So I took the car to get the wheels aligned awhile ago.
Turns out all the wheels had tilted too far in (the top of the wheel closer towards the center of the car) because of all the bumpy roads down here (and because the car is on 18's with lowering springs).
Everything was fixed aside from the rear wheels because the mechanic said he couldn't fix them because the car was too low. Either that or he said he couldn't adjust them anymore. I understand they're supposed to tilt in a little bit, but this was more than that. Now I'm wondering:
1) Should I get two aftermarket springs just for the rear wheels and heighten them just a little bit? Will I be able to get the alignment fixed then? I was already thinking of this because the car seems a little too low on the wheels in the back anyway. I probably don't want to cut the stock ones, period. Perhaps get two aftermarket springs from a junkyard? What should I do? I want the car aligned properly.
2) Should I go about upgrading certain things in the suspension to prevent the wheels from tilting in? I don't suppose they will very soon because this was the first time I had it aligned since I bought it, and I have no idea when it was last done. Things like the ball joints, control arm bushings, etc., to perhaps the M3 equivalent? The mechanic shrugged these questions off.
And on a different topic, a question about gearing, I guess:
3) I've noticed that I will hit 90 in fifth gear at about 4K RPM. And about .5K more for every extra ten MPH, before drag gets a lot worse. Does this seem right? The car is stock under the hood, except for the modifications to the suspension that I mentioned above (lowering springs, wheels).
And random:
4) About the code on the on-board computer that locks the ignition: What if someone just disconnects and reconnects the battery? Just curious before I give it a try myself. Shouldn't the code still work--be saved in some sort of non-volatile, read-only memory, perhaps powered by an internal computer battery? (This has something to do with the new thread I’m about to start called "Jacked!" in this same forum.)
Thanks for your help.![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
Turns out all the wheels had tilted too far in (the top of the wheel closer towards the center of the car) because of all the bumpy roads down here (and because the car is on 18's with lowering springs).
Everything was fixed aside from the rear wheels because the mechanic said he couldn't fix them because the car was too low. Either that or he said he couldn't adjust them anymore. I understand they're supposed to tilt in a little bit, but this was more than that. Now I'm wondering:
1) Should I get two aftermarket springs just for the rear wheels and heighten them just a little bit? Will I be able to get the alignment fixed then? I was already thinking of this because the car seems a little too low on the wheels in the back anyway. I probably don't want to cut the stock ones, period. Perhaps get two aftermarket springs from a junkyard? What should I do? I want the car aligned properly.
2) Should I go about upgrading certain things in the suspension to prevent the wheels from tilting in? I don't suppose they will very soon because this was the first time I had it aligned since I bought it, and I have no idea when it was last done. Things like the ball joints, control arm bushings, etc., to perhaps the M3 equivalent? The mechanic shrugged these questions off.
And on a different topic, a question about gearing, I guess:
3) I've noticed that I will hit 90 in fifth gear at about 4K RPM. And about .5K more for every extra ten MPH, before drag gets a lot worse. Does this seem right? The car is stock under the hood, except for the modifications to the suspension that I mentioned above (lowering springs, wheels).
And random:
4) About the code on the on-board computer that locks the ignition: What if someone just disconnects and reconnects the battery? Just curious before I give it a try myself. Shouldn't the code still work--be saved in some sort of non-volatile, read-only memory, perhaps powered by an internal computer battery? (This has something to do with the new thread I’m about to start called "Jacked!" in this same forum.)
Thanks for your help.
