Wheel Alignment

Pyscho_Si

Pyscho_Si

Pyscho_Si

Associate
Joined
30 Nov 2002
Posts
2,059
Location
Bolton
Following my last service it was recommended that I had my wheels aligned... BMW wanted nearly £275 for KTS alignment and the word to my answer was off. Had them laser aligned today by an independent who said they were 5mm out. Only issue is that my steering wheel is no longer straight. Instead of my BMW badge being in the 12 position, it is now more like the 1 position. Is this normal? Should I take it back to get it sorted? And may they have done?

Thanks in advance,

SW
 
Yes take it back and tell them to straighten it up. It clearly wasn't held down straight when they did the alignment, they should do it for free.
 
5mm out is huge, it doesnt sound like much but that car should have been eating tyres every few hundred miles.

sounds like they got lazy, you cant charge much to do alignment so they wouldnt have wanted to spend too much, on some cars it can takes a good hour to get everything spot as adjusting the steering wheel is a trial and error job and the track would have to constantly rechecked before a test drive almost every time a adjustment is made.

you dont hold anything down when adjusting alignment, it doesnt help you need the car moving on a straight flat road to see if its pulling or has a wonky steering wheel.
 
KDS from BMW isn't the most accurate either as their tollerences are bobbins. I had my M3 done once and when I saw the sheet I was shocked by how poor it was compared to a Geo specialist with far more tollerence. It was better as it was out, but not as good has it could have been.
 
I had mine done at James French 4x4 who had a brand new Hunter 4 wheel alignment machine, took about 2 hours and cost just under £100 but it's sorted out my uneven tyre wear completely and the car drives quite a bit better. BMW use the same stuff and charge 3 times as much!

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Highly recommended :)
 
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OllyM said:
I had mine done at James French 4x4 who had a brand new Hunter 4 wheel alignment machine, took about 2 hours and cost just under £100 but it's sorted out my uneven tyre wear completely and the car drives quite a bit better. BMW use the same stuff and charge 3 times as much!
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Exactly! Steer clear :D of the big money workshops and find a good specialist with Hunter/Bear etc equipment and of course, fully trained operators.
 
dalin80 said:
5mm out is huge, it doesnt sound like much but that car should have been eating tyres every few hundred miles.
/QUOTE]

38K on the fronts and 18K on the rears ... maybe I should find myself a better garage back home in SE London. Can anyone recommend anyone?
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Qeffects said:
The steering wheel is locked in the straight position while the toe and/or camber are adjusted.
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no it isnt, with the majority of equipment you have to full lock the steering to gain room to do anything.

it can be if you can get under the car to get your hand on the track rod. plus it unlikely any indy has seen a car with adjustable camber.
 
But all four wheel alignment is done on a 4 post ramp, so access to the track rods etc is pretty much free.

The system I used years ago had a steering wheel clamp; worked a treat.
 
Every garage i have ever been to has clamped the steering wheel straight. I can only talk from experience (well and my past obsession of creating the perfect track/road setup) so forgive me if you've seen otherwise but i've had about 25 alignments from about 6 different places over the past 3 years.

My local specialist who also seems to be known as the best in Scotland (you'll always see a porsche or other supercar leave before/after you) who does my 4 wheel alignments always clamps the steering wheel straight before raising up the car. He has never had to turn the wheel let alone put it on full lock to gain access to the track rods - why would you?

It is very possible that an indy has seen a car with adjustable camber seeing as I and of course many other people in the world have adjustable camber kits on their cars. Technically speaking most BMW's have adjustable camber.

Even the terrible likes of kwik fit and ats (who can only align the front wheels independently and not all 4 )use a steering wheel clamp and do not need to turn the wheels to gain access to the track rods!
 
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OllyM said:
I had mine done at James French 4x4 who had a brand new Hunter 4 wheel alignment machine, took about 2 hours and cost just under £100 but it's sorted out my uneven tyre wear completely and the car drives quite a bit better. BMW use the same stuff and charge 3 times as much!

beforesmall.jpg
aftersmall.jpg


Highly recommended :)
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Why didn't they change the left front camber?:confused:
 
Qeffects said:
My local specialist who also seems to be known as the best in Scotland (you'll always see a porsche or other supercar leave before/after you) who does my 4 wheel alignments always clamps the steering wheel straight before raising up the car. He has never had to turn the wheel let alone put it on full lock to gain access to the track rods - why would you?
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Is it CLCM ? Thats where I get my tyres/alignment carried out everyone recommended him he had a Aston DB9 in the last time I got my tyres changed.
 
Dangerous Dave said:
Is it CLCM ? Thats where I get my tyres/alignment carried out everyone recommended him he had a Aston DB9 in the last time I got my tyres changed.
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Yep the guy is great and doesn't charge over the moon prices.

CaPtBlaCk said:
Because the camber is not adjustable.
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Camber is adustable on the rear but not the front of the e39.
The front caster is adjustable by undoing the three strut tower bolts and this will affect camber but they probably didn't want to do this. I know the guy at CLCM would have recommended this if aftermarket parts weren't an option.
 
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dalin80 said:
no it isnt, with the majority of equipment you have to full lock the steering to gain room to do anything.

it can be if you can get under the car to get your hand on the track rod. plus it unlikely any indy has seen a car with adjustable camber.
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In the case of BMW, it is locked in position ~ the rack/box is centred and the steering locked. The steering wheel should also be checked to ensure that it is also centred at this point, if not then it will need to removed and aligned correctly.

In the case of a BMW dealer, then they use Beissbarth equipment which is very accurate (if treated correctly), the vehicle is also weighted to obtain the correct ride height before any measurements/adjustments are made.

KDS from BMW isn't the most accurate either as their tollerences are bobbins.
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30' minutes make all the difference!
 
my local gordons tyres charged me £32 to have a full 4wa on a hunter machine,its the way to go.
on the bmw thing,their 4wa system with the string and bobbins is all well and good but if you have any change in ride height at all(lowering springs or even a soft spring on one side) it wont be done properly
 
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