Anyone tell me what these are and where they go?

When I bought my E90 M3 I was given a couple of threaded pins by the previous owner. He said they were "pinion pins" and that he took them out to help handling when he autocrossed.

I would like to put the pins back in their rightful place, but a search on "pinion pins" didn't turn up anything useful to tell me where they go and how to put them back. I would really appreciate guidance from anyone that can point me in the right direction.

That's your camber pins. Peeps pull them so they can add camber to the front wheels without adding camber plates.
What size are your front wheels and tires?


See link:
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218440

are those plutonium?
if so ,can I buy them ?

I would leave them out. A little negative camber doesn't hurt.

slicer wrote

I would leave them out. A little negative camber doesn't hurt.

I don't know about that. More neg camber up front means more oversteer. For the average Joe oversteer is deadly to himself and the public when taking an on/off ramp too fast.

There's a reason understeer is dialed-in from the factory. Then again, I think the most neg camber you can get from pulling the pins is about -1.8 degrees. That's not too extreme IMO.

IL8Apex wrote

Then again, I think the most neg camber you can get from pulling the pins is about -1.8 degrees. That's not too extreme IMO.

I'm at -1.8 without pulling pins

Okay, so I guess what I'm hearing is that removing the pins should not have caused too much deviation from factory specs. I had previously wondered if removal of the pins was causing excessive wear on my tires.

I'm just about to replace my front tires, as they're excessively wearing on the inside edge - part of the job will be to get an alignment. If the absence of the pins is damaging to tire wear I'll have them reinstalled, if they cause no harm by being out, then I'll leave them out. Any thoughts?

You bought a car from a man who said he autocrossed in it after he handed you a couple of stray bolts ? Is autocross not some kind of off road thing ?

Not a big deal. You can find more about the pins and how they work here: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=521177

Ken37.73 wrote

You bought a car from a man who said he autocrossed in it after he handed you a couple of stray bolts ? Is autocross not some kind of off road thing ?

No it is not an "off road thing". Google "autocross" or "solo" as it is called by the SCCA.

Those are the bolts to the side of frankenstein's neck. Return them to him IMMEDIATELY

InterJon wrote

No it is not an "off road thing". Google "autocross" or "solo" as it is called by the SCCA.

Hmmm. Just did that. Car park racing. Wouldn't be my cup of tea.

PAMidge wrote

Those are the bolts to the side of frankenstein's neck. Return them to him IMMEDIATELY

PAMidge wrote

Those are the bolts to the side of frankenstein's neck. Return them to him IMMEDIATELY

I have his nuts...!!!

Wellardmac wrote

Okay, so I guess what I'm hearing is that removing the pins should not have caused too much deviation from factory specs. I had previously wondered if removal of the pins was causing excessive wear on my tires.

I'm just about to replace my front tires, as they're excessively wearing on the inside edge - part of the job will be to get an alignment. If the absence of the pins is damaging to tire wear I'll have them reinstalled, if they cause no harm by being out, then I'll leave them out. Any thoughts?

Leave em out. Not a big deal. You can still align to factory specs with them out if you want. Even if you go with max camber, your tire wear won't be much worse as long as you keep your toe in check.

cripes, pulling the pins gives an extra 0.5 degrees of negative camber. you will NOT notice this compared to the stock values in everyday driving. It has absolutely no negative influence over the handling of the car, and will have minimal effect on tire wear.

in summary, throw them away and stop worrying.

Wellardmac wrote

Okay, so I guess what I'm hearing is that removing the pins should not have caused too much deviation from factory specs. I had previously wondered if removal of the pins was causing excessive wear on my tires.

I'm just about to replace my front tires, as they're excessively wearing on the inside edge - part of the job will be to get an alignment. If the absence of the pins is damaging to tire wear I'll have them reinstalled, if they cause no harm by being out, then I'll leave them out. Any thoughts?

I have -2.5 camber on the front and do not have excessive tire wear.

Ken37.73 wrote

You bought a car from a man who said he autocrossed in it after he handed you a couple of stray bolts ? Is autocross not some kind of off road thing ?

Autocross is more similar to gymkhana but with a race course made out of cones, not so much spinning and course memorization. It's not hard on the car. Speeds rarely exceed 50 mph. Autocross in Europe is called Rallycross in the USA.

For the original poster, no need to worry about it. Get an alignment and it'll be fine. Pulling the pins only gives you 0.5 degrees of additional camber - to 1.8 degrees total negative camber. Shouldn't affect tire wear very much.

IL8Apex wrote

I don't know about that. More neg camber up front means more oversteer. For the average Joe oversteer is deadly to himself and the public when taking an on/off ramp too fast.

There's a reason understeer is dialed-in from the factory. Then again, I think the most neg camber you can get from pulling the pins is about -1.8 degrees. That's not too extreme IMO.

I'm sorry scratch what I said. OP - Please put the pins back in place or you (and many families in your path) will surely die from negative camber on the next highway on/off ramp.

slicer wrote

I'm sorry scratch what I said. OP - Please put the pins back in place or you (and many families in your path) will surely die from negative camber on the next highway on/off ramp.

This thread brings the lulz..

OMG. Great thread.


I'd leave them out.