Did the MINI delear do one or both alignments? I had trouble with a local tire shop that did an alignment. Visually I noticed and extreme amount of negative camber in the rear, both sides. I had my MINI dealership redo it. Dealer showed me the report that showed me how much it was out after the tire shop alignment, and said the tire shop damaged one of the tie rod ends. I went back to the tire shop to talk about it. They pulled the report on the initial alignment they did and it showed everything in spec. They offered to put it in the lift and check things out if I could bring it back the next week. I decided I didn't want to go there anymore. I think most shops, except MINI garages, maybe just can't do a proper alignment on these cars.

 

 

Your video seems pretty convincing. Most roads being crowned in the center, I would think that a properly aligned car would tend to drift left, not right from the left lane. Dealer should have a tech ride with you.

 

Have to say my 2018 JCW seems to have a bit of a mind of its own regarding which way it wants to go. It doesn't seem to favor left over right or right over left.

Sometimes it tracks dead straight too. I attribute this to the car's sensitivity to the road surface. Not so much the road crown although this can play a role but the road surface shape that it has obtained from countless vehicles (and some very heavy -- big rigs). All this traffic wears depressions where the tires roll and on some roads -- asphalt rather than concrete -- can actually deform the road surface. IOWs, form "ruts" even in the pavement.

As a result as the car goes down the road the tires get up on one or the other side of these depressions (or ruts) and the car then wants to go one way or the other.

But just when I think the car might need an alignment I get to a good patch of road and the car tracks nice and straight.

No Mini alignment experience but when I have had my Porsche cars in for an alignment the jobs that suck are those in which I didn't get a a "before" and "after" printout.

Should have been done at alignment time but be sure the tires are properly inflated. Buy a good tire pressure gauge and work to get the tire inflation pressures as close to the same as you can. The front tires and rear tires can have different inflation pressures but be sure both the fronts are the same as well as the rears.

How close? I shoot for at least within a half a PSI and ideally one should strive for within 0.4psi or better. That is say the fronts should be inflated to 42psi, then the allowable deviation between the two tires would be 40.0psi +/- 0.2psi. So one tire could be inflated at 39.8psi the other at 40.2psi.

While you are inflating the tires check the tires are identical. Same brand, size, tread wear, etc. If the tires are directional be sure all 4 are mounted in the right direction.

Have to mention this that while it is rare (or maybe not so rare...) sometimes a shop can claim to do an alignment but unless you see the car on the alignment rack with the tech underneath making adjustments you just don't know.

 

Have the tires rotated to rule out that it's actually a tire causing a pull versus an alignment issue.

 

 

Seem to recall a recent thread on pulling and it wasn't the alignment. It was a steering issue. Can't find the thread - sorry.

 

I've found the electric steering in this car likes to wander. I've actually noticed this with other electric steering racks. It's as if they have slots/knotches (like the second hand of watch) and you are either in one slot or another and often there is not a dead straight knotch so you are either pulling left or right... vs being able to place the wheel in an infinite number of places and it tracks where the wheel is placed. I'm not sure if that makes sense... lol... I haven't been too fond of the electric steering in these...

 

In my experience, this is worth trying. I had a 2004 X3 that pulled to the right following a switch from winter to summer tires, though the magnitude of it was not as extreme as it appeared in the video. I complained to the tire changers. They rotated the tires (left & right if memory serves me), and the pulling stopped. YMMV, of course.

 

Before you read my long message was it Windy? My 18 does not handle off angle wind on the nose well and always feels like it is pulling in there is any wind.

Now to the mechanical.

My knowledge of electronic power steering is limited. I ran a factory that built the EPS for 2 Ford models and a Subaru.

There are a couple of methods for converting your steering input into a signal for power/force that the assist motor should apply. Most of these involve a torque rod in you steering linkage and a way to measure force applied. This is all built into the pinion assembly where the motor also engages the pinion.

The ones we built had two PC class multicore (redundant) processors on board with two sets of sensors with both system error checking each other.

There are several sensor set-ups that were used I cannot discuss the one we used but it was better than all of our competitors on smoothness and response. And that goes to your feeling of teeth in there. There are no physical teeth but essentially points where the system says you have input this much now I input force. Our engineers developed an elegant way of mechanically and through software smoothing that.

To your problem, I have seen units that want to send a signal and constantly apply a small force in a direction left or right. You feel it as pulling. It's not common but I have seen it in units. We tested for this on the assembly line but no test is as good as putting the unit in a vehicle.

 

This makes sense.
I agree with wind as well. Any wind will catch this vehicle and set it sailing.

 

A brand new tire can cause a pull if there is an internal issue with it. Generally however, tire pulls are from tires that have been in service for some time, and also possibly suffered a pothole or other hard hit that started a belt issue inside the tire that you can't see from the outside .

 

I agree with Pure Red. Swap the fronts. I had tire decide to go bezerk on me and only had like 3500 miles on it.
I was in New Brunswick, Canada, headed to PEI. Long ways from home in Virginia.
Good lord , it just started pulling to the left. I fought that thing for 1200 miles. swapped it with the other other front and then it would pull hard right. Strange thing was 'no vibration'. I hadn't hit anything specific, but I-84 in NY and CT was all to hell.
Took it to the shop when I got back, and the tire tech said it probably had a belt separate.
Dunlop warranted the tire and I got a new one. This was on my IS350, and all was good after I got the new tire .

swap those tires is easy, instead asking for re-alignment, just to eliminate a variable. Our Countryman, has crazy Goodyears on it, and it tracks perfectly ! Yeah I know you think I'm drinking, : )
Have a good one

 

Thanx guys. After i complained they let an after sales manager call me. He is going to schedule a drive with head mechanic with me, but he is sick at the moment. I will give him your pointers about changing tires. Thanx very much! Keep you updated when i know more.

 

Well, It seems they already swapped the the tires. So it can't be that. In the mean time it is getting harder for me to complain, but sometimes it seems the technicians are idiots test driving it and saying it is ok. In the mean time they have done a realignment 4 TIMES!!.
After a correction to the left it pulls almost not in the city when driving slow, but it does definitely on the highway. And the steering is still not straight!!! Unbelievable! The aligner was going to do a minor correction, but this time the aftersales manager was a bit more like, when is it going to stop.... When i show him a recording he smiles. ARGGGHHHH.

So i went with the head maintenance chief on the road. you could see he was in the beginning like the steering is a bit of centre always... I know, but that has nothing to do... We went on the highway and he immediately understood wat i ment. We need to fix this. We have to make a plan. I have to look what they already tried. Don't worry.

Then he went to plan an appointment with the aftersalesmanger. They where after a panel and he thought i couldn't hear them... When is it going to end, we already did it for times...
I was getting so mad. I said his name so he knew i was just there. I told him i didn't like what i heard. He immediately said he meant it like he was frustrated why they could't fix it....

Anyway they are going to schedule it this time for 2 days. The Head of maintenance is going to test drive it afterwards, because he knows now what i mean exactly. We will have to see... I am starting to think it is like some of you said, in the powersteering or someting else but not the alignment...Keep you posted.

 

 

They called me that they needed the car a bit longer. They found an inconsistency in one of the rear support arms... Whatever that means. They wanted to order a new one, but it seemed it wasn't in the system, so they have to contact mini for that, which was very strange.
In the mean time i have a 2018 X1 2.0S as a loaner with the new 7 speed dct. To be honest i find it boring. Not bad as a car, but mini has way more character. The strange thing is, this X1 pulls also to the right the same way. This X1 has the same base. It is strange to be honest.

 

 

I've had tire issues in the past causing vehicle to pull one way or another. If the tires are unidirectional, try cross rotation as a last ditch effort. it may work.

 

 

 

That's killer. Its also interesting , I read in your next post it maybe limited to 'hybrids' . Where are your batteries stored and approximately how heavy are they ?
I had a Nissan truck back around 1990, it was a great truck, but I let the Nissan dealer allegedly do an alignment on it. Big mistake.Long story short, it never felt right again nor did drift to the right anymore. so I traded it off.
Had to, they couldn't get it right ever again.

Sure hope they make it right for you Miniminic.