Re: Front End Alignment Questions (archive)

I have not really studied my M5 that well yet, but I think you can only adjust toe-in even on the M5. There is some rear toe adjustment that the other E34 cars do not have though. Aligning it on the front is identical to any other 5-er. Actually, you can do it yourself at home, it is that easy, but we won't go into that.

The weights, should they be used, are put inside the car. You can take the bags with you to the shop if you want (sand bags?) and tell them you already have the weights!

Just find another shop!

Neil Deshpande
http://www.neilwerke.com

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I've taken my M5 to several repair shops (not BMW) to have the front end alignment checked or adjusted. I receive two types of responses. One place said they cannot perform the alignment because they don't have the means to place the weights inside the car like BMW recommends (I think it is 150 lbs in driver's seat; 150 lbs in each rear seat .... or something like that). The other place just blindly said that can't do BMWs. I understand that on the 535i, the only adjustment that can be made is the tow-in, correct?

How does BMW accomplish weighting of the car? Do they pull on the frame from the bottom side with load cells? Do they gather up extra mechanics around the shop to have them sit in the car (exactly 150 lb. mechanics, that is) ? Is the alignment with the added weight really necessary?

What does everyone else do? I'm sure there are many non-BMW shops doing alignments to these cars.

Thanks for your help.

-Wayne

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