Hi,

Bought a second hand 320d estate off my father in law.

As soon as I drove it I noticed the steering wheel was not straight. Quite annoying to drive, as you can appreciate. Not horrible, but hands don’t sit naturally on the wheel and just bugs me and doesn’t feel right when driving.

To be fair the car was a fair deal and my father in law kept it in good condition, it had only done 8,500 miles and was a great buy for us.

BMW have asked £180 to balance wheels and straighten steering wheel, as this is not something covered by warranty (apparently a pot hole can knock out the tracking). Would you bother – car cost us a lot, much more than we have spent on any car by a lot. Annoys me a bit, but sensible wife says it is not worth the cash. Thing is it will be going to the garage in March to have the winter tyres removed, so I thought I may as well get it done then.

take it to your local tyre fitting emporium and get them to do it for about £20-£30. easy. always worth checking because if the tracking is out it will trash your tyres double quick.
they will do just as good a job as BMW.

It’s not worth paying BMW to do it when any decent Tyre place can do the same thing for a lot less.

It’s worth doing as if the Tracking or Camber is out it can wear tyres out in no time at all.

Anywhere that has a laser tracking set up can do it.
(North Eastern/ HiQ etc)

And it wouldn’t be covered by a warranty no.

And Pleeeeease don’t pay BMw to take the winter tyres off 🙂
Take it to a tyre place and pay a quarter as much for exactly the same job.

Wheel in my old Puegeot never sat straight, only a two minute job to sort it though (no airbags), just undo the bolt in the middle line it un and tighten again. For £180 I wouldn’t bother. Is the tracking causing any other issues, excessive tyre wear or something?
.
Another advantage of no airbag is that two could sleep comfortably in the front seats, put them both flat and then take the steering wheel off, can’t do that in my new one.

What he said ^^

Sounds like the tracking needs adjusting and if wheels need balancing as well (quite likely if the tracking is out) then a local garage/tyre place should be able to sort it for you very simply and a lot cheaper than BMW.

Although TBH I did read that BMW quote as £1800, not £180 😳

Cheers toppers – will the pests at BMW give me hassle over getting it done at another dealer, as car is inside warranty?

You bought a newish BMW and your wife thinks £180 is a lot to spend on the car…, she’s in for many shocks then.

Thanks all for quick replies. Local garage said they can have a look for 31.99. Perhaps I shouldn’t grumble – serves me right for purchasing a BMW.

“Wheel in my old Puegeot never sat straight, only a two minute job to sort it though (no airbags), just undo the bolt in the middle line it un and tighten again”

not normally the best way to sort the issue – this can lead to a steering box that can give good lock one way and poor lock the other way.

correctly set up tracking should leave the wheel central unless the track rod is bent or the wrong length.

Does it pull to the side or does it drive straight, but with the steering wheel squint?

As an owner of a similar BMW and a mechanic be ready for possible replacement of the track rod ends.

BMW came up with a design that uses a pinch bolt to close the track rod end onto the rack arms, instead of a big locking 21-24mm nut. This is a problem because when the bolt is seized it’s a bugger to get free – heating it does help but sometimes they still snap.

Secondly, because the design relies on a pinch bolt the rack end has a slot up one side of it which lets water in and begins the onset of rust. I’ve had it on numerous BM’s (Even my own) that no matter how much heat you use the track rod end will not turn freely on the rack (which prevents correct tracking adjustment)

So you may get a mechanic who sticks at it and eventually gets the tracking lined up, or they might advise the replacement of the ends with aftermarket ones which don’t get stuck for some reason.

Just an FYI 😀

What he said, it should be done at the tie rod ends, not a difficult job, but needs some equipment so not easy to DIY (although is possible with 2 planks of wood, a length of string and a paitent friend!). Get it done with the tyre change, or if you’ve got 2 sets of wheels, get it done now and change your own wheels.

My Focus sat imperceptibly off center utill I got mine done. Just enough to wear the tyres out in 20,000miles (other edge was probably good for another 10,000), but not enough that i didn’t just discount it as the camber of the motorway as I was driving 8-10 hours each weekend commuting on the motorway whichis where it was noticable.

It happens because garages sometimes only adjust the steering on one side to do the tracking. Take it in to any place, Kwik fit will do, and tell them specifically that you want the steering wheel straight. They should start with a little jig that holds the steering wheel straight that sits on the seat, then they adjust both wheels. If they don’t do this it won’t end up straight.

I put up with it for years then I made them do it properly and it was fine.

Thanks, does drive straight. Wheel just sits squint, so it does not seem to feel heavy in either direction.

As above then, try a local tyre place first off and see if they can get it right.

I had an identical problem with my BMW. Went back under warranty to have the wheel straightened because I thought the tracking was iffy, but “no fault found” and the comment of “it’s meant to be like that”.

A year later the off-side tyre was worn almost to the cords on the inside edge. When the finance company tried to charge me £250 for a new tyre, I sent them the invoice and paperwork from BMW saying that the tracking was in perfect working order despite my concerns.

I never heard anything since.

no bmw should be ok with you getting it done elsewhere so long as its done correctly. it isnt a warranty issue so where it is done is up to you.