So our 2017 Cooper will not go straight. It always wants to drift to the left. The service department has done an alignment twice, adjusted parking brake, checked tires, suspension, etc. The last time it was in they said the parking brake was dragging. The car was better for a few days then back to going left. Also 2 of the 4 loaners we have had did the same thing. One was a 2018 Clubman, the one we have now a 2018 S Convertible. Any others having this problem or any ideas?

 

It might be worth taking it to a qualified alignment tech away from the dealership ... or try another dealership.

If everything is working perfectly, the angle of the lane would normally want to slightly stray to the right. They design the road to drift water off the lane.

 

You have to be careful. This or something like this has come up on other forums and in one case the service department assured the owner the alignment was ok, more than once. Fed up he took the car to another shop and found the alignment was not ok. After it was set properly the car then ok.

Did you get a print out of the alignment with the before and after values? With other cars if I don't get this the alignment is crap.

If any brake was dragging enough to cause the car to pull to one side or the other the hub/wheel would be hot.

I have to note that other cars are manifesting this behavior and this suggests that the problem is not with the car but with you. That is perhaps the roads you drive on have developed a surface that can have the car wanting to pull to one side or the other. This is very common as heavy traffic can wear shallow depressions where the tires contact the pavement and a small car and one with wide tires can be affected by this.

With my other cars I have encountered this and some times to the point I pull off the freeway and check for a low tire. (No TPMS in my other cars.)

You can get a tire pressure gauge and double check tire pressures. The tires should be properly inflated and as close to the same pressure as possible, at least on a per axle basis. My JCW I think has a tire pressure for the front tires and another different pressure for the rear tires.

While you are at the tires be sure all tires are the same. Same brand, model, have the same size, tread hardness rating, same everything. Even check the date codes to ensure they are all about the same age.

And be sure if the tires are uni-directional all are mounted in the right direction.

If the alignment is off feel the tire tread blocks. If you feel any signs of feathering or scrubbing -- the rubber will have a rough feel to it -- or uneven wear across the tread face, this is a sign of alignment problems.

 

The dealership is the only one in our area. It doesn't matter what road we drive on, goes left on all. Our previous MINI and my 2012 MINI Coupe does not do this. My other car does not do this either. The tire pressure has been checked. The car was bought new in July, only has 3800 miles.

 

I agree with RockC, that something isn't quite right, especially since you can confirm other vehicles you own don't exhibit the same behavior on the same roads. One semi-quick test would be to swap the wheels from side-to-side on the car (if they are not unidirectional) to see if that has any effect on the pull or reverses the direction. Otherwise, bring it to an independent shop to have the alignment checked, but make sure you let them know the situation. If they find something out of spec, then you can either have them adjust it or bring it back to your dealer and have a chat with the service mgr and/or your MA. Good luck.

 

Suggestions:

*air pressure - check cold.. dont adjust. check when warm/hot.. then adjust as needed
*cross rotation (front to back then cross the rears to the front). this will help cancel out any wear pattern created by a previous bad alignment or suspension issue.
*you should have a very slight toe in on the front alignment.. verify it from the print out
*caster can cause a gentle push.. if caster on your front right > front left.. you will have a left drift. check your alignment print out
*is your steering wheel straight and center when traveling down the road? if you've had an alignment ..it should be
*have your bearing checked.

 

OP's car and two of four loaners have same issue. Leads me to think that either alignment tech or equipment is out of calibration or not knowledgeable. If manufacturing/parts defect then others would be having this problem.

 

Wow, yeah time to go to a non-mini alignment tech. I take my to a tuning shop in my area.

Basically I try to avoid my mini dealer at all costs.

 

Car is still under warranty. Just did not want to start paying for repairs on a new car. Will pick up the car on monday, see if there is any improvement.

 

I'm in the try-a-different-shop camp for the alignment. Then if that fixes it, take the receipt to the dealer to reimburse you.

 

Just a few days after I bought a new 2008 Cayman S I realized the alignment was off. I have to admit I never test drove the car. After 7+ years with my Boxster I felt I knew how the Cayman S would drive.

Took the Cayman S back to the selling dealer to get an alignment. Got some pushback despite the fact I had just bought the car just a few, and I mean a few not some, days before.

What I told the SA was put the car on the alignment rack. If the tech found all the adjustments within spec I'd pay full price for an alignment. If the tech had to change a setting to bring it within spec the alignment would be free of charge.

The SA changed his tune and said something about he didn't know I had just bought the car and would get it on the alignment rack pronto.

He did. And in no time I noticed the tech was adjusting the heck out of the car's alignment. Afterwards the car drove much much better.

Now I will add that I know in some -- most -- cases alignment is only covered for a brief period of time after a car is bought. The amount of time varies from dealer to dealer (or at least brand to brand) but it is on the order of just a few months at best. Say 90 days.

If the car is past 90 days the dealer might not align the car under warranty. (May not be the dealer's call. The factory may put a time limit on how long it will pay for an alignment after a car is sold.)

All you can do is ask.

You might be able to improve your chances if you state that because of the car's behavior you have lost all enjoyment of the car. That you feel because of the inexplicable and abnormal behavior the car could be on the path to manifesting a serious problem, possibly break down and you are concerned that if this occurred in heavy traffic say on the highway this is a safety concern.

Don't paint it too thick but loss of enjoyment, safety concerns, are kind of hot buttons with a dealer and might (might) get his attention.

But you have to be prepared to leave the car. If you take the car away the dealer is going to learn he can stall you. When you leave the car be sure to note on the work invoice you want a printout of the car's before and after alignment numbers.

Be sure you specify you want the steering wheel centered. Also, I ask about road crown compensation? If this is done I ask it not be done. The problem is this compensation may be fine for some roads but too often nowadays roads are crowned in the other direction and this can have the car pulling. I want my cars alignment neutral. If the road is crowned to the right I want to have to steer left a bit to compensate. If the road crowned the other direction I want to have to steer right to compensate. If the road is not crowned then I want the steering wheel centered dead on the money.

When you pick up the car assume you will have to leave it again.

Look over the paper work carefully. Look for the printout of the car's before and after numbers. In my experience modern alignment machines can produce this with just a push of a button. The best ones produce a color printout that shows the current settings and in green to show they are within spec. Any settings in red are cause to suspect the alignment. Arrange to road test the car and confirm the behavior is absent and the car feels ok otherwise.

if it doesn't leave the car pointing out the car is still not right and it must be.

 

Ask the SA to have the EPS reinitialized, and calibrated.
(Electric assisted Power Steering)
I went through this for a few weeks.
Apparently when they did the full mandated recode, the EPS did not reinitialize properly.
The main symptom is that it pulls left until it reaches 35 MPH, then doesn't feel that bad.

 

I will ask about the Electric assisted Power Steering. This does not stop at 35 mph, happens at all speeds. I have always thought it is a steering rack issue.

 

So we got the c ar back today. Seems to driving straight for now. The steering wheel was crooked and this was straightened. They said this may have caused sensors in the electronic power steering to be an issue.

 

It almost sounds like a slow leak in the front left tire.

Check all the pressures and set to the setting you select, then recheck 5 days later to confirm any change in pressure.

Always check tire pressures when cold, like first thing in the morning.

 

That is good to hear, hopefully this has been resolved for the long-term. I wonder if the EPS has a 'self-centering' function that was always trying to center the wheel/rack and was causing that pull...could always be a possibility I guess??