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[itsbrokeagain]

the actual way to align the car with all the weights and everything is so damned technical and a waste of time. Its pointless.

I did my own alignment on my car (twice, after putting it up a curb backwards, long story) and my rear tires lasted exactly 30k miles (wore them evenly across down to the wear bars).

ANYONE on this forum knows that the rear tires on these cars dont last 15k if you are lucky.

So all that stuff about doin the weights properly in the trunk, loading it with gas etc is a waste of time. It will make no difference on your day to day driving.

[s1cke92]

Originally Posted by iAerodynamic

i thought firestone has that $160 life time aligment deal?

where! i need to find that! i need to get mines done! asap! haha. i try asking but no one offers that

[David1]

Originally Posted by DSXMachina

Driv3r, I respectfully disagree. Those people who cut out proper repairs/maintenance on cars often end up spending more and fouling the environment longer. You simply cannot wish repairs away, and neglected cars get worse as time goes by. Repairs are not a luxury, they are a neccessity. Should people be doing 70mph on the highway in a car whose owner thinks spending money to keep two tons of speeding metal intact is a "luxury"?

I own a Hunter Alignment machine, it cost me $48,000 (US). It has all the bells, whistles, lasers and videos you could hope for. If I put a hack on the machine you will get a lousy alignment. If I put a skilled conscientious tech on it you will get a good alignment. It's the human who does all the work.
What is an alignment? I GUARANTEE (!) that the shop which is doing the '$100 alignment' is NOT doing an alignment. He is doing what we jokingly refer to as a 'toe and go' and you fall for it because you don't know any better.
A proper alignment on a E9X CANNOT be done for under $200, and $300 is not out of line at a dealership if it is done properly.
Weight must be placed in the car; 150 lbs in each front seat, 150 in the back seat, and 50 lbs in the trunk. Caster and camber must be checked and rear toe and thrust angle must be checked and adjusted. Then the stability control computer has to be reset for a new steering "Zero". They are NOT doing that for a $100. Don't take my word for it, ask them to put in writing exactly what they did to "align" your car.
If you went out to eat and asked for a steak dinner and they brought you bread and water, would you pay for a steak dinner? That's what you are doing when you get the $100 alignment.

Well put. Most of the shops around me now refuse to do an alignment on the newer BMW's since they do not have the sand bags or the ability to calibrate the steering sensor. Same for some of the newer VW products. If the suspension is not preloaded the alignment is not optimum. My dealer is only 159 bucks.

[Saigon]

damn expensive!

[NM_BMW]

To the OP.

Take it elsewhere. My BMW dealership told me the same price for a 4 wheel alignment. I took it to a guy who charged me $75 for a 4 wheel alignment and he has one of the nicest Hunter systems on the market. He's being doing alignments for over 20yrs, so I'm sure he can do good work on whatever he puts his hands on.