DIY: Let's pull the front alignment pins

Very straightforward. Thank you for the write-up.

Be careful, I sheered off one of the three 13mm bolts on the strut tower. So, now I will be purchasing a new retainer for $110. Sucks! I had a torque wrench to proper spec; just bad luck. Go at them gently.

Nicely done Rich.

Anyone in socal friendly enough to lend a helping hand (and a garage) to do this on my car?
Maybe at a track day? (Preferably not)

My outter tread is bald already lol.

Reviving this thread just to say I successfully pulled the pins over the weekend following this DIY. It was super easy. Thanks Richbot for the write up!

So I just did this and have EDC. It's quite simple. I did it while I was changed the oil so the car was on ramps with the drivers rear jacked up. Start one side from start to finish at a time and you will have no EDC errors. There is no reason to disconnect the wires!

Start by pulling the cover off the top of the shock- large rubber. Then you will see where the cable gromett goes into that. Pinch and push it back into the body so you can pull the large rubber cover over the wire. Now you see the 3 13mm bolts. remove them. Then remove the bolts on the strut brace. The are a bit tricky to get a socket on. However, if you have a buddy pull the plastic firewall cover back a little you can get straight on with an impact.

Now the fun part. You have to pivot the top strut mount over the three bolts while dipping the bolts on the opposite end. If you do it in the correct twisting motion while pulling up on the silver strut brace to give clearance it will come off. Then just twist out of the way to get at the allen head. Remove the alignment pin with the allen.

Then take a prybar and push against the sheetmetal and the top strut washer being careful to not nick the rubber. You want to go towards the engine. with a little fudging it will just move all at once. Now you're done. Reassemble pivoting the strut brace moutn back then use blue locktite on all threads. Viola .5+ negative camber. I have no EDC errors. Stoked!

Just did this this weekend. Very easy. Both of my pins came out with an allen key.

If you are worried about stripping the pins and you want to reuse I would jack up the entire front of the car and drop the strut out of the chassis as with the strut in the car there is some side load on the strut which causes friction when removing the pin.

Also, I didn't bounce or move the car around before putting back together. I didn't really understand this step as I don't see why it matters to bounce the car, etc before the top hats are bolted back up vs. after during the first drive?

I did this during my H&R race springs install along with e36 bumps. Final alignment camber is -1.6 and -1.9 lowered on the front.

Is there a reason no one is filing/grinding the strut tower camber slots further to elongate them for just the cost of some touch up paint?

Unless there is something in the way underneath, or the hat wouldn't seat correctly, I don't think it would weaken it too much.

what is the torque value for the 8mm bolts?? and what tools should I use to torque it? Cant use my torque wrench, there is not enough room.

holy foook, the black brace circle took me 2 hours to remove.

what does it mean "to bounce the suspension?"

Kunman wrote

what is the torque value for the 8mm bolts?? and what tools should I use to torque it? Cant use my torque wrench, there is not enough room.

I just use an 8 mm socket on top of a handle (looks like a screwdriver handle). I torque it by hand to a low reasonable tightness.

what does it mean "to bounce the suspension?"

Before tightening the 3 brace lugs, you push the car forwards or backwards a few yards, while your buddy energetically rocks that corner. This ensures none of the parts stick or bind together due to some residual tension.

AndrewV wrote

Is there a reason no one is filing/grinding the strut tower camber slots further to elongate them for just the cost of some touch up paint?

Yes, it's called a camber plate. I bought a BNIB GC from a forum member for $300 and it allowed my alignment shop to do the settings I wanted to perfection.

I experimented with almost 3 degrees and did not like it for street driving (not sure I even knew how to take advantage of it on track), so now I'm around 2.2 if not mistaken.

And the old OEM plates are ready to go back on in 30 min per side if i want to.

adc wrote

I just use an 8 mm socket on top of a handle (looks like a screwdriver handle). I torque it by hand to a low reasonable tightness

thank you

Just finished. I would recommend to anyone thinking of upgrading their suspension parts to try this mod first. The steering feedback has improved tremendously, and its free!!

Quick question:

Is this process reversible? and, if you decide to do camber plates down the line because this doesn't achieve camber you want, do the pins need to be re-installed before the camber plates.

Exclusivs wrote

Quick question:

Is this process reversible? and, if you decide to do camber plates down the line because this doesn't achieve camber you want, do the pins need to be re-installed before the camber plates.

It is reversible only if you are very careful when removing the aluminum pins, and don't damage their threads.

The good news is that you don't really need the pins, ever. They are just a shortcut used by BMW to get the front suspension into a known configuration. You can change the camber back to stock settings even without the pins.

And if you go with aftermarket camber plates, the pins must come out anyway.

I did mine and it is just as easy as every one says. I did not move the car - just moved the shocks in to the very end - no errors and no problems.

Did this DIY today also, easy, did not disconnect the EDC, tricky part was taking off the strut brace part, everything else pretty straight forward. Tomorrow some testing

I followed this very nice guide for my Wheel allignment

Only question I have: I did not put the pins back on

After my Wheel allignment, the holes where the pins are screwed could no longer be seen

No problem to not use the pins, right ?

Thanks Rich.

Thanks for sharing. I just had my pins pulled and my alignment done by a track alignment pro. Interestingly the negative camber from the factory on my ZCP car was already -1.3 and -1.4 and he adjusted it to -1.5 on both sides after pulling the pins. Not much difference but it was a freebie and I'll take it!

I followed this DIY. My car has EDC, so, I popped the dust cover off and disconnected the EDC plug at the top of each strut; after that the work in the DIY is the same for EDC equipped cars. The whole process took about 10-15 minutes per side....it is really easy. I torqued the 6 top mount bearing bolts to 25 ft-lbs and the strut bar nuts as tight as I could with a long 13mm box end. I have a smart camber gauge and measured an additional -.4 degrees on each side after the work; with no EDC error codes.

Thanks to Richbot for making the DIY and to everyone that did the work and posted their results.

Had the alignment shop max out the camber. I got -1.6 on the left and -1.7 on the front right. Why do you think they are different?

MPower7 wrote

Had the alignment shop max out the camber. I got -1.6 on the left and -1.7 on the front right. Why do you think they are different?

Not uncommon -- typical production tolerances or maybe even the result of wear and tear over the years. The car's weight isn't symmetrical left-to-right anyway.