Quattro alignment question

["Ian J Haseltine" <jim_haseltine@email.msn.com>]

My Ur-q is in dire need of both an alignment job and a new set of tyres all
round. To my thinking its a waste of time having the alignment set with the
mis-matched tyres (3 makes, 2 sizes and 4 levels of wear) - correct?
I saw someone advertising 215x50 Pirelli's at a reasonable price a few
months back, can anyone remember who it was?

A couple of times this year I have heard a metallic ticking or chuffing
sound at start up, it seemed to come from the front of the engine in the
area of the drive belts but until today I couldn't identify its source. I
had the car on stands to check the state of the tyres and when I reached
under to remove them from the front I noticed that the very end of each of
the alternator fan vanes is bright metal and appears to be catching on the
intercooler sometimes. A bit more investigation revealed significant engine
movement which leads me to believe that the front engine mount may be shot.
Can anyone tell me how much movement (if any) there should be at the front
of the engine?

On the lighter side of life, as I have been typing this message a young lady
has  attempted to create a BMW people carrier in the road outside my house.
A bus was waiting at the T junction to turn left when she came along the
road to find that her ABS was completely defeated by the rain. There is now
what used to be a rather attractive black 540 Touring on the kerb here, it
still looks ok from behind but needs a bumper, bonnet, two wings and a few
other bits and pieces. Looks like the body shop at Castle BMW is going to be
busy this week.

Jim Haseltine

PS - Looks like her husband has arrived - he's examining the front of the
car by torchlight and does he look like a happy man? I dont think so,
although his language so far has been quite controlled - maybe its a company
car.