Wheel alignment - Specialist Suspension place expensive. Worth it?

Nasher said:
Where ever I've been, I always have to go back 2-3 times because they don't get the steering wheel straight :/
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I had that on one of the Mrs's cars, before I learned a little bit about alignment.

The car did feel slightly wayward, so when I took her car in to a tyre place to get two tyres replaced I took them up on their offer to check and adjust the alignment.

They did the tyres and alignment and the car did feel fine, but after the Mrs did a few trips she said she'd noticed the steering wheel was wonky.

I hadn't noticed but sure enough it was, just a bit.

I took it to a dedicated alignment specialist and he took me under the car to show what happened. One of the tie rod ends had seized, so they'd left it and forced an over adjustment on the other side to get both sides of the alignment machine out of the red and into the green for toe.

With a bit of heat he unseized stuck side and adjusted the toe properly.

I don't really blame the tyre fitters, they're probably pushed to offer these extras and though they have a machine they are not alignment experts and just move things back and forth until everything is in the green.

Needless to say, since then I only use an alignment specialist for our cars.
 
if your car is a beemer, why don't you go back to a BMW dealer and have them do it properly for you
It'll probably be more expensive, but at least they'll use all the correct weights etc
 
tamzzy said:
if your car is a beemer, why don't you go back to a BMW dealer and have them do it properly for you
It'll probably be more expensive, but at least they'll use all the correct weights etc
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Don't give up your day job...

Comedy gold that you think stealerships know what they are doing
 
Haze said:
Comedy gold that you think stealerships know what they are doing
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They'll have someone who has been trained by the manufacturer to use the manufacturers recommended alignment system to align the car to factory standards. You can probably argue a specialist alignment place would do a better job in that they'll allow a level of customisation, but the idea that the authorised workshop will have no idea what they are doing doesn't really work.

I'd be surprised if a main dealer didn't do at least as good if not better a job than a tyre place and neither will be as good as a dedicated wheel alignment specialist.
 
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Haze said:
Don't give up your day job...
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i haven't that's why i can afford to go to bmw to get it done by them :P

Haze said:
Comedy gold that you think stealerships know what they are doing
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there'll be a minimum acceptable standard which will probably be far in excess of any back-of-alley random garage shops
yes a specialist garage will probably be better, but i guess it's peace of mind that you can go back to bmw if something goes wrong
 
I took it there in the end. They described it as a "full geo" if that makes any difference. It does feel much much better.

I'll probably not do it in the future, but was curious what this place was like. But £250 + VAT isn't cheap...
 
IMO geo sits in the same category as suspension, wheel, brakes and tyre quality. They all help to ensure that you don’t drive off the road and can stop in a timely manner.
I’ve never understood the view of “yeah, eco tyres are fine”. It’s as though said person thinks that they’ll never have a need to conduct an emergency stop.

Do it right, might save your own life and someone else’s.
 
If you ever drive a car with good tyres on the front and budgets on the back, you quickly learn the budgets are NOT fine :D
 
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Local tyre fitter said the joints had seized when I wanted to get mine done. I took it to Williams BMW near Trafford Centre and they did it for about £100 and provided the before and after report from the Hunter. Assume they gave it some heat/had a bit more patience with it than the tyre fitter.
 
EvilRob said:
Local tyre fitter said the joints had seized when I wanted to get mine done. I took it to Williams BMW near Trafford Centre and they did it for about £100 and provided the before and after report from the Hunter. Assume they gave it some heat/had a bit more patience with it than the tyre fitter.
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Or they didn't adjust it. Before and after is just a slight tap on the sensor.
 
GarethSouthgate said:
Or they didn't adjust it. Before and after is just a slight tap on the sensor.
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Could be, but I think it's more likely they are used to BMWs being like that and just dealt with it. If they couldn't sort it they would be happy to charge me to replace the joints.
I'll know once the tyres have worn down a bit as the wear was terribly uneven previously.
 
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Got mine done at Swift Performance last year, car felt noticeably better afterwards, turn in is so much better. it wasn't £250, more like £150, I'd say its worth it. But then I do take mine on track.
 
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