[BeAmW335i]

I'm being told by the BMW SA that I should not take my car some where else to get an alignment because the dealership uses "special" tools or whatever to get it aligned to specs. He said other places will get it 90% close to specs. Is there some truth behind what they are saying? I thought that computer alignment were all the same. Please help!

[alex2364]

I have the same question, especially compared to performance shops that can do custom spec alignments.

[cb1111]

There is guaranteed one difference - BMW will be more expensive

That said, there shouldn't be anything "special" that I can think of. The question is, of course the quality of the work performed and if they use the right alignment specs - I'm not sure if I'd trust the average tire place to get it right but it has nothing to do with any magic tools that only BMW has.

[mikekilpatrick]

If anything I have found my local BMW dealership to be sloppy on repairs. They broke my Engine cowl when they replaced the lifters, lost the Lug nut key on the last visit and I had to notice it, and several other sloppy mechanic slips that make me question just how well they work on cars. THAT being said, it is possible that they might be forced my BMW NA to have a certain standard of alignment equipment and more specific specs than a local tire shop.

[mu979]

I just had alignment done at the dealer, since I had a coupon. I paid $130, which didn't seem unreasonable by dealer standards. My car is approaching 50k and gets beat up pretty badly on Ohio roads and never had alignment done (at least since I've owned the car).

I was surprised to find that only one of the alignment parameters was out of spec when they completed the alignment. Be sure to ask for the print out of the alignment so you can see where you were and where you should be!

[GMWNashville]

the dealer does have the special wheel adapters that go into the hubs on BMW's(notice the 5 tiny holes around where your lug holes are on your wheels)..not sure if other places have that but idk? I would say that the dealer is a better place to get an alignment done-but its mostly personal preference and the fact that the private places unless they are a performance shop might have younger "kids" doing alignments...

[luv135i]

Originally Posted by volkswackin

the dealer does have the special wheel adapters that go into the hubs on BMW's(notice the 5 tiny holes around where your lug holes are on your wheels)..not sure if other places have that but idk? I would say that the dealer is a better place to get an alignment done-but its mostly personal preference and the fact that the private places unless they are a performance shop might have younger "kids" doing alignments...

Do they always remove the wheels for an alignment? Theres nothing special about a bmw alignment.

[Rekla]

Let them (BMW dealers) know upfront you don't want them to drill holes in your chassis for an alignment. This happened to me as I found out after the dealership did the alignment.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=drilled+holes

[alex2364]

Originally Posted by Rekla

Let them (BMW dealers) know upfront you don't want them to drill holes in your chassis for an alignment. This happened to me as I found out after the dealership did the alignment.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=drilled+holes

Thanks for letting me know. My dealer aligned my car few weeks ago. I just checked and no holes!

[GMWNashville]

the holes drilled out are for the stick alignment dowl for camber...and whoever drilled those holes shouldnt be trusted to work on a car much less a BMW..