I have a 2004 Cooper S and had 4 Avon ZZ3 tyres fitted last week.

After having the tyres fitted they went to align and said that the rear was quite a bit out and the front were out a little bit - even though I had the front done 2 weeks earlier.

They said they couldn't do a 4 point alignment and I'd need to go to a specialist to get it done properly. I have spoken to a couple of normal standard garages who have said that they can do a 4 wheel align but the guys who fitted my tyres said I should trust a bog standard garage as they won't do it properly and they would have done it themselves but didn't want to mess about with it unless they knew 100% how to do it.

I have read a few threads on here that it needs a KDS check and it takes a couple of hours to do. Is this the only way a 4 wheel alignment can be done as it can be done as it's quite pricey!

My experience with a pre-March 2002 Cooper is that a decent wheel alignment is everything. They changed the front suspension in April 2002 so your car will be less sensitive to it, but it will still affect handling and tyre wear (mine started to understeer when the front was out a bit).

And for the record I had the left pull fault, and found that the front toe in and caster adjustments fixed it :)

I found that every tyre place can do it, and tyre places are best, BUT find one that takes the time. I found a place locally that do race cars. They took the time and got it right.

Hi,

Its a 2006 Cooper. Just fed up of run flat costs etc. Would they fit ok?

Lose the run flats. I went from $2000 a set to $640 a set for non-run flats. Same sized tyre. Rims can take either tyre.