Alignment - E63
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 488
Likes: 4
From: Seattle
1992 911 C4, 2008 P2 E63 AMG (gone but not forgotten), 2007 SL65 Renntech
Alignment - E63
So the noise I was hearing turns out to be the tires on the front. (or so the tech at the dealer believes) The fronts are feathered a bit and uneven across them. It doesn't pull under braking but on the freeway if you take your hand off the wheel it will start going to the right. Not terrible but it does that. I made an appointment for the alignment and am ordering new tires from tire rack. The alignment is $149.99 at the dealer. They did mention that if the camber "bolts" are no good they need to be replaced and that is one shop hour so an alignment can reach $800 worst case.
Question.... How often are the camber "bolts" in need of replacement?
I am going with Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires. I have them on my 911 and like them a lot. Very good for the wet weather we get here in Seattle.
Question.... How often are the camber "bolts" in need of replacement?
I am going with Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires. I have them on my 911 and like them a lot. Very good for the wet weather we get here in Seattle.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 260
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
Porsche 911
The "camber bolts" are special slotted bolts that mate up with nubs inside the bushing to provided a predetermined amount of adjustment. Otherwise the car can only be adjusted for toe.
The same bolt can be used for camber adjustment (on the lower control arm) or caster (on the thrust arm). The bolt runs about $25 at the dealer and $10 online.
If your car is pulling to one side, it is most likely needing a caster adjustment (aside from tire issues). I had the same scenario and was very successful in solving the issue by adjusting caster.
1 hour seems a bit high two swap two bolts but this is a dealer we are talking about.
The same bolt can be used for camber adjustment (on the lower control arm) or caster (on the thrust arm). The bolt runs about $25 at the dealer and $10 online.
If your car is pulling to one side, it is most likely needing a caster adjustment (aside from tire issues). I had the same scenario and was very successful in solving the issue by adjusting caster.
1 hour seems a bit high two swap two bolts but this is a dealer we are talking about.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 488
Likes: 4
From: Seattle
1992 911 C4, 2008 P2 E63 AMG (gone but not forgotten), 2007 SL65 Renntech
The "camber bolts" are special slotted bolts that mate up with nubs inside the bushing to provided a predetermined amount of adjustment. Otherwise the car can only be adjusted for toe.
The same bolt can be used for camber adjustment (on the lower control arm) or caster (on the thrust arm). The bolt runs about $25 at the dealer and $10 online.
If your car is pulling to one side, it is most likely needing a caster adjustment (aside from tire issues). I had the same scenario and was very successful in solving the issue by adjusting caster.
1 hour seems a bit high two swap two bolts but this is a dealer we are talking about.
The same bolt can be used for camber adjustment (on the lower control arm) or caster (on the thrust arm). The bolt runs about $25 at the dealer and $10 online.
If your car is pulling to one side, it is most likely needing a caster adjustment (aside from tire issues). I had the same scenario and was very successful in solving the issue by adjusting caster.
1 hour seems a bit high two swap two bolts but this is a dealer we are talking about.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 260
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
Porsche 911
Not sure about DIY but it's not that hard. Maybe a 5 or 6 on a scale of 10.
The issue is that you really need to make adjustments at the time of alignment because you need to know the baseline number to know what adjustment is needed.
The issue is that you really need to make adjustments at the time of alignment because you need to know the baseline number to know what adjustment is needed.
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 458
Likes: 3
'08 E63 Wagon
Some info here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...help-help.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...help-help.html
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Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 369
Likes: 53
07' E63
I paid some shop to align and correct the pull to the right over $700 and the car still pulled right! In fact the "engineer" ended up calling his friend that was a "tech" and was errently told to extend (-) outward the Passenger Side Air Spring (Cross Strut) Arm and reduce (-) the Driver Side Camber. This caused it pull even harder to the right!
After thoroughly reviewing the DIY's here, I managed to correct the problem myself. After my replacing the Thrust (Torque Strut) Arms, Ball Joints, rebuilding my engine, etc, I knew that I already had the "Camber/Crash bolts on all fours. Here's what you need to do:
1. Jack up front of car halfway and use Star/Xentry to release air from front Air Struts.
2. Jack it up fully and use your jack stands.
3. Use Star/Xentry to manually release air (down to 3 bar) from each of the front Struts. This will enable you to freely move the Control Arms. Ideally you will Start out from Neutral, meaning all Arms have not Crash Bolts in but Normal Round ones set in the middle of the eyelets of each Bushing.
4. To create a more Positive Camber Passenger Side, Unbolt the Passenger Air Spring Control Arm and use your knee placed (with knee pads on) securely in a spot such that you can use shoulder to push Passenger tire in ( - ). I found I had to push it foreword as well in order to place the bolt in correctly as the inboard Bushing hole (teeth) need to be angled out in order for the slots of the bolt to catch properly. You shouldn't feel as if you can twist the bolt causing the arm to move. This feeling means that both slots on the bolt have not caught both internal teeth. Alternatively, if you Adjustable Upper Control Arms (ie-F1 Fabrications), then you can simply raise the car with a jack up front until you have enough room in the wheel well to adjust with the Tires still touching the ground. Also be sure to deflate all air from the front doing this. Then I remove the upper NUT, leaving the pin installed in the Carrier. Then you can push up on the Arm freeing it from the pin and then you loosen the locknut and rotate either halfway or one complete revolution, bearing mind that half a rotation is something like 5 minutes of a degree?? Angling the tire more will cause a pull that direction, keep that in mind. Flattening it out will cause it to turn the opposite direction.
5. To Adjust Passenger Caster to correct pull to the right, Unbolt Passenger Thrust Arm and pull the wheel inboard ( + ) forward. This is the more subtle action resulting in less effect on Camber than is when adjusting the Air Spring Arms. As such, you may want to try this one adjustment first? When doing this, never combine it with setting the Air Spring Arm retracted (+) inwards as this is the one NO-NO!!! If you ever adjust the Air Spring (Cross Strut) arm to adjust Camber to be more ( + ), you never combine that with pulling the Torque Arm Forward ( + ),
6. Unbolt Driver Air Spring Control Arm and pull wheel inwards ( - ) to create less Camber on the Driver Side. Alternatively with Adjustable Upper Arms, you can do the same as above, only unscrewing the Heim Joint slightly.
7. Unbolt Driver Thrust Arm and extend it backwards ( - ). I used a long lever to pry the Thrust Arm out with one hand and installed the bolt with other. You can combine this with
8. Don't fully tighten bolts, just make sure they are snug.
9. Use ramps or other form of raised platform for front wheels and then lower car just until the tires touch and then lower another inch and lock jack, use Star/Xentry to inflate front suspension to 7bar. I used two pieces of cardboard and taped aluminum foil to one side and sprayed some Worth HSS Lube on the aluminum side and sandwiched them together to place under the tires to release suspension binding. The same can be done using glossy magazines, or salt between linoleum tiles.
10. Lower car fully on ramps/platform, then tighten Camber/Crash Bolts.
Note: Doing this will change your alignment. I used a string attached to a gas Can behind the rear bumper and pulled it Level with the Centerline of the rear wheels and pulled it across Centerline of front tires to measure toe. Of course I made sure the steering wheel was straight using a level across the steering wheel lined up with the horizontal stitching on the wheel itself. Alternatively, I could have used STAR/DAS>Steering Column to set to "0". With a ruler touching the tire sidewall under the string, pull string away from front edge of tire and see how far away from front side of tire the string moves before it stops touching the trailing (rear) side of tire. On the Driver Side, because you increase (+) Camber by pulling wheel inboard, there very well may be toe-out, so while on the ramps, adjust the toe accordingly using the string as a reference. Then lower car from ramps and re-check your toe with string method or use angle iron flush to the bottom edges of the fronts wheels by elevating the iron on bricks and measure the difference in distance between the rear and front using two tape measures and divide by two to determine total average toe or use the rectangle around car approach with string equidistant from each wheels center cap and measure difference from string to front and rear of wheels.
By no means are you going to get perfect results straight off the bat, but I managed to correct my drastic pull to the right using the above setup. I also had installed F1 Fabrications Adjustable Upper Control Arms and increased the negative (-) Camber Passenger Side to correct this problem as well.
After thoroughly reviewing the DIY's here, I managed to correct the problem myself. After my replacing the Thrust (Torque Strut) Arms, Ball Joints, rebuilding my engine, etc, I knew that I already had the "Camber/Crash bolts on all fours. Here's what you need to do:
1. Jack up front of car halfway and use Star/Xentry to release air from front Air Struts.
2. Jack it up fully and use your jack stands.
3. Use Star/Xentry to manually release air (down to 3 bar) from each of the front Struts. This will enable you to freely move the Control Arms. Ideally you will Start out from Neutral, meaning all Arms have not Crash Bolts in but Normal Round ones set in the middle of the eyelets of each Bushing.
4. To create a more Positive Camber Passenger Side, Unbolt the Passenger Air Spring Control Arm and use your knee placed (with knee pads on) securely in a spot such that you can use shoulder to push Passenger tire in ( - ). I found I had to push it foreword as well in order to place the bolt in correctly as the inboard Bushing hole (teeth) need to be angled out in order for the slots of the bolt to catch properly. You shouldn't feel as if you can twist the bolt causing the arm to move. This feeling means that both slots on the bolt have not caught both internal teeth. Alternatively, if you Adjustable Upper Control Arms (ie-F1 Fabrications), then you can simply raise the car with a jack up front until you have enough room in the wheel well to adjust with the Tires still touching the ground. Also be sure to deflate all air from the front doing this. Then I remove the upper NUT, leaving the pin installed in the Carrier. Then you can push up on the Arm freeing it from the pin and then you loosen the locknut and rotate either halfway or one complete revolution, bearing mind that half a rotation is something like 5 minutes of a degree?? Angling the tire more will cause a pull that direction, keep that in mind. Flattening it out will cause it to turn the opposite direction.
5. To Adjust Passenger Caster to correct pull to the right, Unbolt Passenger Thrust Arm and pull the wheel inboard ( + ) forward. This is the more subtle action resulting in less effect on Camber than is when adjusting the Air Spring Arms. As such, you may want to try this one adjustment first? When doing this, never combine it with setting the Air Spring Arm retracted (+) inwards as this is the one NO-NO!!! If you ever adjust the Air Spring (Cross Strut) arm to adjust Camber to be more ( + ), you never combine that with pulling the Torque Arm Forward ( + ),
6. Unbolt Driver Air Spring Control Arm and pull wheel inwards ( - ) to create less Camber on the Driver Side. Alternatively with Adjustable Upper Arms, you can do the same as above, only unscrewing the Heim Joint slightly.
7. Unbolt Driver Thrust Arm and extend it backwards ( - ). I used a long lever to pry the Thrust Arm out with one hand and installed the bolt with other. You can combine this with
8. Don't fully tighten bolts, just make sure they are snug.
9. Use ramps or other form of raised platform for front wheels and then lower car just until the tires touch and then lower another inch and lock jack, use Star/Xentry to inflate front suspension to 7bar. I used two pieces of cardboard and taped aluminum foil to one side and sprayed some Worth HSS Lube on the aluminum side and sandwiched them together to place under the tires to release suspension binding. The same can be done using glossy magazines, or salt between linoleum tiles.
10. Lower car fully on ramps/platform, then tighten Camber/Crash Bolts.
Note: Doing this will change your alignment. I used a string attached to a gas Can behind the rear bumper and pulled it Level with the Centerline of the rear wheels and pulled it across Centerline of front tires to measure toe. Of course I made sure the steering wheel was straight using a level across the steering wheel lined up with the horizontal stitching on the wheel itself. Alternatively, I could have used STAR/DAS>Steering Column to set to "0". With a ruler touching the tire sidewall under the string, pull string away from front edge of tire and see how far away from front side of tire the string moves before it stops touching the trailing (rear) side of tire. On the Driver Side, because you increase (+) Camber by pulling wheel inboard, there very well may be toe-out, so while on the ramps, adjust the toe accordingly using the string as a reference. Then lower car from ramps and re-check your toe with string method or use angle iron flush to the bottom edges of the fronts wheels by elevating the iron on bricks and measure the difference in distance between the rear and front using two tape measures and divide by two to determine total average toe or use the rectangle around car approach with string equidistant from each wheels center cap and measure difference from string to front and rear of wheels.
By no means are you going to get perfect results straight off the bat, but I managed to correct my drastic pull to the right using the above setup. I also had installed F1 Fabrications Adjustable Upper Control Arms and increased the negative (-) Camber Passenger Side to correct this problem as well.
Last edited by E63007; Oct 31, 2021 at 02:41 PM.
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 6,020
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From: Alexandria, VA
07 E63 AMG, 10 C63 AMG, 07 E63 Designo, 07 E350, 09 C300, 07 C230
The DW are for Dry/Wet and the DWS are for Dry/Wet/Snow. Continental doesn't manufacture the DWS anymore, their now called the DWS 06.
The DWS can still be sourced, as some tire carries still have them in stock.
The DWS can still be sourced, as some tire carries still have them in stock.
