[Jaronbwall]

So my car started pulling to the left. It gradually changed and is really noticeable at highway speeds. I've owned the car for 8 years. It's got 121k miles with original sport suspension. I upgraded to m3 control arms and replaced the tie rods 2 years ago (did an alignment afterwards) but didn't have this issue. Tires are <2 years old. Front and back wheels spin smooth. I have not hit any major potholes since that time.
I went to Firestone Auto for an alignment (what a joke). They said they can't align the car without weights and special tools?? The place that did my previous alignment must have been s**t because everything I'm reading in the forums says the thrust angle needs to be zero. Everything is off from left to right, the camber, toe, thrust angle not zero, etc. Can a bushing wear out and cause these issues? Are you guys going to the dealer for alignments? Below are specs Firestone provided yesterday.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[ppointer]

A couple of years back I changed my strategy -- going to dealerships now for alignments. Although I love my indy in south FL, my e60 never felt planted when then did my suspension refresh. Delray BMW took care of it at the last oil change, and now it is back to its stellar highway manners. I have had similar experiences with alignments on a few e9xs I own or used to own. I have been told there is a specialized tool required, but I don't have the details.

Your current alignment specs look awful. I don't have my last e92 spec sheet handy (that car lives in another state). I would head to a dealer in Indy and have them address the problem ASAP.

[Jaronbwall]

ppointer Thank you for the response. That will be my next course of action (dropping it at the stealership). I don't have the $$$ for a suspension refresh right now (baby on the way).
Of course my clutch started slipping this last week. The original did pretty good for 121k miles (about 5k miles FBO)! It's like fight or die with these cars. The labor costs is what kills you on this platform. A new 335is clutch and LUK replacement flywheel is about $1k, plus the hardware, not including the labor at a shop. FBO or not these parts would have worn out. Really kills the vibes from a owners prospective.

[KhaosKid]

The rear camber and toe are off and not even balanced side to side. Those angles are both adjustable (to an extent), so I have no idea why the shop could not get them into spec, or at least balanced left to right and slightly out of spec.

The front camber is not adjustable, so the different camber angles left to right is slightly concerning. However, the front toe is also unbalanced left to right, and I believe its out of spec too.

On these cars, they must align the rear first, then the front.
I would get a proper alignment from a reputable shop (no big box stores or franchise chains unless you’re feeling lucky)

Once you get a proper alignment, test drive it and if it still pulls to the left, upload the alignment sheet and we will see. However, I am hopeful that a proper alignment will make the unadjustable front camber angles within spec.

Goodluck! Don’t forget to update the thread when you get this sorted pls.

Edit: its best to do an alignment with a full tank of gas for weight reasons.

[psubmw]

Originally Posted by Jaronbwall

So my car started pulling to the left. It gradually changed and is really noticeable at highway speeds. I've owned the car for 8 years. It's got 121k miles with original sport suspension. I upgraded to m3 control arms and replaced the tie rods 2 years ago (did an alignment afterwards) but didn't have this issue. Tires are <2 years old. Front and back wheels spin smooth. I have not hit any major potholes since that time.
I went to Firestone Auto for an alignment (what a joke). They said they can't align the car without weights and special tools?? The place that did my previous alignment must have been s**t because everything I'm reading in the forums says the thrust angle needs to be zero. Everything is off from left to right, the camber, toe, thrust angle not zero, etc. Can a bushing wear out and cause these issues? Are you guys going to the dealer for alignments? Below are specs Firestone provided yesterday.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Unless using a BMW KDS II alignment system that also measures height of the wheel wells, the bmw procedure says you are to weight the car down using 150 lbs in each front seat, 150 lbs in the rear, 46 lbs in the trunk, and a full tank of gas. There are a lot of discussions about whether or not that is necessary or not and I'm not going to get into it. However I have seen from someone else's post that having weight in the car does affect the alignment measurements.

Even so, that doesn't really explain to me why your specs are all over. I would look at reviews of local bmw dealerships and have them align it. The key here is to go to one with positive reviews.

[Jaronbwall]

KhaosKid psubmw Thank you for the advice! Saving for a Bilstein b12 pro kit. It's everything I'd ever want for a street daily kit. The front right strut is leaking (hardly noticeable) and the car is sagging on the right. The wheel fitment doesn't match left to right. No sense in replacing one strut just so everything else can fail next. I'll probably put the car on jacks for a few months and knock out the new suspension, clutch, and RMS. That's easily $4k worth of labor so I'll DIY it or it it's not happening. Someone really f**kd the current alignment. I found an Indy shop on the opposite side of town that specializes in alignments so its going there or the BMW dealership.

[cruizinmax]

I wouldn't start replacing parts based on those alignment specs. The alignment rack is only as good as it's operator and I'd bet they didn't connect the alignment heads to the wheels appropriately or compensate properly.

[Jaronbwall]

Originally Posted by cruizinmax

I wouldn't start replacing parts based on those alignment specs. The alignment rack is only as good as it's operator and I'd bet they didn't connect the alignment heads to the wheels appropriately or compensate properly.

100% agree. The people at Firestone have no idea how to work on BMW. I still have front strut issue though as evident by the tucked wheel/ over camber going on. Looking for holiday deals on suspension at this point.

[CLEAN13BOOSTED]

If the alignment specs are marginal I would always keep in mind the possibility of a Radial Pull caused by a tire. Basic for a good Tech to rule out or crossing/rotating the tires and see if the vehicle tracking improves/changes.