Our 124 wagon handles wonderfully on a track. Nevertheless, right after we took delivery of it last October, on the drive back to Wyoming, I noticed it seemed to pull to the right--usually. Was it the wind or the crown of the road? In November, on a trip to the midwest, we had it aligned at the same dealer we bought it from. Two hours after they started they were still horsing around--said they just installed new alignment software and were having trouble getting it to work right. Great. $80 later it felt the same, and the before and after spec sheets were also nearly identical. So I had my wife drive it along a concrete expansion joint in a parking lot and it was obvious that the front tracks 1/2 inch left of the rear. I seriously wondered if it had been in a wreck (clean carfax). At 100+ k miles I expect some wear, but I am surprised at how greatly that wear must affect the 124. After working under the car for a couple hours last week I was impressed with how complex (and adjustable) the suspension is. My conclusion is that either 1) somewhere along the line someone got the adjustments way out of whack and the dealer's mechanics couldn't get it back, or 2) it was in a wreck. For some entertainment, look on the CD ROM at the section on checking for whether a car has been bent (they take about a jillion measurements).

My ancient 1980 528i with 250k miles has the original suspension (except shocks). I had it aligned once when I bought it at 80k. It has driven miles and miles of wretched Wyoming washboard and is very loose, but tracks straight. I'm told it also has essentially the same simple suspension as the 2002. Who knows?

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TomO
94 E320 Wagon, 170k, totalled in 2006
2002 BMW 525i Wagon, 75k
1991 BMW 318is (two of 'em)