X5 e70 wheel alignment (need help)

[y5choi]

Originally Posted by halohalo

Hmm now I'm beginning to worry that my right front tire is not installed properly. My tire was punctured last week on the way from San Francisco to San Diego. It was Saturday evening and by that time all the tire shops had closed. Crevier BMW sold me a new tire but they refused to mount it on the wheel ($515. tax inclusive). Called about 10 other shops and they were all closed. I finally found a small tire shop that agreed to mount it on. Took them no longer than 10 mins to mount the tire and balanced it. Maybe they have no experience with runflats and that's what causing the problem. And by the way, I was told that it is impossible/unsafe to plug and patch a runflat. Is that true?

my knowledge is that the latest Dunlop run flat tires (includes the North American factory installed ROF tires) can be patched. some of the older generation run-flats had to be replaced but not the current ones.

[peterjaw]

Originally Posted by halohalo

A few weeks ago, I took my brother's e70 x5 to Kahn & Keville in San Francisco for wheel alignment. BMW wanted to charge me $300 for this while this shop only charges $90. The bad news is, they aligned the wheel according to the previous x5 spec (e53). Last week I drove the car down to San Diego and noticed the steering wheel shaking. Anyone can help me find the correct wheel alignment spec for the e70? I want to compare it to the print out that they gave me. If there's no difference then I won't be to worried. Otherwise, I'm making them do it all over again. Thank you

Hi halohalo,
BMW dealer in Taiwan says that E70 has active steering so when doing wheel alignment, the car has to be connected to the computer and this can not be done by non-BMW service.

Is this true for you?

I need to do wheel alignment, but I don't want to waste my time waiting so many hours.

Thank you very much for replying.

[halohalo]

Originally Posted by peterjaw

Hi halohalo,
BMW dealer in Taiwan says that E70 has active steering so when doing wheel alignment, the car has to be connected to the computer and this can not be done by non-BMW service.

Is this true for you?

I need to do wheel alignment, but I don't want to waste my time waiting so many hours.

Thank you very much for replying.

I don't think they have to plug it into a computer, though I'm not sure. The shop that I went to did it for me in around 2 hours. Now the steering wheel is straight but it vibrates when I'm in the highway. But, as many other members had stated, this might be caused by my wheel not being balanced. Now, if it is true that the Dunlop can be patced, I will be really pissed! It cost me $500! My lexus has the Conti Sport Contact 2 on it and it cost me around $200 each.

[juicer]

I always get my alignments done by the dealer, it avoids these issues.
When having a major service, I get the alignment done for free under my insistance

[peterjaw]

Originally Posted by halohalo

I don't think they have to plug it into a computer, though I'm not sure. The shop that I went to did it for me in around 2 hours. Now the steering wheel is straight but it vibrates when I'm in the highway. But, as many other members had stated, this might be caused by my wheel not being balanced. Now, if it is true that the Dunlop can be patced, I will be really pissed! It cost me $500! My lexus has the Conti Sport Contact 2 on it and it cost me around $200 each.

Thank you, halohalo. That is what I think. If all X5 or any car has "active steering wheel" have to go to the dealer for wheel alignment, then it will be a disaster for the shops. I guess the BMW dealer just try to pull me back.

My car is still under warranty, so it will be free for alignment in dealer. I just doubt the skill of technician there, so I would rather to spend some little money outside.

[halohalo]

Originally Posted by peterjaw

My car is still under warranty, so it will be free for alignment in dealer. I just doubt the skill of technician there, so I would rather to spend some little money outside.

If you can get your wheel alignment for free then you should count your lucky stars. My dealers wanted to charge me $300. I'm not sure how much that is in your currency, but other places charge me $89 but they didn't do a good job. I find it weird how the dealers always ask you where you buy your car from, and then treat you differently if you bought it from their dealership.