Camber problem
So how much negative camber do you actually need.
Probably none if you just drive in the city and don't race the car through the hills.
All you are going to do is chew through the inside tread of your tyres and destroy them in about half the mileage you should get out of a set with too much negative camber.
Not only that you are going to get more of a skittish ride over potholes and rough road surfaces in the city because you have less rubber in contact with the road surface.
Cars with live axle rear end had zero negative camber. Cars can sit lower as they age, springs fatigue and other components change.
I had about 2 degrees negative camber on the rear and reduced it to 0.5 degrees to stop my tyres being chewed out.

Lack of camber adjustment in the manufacture of these cars is a big problem because too much negative camber as the car ages
means you will chew out the inside tread on your tyres prematurely shortening the milage a lot, that you would otherwise get out of a set of tyres

The only means of adjusting the front camber is with special camber bolts and washers to drag the front camber arm over a bit into the middle of the car to make the wheel more vertical,
ie less negative camber but those bolts limit the adjustment to 0.3 degrees and there is no fine tuning to make both front wheels to have the same camber.
On the front suspension the camber arms on the front wheels are below the axle and therefore you need to drag the bottom of the wheel in to reduce negative camber.

The rear wheels can be adjusted to whatever camber you want by swapping out the manufacturer's fixed camber arms with adjustable ones.
The camber arms on the rear wheels are above the axle and you push the top of the wheel out by making the adjustable camber arm longer than the original
You need to torque the new bolts when the car is at normal ride height (or where the camber arms would be sitting, if the car was normal ride height, when you have it jacked up)
By using a purpose made jig for the rear camber arms..

Front:
Swap out the old camber bolts for the new fluted bolts and special washers
Torque the nut to 120 Nm / 88 ft lbs, note:
Do not let the torx E20 socket turn, the bolt won’t turn, it is in a fixed position with the flute

Rear:
Before you do anything place a rag in the end of the spring arm to stop anything falling in to it
Chock the old camber arm with a piece of 90x40mm wood so that it can’t move, to get the bolt out
Remove the wood and gently allow the camber arm to spring up, this is the position under load
Now make a bracket to torque the rear bolts
Cut a 125mm length of 25x3mm steel bar, drill one 12mm hole in the bottom of it
Crank it in the middle as shown
Now bolt that in position and using it as a template, mark the position of the hole in the camber arm
Drill the top hole 12mm. Now you have the jig to hold the new camber arm to torque it.
Before fitment make the new camber arm the same length as the old so the new will fit the same
Then when the camber arm has been bolted in place it can be adjusted for the required camber
Torque the nuts to 50 Nm / 37 ft lbs (plus 90 degrees)

Tools needed:
To replace the front camber arm bolts with fluted bolts and special washers
8mm socket to drop the underpan down
Torx E20 socket
Long socket 21mm eg spark plug socket will fit
Torque wrench for 120 Nm / 88 ft lbs
To replace rear camber arms with adjustable camber arms:
XZN triple square size 12
Socket 18mm
Combination spanner 18mm (open end and ring)
Combination spanner 8mm to remove nut on headlight level sensor attached to camber arm
Open end spanner 30mm for adjusting camber arm length
¼ or 3/8 drive bar for the XZN
Open end spanners 27mm and 35mm for locking the nuts on the camber arm
Torque wrench 50 Nm / 37 ft lbs (plus 90 degrees)

Plus the usual car trolley jack, car stand, bottle jack

Results after alignment:
My results are as I wanted my car set up
The red entries are just comparative to the alignment machine reference
The front correction camber bolts pulled my front camber back to 0.68 degrees left side and 1.07 degrees right side
The new adjustable rear camber arms made it possible to accurately adjust each rear axle to 0.48 degrees
The toe in is correct each side
The car drives like a dream with these corrections and my Pirelli tyres will last twice as long as before







FRONT CAMBER CORRECTION BOLTS











REAR CAMBER ARMS REPLACEMENT


















Thanks

 

What is the cost, roughly, to buy the hardware for these camber changes?

 

That is one way to do it for sure.

 

W212 front camber bolts ebay $62.40 AUD for 2 pcs free post
W212 rear camber arms Alibaba website $104 USD for 2 pcs, before shipping and tax (from O-Pass the manufacturer as per the picture)

 

I ve been looking at these same rear camber arms to offset the aging springs.


rear fwd upper link

I think the fwd upper link should be replaced as well to adjust the rear toe.


Rear SB bushings

Have you located rear sway bar bushing spares (not end links) ?
I've replaced my front SB bushings already... rears now awaiting.

 

Yes, one might just replace the sagging old springs before they break as mine did, new springs brought everything back into spec, this works too I guess

 

You wrote :
So how much negative camber do you actually need. <-------------I replied ------its in the WIS, different car variant different setting

Example MB Target Data or Limit is for W212.0 with 486/ 677 Suspension. My car model is W212.065 as per EPC/WIS.
MB Target, REAR Camber at Romess height -0.06 degree = -1* 27' +-30' or -1.45 degrees +- 0.5 degrees ( between 0.95 degrees to 1.95 degrees ).
MB Limit, REAR Camber difference L to R = 30' or 0.5 degrees

This * means Degree
This symbol ' means minute. 1* degree = 60' minutes

MB Target, Front, Camber at Romess height +0.12 degree = -0* 33' +-21' or 0.55 degree +- 0.35 degree ( between 0.15 degree to 0.9 degree )

I am attaching complete alignment documents to help others get their value correctly as per WIS

This is my rear tyres with proper factory spec as per WIS. Even wear , while at negative 1.4 degree approx.
I drive my car hard and rear tires will last only 20,000KM to its 1.6mm wear indicator
Long story short, my left and right tires are not the same age or mileage, due to warranty replacement for one having too much roadforce variance.

LEFT trear tire at 10,500 KM of use. 1/2 service life



LEFT rear when at only 1,222KM service life



--------------


RIGHT rear at 16,400KM or 3/4 of its service life. See the 1.6mm tire wear indicator , I am like 0.2mm to touching it.




RIGHT rear when at 7,162 KM service life, or almost 1/3 service life.

See above tire thread depth vs the 1.6mm wear indicator depth.



===================



You wrote :
Torque the nut to 120 Nm / 88 ft lbs, note: <<-------I replied ----- you miss the very important degrees , 180 degrees after the 120Nm or 100Nm
Find the 180 dgrees information on Page 8 to 10 of ADJUST CAMBER & CASTER FRONT AXLE .pdf


==============

Agree to Pierre suggestion, replace the rear springs too.
New rear spring vs old rear spring loaded height, on my car only 43,000KM but at 11 years old.
So the rear springs basically been compressed at 500kg of a stationary car for 8,760 hours per year multiply by 11 years = 96,360 hours.
Approx 5mm shorter the old springs were compared to a new ones already setlled down for 39 days and 253KM of use + little load.




===========

While my front and more so rear tires wear out nicely, I pay close attention to my suspension alignment values per 5,000KM at the least, or after any hard impact from pot holes or the like.

By April 2025, my rear subframe I discovered is a tiny bit out of spec from the mild impact on my left side front and rear suspension, at a tea plantation ,
where the dirt road and the tarmac height difference is higher than my car ground clearance and scrubbing happened. Duggh !!
Thus, my final RIGHT rear camber need correction , and no choice but to use aftermarket adjustable camber arm from Thailand, Hardrace is the brand. Very well made, but heavy. It is steel 100%.
My LEFT REAR is still original MB camber arm, aluminum, but new one.



The long story on the rear subframe and the rear camber history
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...-out-spec.html


Just so others would know better when doing their DIY.
Whatever you do to one side of the suspension, it will effect the other side. Example Left to Right or vice versa.
Whatever you do to the front or rear suspension, it will effect the other side too.

Aligment cost is VERY cheap in my country, only US$25 at the most.
Thus I do it very often. and I have a regular alignment shop where I personally get involved doing the adjustment, I love it. No restriction.

.

 

Not interested in the above comments
0.5 degrees camber is how I wanted my car set up
Set up on professional alignment equipment
Works better for me

Fluted camber bolts torque:



Thanks

 

Camber at -1.4 degrees MB spec is fantastic.Cornering and high speed is awesome. You are missing joy big time.
More so I have Quaife ABT limited slip differential ( like a Torsen ), the rear tires grips like mad.
Thus you see my rear tires can only survive 20,000KM , but very even wear of the rear tire. Albeit my engine is only 333HP and not the brutal-beast M157 or the extra macho M278.
If your springs and bushings are already weak, the real dynamic alignment as you apply power and/or cornering forces to the rear wheel and thus rear suspension, will be much OFF from the static alignment values.

Too bad we can only measure static alignment, but at the least we can replace all the bushings of the subframe and the arms and wheel knuckle and new arms if bushings not replaceable.
Rear suspension arms with non-replaceable bushings are cheap,compared to front suspension arms. I speak of genuine MB, not Lemforder.

----

Always follow the MB WIS when it comes to torque tightening and extra degrees if any.
The fluted bolt is called REPAIR BOLT KIT by MB. I have used them too in 2020.
Cross strut is Camber Arm
Strut Rod is Caster Arm



Above is STRUT ROD aka CAMBER ARM


Below is CROSS STRUT aka CASTER ARM if standard non-fluted version in red and the fluted/repair bolt in green. Same value for Camber Arm too.







Year 2020 archive. A mere 20 laps at the track of fun but hard driving, I need them REPAIR BOLT KIT for Caster correction, but at the Camber Arm.





This is what I use for a true ride height setting when tightening all the suspension arms. I have 4 of these.





For rear suspension arms, its more complicated to get ride height because the bolts/nuts needing tightening torque and the extra degrees, are at both inner and outer side.
The outer side bolt/nuts get blocked by the car wheel/rim.

So traditional support at measured ride height using motorbike jack is safest for me. My rear ride height , center of wheel bearing hub to fender lip, 37.5 CM.



Ride height in 2018 when still using rear tire of 265/35-18" ( original E400 rear tires ). 37.5cm from fender rim to wheel hub middle. With wheel/rim removed, I use plumb bob to get true center/straight line.




By the time I use BBS wheel 8.5J all 4 rims, I use 255/40-18" to get thicker side wall by 9mm for rear tire.



.

 

Pirelli 275 30 19 P Zero MO on the rear on 9.5J 19H2 ET48, P/N A2124014602
275 is very wide rubber and low profile, so I am ok using negative camber of -0.5 degrees

But you stick with your MB minimum spec of -1 degree



The fluted bolts for front camber correction are 3mm undersize due to the notch cut out of them so they are no longer M14 bolts
The nuts are not in contact with a complete thread but a partial thread due to the notch
So I choose not to cause metal fatigue by twisting the nut another half turn

Thanks

 

Do you think MB engineers did not calculate the front arms repair bolt having the notch cut-out, hence 20Nm less force, but still the same extra 180 degrees.
Our wheel bolts is 130Nm and we have 5 of them per wheel.
The rear suspension arms bolts/nuts are 50 - 80Nm depending which arm but with up to 90 degrees extra.
The rear CV drive shaft is 350Nm and has locking tab.

100-120Nm without the extra 180 degrees... is not strong for a duty of only 2 suspension arms per side for front, I worry if it may not be tight enough long term.
Its your car and your call that I have to completley agree with you, but I have to provide other members with proper WIS information and point out that what you advice it is not what the WIS called for.

180 degrees extra is a lot of force and when required, we have to do so.
If you advice the general public of a critical suspension arm bolt torque, please tell them WHEN and IF it is not as per WIS, but your own calculated decision.

 

OK noted
Front camber correction bolts fluted
100Nm +180 degrees. Mark nut with marker pen at 100Nm then add half turn
Make sure to hold the bolt head tight or you will strip the metal tab in the hole

 

Yep, one must watch for this. The small lock notch at the front subframe to lock the bolt cut out can be damaged.
A friend's W204 had his damaged by some dumb-azz . Full warning is here : https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ion-bolts.html

 

Recently had my 2010 Luxury E3504matic aligned at the dealer. The front camber specs are -47' to -.04'. They ended up with -21' (L) -0.03'(R). My car is pulling badly to the right with the crown of road as in on a secondary street if the road is crowned for drainage it will actually pull the wheel to the right (US roads). Could the alignment cause this or is something else amiss?

 

Setting the wheels back into alignment spec is one thing but what hold your wheels are soft rubber bushings.

To get your car drive straight again is the business of replacing seasoned front end parts... then back end links.

There's a small collection of parts to either replace one by one or all at once... before wheel alignment.
The suspension parts you haven't replaced are the next....

 

It would pull less and be better if those numbers were closer to each other

 

If they gave you the wheel alignment results printout, please post them here and we can all have a look for you, and see if we can spot anything.
My past experience is that Mercedes Dealer doesn't give it to you, but an independent garage or wheel alignment centre will.
If the roads have a lot of camber there is a tendency for the car to follow it, ie pull towards the gutter but only having slight steering error
Can also be uneven tyre wear can cause the car to wander to one side slightly
You can cheat a bit by putting an extra couple of psi in the front wheel that is on the gutter side
But sounds like you may have something that needs closer look at
Get an independent workshop to put it on the hoist and check the suspension components for wear, ie the rubber parts for wear or cracks

 

What I find interesting is how far out the toe angles were. I had had it aligned not that long before this alignment and before that.

My plan is to get those before and after alignment to see if there is a pattern that would help me figure out what is going on.

Here is what I think is true. I think that my tie rod end and ball joints are tight. I replaced the upper control arm bushings and struts.

I thought that the upper control arm bushings might have gone bad again but does the good caster numbers before the alignment say that is unlikely the case?

If all of that is true then I am thinkng Calibenzdriver's soft camber bushngs might explain it. It would seem like the right wheel would get positive camber and want to steer the car like a leaned over motorcycle.

On city roads with the right wheel near the curb it is literally yanking the wheel to make a right turn. On no crown situations it tracks fairly straightly.

Finally I should add that this tracking the crown of the road business was going on before the last alignment but maybe not as severe.

 

You've got positive camber on the right and negative camber on the left
This will push the car to the right (picture shows from front)
You need to fix the positive camber and make it negative camber

 

Thank you for the feedback. Just for the sake of clarity while the right is 1' out of spec with the spec being -4' leaving a net of -3' which I can understand with crown and maybe soft bushings it could become positive and do as you suggest cause the car to pull to the right.

The reason the dealer left it that way is that they did the alignment as part of a warranty rear subframe replacement and if they put in the camber bolts they said Mercedes wouldn't have paid for it and they didn't think that it was out enough to make that big of a difference.

Do you think that I can determine if the bushing are soft with a pry bar or something of that nature? The reason I ask is I am trying to figure out if my best course of action is to replace the lower control arms or just get the adjustment bolts and have it realigned.

 

I'm not reading the results that way
I'm reading the actual value measured as +01' on the right 1/60 = 0.017 degrees positive
So it has positive camber on the right, and will pull to the right (and get worse when cornering)

 

The way I am reading it, it says X+01' where down in the bottom it defines X = actual value outside tolerance. so I am assuming that is the amount out of tolerance, but I could see how that could be the actual value and saying it is out of tolerance.

 

Bruce is correct.

Use the AFTER column
Your LEFT FRONT CAMBER is now at -0.21' or 0.35 degrees
Your RIGHT FRONT CAMBER is now at +0.01' or 0.017 degrees.
Not only the Right Front Camber is way off target/spec, the allowable difference between L and R is only 30' or 0.5 degrees, while you are already at approx 0.53 degrees. ( corrected on 5th April 2026)

I do not know your suspension type, but I have posted complete data on Post #7 for you to verify which value your specific car suspension type should use.
However, the print out middle range value for front CAMBER being -0.26' or 0.35 degrees is acceptable.
For my suspension and car type , my front Camber is below : W212.0 with 486/ 677 Suspension
MB Target, Front, Camber at Romess height +0.12 degree = -0* 33' +-21' or 0.55 degree +- 0.35 degree ( between 0.15 degree to 0.9 degree )

The Camber/Caster correction bolt kit is a fix correction value of ADD or DECREASE and no middle value. Their effectitivity is so-so.
Do remember something, when you use correction bolt on say only Camber Arm or only on Caster Arm, both Camber and Caster Arm will change its value.
The suspension will change because the Correction Bolt is like 2mm of extra movement inward or outward, depending if you want to ADD or DECREASE value.
2mm is a big deal to our suspension.

My Rear RIGHT camber....... to correct it by +0.5 degrees, it needs 2mm longer camber arm, via adjustable camber arm.


Here is an example of me fixing front Caster which got too high from a mere 20 laps on the track, but had to use the correction bolts on the Camber Arm to fix Caster.

FRONT SUSPENSION
SACHS to Bilstein dampers alone changes the camber and caster value.
20 Laps at the track for fun, destroyed the Caster value, to outside allowable range.
Even the camber as you can see, also get pulled out from -12' to -26' for LEFT and -15' to -19' for RIGHT.



Since I was a newbie for Caster and Camber correction at this point in time, took me many tries.
Hence by 9th alignment, or 6 alignment later while experimenting with Caster and Camber bolts install.....only then I got it right.

Kinda odd that I had to use the correction bolts at CAMBER arms to fix CASTER arm value


Don't ask me why this is happening
I kinda enjoy the 6 times messing around with Camber & Caster bolts as part of the learning process. Its an educational journey.

My last alignment on 19th Dec 2025 was the 20th times.
Thus I know so well about my suspension alignment values changes from mild impact, pot holes, removing electric power steering and etc etc.
Everytime I change to new tires, I will do alignment to know value change from thicker thread depth. Every freakin millimeters will effect alignment value.
When I replaced my rear springs I do twice wheel alignment, one before new spring settling down and one after springs has settled down. I like collecting the data.
Max US$25 only per alignment session, how can I not to it often
.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate all the guidance and feedback. Just got off the phone with the dealership and confirmed Bruce's read of the alignment sheet. I also asked if they thought that the bolts could bring it back into alignment and the advisor was non commital.

I did pull the WIS that S Phihadi attached to post 7 and have one question (per the alignment sheet that the dealership provided my suspension is a 485) what is the angle in the middle of the sheet (n my case 2.76 deg)? Also the WiS is a little different than the dealership (it is -26' +22'/-21' vs WIS -22 (+/-21')

 

First you must understand how MB does its alignment values.

Number 1 data MB likes to use is the car ride height in angular form, using the Romess tool, which is an inclinometer. That is the +2.67* ( positive two point sixty seven degree) you ask about.
This angular value tells a lot of story, from screwed up suspension or out of spec suspension and is useful for airmatic capable of variable ride height.
When supension is healthy, tire is correct size, ET of wheel is proper, width of wheel is proper........ this angular value should be within spec.

The Romess tool is shown here starting at minute 04:53


.


As per Romess table : A W212.0 with 485 suspension and 4-matic, its Romess FRONT height is +2.66 degrees. ( yep difference of 0.01 to the file you use , its okey ) and allowance of +-1.5 degree.






Your Romess height as per alignment report, the AFTER for front is Left +1.80* and Right +1.70*. ( mid target is +2.66* just like WIS )
Your AFTER for rear is Left +2.20* and Right +2.10* ( mid target is +1.60 just like WIS ).
Allowable difference between FRONT Left and Right Romess height is 0.8 degree by WIS and by your print out it is 0.81 degree.




==========

Rear Romess height AFTER as per your alignment report is Left +2.20 degrees and Right +2.10 degrees.
WIS spec is +1.6 degrees with allowance of +- 1 degree., just like the mid target of your alignment report.
Allowable difference between rear Left and Right height is 0.5 degree, your alignmengt report allows 0.49 degree, basically the same.



.




Now, the beauty of having Romess Tool on an official MB or approved alignment machine with MB approved software,
the camber value can change as per how the Romess ride height also change.
The more your pressed down your suspension, the more camber you get, that is a fact, be it for rear or front suspension.
That is why knowing the ride height in Romess angle is very important for proper alignment.

So, since you front Romess height is not +2.66 degree, but is at Left +1.80* and Right +1.70*,
the software chooses mid target as -0.26' camber ( 0.43 degrees ) and not the -0.23' (0.38 degrees )
* is degrees and ' is minutes. 60 minutes in 1 degree.
Romess value is always using degree only and never minutes in WIS.

So either your car is heavily loaded during the alignment, or the springs have weakened with age and sag down, making your car technically lower and hence the camber increase.
There is no such thing as no change in 10+ years and so many miles of use on a car suspension. Values will change. Bushing gets old. Spring sunk down a bit.

I am unfortunate, because my wheel alignment shop has no Romess tool.
I use normal inclinometer only, which is also accurate but it does not have the pointy dots of the original Romess inclinometer, which make placement very accurate if and when using a Romess tool.


BTW, what is your VIN, I am curious if your car is indeed 485 suspension code. I am sure the 4-matic part is correct as it is in your signature.