After recently renewing stock shocks and fitting new Eibach Sportline springs, I had a 4 wheel alignment done at my local indy...here are the results:
The problem is - I feel as if the rear is slightly detached/loose, and I'm wondering if it's anything to do with the set up. i know that the mech had problems getting the rears tuned in due to the car being lower (and on 19's).
The two rear tyres are new (few weeks run in), the RTAB's are powerflex.
Front wishbone and bushes are also recently renewed.
Seems ok at lower speeds, but is noticeable at 70mph
Anybody with knowledge of the alignment stats able to give me their opinion on whether the set up is ok, or causing the problem ?
Thanks for the replies so far..quite a few mentions re 'toe in' at the rear and the nearside front camber.
I contacted the garage with some of your observations (just to clarify - it's a BMW Indy garage, with the proper 4 wheel alignment machine),
The guy said that the car is lower than standard, therefore cannot be brought into manufacturer spec (which I understand and spoke about pre alignment). He also said that in this regard, each car is different and therefore without physically seeing the car, no-one can comment with authority on the settings. I asked about the front n/s camber - he said that this was the best they could do adjustment wise on the strut mount ?!?..he suggested buying M3 top mounts or camber plates. various reasons were offered including the possibility of a bent hub (no!) or problem with the wheels - he suggested I source a different set of wheels to test the settings.
The thing is, I only changed out the last springs and struts due to a broken rear spring - the old springs, as with the new, were Eibach sportlines and previous alignments at the local BMW stealer seemed to work out fine (they compensated for the car being slightly lower on a best guess basis - seemed to work).
On this occasion, the bmw indy removed the factory pins to get more adjustment on the top mounts - this wasn't done on any previous alignments at the stealership.
Anyways, he said to take the car back in on Monday and they'll see if anything's moved ....was only done two days ago !?!
He also said that if they made any adjustments then he would need to charge again !...at £90, shouldn't I expect the car to be spot on first time and any adjustments required done so at his time/expense ?
You need to add some rear camber to it. I would think it would have excess rear camber being lowered and not enough. Camber can help add stability in turns but im not sure at highway speed
It doesn't pull immediately right, but yes, It does seem to tend to go right, especially over undulations (and believe me, there are plenty of those in Scotland - the moon has a better driving surface !).
Might also want to check out your rear trailing arm bushings. Might just be a coincidence that your bushings started going out around the same time as the alignment. Worn rtabs will make your rear end feel loose.
Guys...with regard to the front n/s camber etc....
Do you think that I will be unable to improve upon the negative camber etc due to the Eibach Sportline ride height and as such, does that mean I will need to consider a camber kit ?... Would rather not, as the car is only for street use and I have spent a small fortune on it already !
Little update - took in all then points made and returned to the indy - the mech took the car out with me and agreed with regard to the 'loose, wooly feeling'. he made some alignments corrections and hey presto...the car feels much better. (the guy couldn't have been nicer and went out of his way to help at no extra cost - beats the stealer anyday!)
One more thing worth mentioning - having recently fitted a recon' rack, I felt that the steering was light and lacked feel - adding to it's tendancy to follow undulations - i gave the rack pre-load adjuster a couple of a 1/8th turn clockwise and the steering is A1 - nicely weighted and less eager to follow undulations.
Sorry it took me so long to get back....nightshift
Here's the updated printout:
You will see that the alignment had actually changed from the first above (within the space of a few days).
I'm sure that the front n/s will still look out to some, but with the added tweaks, all I can say is that the car is handling superbly at all speeds.
Highly recommend the indy (Mtek - Rutherglen Glasgow for anyone closeby)...they're quite content to spend the time with the customer to get it right - recently changed out my steering column and had to recalibrate the steering angle sensor - software required - they did it for free !:clap:
Thanks for posting the sheet. I say with the new settings, toe looks good, rear camber looks good, and front camber is a bit uneven. But if it handles well, that's the most important thing!
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