[Rekla]

Is it normal to drill holes in the struts for the wheel alignment procedure?
This was done by my BMW dealer.

Right side of car, looking aft:


Left side of the car, looking aft:

[Tee212]

wtf? this isnt a standard procedure in ANY car. Looks like he wanted to add some - camber and relized "all i had to do was slot the oem holes" and didnt even have the decency to remove the tower brace. This method should not be practice lol. So now you are left with holes for nothing

[MadMan77]

There was an alignment pin there and drilling it allows more negative camber. This is the first time I have seen the dealer do it. Most of the time it done by owners seeking the same result.

[F32Fleet]

Slap some JB Weld in there and you're good to go.!! hehe

[ENINTY]

Well there's a rust spot just waiting to happen. I'd call BMW NA and report this dealer. If he had to move the top of the strut that much to get your car aligned properly, then something is seriously out of whack with the frame geometry. Did you buy the car used? Was it previously damaged in an accident? How did it drive before you got the alignment? Does the dealer actually have an alignment machine in his shop, or does he farm it out? I can't believe a dealer would butcher a car like that. If it needed that much adjustment I'd say the strut mount bearing plates were worn out of spec and needed replacement.

[Rekla]

I bought the car BRAND NEW from this dealer in September of 2006. They have been a very good dealership/service department in the past. No issues regarding (warranty and maintenance) work on the vehicle, including the major cylinder head replacement (April 2008). No accidents, 32k miles ODO, very well taken care of, never "abused". I noticed a "slight" pull to the right before I took it in for an alignment. I got a promotional mailing for $189 for a 4 wheel alignment and thought that it was worth it to get the alignment done, especially before my warranty expires 9-2010 so in case they discover any annomalies it is still covered. While waiting I saw a worker drilling and using a hammer and chissel on my car. I thought this was weird, but the wheels had those (chess plate) discs on them so then I thought not much of it. The SA walked up to me and showed me the before and after alignment numbers. To me they did not say much, but he said they were off slightly - not by much - but they got it all set up correctly now.
I emailed the SA manager with my after alignment concerns, and he replied "if the camber does not come in spec, we have to make the adjustment at the strut top. Those spots are where there is a pin that has to be drilled out to move the strut tops. On your next visit I will have some touch up paint that matches and we will touch it up for you"

So, is there anyone on this forum that can share a SB or other info regarding an alignment procedure for an E90? Is this normal or "butcher" practice? Do I now have a problem, besides weird and to others unexplainable holes in the struts?

I take very good care of my ride, never had it serviced outside the dealer, and am planning on keeping it for a while.

[GMWNashville]

what happens with e90's is the alignment dowl for the struts sometimes strip out when trying to remove them to move the camber adjustment of the front strut-usually due to the VERY small size allen hole to take it out but also due to the fact that its very soft metal. the only way to fix this problem is to drill the old one out-though i will say whoever drilled that out wasnt the best with a drill...

[jaza45]

they did the same thing to a friend of mine's e90 at the dealership...

[Neutrino45]

Where exactly is this drilled location? In the engine bay or under the car? I just got an alignment recently and would like to check to see if they drilled my car as well.

[MalM3]

what upsets me the most is

1) the hole is not even round, so the technician has "ground" his way into position

2) didnt even think to remove the strut brace!? so there is burring and scratching all along that edge

ridiculous

[goff]

That hole used to contain the alignment pin that the factory uses when assembling.

They are a small head bolt, and often do not come out easily at all. The head usually strips out and it needs to be drilled out. Other wise no camber adjustment will be possible.

[Rekla]

Originally Posted by Neutrino45

Where exactly is this drilled location? In the engine bay or under the car? I just got an alignment recently and would like to check to see if they drilled my car as well.

Engine bay. Just open your hood, above your wheels is where these struts are. Still not happy with the quality of the job. The alignment was done perfectly though.

[Rekla]

So I had an oppertunity to have a body shop touch-up this nasty drill damage (yes, free of charge I guess good things still happen). Although they generally do not "repair" anything else than body work, they did a good job regarding touching this up and matching the paint. Now I can live with it...

right side:


right side - even the strut brace is touched up nicely


left side:


more left side

[Hit_Apex]

Awful job - there is no reason to take material from the chassis like that. But, as said it's necessary to remove the index pin to adjust camber. Since there are a couple dealer experiences there must be a TIS procedure published for this.

[MalM3]

yes, take the strut tops out and remove pins.

[mike-y]

Originally Posted by Mallard

yes, take the strut tops out and remove pins.

This is what should have been done, but the dealer took the lazy approach instead.

[MalM3]

Originally Posted by mike-y

This is what should have been done, but the dealer took the lazy approach instead.

which is just appauling really

Notify BMWNA

[Neutrino45]

I had my wheels aligned at a body shop and BMW. Looks like one of them drilled into my car as well.

Driver


Passenger

At least they did a clean job, I would be extremely pissed if the dealer did that #1 picture to my car, they didn't even unbolt the strut brace and scuffed it all up did the tech forget his glasses look at that hole, I would expect this at toyota, stupid assholes.

[MalM3]

i spoke with a alignment man yesterday , and he said that he hasnt ever needed to do this :?

never in the 30+ years he has worked on cars, has there ever been a need to drill in the body for an adjustment .

he said it was lazy and irresponsible