Winters Tyres on and Alignment Nightmare
Discussion
Hi, I'm looking for some advice & opinion on this....
My car is a 2014 BMW F31 330d M-Sport
Having just fitted winter tyres to my 18" 400M alloys.
Staggered wheels sticking to OEM tyre sizes.
8J Fronts running 225/45R18
8.5J Rears running 255/40R18
I asked to get the car aligned... which resulted in 3 repeat visits!.... First two times the car felt notably terrible as soon as I drove out of the garage and didn't even run straight with the wheel.
Third repeat visit was to another branch they sent me to as they had a Hunter machine, seems to be resolved now (Or atleast feels/drives as expected).
But..
I have been told that the rear arms can't be adjusted to manufacturer suggested setting (Seems strange ?)
Is it possible they've used the wrong specs to align the car ? It feels fine but I would have thought the rear could be altered to desired specs as it is on stock suspension and wheels.
Overall a pretty terrible experience and they charged me in total £115.00 for the pleasure..... I couldnt even be bothered to argue come the 3rd visit, I just wanted the car back and feeling as it should.
See the images attached from the Hunter Alignment.
Appreciate you reading this long post!
Any comments or advice would be great.
Pre Alignment
Post Alignment
My car is a 2014 BMW F31 330d M-Sport
Having just fitted winter tyres to my 18" 400M alloys.
Staggered wheels sticking to OEM tyre sizes.
8J Fronts running 225/45R18
8.5J Rears running 255/40R18
I asked to get the car aligned... which resulted in 3 repeat visits!.... First two times the car felt notably terrible as soon as I drove out of the garage and didn't even run straight with the wheel.
Third repeat visit was to another branch they sent me to as they had a Hunter machine, seems to be resolved now (Or atleast feels/drives as expected).
But..
I have been told that the rear arms can't be adjusted to manufacturer suggested setting (Seems strange ?)
Is it possible they've used the wrong specs to align the car ? It feels fine but I would have thought the rear could be altered to desired specs as it is on stock suspension and wheels.
Overall a pretty terrible experience and they charged me in total £115.00 for the pleasure..... I couldnt even be bothered to argue come the 3rd visit, I just wanted the car back and feeling as it should.
See the images attached from the Hunter Alignment.
Appreciate you reading this long post!
Any comments or advice would be great.
Pre Alignment
Post Alignment
Speaking as a technician who uses a hunter daily. Yes I can see why it drove terribly before the third alignment. I have never done your car, so don’t know if the rear camber is adjustable. I still wouldn’t be happy. Your front toe difference and rear thrust angle should both be 0!
It’s not going to handle great and will scrub the tyres quicker. I don’t know how hard it is to adjust the rear toe on your car, but not getting the fronts equil is pure laziness! I would get your money back and go to someone who knows what they are doing.
It’s not going to handle great and will scrub the tyres quicker. I don’t know how hard it is to adjust the rear toe on your car, but not getting the fronts equil is pure laziness! I would get your money back and go to someone who knows what they are doing.
Speaking as a technician who uses a hunter daily. Yes I can see why it drove terribly before the third alignment. I have never done your car, so don’t know if the rear camber is adjustable. I still wouldn’t be happy. Your front toe difference and rear thrust angle should both be 0!
It’s not going to handle great and will scrub the tyres quicker. I don’t know how hard it is to adjust the rear toe on your car, but not getting the fronts equil is pure laziness! I would get your money back and go to someone who knows what they are doing.
It’s not going to handle great and will scrub the tyres quicker. I don’t know how hard it is to adjust the rear toe on your car, but not getting the fronts equil is pure laziness! I would get your money back and go to someone who knows what they are doing.
Was this a BMW garage?
I took my Z4 a few years ago and it was done fast and absolutely to spec (all middling green bars based on BMW design values) with ballast added etc.
That was £120 ish so not much to get it perfect for the exact car spec.
I'd not think twice about using BMW again for alignment as the car was a dream to drive.
Also note EPS needs rack centering and resetting.
If steering wheel is off then they've just ignored rack centre, TREs adjusted badly, and kinematics like Ackerman will be out... subtly, but I'd argue it should just be 100% because it's very little extra effort to do so, vs doing a crap job.
I took my Z4 a few years ago and it was done fast and absolutely to spec (all middling green bars based on BMW design values) with ballast added etc.
That was £120 ish so not much to get it perfect for the exact car spec.
I'd not think twice about using BMW again for alignment as the car was a dream to drive.
Also note EPS needs rack centering and resetting.
If steering wheel is off then they've just ignored rack centre, TREs adjusted badly, and kinematics like Ackerman will be out... subtly, but I'd argue it should just be 100% because it's very little extra effort to do so, vs doing a crap job.
Find yourself a Hunter alignment place. Costs me just under £100 at Infiniti Stockport and it's perfect both times I've used them.
BMW have sent both cars out with the steering wheel noticably off centre and declared that the alignment is perfect according to their system, and yet on both occasions they were miles out when checked on the Hunter system.
I can't see any reason why the rear of the F31 won't be fully adjustable like preceding generations of the 3 series, or even the current D20 1-series as one of our cars is.
BMW have sent both cars out with the steering wheel noticably off centre and declared that the alignment is perfect according to their system, and yet on both occasions they were miles out when checked on the Hunter system.
I can't see any reason why the rear of the F31 won't be fully adjustable like preceding generations of the 3 series, or even the current D20 1-series as one of our cars is.
It was done on Hunter, and was wrong.
Non BMW won't centre the rack or reset EPS centre so all the EPS and so ESP stuff could be out too.
Clearly the issue is finding someone competent to begin with, and who will also have the kit to do it absolutely right too.
A good BMW garage seems the best place to go for the price of they're competent.
Non BMW won't centre the rack or reset EPS centre so all the EPS and so ESP stuff could be out too.
Clearly the issue is finding someone competent to begin with, and who will also have the kit to do it absolutely right too.
A good BMW garage seems the best place to go for the price of they're competent.
Swervin_Mervin said:
Find yourself a Hunter alignment place. Costs me just under £100 at Infiniti Stockport and it's perfect both times I've used them.
Like anything, the Hunter machines are only as good as the operator using them. I've seen some right hash ups with them!Back on topic where are you in the country? I'd go to the following if in the Midlands
-BT Tyres in Rugby. No Hunter machines but he is very switched on and is a fellow petrolhead with quite a bit of knowledge ; he's corrected a few botched alignments for me
.-Spire Technologies in Leamington Spa.
-A-Line in Dudley ; they are pretty good and cheap from what I hear.
Another thing. Are your winter tyres new or were they part worns?
Mr Whippy said:
It was done on Hunter, and was wrong.
Non BMW won't centre the rack or reset EPS centre so all the EPS and so ESP stuff could be out too.
Clearly the issue is finding someone competent to begin with, and who will also have the kit to do it absolutely right too.
A good BMW garage seems the best place to go for the price of they're competent.
1: Was it? I can't see where the OP has said that.Non BMW won't centre the rack or reset EPS centre so all the EPS and so ESP stuff could be out too.
Clearly the issue is finding someone competent to begin with, and who will also have the kit to do it absolutely right too.
A good BMW garage seems the best place to go for the price of they're competent.
2: Yes they will centre the rack. No idea about the EPAS but we haven't had any issues with our F20 since having it done at Infiniti
3: Indeed
4: A good garage will be the best place to go. If they happen to be BMW then great. But IME, all the ones around here are fairly turd, and they don't get trusted to do anything other than warranty work. Even then, the alignment on ours was only required after that warranty work had been carried out...
Edited by Swervin_Mervin on Thursday 16th November 10:00
The original post mentions hunter for the final alignment which feels better but still not right.
There is no mention of correct spec and tolerance ranges on the printout.
Do they even know them at these alignment places?
Agree maybe I've been lucky with my BMW garage.
But given their TIS and data resource and so on, I'm sure they're able to do the job absolutely right if required.
Most alignment places I've seen in the past just do a shoddy job and centre a rack with the existing steering wheel only, and a brace against the seat.
No actual rack based centreing (ie, the actual thing that needs centering to do the entire job right)
There is no mention of correct spec and tolerance ranges on the printout.
Do they even know them at these alignment places?
Agree maybe I've been lucky with my BMW garage.
But given their TIS and data resource and so on, I'm sure they're able to do the job absolutely right if required.
Most alignment places I've seen in the past just do a shoddy job and centre a rack with the existing steering wheel only, and a brace against the seat.
No actual rack based centreing (ie, the actual thing that needs centering to do the entire job right)
Yes the final alignment at the original garage (Tyrespot, in the North East) was a Hunter. Print outs match those I've seen in other threads discussing Hunter threads so confident it was.
Car is booked into BMW this afternoon for a full alignment, £120.00 which I didn't think was bad having read prices others say they've paid at the stealers.
I got a full refund from Tyrespot also, after just one email with the alignment results attached they gave me a full refund over the phone no questions asked...
I'll post up the before and after results from BMW once I have them, curious to see the results!
Car is booked into BMW this afternoon for a full alignment, £120.00 which I didn't think was bad having read prices others say they've paid at the stealers.
I got a full refund from Tyrespot also, after just one email with the alignment results attached they gave me a full refund over the phone no questions asked...
I'll post up the before and after results from BMW once I have them, curious to see the results!
So following the BMW alignment, the car felt 100% better, however I noticed upon leaving the dealership the steering wheel was not centralised... I had to get away for work so lived with the steering wheel slightly to the right for a few days.
Returned it to the dealership to have this corrected... and the steering wheel is now central, car feels fine.... But & I don't know if its just me, I feel the car felt better when pushing on down some B roads after the first alignment even with a non central steering wheel as opposed to the second....
I really didn't know getting a car aligned was such a massive pain. The alignment print outs from the 1st and 2nd are attached below. Any opinion on them is appreciated.
First BMW Alignment (Steering Wheel Not Straight):
Second BMW Alignment:
Returned it to the dealership to have this corrected... and the steering wheel is now central, car feels fine.... But & I don't know if its just me, I feel the car felt better when pushing on down some B roads after the first alignment even with a non central steering wheel as opposed to the second....
I really didn't know getting a car aligned was such a massive pain. The alignment print outs from the 1st and 2nd are attached below. Any opinion on them is appreciated.
First BMW Alignment (Steering Wheel Not Straight):
Second BMW Alignment:
I worked in the motor retail industry for years. No doubt this sounds obvious, but anyway....It's about the guy using the equipment rather than the equipment being used. Doesn't matter what franchise you are visiting, whatever make of vehicle, it's about who deals with the problem on that day, or doesn't deal with it as in this case. Get to know your service personel, find out who's good and has real experience, and who couldn't give a f#ck. Make sure the good guy deals with your vehicle everytime you visit .
Hi
At work, so can't look at the pics in detail.
On my F31 340i, the only adjustable suspension components, I have been told, are the two toes and the rear camber. What I did was ask BMW to print off and send me the official suspension settings for my car. It was a battle, but they eventually did it. I then took it to my local and well respected tyre shop and said please set the car to these settings. They did so.
The rear camber settings on your car look different to the 340i, so I can't comment on the actual settings.
However, the mind plays tricks and I am constantly over-analysing how the car feels after every visit to have the alignment done. As long as you have the right factory settings and the guy has matched them as closely as possible and the car feels generally fine, I think you will be ok.
At work, so can't look at the pics in detail.
On my F31 340i, the only adjustable suspension components, I have been told, are the two toes and the rear camber. What I did was ask BMW to print off and send me the official suspension settings for my car. It was a battle, but they eventually did it. I then took it to my local and well respected tyre shop and said please set the car to these settings. They did so.
The rear camber settings on your car look different to the 340i, so I can't comment on the actual settings.
However, the mind plays tricks and I am constantly over-analysing how the car feels after every visit to have the alignment done. As long as you have the right factory settings and the guy has matched them as closely as possible and the car feels generally fine, I think you will be ok.
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