X70 Alignment help

[jdbretz]

I have an '07 X5 4.8i with 21000 miles and have the staggered style 214 wheels and like many others, I am having severe wear on the inside edge on my rear tires. From what I've read this is because the camber is off. I took it to a local alignment shop to have the alignment checked and they said they couldn't do it because the they couldn't re-center the backup camera and the guidance lines would be off. They said they can communicate with the ABS sensor and TPM for the alignment, just not the camera. Do I really need to go to the dealership for the alignment, or can I just have a local shop do it and ignore those lines on the camera that I don't really use anyways? Does anyone have the specs for the alignment? I know the "within spec" the dealership offers leaves far too much margin of error, and I don't want to fix one problem and create another. I am not terribly concerned with handling as most of the roads I drive are all straight shots with very few if any curves so having a negative rear camber doesn't matter much to me. Just looking for some help before I get raped by the dealership. Thanks in advance!

[ard]

Originally Posted by jdbretz

I From what I've read this is because the camber is off.


I took it to a local alignment shop to have the alignment checked and they said they couldn't do it because the they couldn't re-center the backup camera and the guidance lines would be off. They said they can communicate with the ABS sensor and TPM for the alignment, just not the camera. Do I really need to go to the dealership for the alignment, or can I just have a local shop do it and ignore those lines on the camera that I don't really use anyways? Does anyone have the specs for the alignment? I know the "within spec" the dealership offers leaves far too much margin of error, and I don't want to fix one problem and create another. I am not terribly concerned with handling as most of the roads I drive are all straight shots with very few if any curves so having a negative rear camber doesn't matter much to me. Just looking for some help before I get raped by the dealership. Thanks in advance!

No, wrong.

it is most likely TOE that is causign the camber to kill your inner edges.

This is a common misconception, 'inner edge wearing' must be camber- these cars are designed for some camber, but it is how much toe that combines to eat rubber.

(I've never heard of a shop not being able to align a suspension due to 'electroncis communications issues'... very strange, maybe I'll learn something new)

BMW allows way too much toe in their spec. As I recall it can be 0.00 to 0.08 per wheel, with a cross toe of 0.00 to 0.16.

I usually set rears at 0.01, 0.02. NO MORE. If you go to a shop or dealer, and they run the machine and get 0.07 and 0.08 and cross toe of 0.15, they say "yeah, you're fine".

I have an M5 and a 996TT and both have heavy camber- but light toe, especially the rear. It works.

A

[jdbretz]

Thanks for the reply and the adjustments to look for. I attached the printout with the information of why they didn't have the equipment to perform the alignment. Maybe you can do a better job of deciphering it than me. Regardless you are saying I can go to any shop and have them adjust it?

[ard]

1. Thanks for posting, didn't know.

2. Do you really think BMW dealers actually do that?

3. You can CHECK the alignment without any of that.

4. I'd argue that unless your alignment is WAY off, the changes we are discussing - a few hundredths of cross toe- will have zero impact on those items.

5. What do you have to lose? Do it and see. Always can then go to the dealer for their alignment.

A

[SANguru]

the toe in on my 4.8i was way off from the factory but it is complete BS that these guys can't do a 4 wheel alignment. Go to a reputable shop and they will be able to do it.

[autoque]

Steering sensor must be calibrated? Seriously?

Rear axle slip angle control? Do all E70 have that?

[jdbretz]

Originally Posted by autoque

Steering sensor must be calibrated? Seriously?

Rear axle slip angle control? Do all E70 have that?

The steering sensor is the only one I kinda understand because it they adjust the steering wheel it affects DSC. If the car is going straight and the steering wheel is properly set, DSC sees it has the wheel is turned and car is going straight. It either activates DSC or throws a fault. I know the one about the backup camera is to ensure the lines illustrating where the vehicle will go in relation to how the steering wheel is turned is displayed properly, but the others I don't really know about.

[ZheHbKa]

sounds like BS!

had the same problem with old set of tires once i got new tires did the alignment and everything is fine now.
They wanted to rip you off with some extra work.
None of those need to be touched, make sure they don't.

[ZheHbKa]

the difference is so insignificant that it is better not to touch it then to screw it up.
as per few BMW techs at various service centers

[jdbretz]

Thanks for the replies! I figured there had to be more to it than the shop was telling me. I live in a fairly small town so most places I've called keep referring me to the dealer cause they don't want to mess with it. I called and got a quote for the alignment and my local dealership doesn't charge extra for the active steering adjustments and all the computer stuff. It sucks living in a smaller town without few options. I have a $50 gist certificate to my dealer so the alignment through them is only going to run me $70 after using it. I'll just go with them this time since its cheaper than other shops anyways, and then next time try and find a shop that will handle it for me. I'll of course make sure they show me the spec sheet before I accept the car back to make sure they set the toe correctly. Thanks for everyone's input.