Signs of Misalignment in Your BMW

You rely on your car to get from point A to point B and all the other points in between. Keeping up with the proper maintenance and service is the best way to ensure your vehicle remains running in its optimal condition.

One issue that can occur is misalignment. Misalignment should be repaired as soon as possible so other parts in your vehicle do not become impacted as well. The best way to catch the problem early is to know the signs of misalignment and detailed information about how and when the misalignment occurred.

Common Signs of Misalignment in Your BMW

The most common sign that will alert you to the misalignment of your BMW is drifting to one side. This is easy to notice because you will need to put a lot of effort into keeping your vehicle in the lane while you drive.

To confirm that drifting is occurring, you can perform a test in a safe area that is sparsely populated, like an empty parking lot. At low speed, take your hands slightly off the wheel and note if your BMW substantially drifts to one side or the other. If this is something you notice, then your wheels are misaligned.

Another sign to look for is how your vehicle moves after you hit a bump or pothole in the road. A car that is properly aligned reacts quickly to any jerks and can easily straighten back out. If you hit a pothole and your BMW is misaligned, you are going to have a harder time steering it back on track again.

Unevenly-worn tires are another sign that will alert you to the fact that your BMW is misaligned. Your car may also sit heavily on one side. The weight is not evenly distributed when misalignment has occurred. One tire is bearing more weight than the others, and this will lead to the tire wearing out at a quicker rate than the other tires.

Helping to Further Diagnose the Misalignment

Once you notice any of the signs that are mentioned above, you will need to bring your vehicle in for servicing. Once you arrive, your trusted technician may ask you some additional questions about previous bad road conditions to help them further diagnose the misalignment issue.

One question to think about is when you first noticed the issue. If the misalignment occurred after running into a curb, then realigning your vehicle is all that needs to be done. If your vehicle has been showing the above signs for an extended period of time, then other parts may have deteriorated. A technician will inspect and diagnose any issues.

Another question that your technician may ask you is how often these signs occur. If you notice signs of misalignment while you are driving on a certain type of road or under specific load conditions, then the issues may not be the alignment at all.

One last set of questions is when the last time the air in the tires were filled, when the tires were last rotated, and what past work has been done. If the tires have never been rotated, then the alignment issues could be coming from this. If you have had these issues addressed recently, then the misalignment issue could stem from the previous work that was done on your BMW.

Repairing the Misalignment

Driving your vehicle for a long period of time when it is misaligned can lead to more expensive issues. Additional parts in the chassis and under the hood could become damaged due to a misalignment.

When you bring your vehicle into Ultimate Bimmer Service, we will quickly identify the misalignment issue based on the diagnostics we run and the answers you give to the questions above. Once the issue has been located, we use quality parts to repair or replace the ones that need it so we can have you back on your way as soon as possible.

Ultimate Bimmer Service is easily accessible from the areas of Carrolton and Dallas, TX. Please call us today to make an appointment, and we will re-align your BMW quickly.

* BMW Car image credit goes to: huettenhoelscher.