Wheel Alignment Questions

[Jazzbass 1]

car: 1996 E39 528iASE ~ BV73821

I had my car's wheel alignment done yesterday and the steering wheel is no longer straight and level. The mechanic told me that this was due to the significant changes he had to make to the rear alignment and that it will right itself.

I am very dubious about this, as I've had many wheel alignments and never had this before.

Also, looking at the report sheet, I see the vehicle is listed as:

Autodata-shim 200 - BMW E39 Touring series

Now a touring is of course a station wagon and my car is a sedan.

My questions are:

1. did the mechanic lie about it coming right?

2. is there a difference between touring and sedan wheel alignment specs?

I'd sure appreciate your input, before I go down there after work and make an idiot of myself

[bravo 34]

I don't know about e39's but e30's tourings and sedans are the same as far as wheel alignment specs go.

Again - not sure about e39's, but e30's you can't make any adjustments to the rear alignment.

Finally - a wheel alignment could change the steering wheel position to some small degree, but any reputable place would surely spend the 2 or 3 minutes moving it 1 or 2 splines to make it straight again.

[Jazzbass 1]

I thought about removing the wheel and doing it myself, but I'm scared of the airbag.

Also - they forgot to close the toolholder in the boot lid after they finished, so I had tools falling out into the boot. Rather careless, I thought.

Edited June 29, 2006 by Jazzbass

[Jazzbass 1]

Update. I phoned the owner of the firm and its booked back in sarvo for correction. I think the mechanic is going to get a kick up the bum. I don't like that part, but at least it'll be sorted.

We BMW drivers can be fussy sods, can't we... :thumb:

[CaM 0]

yuh looked a little fishy.

which firm was it, if you don't mind me asking?

[E30stz 0]

How do you determine whether your car needs a wheel alignment. I only ask this because my steering wheel is out (more than a bit) but my car doesnt track to one side and it doesnt seem to have any other steering issues.

Cheers

Andy

[E30stz 0]

sorted my issue.. previous owner had taken the steering wheel off.

[OLLIE 26]

when performing an alignment the mechanic normally puts a brace on the steering wheel to hold it level and aligned, he then makes his adjestment to the tie rods etc.. and when done the wheels should be inline and so should the steering wheel, if they arené then hes a f**king twat.

only exception to this is if your steering wheel wasn't near level in the first place, and therefore it'd be up to you to take your steering wheel of and line it up.

conclusion, get them to do it again properly.

[Steve K-B 51]

Every 10,000km is pretty extreme. Wheel alignment places try and get you to come back about once a year (20,000km). If your tyres are wearing ok, i would even bother with one.

On an off note, i got a wheel alignment done on my crapper today and my steering wheel was a bit off. I thought they would have fixed it but...... nup

[topless 7]

I was taught wheel alignment many years ago by one of the best back in SA, wonder if the grumpy old git is still alive... (hello Jack if you are still around... :bowdown: )

Even back then it was pretty obvious that the vast majority of people with alignment machines were totally incompetent.. they could follow the computerised steps but had no concept of what they were trying to achieve. Much like there are very few real mechanics or panelbeaters around anymore, most are simply spare parts fitters, unable to diagnose or fix anything other than bolt on bits and hope for the best...

One of the fundamental rules in wheel alignment is to check that the left and right turn is the same, so if you get your car back and the steering wheel is crooked, you can put your money on the fact that, when you get in the car and test the turning full lock left and right , that one will be greater than the other, and that the plonker that did the job hadn't a clue what he was doing... any competent aligner will check this AND correct the steering wheel if it still happens to be off centre.

Modern cars with airbags in the steering wheel show up useless aligners.. (this because airbag steering wheels are so tricky to remove and replace). I would bet that the idiot that did Jassbass' car picked on the road wheel that was out of alignment and used it as the correct wheel and adjusted the correct wheel to suit the wheel that was out of alignment and this resulted in the steering wheel being off-centre. Guaranteed he did no check afterwards to see if the full-lock turnings were equal.

Unfortunately there is no way to tell how competent the person is, probably best to use someone who specialises in wheel alignment only or someone who comes recommended by people who are deeply involved in motorsport and rely on proper alignment to achieve results in races...

(My opinion anyway..) :confused:

Will

[martyyn 2]

Update. I phoned the owner of the firm and its booked back in sarvo for correction. I think the mechanic is going to get a kick up the bum. I don't like that part, but at least it'll be sorted.

We BMW drivers can be fussy sods, can't we... :thumb:

Jazz, you dont need to feel bad about an incompetant fool getting a good kicking. If they guy had done it right in the first place he wouldnt have this trouble would he.

I also dont see how expecting a proper job can be seen as fussy !

Not doing up the toollid would be enough for me to go around and give them an earful. Thats just careless.

[kiwi535 538]

agree with the last two poster...the problem is finding the good uns...what the hell was he doing in the tool kit anyway?

[Grant 4]

what the hell was he doing in the tool kit anyway?

looking for your wheel lock nut adapter?

[Jazzbass 1]

Thanks guys. Yes he had the wheels off, I guess.

Its all sorted and I'm happy again. Funny how something as trivial as a crooked steering wheel can diminish one's driving pleasure.

I had the courtesy car for a day while my car was in the shop and it was a Holden Commode. After driving that around, it was just so good to get back into my own car. I've only ever had a couple of Holdens and there won't be another in my future!

[nazistaffcar 0]

possibly the biggest problem with aligning is the fact that the majority of guys doing the job follow their computer screen regardless of the facts of lowered/modified suspension, driving style, condition of the average NZ road(which is utter crap), but most importantly that their machine has never been calibrated right......THE best in Auckland is Tyreworx in NewLynn for a few reasons including that they use mechanical guages(older than the ark and Jesus was trained to use them) which are a lot more accurate-used by formula 1 teams for final alignment and that the guys doing the job actually care about what they are doing and they have more experience than the rest of the tyre shop monkeys in Auckland........simple solution would you trust a backyard mechanic to care for your pride and joy or do you take it to a professional?????????????