What Cause Misalignment?
Misalignment generally isn’t something that happens gradually. Rather, it can happen quite suddenly, usually from a sudden, uneven force on your tires. The most common sources of misalignment are hitting a curb, driving over a pothole, or striking something in the road. A minor accident with another vehicle can also lead to misalignment.
Common Signs of Misalignment
The most noticeable sign that your BMW’s tires are misaligned is drifting. When driving, you’ll have to use considerable effort to simply keep your car in a lane, and you may even feel like you have the wheel constantly turned to one side when driving on a straight road.
You can confirm that your car is drifting by performing a test in a safe, sparsely used area, such as an empty parking lot. Drive at a low speed in a straight line, then take your hands just slightly off the wheel. If your BMW begins to drift to one side substantially, then your wheels are misaligned. It is important to note that even properly aligned tires will drift slightly from time to time due to imperfections in the roads, so what you’re looking for is a consistent, highly noticeable drift in one direction.
You can also check the wearing on your tires for signs of misalignment. When your vehicle is misaligned, your car’s weight sits more heavily on one side, putting more weight on 1 or 2 of your tires. This will cause those tires to wear out more quickly. If you notice this, your car has been misaligned for some time and needs to be serviced.
Potential Damage from Misalignment
As we’ve already mentioned, misaligned tires can cause the tires on your car to wear out unevenly. The wheels that are bearing more of the car’s weight will wear down the treads much more quickly than they should, which means more frequent, costly tire replacements.
Because misaligned tires essentially work against each other when you’re driving, you can also experience increased vibrations throughout the vehicle. Vibration is always something you want to minimize while driving, as it can lead to damage to other parts of the car. Excessive vibration can rattle nuts and bolts loose, cause parts to rub against one another, and ultimately lead to unnecessary damage to your vehicle.
Contact Foreign Affairs
Are you sick of high maintenance cost at the dealership to maintain the car you love? Find yourself searching Google for BMW service near me, BMW repair me or BMW Services West Palm Beach? Do yourself a favor and click on Foreign Affairs! We have been dedicated to servicing BMW and our customers in West Palm Beach FL for decades, Schedule an appointment for service. You can find us located at 1681 N Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL 33409.
