Alignment Woes and Centered Steering Wheel

[JustSomeGuy]

I installed my Mason brace this past weekend. It was necessary for me to move the left strut in order for the Vorshlag camber plate bolts to line up with the holes in the brace. Since I moved the strut I thought it prudent to have the alignment checked. On my drive to BMW to have the alignment peformed the car tracked straight, steering wheel was dead on. I have the BMW Performance steering wheel so the little display window really makes it apparent if the steering wheel is centered. Well, after they put the car on the rack to check if it was in spec, and according to the print-out it was, I began my drive home. This is when I noticed that the steering wheel was no longer dead on. It was slightly turned to the right when going straight. If I lined up the display window to what I thought was centered the car tracked to the left. I brought the car right back to BMW, they put it back on the rack, did an alignment, asked me to test drive, and the steering wheel is still off center. They swear to me they did nothing put hook up the sensors when they initially checked the alignment, but I know the steering wheel was dead on before that.

Any thoughts on what I should do to get the steering wheel back on center. It really drives me crazy not to have a centered steering wheel.

Thanks
...butch

[bradford]

If you're positive that the wheel was dead center when they aligned the car, then I would recommend checking your right side tire pressures to see if one is *very* low.

[pit1]

I have the same recurring battle with my steering wheel. It's almost always tilted a few degrees to the right, and more emphasized at lower speeds. I've had it aligned 5 times now, though at NTB. It was 75% corrected after they swapped my rear wheels, the tracking was dead on, but steering angle was still slightly off at low speeds. Most interesting, when I'm at speed, on a level surface, the track and steering angle is dead on. Then I slow on rough surface, and the wheel pulls to the right on every bump.

I've asked NTB to align the wheel when on the rack, by adjusting tire rods...again, it's perfect at speed in middle lane, but low speeds and it's always off to the right.

I'll have a specialty shop re-check when Star Specs are mounted.

[arrutled]

If you have more camber on one side or the other you will pull. I know that much. so if the wheel is straight and your going right you have too much camber on the left. since you have adjustable camber plates, pull the left one out a little bit. don't worry about the toe. I believe you can adjust the camber 1.5 degrees before you will begin to alter the toe.

[JustSomeGuy]

If you're positive that the wheel was dead center when they aligned the car, then I would recommend checking your right side tire pressures to see if one is *very* low.

Bradord, yes I'm sure it was dead on. With the little display on the steering wheel it makes it quite apparent. I have a highway drive to the dealer and was commenting to myself how nice and centered steering the steering wheel / tracking was. I took your advice and checked the tire pressures. All are in spec. I'm wondering if something "dropped" a little when they first had it up in the air for a state inspection. I just recently had the PS installed and possible something is loose (?)

pit1, I think we are experiencing different issues. This just occurred after the dealer had it. Good luck with Star Specs !

If you have more camber on one side or the other you will pull. I know that much. so if the wheel is straight and your going right you have too much camber on the left. since you have adjustable camber plates, pull the left one out a little bit. don't worry about the toe. I believe you can adjust the camber 1.5 degrees before you will begin to alter the toe.

arrutled, the car is steering to the left when I center the steering wheel. The steering wheel is off only a few degrees. However, if I center it the car will track to the left.

Man, this is really annoying. Here I think I'm doing the right thing and wind up with this issue. I'm a CCA member. I'll hit up the tech advice for assist. On other cars I've had there was a steering wheel play adjustment that would bring the steering wheel back on center. Don't know if the bimmer has one....

Thanks for your input ~!

...butch

[arrutled]

just reverse my logic. reduce your camber on your passenger side. every time I adjust mine I ended pulling a different way. Just try it. loosen three nuts, slide it out and go for a drive.

[bradford]

Originally Posted by JustSomeGuy

Bradord, yes I'm sure it was dead on. With the little display on the steering wheel it makes it quite apparent. I have a highway drive to the dealer and was commenting to myself how nice and centered steering the steering wheel / tracking was.

What I meant was, did you actually see the wheel in the perfectly centered position AS they did the alignment? It sounds like they just aligned the car with the wheel slightly off center, in which case you have no ill effects except an annoyed driver.

[JustSomeGuy]

Originally Posted by arrutled

just reverse my logic. reduce your camber on your passenger side. every time I adjust mine I ended pulling a different way. Just try it. loosen three nuts, slide it out and go for a drive.

arrutled,

You were absolutely correct in your analysis of my issue. Would be an easy fix however for me it has become much more involved due to the Mason strut brace. I could only pull the strut out very little due to the tight tolerances of the brace. I wound up having to slot the three holes on either side of the brace, trimming the bar by 2mm on each side where it wraps around the stock diagonal mount, and then trimming the washer on the nuts that go into the taller portion of the brace. I then had to enlarge the holes where the Mason diagonals attach as they no longer lined up. This was quite a bit of metal work on my steel bar. Now, in order for the bar not to look hacked and to prevent rusting I feel the need to have it powder-coated again. This may be an isolated issue affecting only myself, but I would suggest that people buy the aluminum brace in case they need to perform some adjustments to the bar (no rusting will occur). I originally bought the brace to help with strut tower top deformation. That nice thick Vorslag plate along with the wrap-around design of the Mason bar reinforces this area very nicely. Wish someone made a kit for this type of reinforcemnt as they do for the Mini.

...butch

[arrutled]

Originally Posted by JustSomeGuy

arrutled,

You were absolutely correct in your analysis of my issue. Would be an easy fix however for me it has become much more involved due to the Mason strut brace. I could only pull the strut out very little due to the tight tolerances of the brace. I wound up having to slot the three holes on either side of the brace, trimming the bar by 2mm on each side where it wraps around the stock diagonal mount, and then trimming the washer on the nuts that go into the taller portion of the brace. I then had to enlarge the holes where the Mason diagonals attach as they no longer lined up. This was quite a bit of metal work on my steel bar. Now, in order for the bar not to look hacked and to prevent rusting I feel the need to have it powder-coated again. This may be an isolated issue affecting only myself, but I would suggest that people buy the aluminum brace in case they need to perform some adjustments to the bar (no rusting will occur). I originally bought the brace to help with strut tower top deformation. That nice thick Vorslag plate along with the wrap-around design of the Mason bar reinforces this area very nicely. Wish someone made a kit for this type of reinforcemnt as they do for the Mini.

...butch

sweet, I helped! that does seem like a lot of work, they should have slotted the brace to mimick the strut tower. glad your all fixed! now just to enjoy!!