Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Gas weighs a little over 6 pounds per gallon. You have a 14.5 gallon tank. When they do the the alignment, you're not even in the car. I wouldn't think it'd be anything to worry about.
FYI, when performing alignment, BMW recommends full tank of gas plus extra weight blocks placed inside the car and in the trunk. Whether it actually makes a noticeable difference, I don't know, but that is their SOP.
+1.
I always align with a full tank.
+2. Only caveat I'd have is that if the car is only ever driven a certain way (eg no passengers, empty back seat, heavily loaded trunk) it may make sense to move the load to be a bit more indicative.
But full tank at minimum is prudent, with som semblance of mass in driver seat.
I've heard more than once by alignment techs that modern computers account for NOT using a spreader bar (required for some cars), and to account for added weight requirements, but to me this is false. Maybe someone has good data to prove otherwise, but it seems that it's a claim to build business, without basis.