[lsturbointeg]

hey guys, still waiting for my KW coilovers to settle before i bring her in for an alignment at the dealer but for those who have gotten their car lowered whether it's springs or coilovers did the dealership tell you guys anything like, "we can't perform the alignment due to you lowered it? or you're too low and we cannot get it on the alignment rack? or we decline this job for liability issues or whatever the reason maybe? or did you guys get no problems and they did it no questions asked? i'd like to hear from you guys that way i know what to expect because i'm worried i might be too low and they may not want to do it appreciate any and all feedback! Thanks!

[delje08]

Usually when your car is too low some alignment rack has that lip at the end and wouldnt clear when you vehicle is on place

[lsturbointeg]

what lip are you referring to? the one in the front?

[PJinCA]

Yes, dealers are VERY anal when it comes to suspension. They will not do an alignment on an altered car and they will ONLY align the car to spec. That's why I go to an indy shop for my cars. Also because I wanted to reduce the rear camber to have my rear tires last longer than a week. On my previous cars the shop was able to adjsut my rear to -0.8 which is much bettter for tire wear

[bake]

I wouldn't bring a lowered car to the fewer for alignment. Go to an Indy shop that has experience aligning cars with modified suspension. That way you can have some say in how you want your camber dialed in. I agree that most dealers will try to align to spec, which may no longer be the best setup for you.

[lsturbointeg]

cool, i'll have to see what they have here in cornfield Ohio as i bet it's a dime a dozen for Indy shops for you guys on the West/East Coast. here in the MidWest it's mostly domestics and there's but a few performance shops yet alone a shop that will work on german cars. thanks for the feedback guys!

[The Beast]

Look for a shop with a Hunter Alignment machine, that's what BMW and most premium brands use in their workshops.

[Teddylongtooth]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

hey guys, still waiting for my KW coilovers to settle before i bring her in for an alignment at the dealer but for those who have gotten their car lowered whether it's springs or coilovers did the dealership tell you guys anything like, "we can't perform the alignment due to you lowered it? or you're too low and we cannot get it on the alignment rack? or we decline this job for liability issues or whatever the reason maybe? or did you guys get no problems and they did it no questions asked? i'd like to hear from you guys that way i know what to expect because i'm worried i might be too low and they may not want to do it appreciate any and all feedback! Thanks!

Broski,
Just call the dealer and ask them, that's what I did and I just told them I installed my own H&R springs and they said no problem. If you ask 100 people your gonna get 100 different answers. I did however have my buddy at a regular ass auto shop (with a hunter laser alignment rack) look at it and it was only off 1 degree of caster on the right front which he fixed (after that I declined the dealer) and said it didn't matter anyway. But the point is just call them and ask or stop by and ask, find a young service advisor and show him your badass car and tell him you need an alignment. If he likes your car he will bend over backwards to help you out, trust me shops love badass cars over boring stock shit to work on. If they tell you no then find an indie shop, you have nothing to lose.

[remmib]

My dealer did the drop and alignment.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by remmib

My dealer did the drop and alignment.

remmib, we're both running x11's in the rear and 295's, any issues with your camber? Were they able to make the adjustments to prevent inner tire wear?

[remmib]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

remmib, we're both running x11's in the rear and 295's, any issues with your camber? Were they able to make the adjustments to prevent inner tire wear?

The camber was adjusted within the spec when they did the alignment, but that almost three years ago. But I do see some inner wear after these years.

[lsturbointeg]

thanks remmib, i know it'll have some just some inner tire wear but not excessive! so i found a shop that'll do it who work on german cars as well as lowered cars! they are only about an hour away so i made my appt for Tuesday since that's my only day off next week and i'll post and report the results of the alignment. i'm just glad i found a shop close by as the next closest shop is 3.5 hours away

[r33_RGSport]

@lsturbointeg , glad you found independent shop.
A customer of mine brought his X5 to a dealer for alignment after lowered on KW V3, it ended up all wrong and off spec.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by r33_RGSport

@lsturbointeg , glad you found independent shop.
A customer of mine brought his X5 to a dealer for alignment after lowered on KW V3, it ended up all wrong and off spec.

i've been hearing that lately as i pulled some google searches on lowered cars and dealerships

[M5Beast_NYC]

My dealer away ask me to get my alignment done every time I go in. Their multi point inspection always flags my alignment is off. I don't think it bothers them I'm lowered.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by M5Beast_NYC

My dealer away ask me to get my alignment done every time I go in. Their multi point inspection always flags my alignment is off. I don't think it bothers them I'm lowered.

Wait...so any services like oil changes they go ahead and do the alignment also? I would be more curious as to why your alignment specs seems to be off all the time?

[M5Beast_NYC]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Wait...so any services like oil changes they go ahead and do the alignment also? I would be more curious as to why your alignment specs seems to be off all the time?

Sorry let me rephrase. I got my HR springs installed at an indy shop. they performed an alignment when after the spring install and it was fine. It might be because the dealer checked the specs and its not exactly OEM specs. I dont know if they check all the time, its probably in their record that it needs an alignment as I keep rejecting the dealers request to align it.

[RSBro]

My dealership aligned mine just fine and I have aftermarket springs and spacers. They just made a notation of it in my paperwork and it took a little extra doing, but it shouldn't be an issue for a dealer or a good independent shop.

[lsturbointeg]

So Black Candy is going in for her alignment and the guy said no problem on the alignment and asked if I wanted the rear to sit pretty much at 0 or flat and i said yes as long as the inner tire doesn't wear. Is it ideal to have some camber? I know I've read some car's are set to have some camber. Just not sure if I should?

[PJinCA]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

So Black Candy is going in for her alignment and the guy said no problem on the alignment and asked if I wanted the rear to sit pretty much at 0 or flat and i said yes as long as the inner tire doesn't wear. Is it ideal to have some camber? I know I've read some car's are set to have some camber. Just not sure if I should?

I have done it to my previous cars. The BMW spec of about -2.0 degrees is a little too extreme for daily driving, in my opinion. My E60s ran -0.8 in the rear, which was the most they could get out of them. The difference in handling was not noticeable, however, the difference in tire wear was EXTREME. I easily got double the miles out of my rear tires than I did with spec camber. That is saying something, because when you go to 20" or 21" wheels tires become much more expensive and have much shorter warranty periods. Unless you have buckets of cash sitting around for replacement tires, definitely get rid of as much camber as possible. Unless you track your car every weekend, you won't notice.

[lsturbointeg]

Here you go! I couldn't really read the #'s for the right/rear camber as it printed in orange? But he did say the rears were 2 degrees off which is a lot! He said he was able to dial it in pretty flat that way I don't get that inner tire wear. He also noted everything else looks good as far as suspension components. I did inquire about labor charges for H&R sway bars front /rear and he said no problem for the front but the rear he will need to drop the rear axles? $500 just for labor for front/rear...what do you guys think?

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Here you go! I couldn't really read the #'s for the right/rear camber as it printed in orange? But he did say the rears were 2 degrees off which is a lot! He said he was able to dial it in pretty flat that way I don't get that inner tire wear. He also noted everything else looks good as far as suspension components. I did inquire about labor charges for H&R sway bars front /rear and he said no problem for the front but the rear he will need to drop the rear axles? $500 just for labor for front/rear...what do you guys think?

Sounds about right. Did he say drop the axles or sub-frame?