Full car alignment question.

[X5SND]

Originally Posted by aldo1123

Does anyone think I need to have the tie rods replaced or maybe the alignment is fine? Of course they told me the front is way off, but the back is not too bad.

How does it drive? Does it pull to one side? After taking a corner, does the wheel want to pull back to center, or stay put? Does it feel unstable at speed? --all off these are some of the 'felt' effects of a vehicle out of alignment aside from the most obvious indicator; abnormal tire wear.

Personally alignment is the only job I hand off to the dealer....in all the years of owning the X, all my alignments have been handled solely by the dealer and I have yet to have any alignment related wear issues.

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by X5SND

.........
Personally alignment is the only job I hand off to the dealer....in all the years of owning the X, all my alignments have been handled solely by the dealer and I have yet to have any alignment related wear issues.

Big +1. The ONLY time my BMWs are back to the dealer is for alignments, EVERYTHING else is DIYed. In 10yrs (build date 8-1-03), and over 160k miles I've NEVER seen a broken fastener/part or frozen bolt. BMW has a "non-critical" classification on many fasteners that have torque specs, this allows the techs to use their own judgement when tightening them....
Limited access jobs (like t'stat replacement) can be done without removing the waterpump to gain proper access to the t'stat housing fasteners with a torque wrench, techs use "feel" to tighten these and call it good enough. This practice reduces labor hrs on the job and adds the possibility of mis-torqued fasteners.... again

If a fasten has a torque spec I correctly torque it, even if it adds break down/assembly time to the job.

[Brit6]

Seizing alignment bolts are parts is common depending on your climate. Up here in Canada i have had to replace front tie rods and lower control arms, also i have changed the whole rear suspension include the upper and lower control arms and toe links because everythign was seized. Most of the time you can't just change the bolts because the bushings are all torn and the bolts will just spin in the bushings. This is not a cheap job but once you change it once you shouldht have the problem again as long as your mechanic puts on anti-seize.

[aldo1123]

bcredliner, that's the thing....I just had the shocks done front and rear. I have the drivers side control arm done and both stabilizer links, so I figured it would be a good time for an alignment. I'm bringing the car into my mechanic on Monday to see if he can free up some of the adjustment points. The place I brought the car to gave me a print out of what is off. I have a rough idea how to read it, but there is a couple things I'm not sure about.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

[bcredliner]

Don't know what your print out is like but the indy shop should be able to help you with that.

[aldo1123]

Called my local BMW dealer yesterday, I'm bringing my car in on Monday for them to do the alignment. The service advisor told me that they can usually get the adjustment points loosened. Does any think that's usually the case or are they going to come back and tell me that I need front tie rods and rear control arms and then whack me with a $1,000 bill?

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

How many miles since suspension was redone if it ever was?

Depending how many miles on the existing suspension it may be time for the suspension to be rebuilt.

My experience with dealers has been that they go to new parts quickly rather than repair what's there.

[aldo1123]

Brought my car to BMW yesterday and they were able to do the alignment. Cost me $179.99. Of course they told me rear upper control arms have play and that my subframe bushings need replacing. I spoke to my local mechanic about the subframe bushings and he wasn't really too concerned about them. Any opinions on that?

[bcredliner]

Subframe bushings usually tell you when they need to be replaced. You should hear a clunking noise. Unless they are clunking it is hard to be sure they are bad without unbolting and lowering the subframe. As a rule of thumb they should be at least checked around 100,000 miles.

Did your mechanic give you a second opinion on the upper control arms? Based on the front suspension work you have done I wouldn't be surprised if some of the rear wear components, such as the upper control arms need to be addressed.

[aldo1123]

I do have a clunking noise occasionally, but I was told not replacing them wouldn't really do any harm, besides having the annoying clunking sound. Is this true? All my mechanic said was that the bushings were “dry” and that’s why they make a clunking noise sometimes.