Biased mechanics...

[Tree18is]

So i went to the alignment shop today and tried to get squared away. and guess what the guy said.... "i dont work on BM-dub-a-u's" i asked him why he couldn't do it, he said "cus i dont do it" so as i walk away i guess he felt bad and told me that Bimmers take weights......weights to align.... ive did not see any weights when they aligned my 325is.... whats your guy's take on this.

[bimmer8604]

you do need weights, a lot of other cars do too, and to properly align any car i think it would be a good idea to use the weights.

kyle

[Hick]

they do take weights but it can be aligned without them. It makes more sense to do them without; how often do you have a fully loaded car?

[Tree18is]

thats what im thinking..... how often is it fully loaded. i schould go back with two plates and say, theres your weights....
so whats the difference between my 318 and my nissan 240? why wouldnt it need weights?
he said he could do nissans.

[Hick]

because certain manufactures call for weights while others do not. BMWs, Audi, Benz, and some others require weights [not all cars do, mostly BMW's do]

They require 150lbs on both front seats, 250lbs and a full tank of gas. if i recall this correctly [i use to align cars for a living]

Fill the tank and have them align it, oh and by the way, it would be getting a two wheel alignment in case they try to charge you more, e30s only have a toe adjustment.

[nando]

be a man and adjust your toe yourself. it's not that hard. ;)

[Brew]

The specs in the alignment machine are supposedly for a fully loaded car, but it will align just fine without any extra weight in the car. If you want, get a couple sandbags and have the tech throw them on the front seat when he aligns it. Other than that, e30s are as simple as it gets for aligning- toe and go.

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

i just had an idea of a perfectly aligned car! If, for example, I would drive the car on ramp and stay inside! and my dad would align it!! it would be a "individual" alignment! lol

[Nick]

I've had mechanics refuse point blank to work on my 750...
but that's a V-12 engine, and I've never had anyone refuse to align the cars...e30 or otherwise.

What the hell kind of bumblefuck redneck mechanic was this?

[Schniddy]

Fill the tank and have them align it, oh and by the way, it would be getting a two wheel alignment in case they try to charge you more, e30s only have a toe adjustment.

So they can only adjust the front two wheels, and nothing with the rear?

[Nick]

Not really.
I mean, you can use offset bushings if you REALLY wanted to adjust something back there...but it'd be a huge pain in the ass.

[kommissar]

I've had mechanics refuse to align my car because it is "lowered." I don't see how lowering affects anything but camber, which is not adjustable on these cars anyway (without special modification).

I usually just try again until I find a place that will do it.

Just don't go to to dealer.

[euroshark]

Lowering can also affect the rear toe in on the trailing arm suspensions like E30s, E28s, E23s, etc. have... I think it has less affect on the newer multi link rear suspensions. Adjustable camber mounts FTW! IE has a trailing arm kit for camber correction for E28s, I bet they might have something for the E30s. If not, you can do eccentric bushings.

i just had an idea of a perfectly aligned car! If, for example, I would drive the car on ramp and stay inside! and my dad would align it!! it would be a "individual" alignment! lol

Thats right!! Haha, get out the tape measure and the biggest carpenters square you can find... you'll get damn close to being spot on!

[bimmer8604]

Im going to modify my first post.

All you can adjust on an e30 w/o getting adj. this and adj. that, is front toe.

If i were to have my car aligned(and when i have it aligned) i put a full tank of gas in it, and add 200lbs to the drivers seat. thats it.

kyle

[StereoInstaller1]

Vote with your wallet: Do not do business with that shop again. Encourage your friends to shop elsewhere as well.

Buy a square and a good tape measure! Do it yourself.

Luke