DIY toe-in alignment: follow-up '06 BMW 325Ci
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Another old-school toe-in alignment on a new-school machine.
This time we look up the factory specs and see how accurate we can get using the string method (along with a few quick calculations) to dial in this luxury sedan for optimum performance and handling.
Here's the first video explaining the actual setup and steps of this technique for toe-in alignments:
• DIY toe-in alignment
Well done. I use same method as you do. Always measure to center of the each wheel to get it square to the car first. Then adjust, move car front and back, again, done. Perfect alignment in 30 minutes anywhere.
Nice work there Ivan on the follow-up using the string method. Calculations were nice too. One tip on converting a decimal number to a fraction such as 16ths, 32nds, doesn't matter, is to multiply the decimal number by the fraction you want to go to. For example, in your example of converting 0.1 to 16ths, just multiply by 16 and you will get 1.6 saying there are one 16th plus a bit over a half. To use an example which makes a little more sense, how many 16ths are there in 0.875. 0.875 X 16 = 14. And if you wanted 32nds, 0.875 X 32 = 28. Take care Ivan...
I DIDN'T COME HERE TO DO MATH!!!
Seriously tho Ivan, nice vid! Thanks!
Old school you chalk the center tread full circumference, place stationary scribe and spin tire to scribe line both tires, tape measure front & back side of tire and you are done with your measurement. Adjust as required to bring into tolerance and steering wheel alignment. Once you have your toe set then adjust both sides equal amounts left or right to align your wheel. Same way we did dirt modified race cars. This is done with suspension loaded & bounced before & after adjustments. Keep the videos coming!
I was able to get all 4 wheels tracking straight and steering wheel is horizontal. I used my toe plates. All 4 wheels are adjustable. 2011 Camry. Smooth as a boat on water 💧. Best this car has ever tracked and I have paid for alignments previous. My alignment is better and free. 👍
While you're @ it Ivan, align all the wheels of the landing gear of the space shuttle..... "LOL"..... This is the best diy down to science car wheel aligment on UA-cam.....
Track width on most e46's is wider in the back by approx 6.35MM per side (.25"). So when measuring your string length either make the front tires wider or back narrower. I measure to the center of the rim right below the cap.
your best video yet...keep up the good work.... string away from car, a stand off of maybe 3" then use the rims for measurements, because the sidewalls are nowhere near being in the same space from one point to the opposite side. the stand off is due to not really knowing if the string has interference on the side wall......the 99cent laser is a way cool tool but there is an error even in a calibrated laser though very small.
Nice work. I'm attempting to improve my alignment tomorrow using similar methods. Mine's a 2001 330i. Steering wheel is cocked to left and it darts a lot at highway speeds. This is how the car was when I bought it. I just rebuilt the engine, transmission and painted most of the car. I'm surprised I'm not bald yet from all this car has put me through.
I have been trying to get this right on our X3 and After I got it bang on I started getting DSC errors. After spending a bit at shops I got a scanner and discovered it has an electronic steering wheel sensor, and with car running straight it reads -18 degrees. So, before you start, the sensor needs to be at 0 position (Steering wheel may not be straight though). Complete the alignment, I used string method with total of 1/8th toe in. Physically moved the steering wheel to center (disconnect battery when doing this). DSC errors are cleared and the car runs straight and the xdrive computer is much happy not having to keep adjusting the xDrive mechanism. Might post a video on this.
Great point about steering wheel angle. There must be an option to "re-zero" the calibration with a scanner.
That option works but gets overridden soon after driving, as the car has a "learn" mode and keeps adjusting and tuning itself. So it kept going back to -18 degrees. I left scanner in live data mode while doing the alignment so could turn the wheel until zero and dash underneath to adjust tie rods. All this can be done without a scanner though. Simply count steering wheel turns lock to lock and then 1/2 it, that will be your "0". Stick some marker tape on steering and rest of the housing as additional check.
Technically in your triangle the hypotenuse is the wheel base = 20". So you would do sin(7/60)=x/20. But you get basically the same answer since theta is so small. The hypotenuse and adjacent side are almost the same length, so sine and tangent give you similar answers.
Also I found the front/rear track online for that BMW, and the rear track is 0.5" wider, or 0.25" per side.
+anti0918 Thanks for the info! So basically the final result here was right on the $$ :)
I think if you could make a string method that runs parallel to the jack points under the sides of the car, it would be more accurate, since you're using more length of the car to align by, rather than just the length of the rear wheel. And it should also avoid the error due to different track lengths.
+anti0918 Hmm interesting thought...how do you know the jacking points are parallel to the car body? Probably some other variables lurking there...some cars don't even have specific jacking points!
+motoYam82 well I was just going off my extremely limited experience. If they're not parallel then I'm not sure what else you can do really.
I do use the strings to get steering wheel somewhat straight , but if using string off back wheels , there are variables .Track width and ,and Like on a lot of cars are the rear wheels in line, on some toe in can be off , wheel and tire run out , and after adjustments i like to roll car forward and recheck . I know a lot of people use the string method , and as long as one is aware of the variables it can work ok That shock was cool
He mentioned different track lengths and covered it at the end of the video.
another variable? rear toe adjustment? static rest? really need slip plates under the wheels. BUT your method will get you close to specs. good job ivan.
Have you done a vehicle that the rear wheels are adjustable also. Rear lateral links adjust.
Hi Ivan.... I've just fried my BEM trying to keep up with you on the math!! This method not to be attempted after much Vodka! Seriously, was interesting though even if a little out of left field.
+tecnaman This method was probably invented by some Russian DIYers in a cold garage working on their Soviet automobile after more than a few shots of the good stuff LOL
Man! I never knew that I get to use my brain from high school. I never knew all the math I learned in high school came in handy, lol.
My mechanic just knows 6 words: motor oil, oil filter, muffler, battery
Nice video. I really enjoyed the math too. I wonder how you are able to reconcile a love of machine and doing the proper thing to get them working well versus the common consumer desire of bare minimum at the lowest cost. That would scare me away from owning my own shop.
they using strings and rulers for race cas at the track, the difference that they have a proper frame attached to the car instead of 2 jack stands
Nice video :) i would use a caliper for measurements though.
Essentially laser alignment machines use the same method accept it uses a more precise laser. Also another variable is bent rims which notorious for throwing off even the computer machines. In some vehicles you may notice there are holes on the rim. Thoseholes are used to insert a pin plate and to use the hub to measure alignment and not the rim
Mercedes reccomends only using the pin plate method
Excellent! But I don't know no trig.
The treck at the rear is wider for e46 17mil info from google 8.5mm one side.
good refresher for my trig. good video.
Nasa uses these calculations to get to the moon
+Colin McGregor I wonder if they use strings to align their launchpad...a small error in launch angle would turn into a big error thousands of miles from Earth haha
Great video, just curious......why do you call 1/8....2/16 & 1/4....4/16? :-)
Desired gap is 1/16th inch so he is converting all larger measures to sixteenths.
What it does tell you at the top is that the vehicle needs to be fully weighed down. Weight in the front seats, back seat, washer solvent tank full and fuel tank full for accurate alignment. They want the adjustments to be made as if the car is driving down the road (squatted down) I am not a fan of how this is done but to each his own.
So do you invite all your buddies to pile into the car before doing an alignment? ;)
haha that I do not. I actually do not align BMWs for that reason. The dealerships have weights to put in all those areas. Just was giving my opinion on this alignment in particular. The string method can be close on most cars but I dont think it was very accurate in this case.
I just replaced the back shocks on my 03 325i with 126k miles, but they weren't as bad as that one. They were starting to leak a little, but there wasn't any rebound in them. Replaced them with the sachs/zf oem for about $80 from bavauto.com
Sorry, meant to also say, nice work covered in your video.
You could have simply measured the front and rear track width to account for any difference. That half an inch from the vw was enough to put your finished position way out of spec.
BMW are supposed to be aligned while the vehicle is weighted down in both front seats, rear seat, full gas tank and weights in the trunk. They are to be aligned like it is under acceleration because the vehicle squats down when you accelerate. Even with this string method the toe would still change under accel. I am just saying since you mentioned you had limited experience in this area.
yep but i cant run very fast with the tape measure. cars always provide a static measure for the tracking, show me a bmw being tracked at the factory using your method
Why not use asin() to degree? Its more simple
The problem I c with this method is that the vehicle is not loaded. The tie rods go thru an arc as they go up and down in the suspension stroke, and so it would seem that they need to b at the normal loaded position. That is why I do something similar but while the vehicle is on my pit. I sight the two beads that u were measuring from, and the c where they r in reference to the rear tires. After making an adjustment, I then roll the car back and forth to eliminate the tire bias/scrub. Then recheck. But what do I know?
+Bill Rimmer Absolutely! The only reason I had to lift the Beemer was to loosen those dang tie-rods! After it was back down on the ground I did roll it back and forth a bit to eliminate the tire scrub variable like you said. Only then can you check the actual alignment. Would be easier if I had a pit though :)
+motoYam82 I sent u a video of mine. Racks r great, but a pit is nice too. Also they work nicely with a regular garage ceiling. Still hoping for your analysis of the maxidas. Questions like, is their domestic or China? Will it check misfire counts on an 01 Dodge Caravan 3.3? Your scientific method would b real nice. U and Eric in a scan tool shootout. One, two bar...... How does that go?
Wow that's impressive math but really Ivan there's no way you actually use 1/16- measure, your a metric guy for sure :) 👍👍
+Steve Rob LOL Steve I am a metric guy for sure haha...Figured most of the audience can relate more to inches than millimeters tho
My head hurts now 😖......good vid tho!
Nice material... good job.... and .. 16:03 standard shit german technology...?? :)
I can't think it over Metrics... for EU ppl. You should do it in RU way.
Ivan, next time you visit SMA, would you stop by my house and tutor our daughter on 7th grade math?☺
+Randy Gudeahn (ProTech) Sure Randy, I've got a bit of tutoring experience under the belt :) Maybe we can organize some mini-lecture sessions at Eric's shop?
+motoYam82 great idea
yeah I failed high school trig.
too much math for the average, high school education mechanic!
Came to learn to adjust toe not learn math.
WHY WHY WHY would ANYONE (besides a brokeass) replace a cheap SHOCK ABSORBER (not an expensive strut, but even then...) on ONE side??? Come on! STOP BEING STUPID AND CHEAP PEOPLE! Do it right or WALK! lol
Да, заставляешь шевелить мозгами, единственное, что в дюймах я ни в зуб ногой. А так круто.
hahaha guess owning a Beemer has left the owner broke to get a real alignment.but hey good math class
most real alignment is so crude as to be worthless, ive had better results doing it myself
Anything but quick 😂😂😂
200$ a pop and you have been ripped off....
+Temlertti Hey this is a high-performance Euro machine...gotta pay to play right?
+motoYam82 Well you maybe right but I swapped OEM Bilsteins from stealership and they were 90$ a pop... Blastick Motor Werke atleast makes spare parts easy to identify= bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/
Wow. You lost me at the minute then the math. Say what??
+Jason Curry Taking it to the pros might be easier...RED=BAD, GREEN=GOOD lol :)
+motoYam82
Ha. lol. Ya I never took algebra. Was just a strait up lazy ass in school. But regretfully so. At least now. Keep em comin bro. Someday I will say hi in person ..