Annual State Inspection. Nothing worry about, right? WRONG!

[JCL]

Originally Posted by David D

Got a call from the shop this afternoon and the tech did not find anything worn in the suspension. They will put her on the alignment rack tomorrow and see what they find (they spent time today also chasing an oil leak). I'd like to stay with the stock alignment as long as it doesn't eat my tires. Any thoughts?

Yes, you stay with standard alignment settings, but understand that the spec is a range, not a value. At the upper end of the toe spec, you will wear tires prematurely. You want the minimum of the published spec, and insist that they not settle for "good enough"

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by David D

Got a call from the shop this afternoon and the tech did not find anything worn in the suspension. They will put her on the alignment rack tomorrow and see what they find (they spent time today also chasing an oil leak). I'd like to stay with the stock alignment as long as it doesn't eat my tires. Any thoughts?

Obviously they didn't find anything worn in the rear suspension, I'm fairly certain they didn't take the pre-load off the rear by either letting air out of the bags or jacking up on the air spring.

Most shops just jiggle the tire and trust me it will be tight as can be unless you take the pre-load off, then it will reveal what, if anything is worn.


Oh and for what its worth, when I had my alignment, my minium toe spec was .08 toe in, combined with the negative camber, you WILL still shred tires with that much toe in. Take it down to .01, trust me, it will be outside the "spec'ed range" but you'll save your tire life. Staggered tires should not be rotated anyway, not even side to side. tmv and other members will agree with me on this.

[David D]

What is the alignment settings range? I've read some recommend setting the camber as close to 0 as you can get, and the toe to either -.01 or .01 (which is it?).

[JCL]

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about camber, and I would go to the low end of the toe spec. You should still have some toe in, not toe out. The shop will look it up. No point in guessing or using a spec that may only apply to a different model.

[motordavid]

Back at the Inspection Ranch, I wonder why the OP didn't get his annual VA inspection at one of the many stations that do it, vs a dlr?

I just suppose a dealer will find several things that need repair, and many car owners will simply roll over and say, "OK, fix them", at that dealer, with dlr pricing, etc.
GL, mD

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Back at the Inspection Ranch, I wonder why the OP didn't get his annual VA inspection at one of the many stations that do it, vs a dlr?

I just suppose a dealer will find several things that need repair, and many car owners will simply roll over and say, "OK, fix them", at that dealer, with dlr pricing, etc.
GL, mD

+1. I've always avoided repair shop inspections.

When inspection is due I hit a Dekra "inspection only" location.

[David D]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Back at the Inspection Ranch, I wonder why the OP didn't get his annual VA inspection at one of the many stations that do it, vs a dlr?

I just suppose a dealer will find several things that need repair, and many car owners will simply roll over and say, "OK, fix them", at that dealer, with dlr pricing, etc.
GL, mD

Out of convenience. This particular dealer is close to home and one that I trust. It's not a BMW dealership. The work is being done at Carmax by their BMW tech. I have an extended warranty, and have had other work done there. The service writer has been good to deal with in the past, so I'm comfortable with them. I like pulling my own wrenches, but if it's going to cost me more money, I have them do the work since I have the warranty.


Thanks for the alignment suggestions. I passed them on to the service writer while he had the tech there. I'll let you guys know how it turns out!

[bcredliner]

Even within BMW specs there tends to be greater wear on the inside of the tires. Some go to less negative camber and/or toe to minimize or eliminate the problem though handling will be compromised to some degree. Overinflation will help reduce inside wear but will also compromise handling and can cause wear to move from the inside to the center of the tire Varying inflation over time can even out the wear some. If all four tires are the same size and are not one-directional to allow rotation that would be the ticket. Inside tire wear doesn't necessarily mean worn suspension. Once the tires are mounted and it can't be aligned properly that will be telltale of suspension wear.

While many strongly believe to change 4 tires when 2 are worn out I don't. I have never done that even when changing brands. The handling might change, could get better, but the tread height difference has never been a problem. I do make sure the tire height is very close to what it should be as compared to the original tires when new.

[David D]

Got the X5 back last night. They did not find any worn components in the suspension, but the toe and camber were "way off". The drive home felt pretty good, but I'll reserve judgement until after the new tires have worn in some.

How often do you guys have your alignment checked? Is it a good idea to have it checked once a year?

[dkl]

If the car track straight and the tires wear evenly, then I forgo the alignment check. Thus far, I've only had it performed 2x in the 10 years that I've own the car. This is one of those things that "if it ain't broke, don't touch it".