[konner412]

Hello! I recently acquired an 06 325xi with 151,000 miles. It lived a better part of its life in Virginia and North Carolina. In other words, it's got a decent amount of rust. When I purchased it, the steering wheel was crooked about a 30 degree angle sloping left. Since purchase date in March, the suspension pieces I've touched are as followed: replaced thrust arms, ball joints, tie rods, installed H&R sport springs and upgraded to style 162 with Continental tires. After all of this work there have been many a times on the alignment rack trying to dial everything in.

So the fun begins here...

What's happening is after a quick drive to see how things are my steering wheel is either 30 degrees sloping left, or right. There is no in between. The vehicle is NOT pulling left or right which I find very strange.

Every time I load onto the alignment rack after an adjust and a few weeks of driving or even a couple miles in between, my alignment is completely off from the adjustments made prior. I believe the issues are coming from the rear. My left rear camber will not go less than -3.50, right rear camber measures around -2.20 and -1.46 which is pretty close to spec. As far as I can see the left camber arm is not bent. Now, I can still get my toe adjustments in spec. And after rechecking the front, it's never really that far off after readjusting the rear back to spec, atleast with the toe adjustment.

My question is have any of you ran into this issue?

As of a couple days ago I replaced the eccentric bolts for the toe adjustment. I'm thinking of finding a used camber arm and also new eccentric bolts for the camber arms to see if it helps the excessive camber and ever so changing alignment specs.

EVEN if the subframe is bent, the alignment should stay where it's at once adjustments are made and bolts are tightened down. (That's worst case scenario is the subframe being bent. It's the least of my worries as long as the toe in fine.)

What else would you recommend trying or taking a different approach?

[Bmw_Crazy]

Maybe the previous owner removed the steering wheel for some reason... If its running fine i would just remove the steering wheel line it up and put it back on

[335i54n]

car looks lowered that where your toe/camber issue comes from

[konner412]

Originally Posted by 335i54n

car looks lowered that where your toe/camber issue comes from

Originally Posted by 335i54n

car looks lowered that where your toe/camber issue comes from

Right but I'm wondering why the alignment changes a significant amount after driving. It's like the eccentric bolts move around.

[konner412]

Originally Posted by Bmw_Crazy

Maybe the previous owner removed the steering wheel for some reason... If its running fine i would just remove the steering wheel line it up and put it back on

Originally Posted by 335i54n

car looks lowered that where your toe/camber issue comes from

Originally Posted by Bmw_Crazy

Maybe the previous owner removed the steering wheel for some reason... If its running fine i would just remove the steering wheel line it up and put it back on

Not gonna lie I had that thought 😂

[Brian86]

Very peculiar. The alignment shouldn't move around after it's set.

I'm stating the obvious, but something is moving.

Go under with a crowbar and start wiggling things. Perhaps mark things with a a paint marker or white-out to see what is slipping.

Is it possible the steering column is slipping? It's really bizarre that the wheel would de-center itself but the car still goes straight at the new 30deg off-center position. I'd think you would feel that when it happens...

[konner412]

Originally Posted by Brian86

Very peculiar. The alignment shouldn't move around after it's set.

I'm stating the obvious, but something is moving.

Go under with a crowbar and start wiggling things. Perhaps mark things with a a paint marker or white-out to see what is slipping.

Is it possible the steering column is slipping? It's really bizarre that the wheel would de-center itself but the car still goes straight at the new 30deg off-center position. I'd think you would feel that when it happens...

Originally Posted by Brian86

Very peculiar. The alignment shouldn't move around after it's set.

I'm stating the obvious, but something is moving.

Go under with a crowbar and start wiggling things. Perhaps mark things with a a paint marker or white-out to see what is slipping.

Is it possible the steering column is slipping? It's really bizarre that the wheel would de-center itself but the car still goes straight at the new 30deg off-center position. I'd think you would feel that when it happens...

So I did take a picture of the bolts and how there were lined up after performing the last alignment. I just ordered rear control arm eccentric bolts, washers, nuts and even the bushings for the arms that are mounted in the subframe. Next week I will rack the vehicle and see how the bolts have moved if any. Then replace those parts and perform another alignment and see how it goes.

I'm not sure about the steering column slipping. When it's racked I'll take a look and see if anything is loose by pry on things and shaking them. This feels way over my head at the moment but we are making progress. I'm hopeful that the new bolts will help lock everything down and atleast stop the alignment from changing. I'm cool with running a lot of camber as long as the steering wheel ends up straight ahead like it should be.

[dmatre]

If the bushing is worn, then the eccentric bolt can be moving in the bushing.

When static on the rack, everything will seem solid and 'in-place', but once you start adding loads to the suspension, movement will occur.

This is the first place that I'd look.

[eljay]

If your issues are on the rear and you have 150k on the car, those rear bushings and ball joints will be done - the ones that connect your rear camber arm.
I would replace those.

[konner412]

Originally Posted by dmatre

If the bushing is worn, then the eccentric bolt can be moving in the bushing.

When static on the rack, everything will seem solid and 'in-place', but once you start adding loads to the suspension, movement will occur.

This is the first place that I'd look.

Originally Posted by dmatre

If the bushing is worn, then the eccentric bolt can be moving in the bushing.

When static on the rack, everything will seem solid and 'in-place', but once you start adding loads to the suspension, movement will occur.

This is the first place that I'd look.

Originally Posted by eljay

If your issues are on the rear and you have 150k on the car, those rear bushings and ball joints will be done - the ones that connect your rear camber arm.
I would replace those.

Thanks. That will be the next step in this journey.

[Brian86]

I dunno, my gut tells me it's something more 'specific' than worn bushings. Mine has 302k on stock, pretty much everything, and it certainly hasn't slipped and lost alignment.

I've had a lot of worn out old cars, and I've never had the alignment just spontaneously go sideways unless something specific was very broken.

I needed to repair the steering column U-joint splined couplers to eliminate some lash in the column on mine. Not saying that's the problem for certain but it seems possible it's jumping teeth.

[konner412]

Originally Posted by Brian86

I dunno, my gut tells me it's something more 'specific' than worn bushings. Mine has 302k on stock, pretty much everything, and it certainly hasn't slipped and lost alignment.

I've had a lot of worn out old cars, and I've never had the alignment just spontaneously go sideways unless something specific was very broken.

I needed to repair the steering column U-joint splined couplers to eliminate some lash in the column on mine. Not saying that's the problem for certain but it seems possible it's jumping teeth.

Originally Posted by Brian86

I dunno, my gut tells me it's something more 'specific' than worn bushings. Mine has 302k on stock, pretty much everything, and it certainly hasn't slipped and lost alignment.

I've had a lot of worn out old cars, and I've never had the alignment just spontaneously go sideways unless something specific was very broken.

I needed to repair the steering column U-joint splined couplers to eliminate some lash in the column on mine. Not saying that's the problem for certain but it seems possible it's jumping teeth.

Interesting. Do you vehicles have much rust? I'll look into the steering today.

[Brian86]

Mine is pretty good on rust. Just surface on the subframe/control arms ect.

BMW bushings aren't indestructible, but I have been very pleasantly surprised at how well they hold up. Worn bushings tend to create general sloppyness that you don't really notice over time since they degrade so slowly.

The initial description that the alignment 'changes in a big way then stays there' (if I'm reading correctly) doesn't sound like a bushing or ball joint or tie rod problem.

[konner412]

Today. Racked the vehicle, checked the tightness of all front and rear suspension components and found a front differential mount bolt loose. Torqued it down and all is good. While on the rack I inspected the rear alignment bolts position and compared them to pictures I took last time on the alignment rack. The camber arm bolts definitely have moved. I installed new eccentric bolts on the camber arms then performed another alignment. After aligning the car perfectly, minus LR camber at -3.53 and RR at 2.50, I drove off and the steering wheel is still way off center. The steering wheel is in worse shape now, closer to 45 degrees of tilt. It drives straight, no pulling left or right. If my toe is in spec front and rear why would the steering wheel be way off? I just don't understand if everything is straight, why camber even matters, the steering wheel can't be straight.

[Brian86]

I might be stating the obvious here... but you are expected to center the steering wheel when you do the alignment.

Set the wheel to center, then adjust the tie rods accordingly.

[konner412]

Originally Posted by Brian86

I might be stating the obvious here... but you are expected to center the steering wheel when you do the alignment.

Set the wheel to center, then adjust the tie rods accordingly.

Originally Posted by Brian86

I might be stating the obvious here... but you are expected to center the steering wheel when you do the alignment.

Set the wheel to center, then adjust the tie rods accordingly.

Yup I'm following that exactly. Steering wheel is perfectly level before, during, and after all adjustments are made.

[drawz]

Originally Posted by konner412

It lived a better part of its life in Virginia and North Carolina. In other words, it's got a decent amount of rust.

Being from NC and now living in New England, this statement made me chuckle.

[konner412]

Just so we are all on the same page. Looks like our alignment rack at the shop was out of calibration. Some vehicles would be spot on, others not so much. Needless to say, everything is all good with the e90.

[Brian86]

I really like the tile flor in that garage.