I spent 1.5 hours waiting at Custom Alignment in Mountain View, CA. They came highly recommended and I agree completely. They use John Bean Visualiner 3D Computer Assisted Wheel Alignment machines and have a Hunter TC350 Tire Mounting and GSP9700 Road Force Measurement Wheel Balancer machine.
VietSB's 1997 540iA
Primary Angles
|
| Initial
| Specifications
| Final
| Min
| Max
| Front
| Caster
| Left
| 6.8º
| 5.8º
| 6.8º
| 6.8º
| Right
| 6.5º
| 5.8º
| 6.8º
| 6.6º
| Camber
| Left
| -1.1º
| -0.7º
| 0.3º
| -1.1º
| Right
| -1.4º
| -0.7º
| 0.3º
| -1.5º
| Toe
| Left
| 1/16"
| 1/32"
| 3/32"
| 1/32"
| Right
| -1/32"
| 1/32"
| 3/32"
| 1/32"
| Total
| 1/16"
| 1/32"
| 3/16"
| 1/16"
| Rear
| Camber
| Left
| -2.3º
| -2.2º
| -2.0º
| -1.1º
| Right
| -2.4º
| -2.2º
| -2.0º
| -1.1º
| Toe
| Left
| 1/32"
| 1/16"
| 3/32"
| 1/16"
| Right
| 5/32"
| 1/16"
| 3/32"
| 1/16"
| Total
| 3/16"
| 5/32"
| 7/32"
| 1/8"
| Secondary Angles
|
| Initial
| Specifications
| Final
| Min
| Max
| SAI
| Left
| 14.7º
| ---
| ---
| 14.8º
| Right
| 14.9º
| ---
| ---
| 14.8º
| Included Angle
| Left
| 13.6º
| ---
| ---
| 13.7º
| Right
| 13.5º
| ---
| ---
| 13.3º
| Setback
| Left
| 0.0"
| ---
| ---
| 0.0"
| Right
| -0.1"
| ---
| ---
| -0.1"
| Track Width Difference
| 1.8"
| ---
| ---
| 1.8"
| Wheel Base Difference
| 0.1"
| ---
| ---
| 0.1"
| | ||||||||||||||||||
Keep in mind the minimum and maximum "Specifications" shown above are probably for a non-lowered non-sport E39 540. I haven't driven enough to know for sure how good or bad the handling is, but I'm sure they've optimized my car for the garage queen duties I told them to dial-in! In reality, I indicated this car would be more street-use than track-use, so they did things like set less negative rear wheel camber than even specification to maximize tire life. I'll have to take some spirited drives to see how this affects my handling characteristics.
The one thing they commented on is my caster difference. They normally see US-spec cars have a slightly lower left than right caster figure to counteract the crown in our roads. Since mine is opposite, it will induce minor right pull when combined w/ the crowned road. I haven't noticed this, probably since I don't have rack and pinion steering. :)
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