When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Here is what virtually everyone needs. It is a MB camber bolt part # 000-333-10-71 (2 required), about $35 for 2. This will give 1/3 degree positive camber. Very easy install any decent front end shop can do it If you are mechanically inclined you can do it yourself. This will not totally solve the negative camber issue but will go a long way and probably will make the majority of people happy. As previous poster stated correctly " there trying to make a 4500 lb. car corner like a 2000 lb. car" Hope this helps fellow forum members. Be safe.
Here is what virtually everyone needs. It is a MB camber bolt part # 000-333-10-71 (2 required), about $35 for 2. This will give 1/3 degree positive camber. Very easy install any decent front end shop can do it If you are mechanically inclined you can do it yourself. This will not totally solve the negative camber issue but will go a long way and probably will make the majority of people happy. As previous poster stated correctly " there trying to make a 4500 lb. car corner like a 2000 lb. car" Hope this helps fellow forum members. Be safe.
Great info, everyone - Rick - this is just the front, right? My biggest issue was rear. I think a combo of those camber bolts, plus maybe just the rear UPD kit (or equiv) is the solution here.
I did talk extensively with my local performance shop and they agreed 100% - came back with 'this is 99% camber, 1% toe' to summarize. They think a near zero toe in with appropriate camber adjustment is a solution to the tire wear problem. Hashing out a quote with them now and will update the thread. Paging @shardul . . .
Great info, everyone - Rick - this is just the front, right? My biggest issue was rear. I think a combo of those camber bolts, plus maybe just the rear UPD kit (or equiv) is the solution here.
I did talk extensively with my local performance shop and they agreed 100% - came back with 'this is 99% camber, 1% toe' to summarize. They think a near zero toe in with appropriate camber adjustment is a solution to the tire wear problem. Hashing out a quote with them now and will update the thread. Paging @shardul . . .
Yes this is for the front.. For the rear the only real answer is the K Mac kit from Australia. They also have a kit for the front that will take out anywhere from 1 to 3 degrees of neg camber. Kits are $480+ship. SLIGHT toe in is good. This will keep the car from wandering. The ebay kits push the top of the rear tire out (not a good thing) the K Mac kits pull the bottom of the tire in. If you are reasonably conservative driver the rears should not be much of a problem. If you're stop light happy the car squats alot and brings in the camber.
Was thinking of getting the camber plates up front and the bushing in the rear fromK-Mac, doing some reading, there have been some failures of the KMAC stuff, these were old threads, unsure if they have addressed this now?
Was thinking of getting the camber plates up front and the bushing in the rear from K-Mac, doing some reading, there have been some failures of the KMAC stuff, these were old threads, unsure if they have addressed this now?
Would suggest you call them, they have a number on there web site, and discuss your concerns. I personally do not think this is a big issue. Also some tires are more prone to edge wear. Bridgestone makes a tire that is more camber friendly. (seriously). Virtually all car makers are going the fixed front end, toe only adjustment. The numbers shown for alignment on previous post are pretty much standard for MB, 1 1/2 neg front and 2 1/2 neg rear.
I've got a decision to make. Not sure if camber arms are the right solution. Leaning toward 2 oem pirellis run em at 42 psi and see what happens on factory alignment spec. 13k miles isn't terrible based on all I've read here.
Last post from me on this (for this go round). Went with the 2 replacement OEM P-Zeros. Dealership has an 'alignment' guy. I brought up the front camber bolts to my Service Advisor, and he said something interesting. Alignment tech loves to install the camber bolts on just about every car - it's easy money for the Tech and corrects camber. Advisor says he recommends it on most cars, but not on ours. Tech likes where it aligns just fine without them. Plus, it's rear wear that was our issue. Net, I'm not doing any aftermarket rear suspension mods, going to live with it as-is and hope for 10k+ out of the rears. Not touching the front either on recommendation from the dealership guys.
'03 E55, Range Rover Sport Supercharged, Ducati 748R
Originally Posted by cemeek
Last post from me on this (for this go round). Went with the 2 replacement OEM P-Zeros. Dealership has an 'alignment' guy. I brought up the front camber bolts to my Service Advisor, and he said something interesting. Alignment tech loves to install the camber bolts on just about every car - it's easy money for the Tech and corrects camber. Advisor says he recommends it on most cars, but not on ours. Tech likes where it aligns just fine without them. Plus, it's rear wear that was our issue. Net, I'm not doing any aftermarket rear suspension mods, going to live with it as-is and hope for 10k+ out of the rears. Not touching the front either on recommendation from the dealership guys.
Final alignment:
if I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard a dealership tell me about their “special alignment guy” or how he likes the alignment the way it is and how it’s well within spec. All a bunch of bs because these cars can’t be set up to wear tires properly.
I am seeing the same issue on my 2011 W212 AMG. Put new tires on it and had it aligned at the dealership and 15k miles later the inside of the front tires are worn out.
The dealer is blaming it on a mild front end drop that was there when i bought the car and when they did the alignment... twice. I don't know how the front end drop was done, but there is no rubbing.
The dealership is encouraging me to bring the front height back to stock, but doesn't know if the car has Airmatic all around or just on the back... concerning!
Can the alignment be done properly knowing the front end is lower than stock or do I really need to replace the front coil overs? Or as this this thread asks... is there another part that can be added to stop the excessive tire wear?
I am seeing the same issue on my 2011 W212 AMG. Put new tires on it and had it aligned at the dealership and 15k miles later the inside of the front tires are worn out.
The dealer is blaming it on a mild front end drop that was there when i bought the car and when they did the alignment... twice. I don't know how the front end drop was done, but there is no rubbing.
The dealership is encouraging me to bring the front height back to stock, but doesn't know if the car has Airmatic all around or just on the back... concerning!
Sounds like you should go to a different dealership. I am pretty sure, while I am no dealer, that from 2010 to 2016 E63's come with Air suspension in the rear only. You most likely have lowering springs up front. Maybe you even have lowering links in the back. Find a good speed shop local to you. I avoid dealers like the plague. Hope you get this this issue resolved.
Lol, even with this alignment, its basically like wrangling a pig compared to my others cars. Its almost winter, im going to tackle this when I do my winter wheels swap over and just get the camber bolts from KMAC and hopefully be done with this stupid problem. today highlighted something for me, this is a car setup to handle well on the street. on a track is like a floppy sack of lard. I still love it for what it is, but man, its not a car that does anything special on a track, its just a fast road missile.
Guys if your rear Toe is less than positive 0.15 on each side you will get rear shoulder wear. I ran -2.5 camber in the rear on several road cars with good wear in the rear by simply toe'ing it in. On one car I even had it at positive 0.22 on each side
The camber I am seeing on here is minor and does not require kits or bolts, Toe in some more and you will be fine. The toe makes up for somewhat looser than new bushings that flex when the car is being driven.
Guys, I have extensive knowledge of this after wearing out the front insides after 15k miles stock height Pilots.
Fronts
Try the Mercedes camber and caster bolts. 2 needed per side. The OEM arms have an oval hole with 4 tabs inside. The OEM bolt goes in the center of the tabs. The camber/caster bolts have slots that fit into either the inner or outer tabs. This results in a fixed adjustment inward or swap the grooves around and it goes outward. There are pics online that makes sense out of this. If you do this replace all 4 because the arm controlling caster also moves camber inward. If you got under the car you would see exactly what I am taking about. Be careful though because a poor mechanic can screw up and not get the slots aligned and only install one groove. Then you will have other issues. The bolts have a notch on them and when installed properly it will align with the arm.
This doesn’t take camber to zero but helps. Something like adjustable arms or kmac bushings have a wide range of adjustment but expensive and not without drama for some.
Rears
slotted bolts do not apply. The arms do not have oval holes and the slots. Options here are adjustable arms which are really cool and expensive or kmac which are also pricey. I left mine alone for now because my really bad wear was on fronts.
"The tech is giving us 2 options. Option 1 is to replace both the shocks and springs just in case the shocks have been affected due to the vehicle riding that low for some period of time. Option 2 is to just replace the springs but there want be any guarantee on the ride height. To make sure everything will be in order, I will recommend going with option 1. ($6499.00) Let me now if you have any other questions."
How can you not garuntee the ride height if the springs are returned to stock? Is there really a concern that the shocks will have issues due to shorter springs?
Absurd. Go somewhere else. Find out what has been done. If ride height is lower but matches front to rear then rear was Star lowered or links or something.
Then decide if you want to raise it.
Then decide on things like camber bolts or bushings to reduce camber.
Same issue on my car, worn to the cords on the inner treads after 12k miles, with little wear on the rest of the tread. Both the dealer and an independent alignment shop says this is "as-designed" and there is nothing that can be done.
Thanks for the replies. I asked the dealer is they can adjust the camber and this is their reply...
"Yes sir! But please be aware that with us maxing this out we may affect the way the vehicle drifts to the right or left when you let go of the steering wheel. We will not know until perform the alignment"
Basically taking a $400 gamble we can help the tires last longer. Any other thoughts about how to approach this without replacing the front shocks and springs?.
The bolts (4) cost $50 total and take an hour to install. I did it in my garage. They pull in camber a small fixed degree. It helps but doesn’t solve world hunger.
It is simply pulling out a bolt, inserting a screwdriver, shifting arm inward to align the tabs, insert new bolt with grooves into 2 of the tabs, validating the line on bolt head is in alignment with arm, lowering car, tightening.
Then get a good alignment to set toe. The car is not going to wander down the road.
The dealer added the additional bolts and re-aligned the car. Seems to drive a little better than before. Hopefully this will help keep the tires from wearing out after only 15k miles.
Lol I have negative 2 to 2.5 degrees in all my lowered amgs over the last few years and never had a problem with tire wear like what you guys are complaining about. I have never bought any bolts or kits on any of the 3 MBs I've lowered in the past either, no special sauce alignment numbers.
Increase your Toe to combat that camber and poof goes your tire wear issues
Or you can continue with what you are doing so far....
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
