After dealer alignment: excessive rear camber

[pmizell]

Well I drove down to the local MB dealer today to align my 300E after replacing virtually all front end steering/suspension components and installing new tires.

Tech returned 2 hrs later and told me that I have negative camber in the rear (2+ in) AND in the front (1in) that couldn't be corrected due to incorrect ride height (too low) and he suspected the springs.

The springs were changed 3 years ago but are OE aftermarket (not lowering springs) and when I changed them out I went to a bump lower pad front and back (from 3 to 2 up front and 2 to 1 in rear). I told him this but he still seemed to think the springs were bad or out of spec.

My question(s):

--how bad will neg 2.3 rear camber and neg 1.4 front camber prematurely wear my new set of tires? ($550)

--if I change the spring pads back to spec ... 3 bump front 2 bump rear will that increased ride height significantly improve those camber #'s?

It's interesting to note that after the tech's rear camber adjustment the neg camber actually increased. (albeit small)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!