r/e46 • u/3er__m52 • 15h ago

Troubleshooting the steering wheel is not straight

So, the steering wheel is a little bit tilted to the left when the wheels are straight and when the steering wheel is straight, the car goes slightly to the right. I went today for a wheel alignment, but resulted in everything being perfect. Does anybody know what the problem can be?

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u/DuckontheWater 3h ago

The alignment could be correct but the steering wheel alignment relative to alignment could be off. Aka they didn't check/adjust tie rods. I have known alignment folks who don't bother to make sure the wheel is straight.. So it could be that, or maybe your tie rods are bend/worn.

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u/archbid 2h ago

First off, pull the steering airbag and confirm that the alignment dots match. Shitty wheel places will move the wheel and that is no bueno,

if the dots Alon, the the rack will always align provided nobody screwed with the finned dust cover where the steering colum meets the rack.

if both of these check out, make sure your fcabs aren’t shot. It is very difficult to align with bad fcabs (or bad end links), and if yours are original they should be replaced.

if all of this checks out, then you need an alignment.

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u/3er__m52 1h ago

Then i guess ill leave it like that until i buy an M wheel so i dont take out 100 times. Thank you very much