Alignment Help

[stevie_a]

I am going to get my car aligned today is there anything i should know? ( 2000 "W" 1.9 Z3 )

I have heard you have to put weights in the car is this true ( is there an other way round this? )

Has anybody got the settings that it should be ( with weights and without )

i just feel that the rear right is out as when you go over the white lines on the road the car skipped out to the side

all the bushes look OK and were checked when we put on the new shocks and top mounts.

 

[Brian H]

Hi Stevie,

FYI There is no adjustment at all on the rear of the Z unless you involve aftermarket kit, all the adjustment is done at the front with the track rod ends.

With regard to the weights etc., like you I have read that you should not set the tracking on the car without a driver (or suitable weight in the drivers seat), but to be honest i had the tracking sorted on my 1.9 without out this and it still worked fine, it transformed my car. I think I saw a picture recently of Swampers ///M being tracked (in his progress thread) and what looked like a plastic drum in the boot? Maybe this was to add weight?

On another note I found my 1.9 to be super sensitive over white lines etc and found that regularly checking the tyre pressures helped, IIRC I had them at 32psi all round.

Cheers

Brian

P.S. If the car is on a ramp and it is a friendly garage maybe you could have a quick poke around for the rattle?

 

[stevie_a]

Thanks Brian

I have been doing some reading this morning on the net about this, and as you say no adjustment on the back but one thing i did notice

was a lot of people are saying that the rears are wearing on the inside ( as mine are ) and i found this explanation

"The car is set up with serious sports car camber. This was a choice BMW made on this model and it is quite to modify it. Zs will always wear the rear tires excessively on the insides unless you choose to spend quite a bit of money changing it."

could explain a lot, i will have a look for Swampers thread

AS for having a look under the car for that Bl**dy rattle i have the T-shirt for that my mate and me spent 3 hours on a ramp looking for the dam thing... :ymblushing:

 

[stevie_a]

I found this on another bmw forum ( I hope it is ok to copy here if it is not sorry and mods feel free to delete )

I think it explains things very well.

"Couple things.

* 95% of vehicles out there specify alignment done without extra weights.
However, they specify full gas tank, tires at proper pressure, suspension components in decent shape (not worn). This way alignment is done faster w/o the need for weights.
My 1998 Volvo V70 and 2007 Honda Odyssey's alignment is done this way.

* BMW engineers, by the virtue of their meticulousness, want to be perfectionists. But they fail to see that life is not perfect.
They specify different weights for different models. Why? Because different age groups and income brackets buy different BMW models.
For example:
- M3, Z3 drivers are usually single. What do these guys do? They chase girls and play golf, so BMW specify that 2 x 68 kg in the front seats and 14 kg in the trunk (the weight of a golf bag). But BMW engineers forget that many Americans are obese these days, so 68 kg is for typical Frenchman not American, LMAO.
- E39 specifies 2 x 68 kg in the front seats, 1 x 68kg rear center seat, and 21kg in the trunk. Why? Because the E39 owners are probably ex-M3/Z3 owners. So when they get married, they get rid of the M3/Z3 and buy an E39. Oh the newly wed couple got rid of the golf bag too (no time to play), and start making babies, so the rear center weight is for the new teenager (here is my sarcasm). The 21kg in the trunk is for the luggage.

- Based on experience, the extra weights rarely change any specs up FRONT.
However the extra weights change the REAR camber a bit when loaded. Have you ever driven behind a BMW loaded with 5 adults? The Rear tires have a lot of negative camber.

- To add another twist to this issue, what happens if you load the E39 with 5 Japanese Sumos, LMAO?

- Anyway, if you are the sole driver 95% of the time then align the car with a sole driver + full gas tank.

- If you ask me what I do: then I will tell you that I align my many BMWs over 25 years with full gas tank and no extra weights. Personally I do not care what the BMW engineers say about this extra weights thingy because I think the issue is very very insignificant, i.e., not enough to lose sleep over.

- This chart shows you all this stuff I discussed above:

 

[stevie_a]

So if i get this right as i am mid 40's fat and only drive it ether on my own or with my skinny 11 year old daughter

if i fill the tank and sit in the car i should be fine ....

 

[Brian H]

So if i get this right as i am mid 40's fat and only drive it ether on my own or with my skinny 11 year old daughter

if i fill the tank and sit in the car i should be fine ....

Sounds about right :-bd

 

[Brian H]

Thanks Brian

I have been doing some reading this morning on the net about this, and as you say no adjustment on the back but one thing i did notice

was a lot of people are saying that the rears are wearing on the inside ( as mine are ).......

My tyres are also worn on the inside edge, there is a camber correction kit but this involves welding brackets on to the trailing arms - A big job which needs to be right!

To even out my tyres I could always get them swapped over.

 

[Brian H]

How did you get on Stevie? Did you notice a difference after the alignment?