I fitted new wheels to my E30 the other day and one of them sits differently to the rest, i never noticed it before on the standard wheels though... The guy at F1 tyres said my tracking was slightly out, but could not explain then difference in the way the two front wheels sit, he said maybe when suspension was changed it wasnt lined up poperly? Anyway here are pictures to show the differences between the two, oh and before anyone says, I know they're slightly illegal

 

Looks the same to me, but the pictures are from slightly different angles. If you've not had the tracking done since you put the new wheels on, you're probably as well having it done.

 

Theres a lot more wheel and tyre visible on the passenger side, trust me!

 

looks like the camber is different.

 

Yes, it looks like all the wheels have a negative camber, apart from the passenger front which has absolutely none.

 

has it possibly had one new bottom arm?

 

Wouldn't know, not while i've had it anyway. I'm thinking maybe a bent strut?

 

hi m8. had a similar problem on my ecos turned out to be a bent strut! if you can get it on a ramp and measure the gap between the edge of the spring cup and the inner wing you should determin if this is the case without taking it apart! looks a good 20 mm difference to me!

 

I'll get the tape measure out tomorrow but I reckon it is bent, seems like the most obvious thing

 

try e30 zone mate

 

Haha i got two threads running, one here one on the zone

 

Anyone got any other ideas about this? I've been away for a while and only now have time/money to address the problem. Got tomorrow off so any suggestions on what to check/measure/look for?

 

front suspension control arms bend very easily with relatively small impacts. jack it up and compare the shape of the track rod ends.

 

Ok i'll have a look. This is right at the bottom nearest the wheel yes? I recall last time I had it up that the the rubber and the bolt did not sit flush, i.e. it looked slightly out of place...

 

different width wheels?

 

No, tried one of the other wheels on their and still got the same problem, wheels are all identical

 

2 different types of struts????

 

the track rod arms are a bent shaped anyway but an impact with a kerb or pothole can bent them out of shape.

 

Been out to look today...
Checking just by sight its hard for me to tell as i'm not sure what im looking for exactly. The two pictures below show either sides arms, now the first pic (the side with the problem), the arm appears to be angled down more so that the other, but its hard to tell.



Took closer pics of the arms/joints to see if anyone else can spot anything untoward...




Also as someone mentioned on another site, this doesn't look right either...

 

its either gonna be a slightly bent leg, are they the 51 mm struts? or possibly the wrong lower arm on the passenger side, possibly an m3 one cus of the slightly different track, possibilities, when have you noticed this first, and there is defferences in the bushes aswell, eccentric and concentrc, have u changed any bushes?

 

No, not changed any bushes...There is a lot more thread showing on the TCA on the passenger side compared with the drivers side...If the tracking is not out (whihc it isnt) does this point to them being different parts?