Lomag

I noticed this on my car many months ago and never thought anything of it. I've also noticed it on peoples cars who posted pics here too... so I'm sure its ok but anyway it bothers me for some reason.

My front rims are perfectly straight but the rear wheels are crooked. Prior to my tire replacement the wheel was crooked sticking out more on top than on the bottom -- is that called camber? Like this, looking at the car from the rear:
CAR /

Anyhow.. since I got my new tires I noticed that it is the same and it also sticks into the car on the right side more. So in other other words, the top left side of the rim sticks out while the bottom right side sticks in.

Again I'm not sure why that is. The rim on the left side is the same way but in that case the bottom left of the rim sticks in and top right sticks out more. I had an alignment done when they replaced my tires but I didnt think alignments changed the rear wheels? The front wheels are flat and fine...

Here's a pic to show you what I mean. Any ideas?

noonehome

looking from the back my wheels camber like this / CAR \

This makes sense to me. As you put lateral G force the contact patch will increase.

Also @ 9k miles I still have plenty of tread life and verly little noise.

As for you question, new cars especialy cars like our have 4 wheel alignments.

Your camber does not look correct to me.

paasan

Hey.. after taking a second look, this doesn't look very normal.. hm..

This page could explain some of it.

kscarrol

This normal on BMWs, mine has it (rear tires) and in fact I recall reading about the camber of the rear wheels being done like that to improve handling. I think it was an article in Roundel. Anyway, I'm at 11,000 miles and there is no abnormal wear on my rear tires.

noonehome

I'm not sure who you were responding to. But Lomag's and my wheels camber in different directions. The tops of his wheels point away from the center line and mine point inwards towards the center line. Sorry I can't find a good picture to demonstrate.

CRRobert

Lomag, just checked mine, and looks same as yours. Both of the rears have the front tilted in towards the center of the car.

Rudy

Lomag, it's hard to decipher exactly what your car is doing. Are you describing a camber or toe-in toe-out issue?

Use the following page to help you determine what you're describing:
http://www.justtires.com/services/wheelTerms.html

BMW's do have some negative camber on the rear wheels (my E39 had it and my E60 has it) so if that's what you're noticing, that's probably normal.

Also, your dealer should have done a 4-wheel alignment. If they only did the front wheels, they aren't doing things properly...

Lomag

I still don't get the difference between the two.. the pictures look the same. I'm sure the dealer did the alignment properly, I hope. I remember before it looked like I had positive camber on the rear wheels -- the upper half stuck out while the bottom half went in -- but you said it should have been negative? Like this:
\ CAR /

Now I still have that slight positive camber but it seems like the right portion (of the right wheel, left portion of the left wheel) goes in towards the car while the back portion sticks out. I'm guessing thats toe-out? So they did something and I'm hoping its right. I sent this thread to my dealer for check-up

arnolds

No..it should be like this.

/CAR\

jsal

From the picture you took, it sounds like you are referring to the "toe-in look" versus the normal BMW rear wheel camber /CAR\.

Your picture looks the same as my 545. The wheels are actually parrallel to the axle, it is just a visual deception since the fender behind the tire is flared out more than the fender/door in front of the tire.

So standing where you were and looking down at the tire/rim, it looks like it is cocked.