[Wolf 335]

Had my alignment done at bmw dealer begining of summer and the rears are showing slight wear on the inside. But i guess thats the normal in their eyes

[engineer]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Had my alignment done at bmw dealer begining of summer and the rears are showing slight wear on the inside. But i guess thats the normal in their eyes

Yup, BMW doesn't care if your tires wear out. That's not a warranty item. They add a lot of toe in (and very little front camber) to give the car stability for people who can't drive.

Get your car aligned with 0 toe, and not only will you're tires not wear as fast, but your car will handle sooo much better.

[n52330i]

Originally Posted by engineer

Did you ask them for a stock alignment? The stock alignment isn't the best for wear.
If you don't want tire wear, ask them for 0 toe front and rear.

Also, have you lowered your car?

WTF 0 toe in the rear? Good luck. 0 toe in front is ok but rear is very unstable.

I would watch out with altech, I know many guy that he does not even touch the rear and say he do.

Just pay a bit more a get good alignment. Its 1/2 price at $60 because he do 1/2 job.

[engineer]

Originally Posted by n52330i

WTF 0 toe in the rear? Good luck. 0 toe in front is ok but rear is very unstable.

I would watch out with altech, I know many guy that he does not even touch the rear and say he do.

Just pay a bit more a get good alignment. Its 1/2 price at $60 because he do 1/2 job.

0 toe is perfectly stable in a 3 series. That said, I track and autocross my car and know how not to over drive the car. With 0 toe the car has near perfect balance, easily tuned with the shocks.

If you only street drive you may not want 0 toe in the rear. If you prefer more understeer to oversteer.
Cheers.

[n52330i]

Most people on this site drive on street. In winter also. So advise for 0 toe in rear is bad . Maybe u cause people to spun out . 0 toe in rear will cause rear to come slide out faster.

[MrSkinny]

So what are optimal settings for front and rear then

[engineer]

0 toe isn't as bad as you might think.

Anyhow, if you want something safer for the street, just ask them to set it your minimum toe setting.
For my car, front factory toe is 0.1 to 0.36 degrees.
The rear 0.17 to 0.37 degrees.

You could easily ask for .1 front and .2 rear, which will reduce your tire wear.

[BMWonly]

I have an alignment inquiry. Long story short. Somebody hit in the rear quarter panel and tire in the parking lot and my alignment was so off. I got it repaired and aligned with some shop nearby the repair shop. Now I'm driving the car on the highway home and the car is pulling left to right lane to lane while at high speed and braking. Is it my alignment 100% and you can Pat fix this, because my car is drivable but at high speeds and bumps and dips my car pulls severely. Thanks

[SGM330]

I've taken 6 cars to Altech and 4 of them couldnt be done because of "seized" bolts, but still took full payment.

For example, I took my E46 330i there when I owned it and it was heavily lowered, he told me he couldnt adjust the toe and the camber because he was "too low" and the bolts wouldnt budge. Took the car to an old buddy to see if he can get the bolts open, he heated them a tad and turned them with ease. So the guy at Altech ripped me off, I called back and told what happened and he said he can attempt again for another $40. Last time I went there.

[engineer]

Originally Posted by SGM330

I've taken 6 cars to Altech and 4 of them couldnt be done because of "seized" bolts, but still took full payment.

For example, I took my E46 330i there when I owned it and it was heavily lowered, he told me he couldnt adjust the toe and the camber because he was "too low" and the bolts wouldnt budge. Took the car to an old buddy to see if he can get the bolts open, he heated them a tad and turned them with ease. So the guy at Altech ripped me off, I called back and told what happened and he said he can attempt again for another $40. Last time I went there.

Strange. I had a seized nut on my steering arm and Pat spent an hour getting it off. No extra charge and perfect alignment.

Also, I sit a bit sideways and preferred to have the wheel a few degrees turned so that it feels centered to me. Pat said no problem and I brought it in a few weeks later to fix.

[kevin711]

Originally Posted by engineer

Strange. I had a seized nut on my steering arm and Pat spent an hour getting it off. No extra charge and perfect alignment.

Also, I sit a bit sideways and preferred to have the wheel a few degrees turned so that it feels centered to me. Pat said no problem and I brought it in a few weeks later to fix.

I've brought a bunch of beaters to Altech to align in the past.. some which probably haven't had any suspension work done to them in 10 years and were daily beaten, not cared for in the winter/salt. They always did the alignment quick and without complaining about seized bolts.

Also took my old A4 there before as well where the PO rounded up the tie rod/steering rack joints pretty good. Got it aligned no problems, they did bring to my attention the PO hack job, but I knew already.

[Volasko]

I just had my car aligned last weekend, I asked him for 0 deg Toe (after reading engineer'c comment) and he said he wouldn't do it. His excuse was that when the car is accelerating the end lifts up. Due to the geometry the front wheels toe out. If he makes it 0 deg, whenever I pin it he said my car may pull left/right.... does this make any sense?

[engineer]

Originally Posted by Volasko

I just had my car aligned last weekend, I asked him for 0 deg Toe (after reading engineer'c comment) and he said he wouldn't do it. His excuse was that when the car is accelerating the end lifts up and due to the geometry the front wheel toe out. If he makes it 0 deg whenever I pin it he said my car may pull left/right.... does this make any sense?

Hmmm. Were you talking with Pat?
That may be true on your car, but I'm sure the effect is pretty small. It depends if you care much about tramlining, etc.
You could ask for minimum toe in, which would give you pretty much the same effect without the worries of zero toe.

[Dr. G]

Originally Posted by n52330i

WTF 0 toe in the rear? Good luck. 0 toe in front is ok but rear is very unstable.

I would watch out with altech, I know many guy that he does not even touch the rear and say he do.

Just pay a bit more a get good alignment. Its 1/2 price at $60 because he do 1/2 job.

It's a miracle! I actually agree with you for once haha. I wouldn't recommend 0 toe in the rear either to most drivers, I run min. spec toe in the rear and 0 toe up front for a daily driving alignment.

Originally Posted by Volasko

I just had my car aligned last weekend, I asked him for 0 deg Toe (after reading engineer'c comment) and he said he wouldn't do it. His excuse was that when the car is accelerating the end lifts up and due to the geometry the front wheel toe out. If he makes it 0 deg whenever I pin it he said my car may pull left/right.... does this make any sense?

I run 0 toe up front done by Pat, but I'll be switching to .05 this week for winter, he had no problem doing it for me.

[lcg]

I hear so much about altech, but to be honest, every time I've been (4 times now) my steering wheel stays on a tilt and I continue to have pull. I'm happy for everyone that has had great experiences with them, but I've never had my pulling issues corrected. They did however put my suspension back to stock spec as it had camber adjustment

[vantage_coupe]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Had my alignment done at bmw dealer begining of summer and the rears are showing slight wear on the inside. But i guess thats the normal in their eyes

I can confirm this experience as well. Had my alignment done at the beginning of the year with fresh rubber and after a long year or driving I have slight wear on the rear insides. Such is OEM specs on these cars.

[OrZonE]

Originally Posted by gazzetta

I hear so much about altech, but to be honest, every time I've been (4 times now) my steering wheel stays on a tilt and I continue to have pull.

Went there as well, just recently. Very professional guys and a pleasure to deal with. However, as quoted above, the first time my wheel was off center. Had to come back and request that they "tilt" it just slightly to compensate, even though it was completely straight to Pat. He was also very forthcoming and told me to come back if I feel I still need a re-adjustment, which I will not need as it's fine the 2nd time around.

[Volasko]

So after my alignment two weeks ago, my car now pulls to the left pretty aggressively if I take my hand off the wheel. The car tracks straight when the wheel is centered but requires effort to keep it true. Gotta call Pat!

[marcvtec]

Took the Gl Benz after a shitty pothole
It's straight again
Kudos to Pat

[rick100]

I took mine there. The steering wheel is not completely straight but it does not pull to the right or left.

I was going to come back but I may just go back in the spring after the winter to get it done again. You can not beat there prices and they do an OK job

[blahdamm]

I went to check out this shop after hearing a lot of good news about this place. They are really professional , clean shop( sweet ass salt water fish tank, panoramic waiting room could see my car at all times ), and knowledgeable staff. The place is located at 600 Danforth rd. My friend told me about this place and I thought I would check it out and it was an awesome find.

They did all my adjustments including my camber, toe and caster. The technician took me into the shop and showed me how the car was sitting before the alignment. He even took it for a test drive before doing the alignment which was really nice. They took their time and did not rush the job, and also gave me a print out after and the kind lady at the desk showed me the before and after specs. They are using a 3D imaging alignment machine which I have no idea what that means but apparently it is the latest technology and apparently is better than the old laser stuff.

I would highly recommend this place cause of their professionalism, advanced equipment , the also have a road force wheel balancer which I took advantage of cause I was getting a slight vibration at higher speeds, and I did get it balanced before and could never solve the issue so I lived with it. The balancing solved the issue of vibration and the alignment solved my pulling issue.

I am so happy now as all these issues really bothered me a lot. Hats off to Level Auto. I am going to return to this place for all my service need as they have gained my trust. Just thought I would post my experience as people were curious on what this place has to offer.

[Msport335]

Will they pull the front pins to get a little extra negative camber if required to clear the front fenders?