Alignment Issues

[FOBuLess1]

Here it goes. So i had an alignment done on my car after i had my tie rod ends replaced. After replacing the tie rod ends and before the alignment my car veered hard to the left. I took it in to be aligned at the car began to veer to the right. They had put it to factory settings the first time, and when they put it back on the second time it was way off of factory setting. They put it back to factory settings the second time and i still have the same problem. I took it in a third time and still the same problem. I had my alignment done at a firestone. Is there any reason to why my alignment would be at factory specifications, and then be way off the specs the next day?

I'm wondering if they know what they're doing, or if I have bigger issues I need to attend to.

[Dougy Fresh]

how are the control arm bushings, these if worn will greatly affect steering responsiveness, and can cause the car to push as you describe. You may need to buy new control arms and bushings. it also sounds like someone is clueless at firestone. I would take it somewhere with up to date digital alignment. I take mine to a guy i know who specializes in bmw alignments.

[FOBuLess1]

control arm and bushings are good.

and clueless at firestone sounds about right

[hardtailer]

wanna know if they have a clue? drive your car up their measuring equipment and have it measured. drive it off, drive around the block, come back and have a second measurement done.
compare results and compare those to the BMW alignment spec and the tolerances spec'ed on these. If the difference between the two measurements are greater than the tolerance spec'ed by BMW, then it's no use having that shop do an alignment.

Any shop that does not load your car with 68kg on each of the front seats and 14kg of 'luggage' in the back, does not do it the way BMW specifies the alignment settings...
But even BMW authorized dealers will seldomly get an alignment right. A good way to judge the qUALITY of work is to have a look at how the measuring tools are stored: stashed away underneath the work bench and the 4-post lift is being used for removing an exhaust system? Steer (pun intended) away!

reasons for veering: cambered road surface, wrong/different left to right camber settings, , wrong/different left to right castor angle, worn tyres, all above go for front and/or rear axle.
Does it veer when you let go of the steering wheel or does it do so when you hold the steering wheel straight? The latter would mean that the steering rack is not centered when the steering wheel is in the straight ahead position (probably because the tie rod ends are of different lengths left to right)

[FOBuLess1]

wooohooo!!! everything seems to be close to normal as far as alignment goes. yes, the guys at firestone are a bunch of jackasses and i got my money back (after 3 tries). they tried to give me some spiel about me needing some aftermarket parts to set my alignment straight, but like what ///Criss said, "what aftermarket part?" they also tried to tell me that i may have some underlying issue with my steering that was causing my alignment to do that...hmmmm....i was kinda scared. they then went on about how they were using the computers and lasers which i saw them use, and that they could only do as much as it allowed them to do.

sooooo...i decided to take it to a place that was tried and true; clarence brown in san diego if you ever come this way. no lasers and just some old school guys who've worked on stock and modified cars. granted i had some shaking to my wheels before because of the tie rod ends. guess what? the shaking went away (i also got my tires balanced from a hook up at discount tires after) and my car no longer veers to the right + shaking went away. it now veers to the left, but i know it does that because i have a bad tire on the front driver side.

the steering is no longer squirly when i drive, especially when making turns on the freeway. it feels good especially while taking turns at speed 60+. you know they must be doing something wrong when your car is supposed to veer to the left and it's veering to the right instead...but oh well...i was gonna say you get what you pay for, but the alignment was actually a dollar cheaper at the other place.

[d2a4]

Clarence Brown still there? Been there years ago for my MR2. I had a spinout on a rainy day and the rear control arm bent. Went to a few places, all told me replace a whole suspension. Went to Clarence Brown, they bent the control arm (steel) back and promptly align the car back to factory spec. No issue at all. Cheap alignment too. Wish I still live in SD