DIY Alignment (Toe Adjustment)

Tools Needed:
• Pair of toe adjustment plates. "Longacre" is the big name in these but I bought a generic pair off eBay for $33.52 with shipping.
• Pair of measuring tapes. FREE after rebate at Menards
• Open-ended wrenches to adjust your tie rods. Size will probably vary with what brand tie rods you have.

Procedure:
1. Follow BMW's ballast/loading procedure which is also laid out in the Bentley manual. BMW says to load the car to get proper alignment measurements as follows: 150 lbs in each front seat. 150 lbs in the center of the rear seat, 46 lbs. in the trunk and a full gas tank. This might be overkill, but I had the weight on hand so I figured I ought to do it the right way.



2. Inflate your front tires to their max inflation pressure to eliminate most of the bulge on the bottom of the tire. This will help to give a more accurate toe measurement.

3. Lay the toe plates against the tires and string the tape measures.





** This alignment process uses two measurements, one in front of the wheel and one behind. These measurements are then converted to come up with a degree amount of toe. The spec. for the 318ti is: 0 degrees, 18 minutes (0.3 degrees) total front toe in. This means the measurement on the front of the tire needs to be smaller than the measurement at the back of the tire. I did the math and when you use a 24" toe plate (seems to be industry standard), you need the front measurement to be 1/8" smaller than the rear measurement. This equates to 18 minutes of total toe. After I did the math I found this PelicanParts article which confirms the math. Thank goodness http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...ome_toe_in.htm **

4. Give gentle pressure on the tape measures to make certain the plates are flat against the tires. Don't pull too hard or you will move the plates. Take your measurements. I used to the outer face of the plate to make my measurement. Here is exactly 65".



My first try gave me:

• 65" Front, <64 15/16" Rear. This is toe OUT of 1/16" I shortened each tie rod by 1/4 turn and took another measurement. Tie rod adjustments can be made with the car on the ground thankfully. After each adjustment, roll the car forward and backwards a few feet to allow the suspension to settle into it's new position. This time:

• 64 15/16" Front, 64 15/16" Rear. This is ZERO toe. I then shortened each tie rod by 1/2 turn which gave me:

• 64 12/16" Front, >64 15/16" Rear. This is now toe IN (of 3/16") which is what we want, but I adjusted it too much. We need 1/8" (or 2/16") IN. **Note: I stuck with a 16th of-an-inch scale to keep it a little easier to think through. ** I then lengthened each tie rod by about 1/4 turn and got:

• 64 14/16" Front, 65" Rear. This is exactly the 1/8" (2/16") toe IN we need.

When you are all done, double check that you properly tightened the tie rod's lock nuts. Readjust the pressure in your front tires. That's it! It's pretty easy, and from all accounts online this is a pretty accurate system.

I did this after replacing my control arms and tie rods. I very carefully measured the length of my old tie rods and adjusted the new ones to match. This gives you a very good starting point.