[mjn77]

Originally Posted by bdwyer

BMW Specs

Excellent, just what i'm looking for, thanks.

Originally Posted by The HACK

Does. Not. Compute.

Toe doesn't add or "enhance" grip. Toe-in adds directional stability and toe-out adds steering response. CAMBER adds grip. Toe-in allows the car to track straighter because the frictional forces will provide inward pressure to stabilize the front end.

Toe-in is very important on MacStrut front end like BMW has, because as the front end compresses upon braking, the camber increases and so does toe-out. The end result is if you brake at or near threshold (say, in an emergency situation) the resulting toe-out will cause front end instability and force the car to follow the crown of the road.

And with any amount of negative camber, slight toe-in will result in a more even wear because the negative camber will wear the inside of the tire, and the toe-in will wear the outside of the tire.

Word of advice to the OP. Just ask the alignment shop to align it to "factory specs." What BMW provides straight from the factory is probably the best all around compromise for performance, comfort, and tire longevity as you're ever going to get, regardless of what your suspension set-up is (even on coil-overs). I'm not one to sing the praises of BMW engineers as "they can't do no wrong because they're german" but they have managed to find a pretty darn good setting for a street driven vehicle and still retain a little bit of performance oriented suspension setup.

That was very well said, thanks HACK.

I think it's fine to recommend "factory settings" as well, but that range is so wide that surely one end of the scale is more favorable than the other in most every situation. Having said that, if you ABSOLUTELY HAD TO tighten up that range a bit (especially when it comes to toe), what would it look like?

[tc535i]

Originally Posted by The HACK

Does. Not. Compute.

Toe doesn't add or "enhance" grip. Toe-in adds directional stability and toe-out adds steering response. CAMBER adds grip. Toe-in allows the car to track straighter because the frictional forces will provide inward pressure to stabilize the front end.

Toe-in is very important on MacStrut front end like BMW has, because as the front end compresses upon braking, the camber increases and so does toe-out. The end result is if you brake at or near threshold (say, in an emergency situation) the resulting toe-out will cause front end instability and force the car to follow the crown of the road.

And with any amount of negative camber, slight toe-in will result in a more even wear because the negative camber will wear the inside of the tire, and the toe-in will wear the outside of the tire.

Word of advice to the OP. Just ask the alignment shop to align it to "factory specs." What BMW provides straight from the factory is probably the best all around compromise for performance, comfort, and tire longevity as you're ever going to get, regardless of what your suspension set-up is (even on coil-overs). I'm not one to sing the praises of BMW engineers as "they can't do no wrong because they're german" but they have managed to find a pretty darn good setting for a street driven vehicle and still retain a little bit of performance oriented suspension setup.

What you're saying is true, but I've heard that adding some toe in helps traction. Not sure why.

ie http://www.petitrc.com/reglages/BasicSuspensionTuning/

Originally Posted by tc535i

What you're saying is true, but I've heard that adding some toe in helps traction. Not sure why.

ie http://www.petitrc.com/reglages/BasicSuspensionTuning/

lol

[tc535i]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

lol

heh?

[007_e350]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

That was very well said, thanks HACK.

I think it's fine to recommend "factory settings" as well, but that range is so wide that surely one end of the scale is more favorable than the other in most every situation. Having said that, if you ABSOLUTELY HAD TO tighten up that range a bit (especially when it comes to toe), what would it look like?

This, what would be the best overall settings to the dot