Here’s a one stop alignment specs adjustment guide you’ve been searching for. If you ever asked “What kind of alignment should I get for my E46 M3?”, you came to the right place. Here are some recommended tire sizes and alignments for your E46 M3 in a variety of scenarios.

These are meant to be used as a cheat sheet guide and may differ from different suspension setups or preferences. But generally these will get you in the ballpark so you can just fine tune by yourself.

Alignment Specs Basics:

Rear Toe In gives you high speed stability at a cost of tire wear

Camber does not affect tire wear, toe does

Front toe out +.05 may help with the inherent lazy center feel and quicker turn in for E46 M3 at a cost of additional tire wear.

Type of Driving Front Camber (Degrees) Rear Camber (Degrees) Front Toe (Inches) Rear Toe (Inches) Stock -1.0 -2.0 .18 .23 Sporty -2.0 -1.8 0 .15 Autocross -2.5 -2.0 -.05 .08 Track Day -3.5 -2.5 0 .08

Tire and Height:

Square setup (same size) allows you to rotate your wheels

Square setup will experience tram lining (car follows the imperfections of road)

Stagger setup will tend to understeer

Type of Driving Front Tires Rear Tires Front Height (in from Center Cap) Rear Height (in from Center Cap) Economical 235/35/18 265/35/18 14 14.5 Sporty 245/35/18 265/35/18 13.5 13.5 Autocross 265/35/18 265/35/18 13 13 Track Day 275/35/18 275/35/18 12.5 12.5

Rebound & Compression:

Rebound – Available on Single Adjustable Coilovers

Compression – Available on Double Adjustable Coilovers

Type of Driving Front Rebound Rear Rebound Front Compression Rear Compression Economical Stock Stock Stock Stock Sporty 60% 60% Stock Stock Autocross 50% 80% 70% 80% Track Day 80% 75% 95% 85%

Spring Rates:

Type of Driving Front Spring Rates (in/lbs) Rear Spring Rate (in/lbs) Economical 143 345 - 685 (Progressive) Sporty 450 500 Autocross 500 550 Track Day 700 800 Splitter + Wing 900 1000

Additional Suspension Tuning:

If you are interested in further tuning your shocks, please take a look at our Fine Tune Suspension and Shocks Guide. Remember, keep your bushings in tip top shape!The E46 M3 has many bushings including Rear Trail Arm Bushings (RTAB) which I recommend to replace every 50,000 miles and the Front Control Arm Bushings (FCAB) and Rear Control Arm Bushings (RCAB) to replace every 100,000 miles. Shoutout to Obioban for the awesome maintenance schedule on M3Forums.





Have an alignment to suggest or have questions about fitment? Comment Below!