of course, i'm referring to my barely trusted steed, the blue M3 and the recent ordeal i had.
the main point of this post will be how it's difficult to find the trusted and capable mechanics when it comes to taking care of cars that have a super sensitive nature.
so, about 3 weeks ago, on my way to work, steering started shaking violently.
panicked, i dropped it off at V*** , a reputable BMW specialist.
they say, oh, front brakes are seizing, CPV is seeping oil, rear trailing arm bushing probably needs replacing soon. but otherwise it's in great shape.
so i order front calipers. rebuilt ones on both fronts, install them myself, and bled.
go for test drive, steering still shaking.
take it to local very reputable H*** tire shop that has hunter roadforce balancing machine. they tell me that i have a bit of a run out on one of the front wheels, but it seems the tires are out of rounds. i ask them to mark the one that has issue. they say the Roadforce machine is telling them that the tire/wheel combo cannot be roadforce balanced to within specs. (one side came to 13 which they say is excellent, the other side was 35...)
they don't charge me, because they couldn't do it.
then i take it to a local indie wheel repair place that does most of the work for mobile wheel repairs guys.
he puts it on wheel machine thingy and spins it.
he tells me that there is a very minor lateral runout on the wheel, but it's too minor to worry about and it doesn't need to be fixed, but the tire has more runout.
this guy doesn't charge me either.
so, i take it to canadian tire, where i bought the tire from, with extra warranty to boot, and tell them what happened and that i would appreciate a new tire.
they try their best to make me a liar. ask to see my receipts from the places where i took them rims to. i would love to, but nobody charged me and there are no receipts.
i tell them, my tire has less than 4000 km on them, less than a year old, why would i try to scam 1 tire? still get treated like scum. they call the H*** place to verify my story, but treating me like scum doesn't stop.
they put that rim/tire combo on their Hunter 9600 machine (not roadforce) and tell me it's perfectly balanced.
i see the vertical runout of about 1.5 mm though, but they are adamant that it's normal.
ask me to bring in the car, so i did the next day, and they tell me after 2 test drives and long time on hoist trying to find a fault in suspension that they could blame the shake on instead of tire, they balance the other side saying it was 3 oz off. WTF?
now it's shaking a bit less but it's still present. but the mechanic tells me it's perfectly normal. i keep telling them it's not normal but they are convinced it's normal.....
well, i guess I'll have to take it to another roadforce specialist, see what's up.
then, i had another local reputable shop, N*** , do the rear bushing, shifter kit and CPV.
very well done. but they told me my rear strut mount is done.. (replaced them a year 1/2 ago). maybe it is little damaged, and it's cheap, so i inspect it when i get home. still looks new. hmm?
let's suppose i am a clueless consumer.
Who the hell can you trust with your car?
