Alignment Question

Post in this forum for topics relating to suspension, steering, and brakes

Moderators: GRNSHRK, ron, bfons

Post Reply
JoelR
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:19 am
Location: DFW (Plano) Texas

Alignment Question

Post by JoelR »

My '83 633 has excessive wear on the inner tread for all 4 tires, especially the right front, so I am suspecting a toe problem. The previous owner replaced all the bushings in the front end about 20k miles ago. I went to my usual alignment ship this morning only to be told that they don't align BMW's because of the complicated procedure that BMW calls for that involves putting various sandbags in the car to simulate load conditions.

While that sounds like a reasonable thing to do, I had never heard of that before. Did BMW actually call out that procedure back in the 1980's, or is that only for the newer cars? Now I am wondering if any alignment shop will work, or if I need to go to a BMW specialist.

Thanks in advance!
1983 633CSi 5-speed Black & Tan
2008 X5 4.8i
2004 MINI Cooper S 6-speed
2001 Z3 3.0i 5-speed
DFW Texas
mikeB7
Posts: 329
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:15 pm
Location: NJ, USA

Post by mikeB7 »

Is the car lowered?
79 Alpina B7 Turbo #096, 79 Alpina B7 Turbo #124, 80 635csi, 80 323i Baur
JoelR
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:19 am
Location: DFW (Plano) Texas

Post by JoelR »

No, the car is stock except for the wheels, which are 15x7 BMW Style 7 with 205/60 tires.

I double-checked my paperwork and saw that the front suspension overhaul was actually done 29k miles ago by Lone Star Bavarian, and it included new upper & lower control arms, thrust arm bushing, and transmission mounts. As far as I can tell, the rear suspension has not been touched.
1983 633CSi 5-speed Black & Tan
2008 X5 4.8i
2004 MINI Cooper S 6-speed
2001 Z3 3.0i 5-speed
DFW Texas
GripGreg
Posts: 2938
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 3:13 am
Location: Long Beach, Ca.

Post by GripGreg »

You didn't say an alignment was done after replacing the parts.
I think that needs to be done next.
There are alignment shops that will do it but, you may have to dig deeper.
No bags were needed when I had mine done! :-k
I would start by calling Lone Star & find who they recommend.
Greg
Hit the apex
in Long Beach, Cal
Buster/'82Euro6 Build Date 9/81
Rosallina/'80 528i Build Date 4/80
Post Reply