Alignment question
 

Hi all...I just had my right lower control arm replaced on my 01 X5 3.0
When I drive the car now I think the steering wheel is very slightly to the left if I want to keep it perfectly going straight. I was told by the shop I do not need alignment.
What is the opinion of everyone though? Should I do it or it will adjust itself over time with the new lower control arm.
How much is usually alignment for the X? Never done one before.

stealer quote is ~$250 here in front of me, so ~2.5 hour labor according to them.

Thanks for the approx cost of alignment, but I still wonder if it should be done.

It -seems- to me that a minor steering wheel offset when you did one side wouldn't be unreasonable.. I know that when they replace both my rears next spring, that they nearly insist on it.. ymmv

A minor offset is probably fine as you said, but I'm a little perfectionist and I wanted to be just right as it was before. I called my local dealer and they quoted me $149 for about 2hrs work and they actually have a $99 special going on right now, so I will just go ahead and do it.
I'm still wondering why replacing the right lower control arm would cause a minor offset in the steering wheel?

Only one side done? I would have done both at the same time. Chances are the other one is near its expiry date too. Either that or you have a problem with the right side of your car..:dunno:

And yes, I would recommend getting the alignment done as a matter of course. Any changes to suspension setup will change angles and distances, no matter how close tolerances within the parts are. Your steering wheel now being in a different position is telling you that. :stickpoke

My bmw tech assured me I only need to change one side, I also looked at it. The left side is solid and like new, the right one was giving up, so I only wanted to change the right. I didn't want to do the alignment, since it was not needed, but I will go crazy if I don't do it now. So, all is good.

Allways do an alignment when changing any kind of rubber IMO !