[EvasiveF87]

Looking to hopefully get some advice and insight from people in the mechanic field or those familiar with alignments and the alignment process on these cars

Story starts with me buying a low mileage clean used M2 with a set of Fortune Auto 500 coilovers on it. Before I drove off with the car I asked the current owner at the time to raise the front a smidge as my driveway is aggressive and I just didn’t want to rip the bumper up.

Car from what I remember drove perfectly fine and straight. I actually took it on a small day rally for a local fundraising cruise for the hurricane that exact weekend I got it. Drove perfectly fine.

Next week comes, shop I’ve trusted with the car installs a new set of Pilot Sport AS4’s, adjust the full vehicles height to my liking and performs an alignment. Immediately noticed that the steering wheel was off center towards the right, took the vehicle back and had it re-aligned. Same issue.

Went home, you guys suggested to have them calibrate the SAS and re-align which I just did and still, the wheel is off center towards the right. Now they’re suggesting I get adjustable caster arms to fix the issue, spending $1,300.

Am I being given a run around / just having bad luck? This particular tuner shop I’ve had nothing but great experiences with but now I’m hesitant to continue throwing money into the wind.

It’s also worth noting that the prior owner was / is super transparent about the car, straight shooting guy and I have 0 suspicions he did something malicious.

Attached is the readout from the final alignment the vehicle received. Am I crazy for noticing the difference in camber as well?

[Mahduece]

Go to a better Alingment shop…an off center wheel is a simple a toe/tie rod adjustment. There’s no magic to it, so don’t lose sleep over it.

[Coupsoup]

Is the steering wheel off to the right but it tracks straight? Or are you steering right to counter a left pull? If the steering wheel is off right but vehicle is tracking straight it is 100% a simple tie rod adjustment. The alignment machine in that shop could be miscalibrated or something. I've used tons of old machines that show perfect numbers but the wheel is off same direction after every alightment.

If you are a big guy and they are not using driver simulating weights in the seat during alignments that is a common issue with pulling after alignment.

Vehicles pull towards highest camber and towards lowest caster. In your case there is a slight pull towards the right from camber and a slight pull towards left from caster. Neither angle will cause a pull if they are balanced side to side, it is only the difference that causes the pull.

I would go to a highly rated performance shop and maybe consider sitting in the car during the alignment if your schedule permits.

[Maynard]

Assuming this is the 'drives straight, wheel off center' option; otherwise follow above suggestion to add ballast. Resetting the wheel to center is so basic, that the question is why didn't they do it when you brought it back, and why suggest expensive replacement parts. If it is because they CAN'T fix it by simply adjusting tie rods and it truly needs those new parts then then likely you have accident damage and worth having them check frame alignment as well. I would have expected a quality shop to go over that in some detail w/ you. If they act like they don't know what you are talking about to adjust the tie rods, then perhaps you need a new alignment shop that isn't just trying to sell you stuff. And as a long shot, make sure your coilovers aren't unevenly jacked after being on the lift - if one is hanging up somehow (not settling back down as much as the other side) that might throw things off; should be quite visible.

[D.Yooras]

Two inputs. One, throw those garbage coilovers away before anyone gets hurt and two, go to a different shop, that aligner is absolute garbage. The shop owner is either a moron, or a dishonest cheap ass based on what you said above.

These cars require precision machinery to get a proper alignment done and that machine, on it's best day, isn't capable of doing it. Find a place that is using Hunter, preferably ask if they have a Hawkeye Elite (a regular Hawkeye will do but no DSP600s) and make sure they have a steering wheel leveling device. Anything short of that is a no go for alignment shops for these cars.

[EvasiveF87]

Originally Posted by D.Yooras

Two inputs. One, throw those garbage coilovers away before anyone gets hurt

Garbage coilovers? You’re funny. Stopped reading right at that.

Fortune Auto is far from cheap my friend lol

[Mahduece]

Originally Posted by EvasiveF87

Garbage coilovers? You’re funny. Stopped reading right at that.

Fortune Auto is far from cheap my friend lol

Well actually they are very cheap and at the lowest end of coilovers options. It’s your car do what you want. I’m sure they will give you the “lowered” look, but not much or even less performance than stock.
Save up, sell those and move on to a better option.

[M3SQRD]

Toe is the only adjustment on the front unless your Fortune Auto’s came with camber/caster plates. Assuming they do not have camber/castor plates, the total toe is off by 0.01 deg off. It’s the toe adjustment that results in the steering wheel being off center. The first thing they should do once your car is on the alignment rack is to center and lock the steering wheel between the wheel and seat. I’d go back and request that they recenter the steering wheel and set the left and right toe-in to the same values.

They could have done a much better job, especially with the camber settings. I’d recommend having the rear camber set to -1.7 deg on both sides. You need more camber if you’re tracking your car (-2.0 deg to -2.2 deg). The lower camber also puts more tire on the road (contact patch). I’d also have them set the toe-in to the same values.

[EvasiveF87]

Originally Posted by Mahduece

Well actually they are very cheap and at the lowest end of coilovers options. It’s your car do what you want. I’m sure they will give you the “lowered” look, but not much or even less performance than stock.
Save up, sell those and move on to a better option.

Fortune Auto are not low end or budget coilovers. Budget coilovers do not come with a 5 year warranty, nor do they cost $2,000+ to get into a set. Fortune Auto's R&D and HQ center is an hour and some change from my house. They offer a ton of services including full on rebuilds which they recommend every 60,000 miles for daily driven cars, shorter for track vehicles. They're a brand that is very well established in motorsport, I'm honestly a bit shocked that im having to write this out right now.

Let's not spread misinformation on here because we're misinformed fellas. There are a lot of folks running Fortune Auto products on their F8X cars. For lack of better words, because it's not made in germany doesn't mean it's a cheap / shit option. That mentality is hilarious. A daily driven car does not need $5,000 KW Clubsports.

[EvasiveF87]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

Toe is the only adjustment on the front unless your Fortune Auto’s came with camber/caster plates. Assuming they do not have camber/castor plates, the total toe is off by 0.01 deg off. It’s the toe adjustment that results in the steering wheel being off center. The first thing they should do once your car is on the alignment rack is to center and lock the steering wheel between the wheel and seat. I’d go back and request that they recenter the steering wheel and set the left and right toe-in to the same values.

They could have done a much better job, especially with the camber settings. I’d recommend having the rear camber set to -1.7 deg on both sides. You need more camber if you’re tracking your car (-2.0 deg to -2.2 deg). The lower camber also puts more tire on the road (contact patch). I’d also have them set the toe-in to the same values.

The fortunes come with fully adjustable camber plates.

I actually had the car re-aligned by a more reputable shop / BMW shop in the area and the car overall is much more "Straight" but over crest I still feel like the wheel is off center. I'm blaming that on the toe.

It really doesn't bother me anymore as much as I thought it would now that the car has been re-aligned by a good shop.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by EvasiveF87

The fortunes come with fully adjustable camber plates.

I actually had the car re-aligned by a more reputable shop / BMW shop in the area and the car overall is much more "Straight" but over crest I still feel like the wheel is off center. I'm blaming that on the toe.

It really doesn't bother me anymore as much as I thought it would now that the car has been re-aligned by a good shop.

Glad to hear it sounds like you’ve addressed the alignment issues.

Even a small steering wheel offset drives me crazy! If it’s not perfectly straight then it’s going back. My brother-in-law is a BMW master tech so I have no problem taking it back to him until it’s perfectly straight. He knows this so he makes sure it’s straight on the first attempt

[bipp]

Originally Posted by EvasiveF87

Fortune Auto are not low end or budget coilovers. Budget coilovers do not come with a 5 year warranty, nor do they cost $2,000+ to get into a set. Fortune Auto's R&D and HQ center is an hour and some change from my house. They offer a ton of services including full on rebuilds which they recommend every 60,000 miles for daily driven cars, shorter for track vehicles. They're a brand that is very well established in motorsport, I'm honestly a bit shocked that im having to write this out right now.

Let's not spread misinformation on here because we're misinformed fellas. There are a lot of folks running Fortune Auto products on their F8X cars. For lack of better words, because it's not made in germany doesn't mean it's a cheap / shit option. That mentality is hilarious. A daily driven car does not need $5,000 KW Clubsports.

If they were a motorsport brand, you would see them being run by people on this platform who run TT or a lot of HPDE. You don't - you're seeing them run by an influencer who I mostly see peddling junk from the Tiktok shop. People run MCS, Ohlins, Nitron, JRZ, whatever - for a reason. It's even harder to justify when the Ohlins DFV is $3k...

Edit: Judging by that guy's vid description, it seems like he moved over to Ohlins as well.

[ThreeStripes]

Originally Posted by EvasiveF87

They're a brand that is very well established in motorsport, I'm honestly a bit shocked that im having to write this out right now.

[EvasiveF87]

Originally Posted by ThreeStripes

Originally Posted by bipp

If they were a motorsport brand, you would see them being run by people on this platform who run TT or a lot of HPDE.

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1779155
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCtS8wwJ5ZA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmWHZGWJ_rg

Buy what you enjoy.