[tomtom11]

i am getting new shocks and lowering springs installed and i thought you had to wait like a week before you do the alignment. the very experienced guy at the shop said thats an old thing the springs will settle in 10 minutes. and then i can do the alignment. is this true?

[tomtom11]

?

[Darkside Eng]

yes, a week

[tomtom11]

thanks for your response. anyone else? im just curious because the guy at the shop is very experienced and he said he could get the springs to settle in like 10 mins of driving. so is it a week od driving or a week of the car sitting? or it doesnt matter as long as its 7 days?

[cssnms]

a week or two. get 100 miles on them and you should be good.

[kevin@bavarianx]

Originally Posted by Darkside Eng

yes, a week

Originally Posted by cssnms

a week or two. get 100 miles on them and you should be good.

All true!

Do a canyon run.

[SneakyDeeky]

I just installed a set of KW V1 coilovers on my E90 335i and the guys at the shop went ahead and did an alignment right when they installed them, but after about 50 miles the rear had settled about half a finger (between tire and fender) lower than the front. No problem though as the shop hooked me up with another free alignment. I've got pics posted in my profile that were taken before the 2nd alignment.

[tomtom11]

alright thanks guys

[f00dstamps]

So are you not supposed to drive your car very much for that week? I read that toe can shred your tires in a few hundred miles.

[tomtom11]

thats why i asked before should i let it settle for a week without driving. but everyone said get at least 100 miles on it.

[f00dstamps]

I have coilovers that should be here by Thursday this week. I will be getting it aligned immediately after they are installed and I have the height dialed in. My wheels and tires are shipping the first week of May. I hoping that I do not have to adjust the height again but I will have them check the alignment regardless and adjust it as necessary. Personally, I wouldn't risk driving very far on an unaligned car.

[michaelalex17]

hmmm good question it seems to have a split answer?

[VTECaddict]

you should drive it, not let it sit. you need the compression and extension from daily driving to help it "settle". just drive gentler/slower than usual because your alignment will be out of whack.

the absolute best thing will be to align right after installation and then align again after a week or a couple hundred miles.

[michaelalex17]

but isnt it bad for the tires to drive with a fucked up alignment?

[mike-y]

I just installed a set of coilovers, and the springs settled about 1/2" within the first 3 days. I've already adjusted the height back up to what it was when I installed them on friday. I don't think they'll settle much more, but I'll be getting an alignment this weekend.

[lakefront]

100 miles on a slightly "off " alignment isn't going to ruin your tires. The installer should get the alignment close, than finalize after "break-in".

[Babydragon]

Just had springs installed 5 day ago. It has lower about and eighth of an inch in the last couple days and a total of 1 inch. If you do some research some people have said you may notice more of a drop after months of driving. I think it all depends, but there are so many variables.