Wheel alignment time!

H

highway1

Member
This week my Z4C SE is having new springs and shocks ( Suplex springs but the m-sport equivalent and Bilstein B4's all round) plus droplinks front and rear and ARB poly bushes front and rear.

Now as it was an SE spec suspension but will now be lowered to M-sport level, I presume when I go to an alignment place, do I ask for M-sport settings ? ( car is still on 17 inch rims at the moment) or is there just a standard set of numbers for Z4 coupes'??

Also, not sure yet where to get the alignment done- I live in sleepy Somerset so nowhere decent around here as far as I know but I think I remember someone recommending a place in Bristol- I think FC Motorsport??

I obviously want the job doing properly so your recommendations in the south west area would be much appreciated!! :thumbsup:
 
Lee at FCM Wheel Alignment is who I use and you have heard of. He rents out part of FCM Motorsports garage but is in fact a separate entity and all he does is wheel alignments. Give him a call on 07940 658321 and he'll know who I am as Steve with the black Z4 Coupe as I've been back a few times to make changes over the last few months.

He takes the time to get it right to much better tolerances than you typically get and once you've paid if you need a small tweak as the steering wheel is out or something he will adjust it for no further charge. I actually went back at least 3 times until we ruled it down to my tyres so I changed them and the wheel went straight. He charges either £20 or £25 for each adjustment although I think no more than £80 or £90 overall (?).

He will ask what kind of driving you do and style you like etc. He often suggests less rear camber than BMW settings as it just creates more tyre wear than necessary and promotes safe understeer.

I recommend you choose your own settings with his guidance and don't worry about all that weight in the car malarkey. Just have at least half a tank of fuel and what's typically in the car, for me that's just me. I have the front maxed out on camber which is only about 1.3 degrees and front toe at zero. You may prefer a slight amount in for more stability. At the rear I currently have 1.5 degrees of camber but I will bring that down closer to one next week after I fit my B12 kit as I can feel the outside of the tyres are still pretty cold even after hard driving so less camber would give more tyre on the road. Rear toe is only about 0.03 in each side, again it's down to how stable you like it. That's not wild like slight toe out but is also not ultra staid.
 
Thanks for that information, Steve.

My use will be just for the occasional bit of fast road use- and I am not a driving god so wouldn't want anything too extreme! Just for it to be that bit more "planted" and running to the best it can be for the road.
I think its only once before (by previous owner after fitting non-run flats) had any kind of alignment check and that was done at some Kwik-fit outfit- I have the results sheet and the rear camber readings are red (out of recommended limits and don't think they were changed?) Left rear shows -1 38 ( says should be between -2 00 and -2.30) and right rear -1 51 ( should be -2.0 and -2 00).

I got the car 9 months after this alignment was done and tyre wear appears even.
 
BMW want you to run 2.5 degrees on the rear yet the M is closer to 1. The reason you have good wear is because you're not running BMW spec. My use is the same as yours and many on here. I'd suggest rear camber about where it is or slightly less, more camber on the front (don't worry about too much as there's only a small amount of adjustment anyway) then somewhere between parallel and BMW recommended toe in.
 
After getting the new springs/shocks f&r and droplinks, ARB poly bushes f&r , I was pleased with the results but now I have had a top notch wheel alignment done, its bloody brilliant!
Had a bit of a play earlier and its so much better through bends, roundabouts- very impressed.

Also, the twitchiness of the steering that most have experienced on the faster roads- id say that's 95% gone now-great!

Thanks Steve, for the recommendation for FC wheel alignment. Lee talks through the adjustments he's doing and I certainly know more now, about it all than before!
 
No worries, it's a pretty grotty garage but finding someone who can use an alignment machine properly is worthwhile.
 
I used Lee on my old Z4, really knows his stuff and the car drove amazingly afterwards.

I would use him again without a doubt.
 
Fyi KwikFit do not have the tool necessary to perform rear wheel alignment on the Z4 (E85/E86). In fact if their techs try to work on the rear it sends a message to Head Office t alert about unauthorised work!
 
So they don't have a basic socket set then... :rofl:

I can only think this refers to the tool you're supposed to use to align the RTA cages but that's replacing bushes not alignment. Just shows how bloody clueless they are...
 
Steve84N said:
So they don't have a basic socket set then... :rofl:

I can only think this refers to the tool you're supposed to use to align the RTA cages but that's replacing bushes not alignment. Just shows how bloody clueless they are...
Click to expand...

+1 no fancy tools are need at all, just goes to show why you shouldn't use kwik fit!
 
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