fan168

Can I just ask is this is a common problem and what causes it? Does it mean there is a problem with one of tyres / alloys?

Thanks for the advice, I went back to the garage this morning and got them to swap the tyres front to back (tyres are directional). Drove off and found the car was pulling to the right this time. Went back and asked them to re-check the alignment but they refused as the boss said I needed my shocks replacing. However one of the guys said lets swap the tyres on the right hand side front to back. I drove along a stretch of the A4 several times and found that the car was pretty much straight, need to go onto the motorway to confirm. The only problem I have now is that the pairs no longer match but at least it’s better than it was.

Just got back from having him check it again, he made a slight adjustment (but its still pulling). Actually made me sit in the car and hold the steering wheel straight this time. Afterwards he checked the wishbone and said it looked fine but both front shocks could do with a change. He noticed they both still had the pin attached and said that shows that its the orignal pair. If the car still pulls to the left then you should have these replaced, quoted £280 (inclusive) for the job. Does this sound right? he said usually shock absorbers last between 40-60K miles.

Thanks for the response. Drove just over 100 miles this morning to Birmingham and the car feels much better but is still pulling slightly to the left, needed to hold the steering wheel slightly off centre to the right. I know motorways are slightly curved to allow for water flow, will try it in the car park over lunch. Think I'll take it back early next week and see if he can adjust anything more.

Replaced a pair of tyres recently and found that the car was pulling to the left when I was holding the steering wheel dead straight. Experienced this behaviour before and it was down to tracking so headed off to my local Hunter wheel alignment place (found via http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/). The guy spent a good hour making the adjustments and then gave me the following printout. He reversed my car off the ramp and then proceeded to drive forward and then reverse several times. After which he said that it felt fine to him but to give it a week and then come back if I experienced any issues with the steering and he'd adjust it again. Whilst I was driving home I remembered that the last time this was done, the car was weighted down but this time it wasn’t. Not sure how much of a difference this makes. My question is should I ask him to re-do it this time weighted and also do the new values look correct? Got a 200 mile roundtrip tomorrow so will be able to check if it’s still pulling to the left. The car is an E46 318ci btw.