivable difference?

[MrClutch55]

Fenders ever been touched?

[Shadytype]

Non oem fender? DS slmost looks more bulbous. Check the screws holding the fender down in the engine bay to see if they look disturbed by a wrench.

Almost need a better PS pic since it feels like the shadow doesnt do it justice.

Agree it is probably alignment.

[MathewM3]

Fenders ever been touched?

I would check the fender. I have seen similar issues on other cars that had aftermarket fenders installed after a repair.

[tdott]

The pics all have different angles so it's hard to tell for sure. Also you'd have to make sure the steering wheel is straight

[enjoy_m3]

I have this same issue, carefully inspect the struts and make sure they aren't bent, even slightly. Same with control arms

[MrClutch55]

I would check the fender. I have seen similar issues on other cars that had aftermarket fenders installed after a repair.

or fenders that been rolled or pulled

[BigRussia]

When was the last alignment? Wonder how much visual difference there'd be if one side has a little different toe, camber, tire pressure, etc... From the front, toe out might make it look further out, toe in further in.

Ride height matters too. Macph strut is on a curve, so lower ride height, more camber vice versa. maybe it's just a bunch of little things adding up to a very slightly perceivable difference?

Last alignment was fairly recent, around early December '19 before a track day near Xmas. Done by a very reputable alignment shop that sets up alot of the race cars down here. I get an alignment very often, my friends give me grief that my car is always at that alignment shop lol. But even after fresh alignments I'd notice the drivers would poke more, never the passenger side.

I spent this past weekend dialing my ride height actually (kinda why i noticed the poke again), so I can confirm the front coilovers are at the exact same height measurements. But I also have heard these cars naturally tend to be higher on the drivers side to make up for drivers weight?

[BigRussia]

Non oem fender? DS slmost looks more bulbous. Check the screws holding the fender down in the engine bay to see if they look disturbed by a wrench.

Almost need a better PS pic since it feels like the shadow doesnt do it justice.

Agree it is probably alignment.

I had considered if maybe the fenders were out of wack but the body lines dont have any major gaps so I shrugged it off, but good point. Ill check to see if the fenders have had their mounting nuts/screws messed with. Where else besides engine bay should I look, behind the liners and in the door opening I assume? I never saw the extent or pics of the front end accident, it had happened from a previous owner before the one I bought the car from, so very possible a fender was replaced!

The pics all have different angles so it's hard to tell for sure. Also you'd have to make sure the steering wheel is straight

Also I agree with those saying need better pics, again apologize as I had just quickly snapped those after putting the car down after dialing in the ride height and sway bar endlinks (after reading Obioban's very informative suspension setup guide!). Struts are good, have Bilstein PSS10s bought brand new and installed right before the alignment in December, control arms should be good too as the shop would've definitely noticed when they did my FCABs. Fenders are rolled but not pulled (rears are pulled in case you noticed they looked rounded in the pics).

Ill try to get some better pics this weekend if I go to the garage, thanks again for everyone chiming in on this!

[BigRussia]

Hi guys,

Got the car out the garage this weekend, but unfortunately the sun was already setting. But I pointed the car forward into the sun to reduce shadows as much as possible, apologies again if the pics aren't substantial for showing the difference between the two wheels. I know it's alot of pics but hope it showcases what I mean, I know the contrast isn't great on the passenger side pics, but one key take away difference is the drivers tire sidewall is entirely poking from the fender, while passenger sidewall is more within the fender line.

I also didn't have time to check the fenders for any screws or bolts being messed with, hopefully next week!

[Onefastsicilian]

Hi guys,

Got the car out the garage this weekend, but unfortunately the sun was already setting. But I pointed the car forward into the sun to reduce shadows as much as possible, apologies again if the pics aren't substantial for showing the difference between the two wheels. I know it's alot of pics but hope it showcases what I mean, I know the contrast isn't great on the passenger side pics, but one key take away difference is the drivers tire sidewall is entirely poking from the fender, while passenger sidewall is more within the fender line.

I also didn't have time to check the fenders for any screws or bolts being messed with, hopefully next week!

I'm actually having this exact same issue. Ever since I installed my ohlins, my driver wheel sticks out further than my pass side wheel. I had an alignment done and I thought the guy just didnt do it correctly, so I bought it to another shop, and I saw it while it was on the machine and camber/toe were perfect and identical on both sides.

I know it's not a bent strut because they're brand new. It's odd because the car drives amazing, doesn't pull or anything.

[oceansize]

I'm actually having this exact same issue. Ever since I installed my ohlins, my driver wheel sticks out further than my pass side wheel. I had an alignment done and I thought the guy just didnt do it correctly, so I bought it to another shop, and I saw it while it was on the machine and camber/toe were perfect and identical on both sides.

I know it's not a bent strut because they're brand new. It's odd because the car drives amazing, doesn't pull or anything.

And you are 100% positive you didn't have this issue prior to the Ohlins? The Ohlins were the only change made?

[Onefastsicilian]

And you are 100% positive you didn't have this issue prior to the Ohlins? The Ohlins were the only change made?

Ohlins and GC hybrid camber plates were the only changes.. I compared pictures and I definitely didn’t have this before the Ohlins. Very odd

[Norocehcap]

My MKIV VW GTI 1.8T also sits higher on the driver side front and I have to keep that coilover set lower to even it out, I have not noticed any more poke tho but I did roll the fenders so it might be harder to tell. Not related to my M3 but I have noticed this on other cars as well so it might be more common then people have noticed.