Can’t figure out why my car is pulling hard to the left- need help!!

[Leafsrule531]

Okay so i can’t figure out for the life of me why my car is pulling to the left. I had initially thought it was just an alignment so i took it to a shop and did the alignment. I’ve attached a picture of the specs and i asked the tech why there were some numbers that were still off the spec. He told me this is the best he could do and apparently i need adjustable camber plates to get this more in line. Is this true? Would the current alignment cause my car to pull hard ot the left?

Currently i can’t drive straight at all. I need to hold the steering wheel in the a slight right position for it to drive straight and as soon as i let go it pulls to the left hard. I also notice that this happens when i push the brakes it pulls to the left pretty hard. I have done the following to fix this but no luck yet as well as some additional details about my car:

1. 4 brand new tires mounted and balanced
2. Alignment
3. I have KW V2 coilovers but dont see anything wrong with them really and can’t imagine this would cause the pull? maybe im wrong?
4. Control arm bushings have less than 10k miles on them


i just really want my car to drive straight and cant figure out why anymore. Any help or input would be appreciated!

Just an FYI the car was hit on the rear left side but the accident was minor and the body shop told me I had no frame damage or anything of sort.

[01SG]

For starters, a stock M3 can only get to about -1.5 camber in the front with the alignment pins pulled. Are you that low that it reaches -2.0, and is that even possible? And then why would it only get to .9 on the other side?

Whatever the reason, you don't need camber plates. There is something else at issue here if they can't get the camber the same. Probably not a great shop either.

I imagine it has something to do with the coilovers, unless maybe the control arms are completely busted, which is highly unlikely. It probably has something to do with the coilovers. It's almost as if the right side is lowered way down and the left is at stock height.

[juju396]

I know you've stated the fcabs are semi-new, but how old are your front control arms? If they are original, then inspect your front control arms inner & outer ball joints (mine deteriorated after 10 yrs/ 100k mi), as well as other front suspension components (tie rods, end links, anything rubber). If the fcabs are older (even though they have only 10k miles) you should inspect / replace them.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/blog/how-to-replace-the-control-arms-bushings-ball-joints-tie-rods-end-links-on-a-bmw-e46-m3

https://bimmers.com/blog/e46-control-arm-troubleshooting-guide-causes-and-fixes/

[bmwfnatic]

Camber differences side to side will 100% cause a pull.
You should investigate why your right side won't go above -1.8 camber, something is not right there, possibly a prior collision, or a bent strut or kingpin.

If the cause of the right side camber cannot be found, consider matching the left side up to be closer with the right side, as 01SG said, you should be able to at least get -1.5 out of it, that way it matches up better and will probably drive better.

[George Hill]

As noted above, a car will pull the the side that has more positive camber and caster will cause a pull to the side more negative. The problem with your car is likely mechanical so I would start trying to figure out why you can't get the camber into spec.

[Slideways]

Do you have a higher res picture? Is it -0.1 L and -1.9 R front camber? Max difference between sides can only be 0.5.

Check that the factory top mounts have the correct orientation and the ride height is similar between left and right sides.

[I M Legend]

Did this start recently after you did some type of mod to the suspension?

It sounds more like a stuck caliper. After a drive with some moderate to hard braking, do you feel more heat coming from one of the rotors on the left side?

[Leafsrule531]

Camber differences side to side will 100% cause a pull.
You should investigate why your right side won't go above -1.8 camber, something is not right there, possibly a prior collision, or a bent strut or kingpin.

If the cause of the right side camber cannot be found, consider matching the left side up to be closer with the right side, as 01SG said, you should be able to at least get -1.5 out of it, that way it matches up better and will probably drive better.

So I took it to rogue engineering here in NJ who are pros at e46 m3s. That’s all they work on all day. They were able to get the alignment much more in line. They got the left front camber to be -1.2 (was -0.9) and right front camber to be -1.6 (was -1.9). So definitely more in line than before but still not really perfect. He also told me that the accident on the car prevented him from getting it any closer and the fact that my suspension due to the kw coilovers is so low that’s the best he could do. He did mention that if I raise it up a bit the camber would be more in line on the right front.


That all being said, the car still doesn’t drive great. It drives okay on slow speeds but on 70 mph + it’s still pulling decent amount to the left.

Should I try raising the front right a bit ? I’m going to measure the heights of the front and see if they are pretty close to the same or not.

Getting pretty frustrated at this point … I really just want it to drive straight especially since these cars are known for their handling, if kind of takes away from the experience of the car.


I did test to see if my calipers were seized since I had the same issue on my e39 m5 and I couldn’t see the rims being hotter on either side (it was pretty obvious which one was seized on my m5) so don’t think any issue with the calipers.

any other suggestions?! Really appreciated all the input mentioned above. Learned a lot about alignments

[Leafsrule531]

Just measured the height right now from the bottom of the rim to the top the fender. The front right (passenger) is about quarter inch lower than the front left (driver). Can’t imagine this minuscule difference is causing to pull so much.

[Will]

Just measured the height right now from the bottom of the rim to the top the fender. The front right (passenger) is about quarter inch lower than the front left (driver). Can’t imagine this minuscule difference is causing to pull so much.

Ensure you're on flat ground when measuring. Mine measured about 1/4" - 1/3" off when on my slightly sloped driveway.

[bigjae46]

Does it pull on throttle, off throttle or both? If you’re doing 70 when it starts pulling then I’d suspect you could have a bad bushing, axle shaft, or diff…you’re probably on throttle at 70mph

[Leafsrule531]

Does it pull on throttle, off throttle or both? If you’re doing 70 when it starts pulling then I’d suspect you could have a bad bushing, axle shaft, or diff…you’re probably on throttle at 70mph

It pulls a little on slow speeds but when going faster >65 mph then it pulls pretty hard throttle on or off. As soon as I leave the steering wheel it starts veering to the left and if I don’t put my hand back on the wheel it’ll drift hard.

measured it on a flat ground and the heights are pretty in line on both sides.


im shocked that the only suggestion rogue engineering had was to fix the alignment which hasn’t helped much