[TunafishE93]

The hardware malfunction would be when you issue started, according to you 2800 miles after the alignment. Only way it could cause wear like that in 200 miles is a hardware malfunction. If it was the alignment you would of noticed the issues right away. You issue started many miles after the alignment. It is possible that some nuts/bolts didn't get tourqed to specs and it gave after 2800 miles but with the control arms just replaced also it is just speculation on who is at fault..

I guess it would be more of a user malfunction of the hardware but it didn't start till 2800 miles after alignment which you can't put on the alignment since other work was also performed (control arms replacement).

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by porsche959

3k miles since last alignment. Tires were fine until then. I get an alignment every 6 months. Mainly cause suspension mods.

Yes I blame firestone, they are the ones that fucked up my alignment.

Well according to the sheet, they've done their job right. Did you adjust the front toe when you installed the m3 arms (before taking it to Firestone)?

You haven't hit any kerbs or anything that could have damaged the suspension in those 3000mi? Damage/failure of a component is about all that could have happened, unless the sheet is wrong. Check for any deterioration of any joints in the steering or suspension, and any play. Also check to make sure they tightened the locking bolts on the track rods.

You could take it to another shop and have them measure the alignment as it is, then return to Firestone armed with that.

Remember tyres can wear in pretty strange ways once they get old.

[simon]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

E90 are not corolla, alignment is not as per 'normal' car.

I learn it the hard way.
Went to a well known independent shop for wheel aligment. The guy Couldn't get the car straight, and he diagnosis a bent frame.,

I couldn't believe it. went to a VW/BMW indy specialist. he told me those car need a 3D alignment. You need to centre square both sub frame, then do a regular alignment.

Its more expensive since its a 2 hours job.

This is poppycock.

[gbalthrop]

Primary cause of wear of edges of tread is TOE. If Outer edges of tires are worn, too much Negative Toe or Toe IN. If INNER edges of tires are worn, too much Positive Toe or Toe OUT. Since the alignment, you have worn Inner edges suggesting too much Toe OUT. As vehicle speed increases, increased forces are placed on wheels causing them to Toe OUT if steering joints are worn allowing play. At least that was the case for older steering/ front suspension geometry -- if BMW E9x geometry causes different result, please advise.

My SWAG is that you have play in the steering geometry. Your Data Printout shows 1.77 degrees NEGATIVE Toe BEFORE alignment (AFTER replacement of control arms?). If THAT was the actual Toe for the 13,000 miles before alignment, you might expect wear on OUTSIDE edges of tread. If that was Toe BEFORE forces caused increase Toe Out/ Decreased Tow In, and at speed, the Toe became "Neutral" due to play, then you would expect NO tread edge wear during that 13,000 miles.

After "alignment", if .37 degrees Positive Toe (Toe Out), and loose steering joints allow ~ 1.8 degrees more toe out, then you have ~ 2 degrees toe out at speed, and wear on inside edges of tread. My SWAG would be that if you placed the front wheels on Rotary Plates (used in steering alignment) there would be some play when trying to turn either front wheel In/Out with hands at 3 & 9 o'clock positions.

IF play IS found, address the cause of play in steering/suspension BEFORE doing further alignment.

Please let us know what you find,
George

[Tambohamilton]

gbalthrop

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

E90 are not corolla, alignment is not as per 'normal' car.

I learn it the hard way.
Went to a well known independent shop for wheel aligment. The guy Couldn't get the car straight, and he diagnosis a bent frame.,

I couldn't believe it. went to a VW/BMW indy specialist. he told me those car need a 3D alignment. You need to centre square both sub frame, then do a regular alignment.

Its more expensive since its a 2 hours job.

As a BMW alignment tech......wut???

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by porsche959

Here it is. I am told the toe was really bad.

Numbers look good on the after pic. Are you sure the tires were not nearly bald on the inside before the trip? As in, did you actually look at them?

[tlow98]

I feel like they did you a favor. Those Bridgestone ecopia's are GT all seasons - time for some real tires?

I kid! let us know what the culprit ends up being...

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

As a BMW alignment tech......wut???

Centre square both subframes. Yes. You heard it here first!

[Emilime75]

I see a scrape on the bumper and(maybe it's an illusion) what looks to be a dent in the wheel right where the wheel weight is. Is it possible someone had a close encounter with a curb, or some other obstacle that may have knocked the alignment out of whack?

Your best bet would be to replace the tires and take it somewhere else for the alignment. See if the new alignment place before measurements match Firestone's after readings.

[porsche959]

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Numbers look good on the after pic. Are you sure the tires were not nearly bald on the inside before the trip? As in, did you actually look at them?

Hmmm I guess I see where the confusion is coming from.

The alignment pic/bald tires were taken yesterday (after trip). They realigned to spec yesterday, so everything should be good now, hopefully.0

I’ve only gone to firestone for alignments because their lifetime alignment for $180. I’ve abused the sht out of it and gotten my monies worth. Pretty much go in after any suspension mod (shocks, struts, control arms, m3 rack, new tie rod ends, etc).

I didn’t look at the tires before the trip. So, it could have been possible that the alignment was messed up the entire 16k miles (since I bought the tires in 2017), and no one caught? Unlikely, but possible.

[dwashy]

I gave up on shop alignments a long time ago. Would hate getting car back with the steering wheel crooked, or slight tracking issues. Bought a set of toe plates and a 6 pack, and do it in my garage. Takes more time and is more tedious, but has worked for me. Those tires look super sketch, glad you didn't crash on your trip due to a sudden loss of traction

[porsche959]

Originally Posted by Emilime75

I see a scrape on the bumper and(maybe it's an illusion) what looks to be a dent in the wheel right where the wheel weight is. Is it possible someone had a close encounter with a curb, or some other obstacle that may have knocked the alignment out of whack?

Your best bet would be to replace the tires and take it somewhere else for the alignment. See if the new alignment place before measurements match Firestone's after readings.

Keen eye. But what you are seeing is a what a beater car in nyc looks like.

[porsche959]

Originally Posted by tlow98

I feel like they did you a favor. Those Bridgestone ecopia's are GT all seasons - time for some real tires?

I kid! let us know what the culprit ends up being...

Ahahah. Yeah, these tires suck.

I like putting shitty tires on. More fun around the twisties. Gets more sketchy quicker.

[Emilime75]

Deleted weird double post.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by porsche959

Ahahah. Yeah, these tires suck.

I like putting shitty tires on. More fun around the twisties. Gets more sketchy quicker.

For sure. Used to love power sliding my winters in the dry. They got so greasy so fast!

[Tambohamilton]

Originally Posted by porsche959

Hmmm I guess I see where the confusion is coming from.

The alignment pic/bald tires were taken yesterday (after trip). They realigned to spec yesterday, so everything should be good now, hopefully.

Oh right! Yes, that figures. 3k mi with 2deg toe out is probably about right for that tyre wear... Though I'd say that 16k miles is a pretty good innings for a set of tyres anyhow. The ps4 on the back of my 330d are right at the wear markers (even wear, if a little more at the edges than the middle, and I don't do 'launches' or burnouts etc) after about 12k miles.

I'd take that alignment sheet back to Firestone, and show them the tyres. The chances are they'll shrug their shoulders and walk away, but I think you should push for discount on new tyres or similar.

And get some better tyres FFS. Sure low grip is exciting for corners, but it's also very 'exciting' when you're approaching the back of a stopped vehicle at speed. Good tyres don't make cornering worse, they make it better *and* safer. /end rant/lecture

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by Tambohamilton

gbalthrop

If "Positive Toe" = "Positive Toe-IN" then I stand corrected, as I assumed +Toe was Toe-Out. The effect of Toe-IN vs. Toe-OUT on tire wear should be correct as stated, at least for a RWD vehicle (OP does NOT indicate what vehicle, or whether RWD, AWD, FWD (NOT BMW ;-).

Info from someone who knows MORE about alignment than me
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...e.jsp?techid=4

Thanks,
George

[Tambohamilton]

Yeah, the pic is correct. Somehow seems illogical, though I don't really know why, but +ve toe is indeed toe in. I have to look it up regularly to remind myself!

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by porsche959

Hmmm I guess I see where the confusion is coming from.

The alignment pic/bald tires were taken yesterday (after trip). They realigned to spec yesterday, so everything should be good now, hopefully.0

I’ve only gone to firestone for alignments because their lifetime alignment for $180. I’ve abused the sht out of it and gotten my monies worth. Pretty much go in after any suspension mod (shocks, struts, control arms, m3 rack, new tie rod ends, etc).

I didn’t look at the tires before the trip. So, it could have been possible that the alignment was messed up the entire 16k miles (since I bought the tires in 2017), and no one caught? Unlikely, but possible.

Oh! The before in that pic is after your trip. Ya, that front toe would kill the inside of the front tires in no time. Sorry I misunderstood.

[kylerwinters]

Could someone help me out with my alignment? I had some bad toe-out in the r-rear(tow and camber fully adjusted it was at -1.8). I decided to buy a used low mileage rear sub-frame that had been in a front-end collision from a guy in town.

after installing the new subframe this is the before and after results of the alignment. I can't see any bent arms. I'll get photos of my bolt cam adjustments when I get home.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by marvinstockman

In general, as long as you check your tires and they are wearing fine, there is no reason to get an alignment. Been there, done that!

Yup. I let my sport-package E90 go 182,000 miles without an alignment and was getting between 35K -40K out of a set of High performance all-seasons. At 182K I replaced the struts and shocks with new all BMW OE sport suspension components. I had a fancy boutique foreign car shop do the alignment and they fucked it royal. Had the same issue Porsche959 has; it ate the tires in about 4K miles. Took the car to another well respected tire shop to get new tires and an alignment. Was convincingly told they had a tech who specialized in BMW alignments. He got it a bit better and got tire life to about 20K.

I finally took it to my local BMW dealership. Got it spot on and back to 35K tire life. Most shops have no idea how to work on BMWs.