Suspension problem?

[yjo]

I recently had a set of 17" alloys put on my car with pretty low profile tyres. My problem is that, at the rear of the car there is a difference in height between the tyre and bodywork of the car, the rear right is lower than the rear left. Not being too scientific, I can fit 3 fingers in between the tyre and the body on one side and 4 fingers in the other side!!!

Whats really weird is that its a similar problem at the front, only the front right is higher than the front left?

Im not sure if this has only happened since the new wheels were put on but I noticed it as soon as they were.

Any ideas or similar problems?

Will my car still be under warranty even though the alloys werent fitted or supplied by BMW?

Cheers
yjo

[KenL]

You should be OK. Might be worthwhile putting your old wheels on if you've still got them.

Was the car on a perfectly flat ground when you checked it?

[Kev'sCoop]

The waranty should be fine as long as no damage has been caused by the wheels. The dealer may ask you fo rthe old wheels to fix the suspension.

kev

[bobnobski]

where you parked on the kerb?
did you have your old alloys on th right by mistake?

does'nt sound like a major problem. I would say your parked on unlevel ground. Try it in Tescos car park!

[yjo]

It was on level ground so unforetunately that rules that out. I think il give the dealer a ring and see what they say.

Thanks for the input.

[m1les]

If you measure from the center of the wheel to the wheel arch that should remove any problems with uneven ground.

I do recall reading somewhere that warranties may be a problem when fitting aftermarket wheels. If your new wheels weigh less than BMW MINI wheels it should help your side of things.

Cant really think what this may be, dont think it will be suspension, if your wheels are heavier, it may be brakes? Do you have directional tyres? are they on correctly? Bit of a puzzle, let us know the outcome.

[Palindrake]

I noticed similar probs on my one. dealerships will allow a certian amount of tolerance, think it was around the 25-30mm mark. for obviously has to be on level ground and i was told the petrol tank needs to be neaarly full or nearly empty.

I took mine to the dealership and it took em about ten minutes to measure it right. well within limits it was.

no worries.

[ultamotiv_coog]

have you checked that the profile on the tyres is the same on each side? I have had a few mates get new wheels that have been fitted with what seemed like random tyre profiles!

[yjo]

I when to my dealers and they measured the distances and they told me they were within the BMW allowances so basically that told me there was nothing wrong.

Ah well, i suppose its best to hear ot from the horses mouth.

[m_cooke999]

This is exactly the problem i have! the rear passenger side is slightly higher up, i will measure the actual difference later

[m_cooke999]

the difference between rear arch levels on my ONE is about 40mm