Alignment information for us E53 owners

[BigBlack48is]

Hello everyone,

As we all know our beloved E53's suffer from what BMW refers to as " The ultimate driving experience "... but as all of us know, it should be pronounced as " The ultimate tire shredding experience "

So has anyone taken their E53 to Firestone tire to get their "lifetime alignment" ??

It looks like the guy who owned mine before me has already "fixed" the front camber issues by removing the plastic pins on the strut towers and tried to fix the rear negative camber issue. But didn't fix the sloppy ball joint before he had them adjust the eccentric's on the rear. I obvioously do not want to take it back to BMW, because they will set it back to max camber / tow on the rear.... anyone have any safe ranges we can setup our E53 too, so I have something to reference?

Any input is appreciated

[tmv]

Originally Posted by BigBlack48is

Hello everyone,

As we all know our beloved E53's suffer from what BMW refers to as " The ultimate driving experience "... but as all of us know, it should be pronounced as " The ultimate tire shredding experience "

So has anyone taken their E53 to Firestone tire to get their "lifetime alignment" ?? <- I have it for my 3.0i and my E39. Used it twice on each of them already.

It looks like the guy who owned mine before me has already "fixed" the front camber issues by removing the plastic pins on the strut towers and tried to fix the rear negative camber issue. But didn't fix the sloppy ball joint before he had them adjust the eccentric's on the rear. I obvioously do not want to take it back to BMW, because they will set it back to max camber / tow on the rear.... anyone have any safe ranges we can setup our E53 too, so I have something to reference?

Any input is appreciated

I let them adjust everything as per BMW spec, except "toe" setting for the rear. They're set as close to "0" as possible. No more pre-mature inner tire wear.
I'll have them do the same thing for the 4.8iS after I switch the HRE wheels over.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by tmv

I let them adjust everything as per BMW spec, except "toe" setting for the rear. They're set as close to "0" as possible. No more pre-mature inner tire wear.
I'll have them do the same thing for the 4.8iS after I switch the HRE wheels over.

x2 this, set toe as close to 0 on rear as you can, as little camber as you can front/rear as well (but within BMW spec)

[mike_dmt]

I just got mine aligned at the stealership. They knew exactly what to do when I told them I went to bigger and wider wheels and tires, and wanted maximum tire life.

The rear still has a ton of camber even with the adjustment maxed.

They gave me a printout of before, after and BMW spec so I could see what they had done.

[tmv]

Originally Posted by mike_dmt

I just got mine aligned at the stealership. They knew exactly what to do when I told them I went to bigger and wider wheels and tires, and wanted maximum tire life.

The rear still has a ton of camber even with the adjustment maxed.

They gave me a printout of before, after and BMW spec so I could see what they had done.

If you don't mind, sharing it in this thread so other might be benifit from.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by mike_dmt

I just got mine aligned at the stealership. They knew exactly what to do when I told them I went to bigger and wider wheels and tires, and wanted maximum tire life.

So basically they set the rear toe to somewhere around -.14 or so probably? Every time I've heard someone say they got aligned at the dealership they told me the techs would not align outside of the BMW spec (minimum rear toe spec from BMW is -.09 I believe)

Would be interested to see the printout of the specs to see if the dealership really set the toe as close to 0 as possible (which is outside published BMW spec)

[mrbmwx5]

Originally Posted by BigBlack48is

Hello everyone,

As we all know our beloved E53's suffer from what BMW refers to as " The ultimate driving experience "... but as all of us know, it should be pronounced as " The ultimate tire shredding experience "

So has anyone taken their E53 to Firestone tire to get their "lifetime alignment" ??

It looks like the guy who owned mine before me has already "fixed" the front camber issues by removing the plastic pins on the strut towers and tried to fix the rear negative camber issue. But didn't fix the sloppy ball joint before he had them adjust the eccentric's on the rear. I obvioously do not want to take it back to BMW, because they will set it back to max camber / tow on the rear.... anyone have any safe ranges we can setup our E53 too, so I have something to reference?

Any input is appreciated

Pm me I set you up with my guys at Erhard BMW dealer ...any thing you want to do to your X5 for cheap.

[mike_dmt]

Originally Posted by tmv

If you don't mind, sharing it in this thread so other might be benifit from.

Hmmm, there's a good chance it got round filed... I bet the dealer can get me a copy. I'll call tomorrow and see.

[Turbo_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

x2 this, set toe as close to 0 on rear as you can, as little camber as you can front/rear as well (but within BMW spec)

X3 this.
Assuming there is no loose balljoints or bushings, it is the toe that eats those tires.
The dealer and many shops will refuse to align outside the OE specs. You will have to look around to find one that accepts. I had success finding one. They do racecars and modified cars. I asked them to adjust to have as little toe possible at the rear, like 0.02° on each side. The camber is quite high, like -2.4°, but even with that camber the tires wear equally. (10000km since on the 315s)

[johnlacson]

Are BMW's alignment specs updated to reduce tire wear? Or is it better to have it aligned in a specialty shop other than the dealers?