One front wheel pokes out more than the other?

[heinzboehmer]

My car is doing this same thing. I'm not really sure what to say about it. The driver's side rear pokes out 5mm more than the passenger's. Sadly, the wheels I have on the car right now are so aggressive, 18x10.5 +12 in the rear, the passenger fits fine but the drivers not so much. Basically, on suspension compression, the driver's side tire slams straight into the fender. I tried adding a bit of camber in the rear but still no luck. So frustrating. Alignment is fine, ride height is the same side-to-side, I double-checked everything a few times.

My car is exactly the same. Driver's side rear tire stick out about 5mm more than the passenger's side. Same everything on both sides.

LCAs are brand new (OE BWM parts with ~200 mi on them) and upper control arms looked totally fine to me (but I haven't measured them). It's been this way since I got the car, so the only thing that could be messed up is the upper control arm. I'll measure everything on the car this weekend to make sure everything is straight.

[liam821]

My car is exactly the same. Driver's side rear tire stick out about 5mm more than the passenger's side. Same everything on both sides.

LCAs are brand new (OE BWM parts with ~200 mi on them) and upper control arms looked totally fine to me (but I haven't measured them). It's been this way since I got the car, so the only thing that could be messed up is the upper control arm. I'll measure everything on the car this weekend to make sure everything is straight.

At least I'm not alone! Were you able to check, did you find anything?

So I put my car back up on jack stands (its normal habitat it seems...), pulled out a tape measure, and verified everything. As far as I can tell, everything in the suspension is good, upper control arms are fine, bushings are fine, nothing seems out of place. Using my alignment tools and sure enough, the hub on the rear driver's side has a ~5mm poke vs the passenger. The only thing I could think of is the whole subframe - which I pulled off and reinstalled myself when I had the rear subframe reinforced - isn't aligned correctly. We're talking about 5mm, that just means it needs to move towards the passenger side 2.5mm to even it up.

After pulling off one bolt, I found this.



Using the alignment tool which came with my PureTech subframe support - made it a bit easier to see where the center is. The camera wasn't perfectly over the alignment tool, but you get the idea


The subframe is pretty well-aligned side to side compared to the rear passenger side bolt hole but pushed forward towards the front of the car a bit. Perhaps I'm wrong, but there looks like enough play in how it mounts that I can push the whole subframe over a tad and get it in alignment. I only need 2.5mm which it looks to me I can get that. I haven't actually tried this yet, I need to dig out my trans lift so I can support the subframe and hopefully push it around.

Has anybody else tried this before? I know it sounds crazy that I'm going through all the effort, but it's sooo annoying when you're trying to get the perfect wheel fitment with an aggressive wheel and tire package.

[heinzboehmer]

At least I'm not alone! Were you able to check, did you find anything?

No, sorry, turns out I forgot to order a seal, so I had to postpone all the work I was going to do. I've got it now, so I'll definitely check this weekend.

I've got CMP bushings and I don't remember there being much play in them at all, so I don't think I would be able to shift my subframe over. Could be wrong though.

[liam821]

I've got CMP bushings and I don't remember there being much play in them at all, so I don't think I would be able to shift my subframe over. Could be wrong though.

Pretty sure the bushings are stock in my car, and I think all the mounting holes are like that. So I hope there is enough wiggle room.

[heinzboehmer]

Pretty sure the bushings are stock in my car, and I think all the mounting holes are like that. So I hope there is enough wiggle room.

All right, so I measured everything on the rear end and couldn't find any differences from side to side. I'll be getting an alignment in a couple weeks so we'll see if that affects anything. I guess I could measure my wheels too (or swap them).

[liam821]

All right, so I measured everything on the rear end and couldn't find any differences from side to side. I'll be getting an alignment in a couple weeks so we'll see if that affects anything. I guess I could measure my wheels too (or swap them).

When I was installing my PureTech X-Brace last weekend I measured everything in the rear of the car. With the two back subframe bolts only hand tight, the poke side to side where mm accurate - exactly the same - I measured 104mm from the edge of the hub to the side of the fender. As soon as I tightened down the subframe it moved and now has +3mm drivers side. It's better than it was, but I've concluded that the previous accident and repair my car has gone through have bent something back there and it's just what it is. I can't tell driving, the alignment is fine, it's really just annoying when it comes to wheel fitment in the rear.

Further evidence is how much of a pita the PureTech bar was to install. On the passenger side - the side the car was hit - it seems that the rear passenger subframe mounting surface is higher (towards the sky) than the driver's side. On the inside of the car I think the PureTech bar rests higher on the passenger side because of it and getting all the bolts to align and bolt up was a pain.

tl;dr; My poor car has had a rough life.

[heinzboehmer]

When I was installing my PureTech X-Brace last weekend I measured everything in the rear of the car. With the two back subframe bolts only hand tight, the poke side to side where mm accurate - exactly the same - I measured 104mm from the edge of the hub to the side of the fender. As soon as I tightened down the subframe it moved and now has +3mm drivers side. It's better than it was, but I've concluded that the previous accident and repair my car has gone through have bent something back there and it's just what it is. I can't tell driving, the alignment is fine, it's really just annoying when it comes to wheel fitment in the rear.

Further evidence is how much of a pita the PureTech bar was to install. On the passenger side - the side the car was hit - it seems that the rear passenger subframe mounting surface is higher (towards the sky) than the driver's side. On the inside of the car I think the PureTech bar rests higher on the passenger side because of it and getting all the bolts to align and bolt up was a pain.

tl;dr; My poor car has had a rough life.

I gave this another shot today. Every single component is exactly the same length in the rear. I tried to get fender to wheel hub measurements but I had a terrible time being precise, so I gave up. I did remove all subframe nuts and there's no room for adjustment on the CMP bushings.

I did measure the poke on the ground though. Driver's side center cap pokes out pretty much exactly 5mm more than the passenger's side center cap.

I have absolutely no idea what could be causing this. Wheels are the same width and offset (I measured), alignment is exactly the same side to side (got it aligned this week) and no suspension components are bent. Either the subframe itself is not symmetrical or the subframe mounting points are offset to the left.

The most annoying thing is with this new alignment my left wheel now rubs under high compression. As much as I want to get a spacer that's 5mm smaller than what I have on that wheel now, I don't know if that would be a good idea. I think I'll just get smaller spacers for both rear wheels and forget about this

[E46 M3]

My 05 has this too, never worked it out but I've booked rodbearings/vanos/diff and subframe in December so hopefully they figure it out? I have spacers on now and its less noticeable but its pissed me off for years. (aligns fine no issues..)

Rear left btw.

[dl.m3]

Wanna give this a bump and say I have the same issue, rear driver's side pokes about 4mm more than passenger's side. Double checked alignment.

No issues in the front. Wonder if the rear subframe can shift in these cars, I'm on AKG 95a subframe bushings, might go solid in the future.

[L0okitzRaj]

Wanna give this a bump and say I have the same issue, rear driver's side pokes about 4mm more than passenger's side. Double checked alignment.

No issues in the front. Wonder if the rear subframe can shift in these cars, I'm on AKG 95a subframe bushings, might go solid in the future.

....Well, since you're bumping it.

I have a +3mm on my driver rear, vs passenger side. It was the same before and after installation of subframe plates.