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The factory specs for the E53 rear camber ranges from about -2º14’ to -1º38’. As delivered from the dealer the rear camber on my E53 was set to -2º07’. The rear tires were replaced due to excessive inner edge wear at 21700 miles.
A wheel alignment in December indicated that the rear camber was within factory specs, but rear toe-in was slightly out of spec. If I had known that the rear camber could be adjusted, I would have requested that the negative camber be decreased and set to the opposite end of the factory specified range. But, since the rear camber was just barely within spec, only the toe-in was adjusted.
Adjusting the rear camber requires removing and replacing a one-time use bolt that attaches the rear spring link to the chassis through obround holes in the spring link. Before re-tightening the new bolt, and after removing a spacer used during the factory assembly of the car, the camber adjustment bolt can be used to set the rear camber. The exhaust system must be lowered in order to pull the long bolt rearward. The dealer tech reversed the direction of the newly installed bolt to facilitate its removal in the future without lowering the exhaust system.
The green spacer which was removed and discarded is 7.5mm thick. The clearance between the spring link and the steel bracket was reduced to about 3.5mm after the negative camber was adjusted to -1º41’.
I will have to drive 5K to 10K miles before checking to see if the decreased rear camber eliminates or at least minimizes inner edge rear tire wear.
Rear suspension before camber adjustment.
Rear suspension after camber adjustment.
Spring link position before camber adjustment.
Spring link position after camber adjustment.
One time use nuts and bolts and production line assembly spacers.
A couple of questions (and sorry if they have already been answered elsewhere or are dumb questions):
Is this an E53 sedan or wagon?
Did the dealership make these changes or did they just assist with a few things and you did the camber change yourself?
Thanks in advance...
E53 Sedan. But, the wagon should be the same set up.
The dealer did the work. Initially, the SA and tech tried to talk me out of doing the camber adjustment and just accept the excessive inner tire wear as normal for an AMG car. But, then they acquiesced and the tech was enthusiastic about the project since he had not done this job on the W214 chassis previously.
This is not really a DIY job. The long one-time use bolt that secures the spring link to the chassis is tightened using a two-stage torque procedure. First it is torqued to a specified amount and then it is turned a specified number of degrees further stretching the bolt. It would be possible to replace the bolt with the car on jack stands or a residential lift and do an "approximate" alignment. But, if you fully tighten the bolt before taking the car for an alignment, the bolt would have to be replaced again if the negative camber was not exactly the angle you wanted.
The only thing I did myself was to remove the rear tire and take some before and after photos.
I suspect that once some independent shops realize that the rear camber can be changed they may make an adjustment and reuse the bolt if they are unaware (or don't care) that it is a one-time use bolt.
Thanks for the response...it was just your pics were so detailed and you appear to know a lot about the process...was just making sure if this occurs when my E53 wagon is delivered that I can go to MB to have the work done from them. Again...thanks for the info on it happening and how to correct. That is why I feel this forum is so good...
Wagons come with the same green spacer from the factory as well. I thought the dealer had forgotten to remove some sort of shipping fixture during PDI at first. I imagine the spacer obviates the need for some assembly step that they'd otherwise have to do during or after the marriage of subframe to chassis
Wagons come with the same green spacer from the factory as well. I thought the dealer had forgotten to remove some sort of shipping fixture during PDI at first. I imagine the spacer obviates the need for some assembly step that they'd otherwise have to do during or after the marriage of subframe to chassis
The green spacer allows the steel bracket to be rigidly secured to the spring link while the car is being assembled. The camber adjustment bolt is inserted through an unthreaded hole in this steel bracket and then threaded into the spring link. Without the spacer, the initial negative camber would be outside the factory specified range unless the bracket was flopping around which would make attaching the spring link to the chassis more difficult. The long one-time use bolt also passes through two unthreaded round holes on the opposite end of the steel bracket. This design anchors the steel bracket to the chassis allowing the camber adjustment bolt to move the spring link with the long bolt passing through the obround holes is loosened.
The camber adjustment bolt can be turned clockwise to pull the spring link inwards to reduce negative camber. As far as I can tell, the weight of the car is what "pushes" the spring link outward to increase negative camber when the camber adjustment bolt is turned counterclockwise.
The factory specs for the E53 rear camber ranges from about -2º14’ to -1º38’. As delivered from the dealer the rear camber on my E53 was set to -2º07’. The rear tires were replaced due to excessive inner edge wear at 21700 miles.
A wheel alignment in December indicated that the rear camber was within factory specs, but rear toe-in was slightly out of spec. If I had known that the rear camber could be adjusted, I would have requested that the negative camber be decreased and set to the opposite end of the factory specified range. But, since the rear camber was just barely within spec, only the toe-in was adjusted.
Adjusting the rear camber requires removing and replacing a one-time use bolt that attaches the rear spring link to the chassis through obround holes in the spring link. Before re-tightening the new bolt, and after removing a spacer used during the factory assembly of the car, the camber adjustment bolt can be used to set the rear camber. The exhaust system must be lowered in order to pull the long bolt rearward. The dealer tech reversed the direction of the newly installed bolt to facilitate its removal in the future without lowering the exhaust system.
The green spacer which was removed and discarded is 7.5mm thick. The clearance between the spring link and the steel bracket was reduced to about 3.5mm after the negative camber was adjusted to -1º41’.
I will have to drive 5K to 10K miles before checking to see if the decreased rear camber eliminates or at least minimizes inner edge rear tire wear.
Nice write up. Thanks for the information. It should reduce inner tire wear and improve fuel efficiency. The improvement may be minor, but I am interested in hearing the results after 5,000 and 10,000 miles since your car is now adjusted to minimal negative camber within spec.
Camber tire wear on AMGs is real. I prefer the more neutral handling on AMGs, but they do go through tires.
Wagons come with the same green spacer from the factory as well. I thought the dealer had forgotten to remove some sort of shipping fixture during PDI at first. I imagine the spacer obviates the need for some assembly step that they'd otherwise have to do during or after the marriage of subframe to chassis
I wonder if the non-AMG E450 W214 chassis use a different thickness (and color) spacer to set the initial rear camber closer -1º30'. Perhaps a curious E450 owner will investigate and chime in on this thread.
OMG MB added back the ability to adjust camber after long time of not being able to -
Not a normal way but none the less it can be adjusted....
This design is also used in the W206 C-Class sedan and the X254 and C254 GLC SUV chassis. The +/- range of adjustment is probably not as great as it is with an aftermarket solution like K-MAC bushings, which have a range of +/- 2º. The factory design is probably limited to +/- 1º which is more than enough to set the camber to any angle that is within the factory spec. Using the factory method of adjusting the camber is not really practical for making frequent street/track changes because of the one-time use bolt which should be replaced whenever the camber is adjusted.
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