Hood Fitment
Thread Starter
|
2nd Gear
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Hood Fitment
Hello All, I was looking at a new 2023 D90 X today at dealer and I noticed the hood fitment gaps were not even. On the driver side the gap between the fender and hood was about 1/8 to 1/4 narrower than on the passenger side and also noticed that the A pillar cover didn’t align evenly on both sides. Has anyone else experienced this fitment issue?
TReK
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 2,086
Likes: 1,401
From: Hill Country, Tx
Yep, mine misalignment is on the roof panel that is over the window. It's counter to the left when facing it (passenger side - US spec) by about 3/16". Their tolerances are way larger than I would have thought or perhaps their QA process is a meme.
Mudding
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 140
Likes: 314
From: England
It's rare that vehicles leave the factory with misaligned metal panels. It would assume our strict assembly processes were somehow bypassed and our final inspectors headed straight to work from the pub in a questionable state.
More likely is that the vehicles with major hood alignment issues were serviced at Port when they arrived and the technician didn't get the adjustment right. When vehicles travel across the Atlantic (whether LR, BMW, MB, etc) things happen in transport when vehicles are moving from the factory to the shipping port, on the ship, at the receiving port, etc. Of course, it's not always damage to the body work. Quite frequently mechanical issues get sorted (or missing bits get fitted). Something mechanical might warrant removing the hood to avoid damaging it or to allow greater clearance for engine work.
You'd be surprised how many European vehicles arrive at a port (BMW/Mercedes/Audi) with something wrong that needs to be sorted. We wrap the cars extensively to keep them from getting damaged and take numerous measures to protect them, but things happen (even to those shiny new Porsches).
All that said, large panel fitment with Aluminium is not quite a precise as Steel because of the nature of the material and how it is stamped. It's very hard to achieve tight tolerances with large Aluminium panels. The Jaguar F-TYPE was excruciatingly difficult to get right and took a great deal of effort and it's still not perfect if you've seen it up close.
Lastly, sometimes you don't want panels too tight on a vehicle...say an off-road vehicle. Take a fully loaded average SUV and put a high torsional load on it and see what happens when you open and close the doors...
More likely is that the vehicles with major hood alignment issues were serviced at Port when they arrived and the technician didn't get the adjustment right. When vehicles travel across the Atlantic (whether LR, BMW, MB, etc) things happen in transport when vehicles are moving from the factory to the shipping port, on the ship, at the receiving port, etc. Of course, it's not always damage to the body work. Quite frequently mechanical issues get sorted (or missing bits get fitted). Something mechanical might warrant removing the hood to avoid damaging it or to allow greater clearance for engine work.
You'd be surprised how many European vehicles arrive at a port (BMW/Mercedes/Audi) with something wrong that needs to be sorted. We wrap the cars extensively to keep them from getting damaged and take numerous measures to protect them, but things happen (even to those shiny new Porsches).
All that said, large panel fitment with Aluminium is not quite a precise as Steel because of the nature of the material and how it is stamped. It's very hard to achieve tight tolerances with large Aluminium panels. The Jaguar F-TYPE was excruciatingly difficult to get right and took a great deal of effort and it's still not perfect if you've seen it up close.
Lastly, sometimes you don't want panels too tight on a vehicle...say an off-road vehicle. Take a fully loaded average SUV and put a high torsional load on it and see what happens when you open and close the doors...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post