[nightrain]

So i just hit a kerb 2 days ago an it damaged my front left and rear, the day after i had the car serviced at bmw doncaster, after they finished repairing the wheels, they called me if i need wheel alignment, then i said yes(just want to make sure), today i picked up the car and everytime i am about to stop, the steering wheel always pull a bit to the left.. is this because the wrong wheel alignment ?

[spartiatis]

My understanding is that they do this for safety, if you fall asleep at the wheel the car will drift off the road instead of oncoming traffic...

This might be complete bull5h1t so please confirm, and get back to me so this I dont sound like an idiot next time!

[WOPALX]

It can be due to the camber of the road, on a flat road with proper camber it should track straight I.e. Race track

[bcoz]

I would suggest that the best comparison is how the car behaved prior to the wheel damage/repair. If there was little or no noticeable Left veer prior to the damage, then it should be the same after the repairs. If the before and after experience is not the same, then there is most likely a problem.

If it was my car, I would take it back to the dealer.

[nightrain]

actually there wasnt any problem on the handling before/ even after i hit the kerb. the problem came out just today after i picked up the car from service. i let my bro drove the car just now, he also felt that the car sometimes pulled to the left/right, definitely because of the messed wheel alignment they had yesterday. my bro said it was hard to get it right again once they have messed it =(..i am gonna return to bmw dealership on monday and hopefully all work out.

[MFKN3]

Sounds like a dodgy alignment. Campher should make it veer to the left but only slightly. Did you hit the curb while sending an sms or something?

[nightrain]

i was daydreaming lol.. but i am damn sure it was all good until they had a fucked wheel alignment to my car. and fyi, when i straighten the steering wheel up and u know what, the front right wheel is straight but the left one slightly moved to the right.

[VGR00]

It may not be the wheel allignment. if the car only pulls when braking then and it steers straight otherwise then it's something else in my opinion. For the record, on a straight flat road, I can let go of my steering and it will steer straight and also if I hit the brakes. Just take it back and tell the service people what you are experiancing. Good luck

[johnnydad]

It could certainly be a simple wheel alignment issue - not 'wrong' just different from before. Did they give you the settings? If they altered the toe or castor that could affect the tracking.

If you get no sense from BMW you could shell out some hard-earned and get an independant wheel alignment - I think Trutrack is thought of highly down south.

[amberzombie]

did you have to pay extra for the wheel alignment?

[nightrain]

i paid $125 to them. so i came back there again yesterday and told them what i was experiencing, and they said it was normal, the car tend to follow the slope of the road and because of the direct steering you might feel a bit pulling bla bla bla, i was like wtf ??? they ended up doing nothing to the car.

[sismic]

why don't you ask the supervisor to test drive it with you on eastern freeway? BMW Doncaster is close to the freeway and not much slope overthere

[johnnydad]

I paid attention to mine last night on the way home. Only 2700km up, so you'd hope the alignment is fine. Tyres at 38psi all 'round.

I does follow road camber - so if you are on a typical moderately-cambered single-carriage suburban road and you let go of the steering it will drift slightly toward the left kerb and would tend to cross over an imaginary lane marking after 3-4 car lengths.

This is pretty much normal in my experience. Is yours worse than this?

Also try finding a completely flat surface - it shouldn't pull there, either coasting, accelerating or braking.

[nightrain]

one of the technician actually drove my car yesterday for a bit and he said nothing wrong with it, maybe it is just my feeling after all, i dont know..

[AndDee]

Originally Posted by nightrain

one of the technician actually drove my car yesterday for a bit and he said nothing wrong with it, maybe it is just my feeling after all, i dont know..

Never trust what a tech says

Consider this:
They are paid not very much money to fix cars they will more than likely never own

Are they going to care about some guy with a $130,000 car complaining that the car pulls a little to the left ? NO

They have to drive home in their old Corolla or somethign which doesn't even have power windows

[VGR00]

Originally Posted by AndDee

Never trust what a tech says

Consider this:
They are paid not very much money to fix cars they will more than likely never own

Are they going to care about some guy with a $130,000 car complaining that the car pulls a little to the left ? NO

They have to drive home in their old Corolla or somethign which doesn't even have power windows

AndDee - I'm outraged at your arogant comments. It's this sort of attitude that makes people think that BMW owners are wankers and full of self importance.

The BMW techs are paid to do a job. I agree most are young and some are aprentices but they are doing a job to the specification set by the dealer. It is the dealers reputation they are playing with. If they continuiously get their job wrong, then I'm sure the supervisers will take appropriote action.

Whatever they drive or own has no barring on the type of person they are. What makes you think you are any better than them!!!