How do I set the front toe on an E36/46?

At minimum you'll need a tape measure, 13mm box end wrench, 24mm box end wrench, and possibly some penetrating oil like Liquid Wrench. (The job can be done faster and a little more accurately with Toe Plates, but this description is how you would do it without them.)

- All measurements need to be done with the car on the ground with the suspension completely settled. If you've had the car up on jacks (changing tires, adjusting camber plates, etc.) roll the car back and forth or drive it around to settle the suspension.

- Check to see what the front toe setting is. This is most easily done with a helper, but can be done by yourself. You are going to be measuring the distance between the front tires at the front of the tire and again on the back side, with the goal of making the distances identical -- or zero toe. Pick a tread groove or tread block that is symmetrical on the tire so you'll get a consistent measurement at the front and the rear of the tire. When taking both measurements, take it as high up on the tire as possible without allowing any part of the suspension or chassis to bend the tape and distort the measurement. If the measurement in the front of the tire is shorter than the rear, you have toe-IN. If the measurement at the rear is shorter you have toe-OUT. You want both measurements to be equal meaning you have ZERO toe.

If you need to adjust the toe...              (this can all be done with the car on the ground)

- First, loosen the 24mm nut holding the locking collar in place on both tie rods.

- Once the 24mm nut is loose, loosen the locking collar by gently tapping it away from the tie-rod end.

- With a 13mm wrench on the inner half of the tie-rod, rotate the inner half to either lengthen (more toe-in) or shorten (more toe-out) the tie-rod to adjust the toe setting to ZERO.

- If the tie-rod is "stuck" and won't rotate to adjust, spray the threads with Liquid Wrench or other penetrating oil (WD40 will work), let it sit for a while, and try again. If it still doesn't loosen after soaking for 24 hours (or less if you're impatient), use a propane torch to gently heat the OUTER end of the tie-rod to make it expand just enough to free the threads, but not enough to damage the ball joint. Try not to heat the inner (male) portion of the tie-rod... the goal is to cause the outer (female) portion of the tie-rod to expand, thus freeing the threads to turn.

- If the necessary adjustment is slight (1/2-turn or less) you'll only need to adjust one side. If you have to make a large adjustment, you'll probably want to do 1/2 of the total adjustment on one side and then do the other 1/2 on the other side... this will keep the steering wheel centered. If, when you're done, the steering wheel is off center when driving on a straight and level road, go back and adjust the tie-rods as needed to center the wheel (and keep the alignment at zero toe.

- Be sure to settle the suspension (roll the car back and forth) after every adjustment and before measuring again or you may not get an accurate measurement.

- When you're happy with your setting, be sure to tighten the 24mm lock nuts.

The first time you do it it may take you 30-45 minutes, but with some practice you can get that down to 5-10 minutes or less. And if you're careful it's extremely accurate, too. When I use my home-made toe plates, I can get it within 1-2 tenths of a degree of our shop's computer operated alignment rack.

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