Pepboys for balancing and alignment
 

Would you recommend them that they will do or can do the job of aligning and balancing our sav? I've used them on other Hondas and Nissans, but does our car requir certain machine that they may not have?

If they have the equipment, I don't see why not. You trust them with your other cars.

I believe some alignment shops don't want to do alignment on our X because they don't know how to reset steering angle sensor.

If you have a programmer, it is easy to reset after alignment. Reset and turn steering wheel lock to lock.

My tires and alignment were done at pep boys (on my other BMW) from the PO and my steering wheel is off a little bit which drives me nuts and could also be the cause of my DSC malfunction. I would say no just for that reason. An INDY or dealership with the ability to correctly calibrate the steering sensor would be my choice.:)

But hey, maybe PB has a means to properly adjust. Maybe you should ask them.

You have to see what kind of Alignment machine they have before you let them touch your car. If its appears to be a newer Hunter Winalign or Snap-on Visualigner, your car is in good hands.
A good way to tell if the machine is new or old, is if they can do quick check of alignment to see if it off, in less than 3 minutes(can be under 90 seconds) on rack. They should give you a color printout of quick check.

I trust Hunter as they are the OE supplier to BMW dealers.
Hunter Automotive Shop and Garage Equipment Built Exclusively for BMW | Hunter Engineering Company

My local shop uses the Hawkeye Elite and their services are always spot on.

I wouldn't take mine to Pep Boys for alignment but that's me

I got mine done there for the first time and not only is my steering wheel off center, but I'm getting terribl vibration.

Well, ...... There's your answer. Hopefully your DSC light stays off.

Granted it was over ten years ago, but never had anything but trouble with Pep Boys service on a 302 Mustang. Started out as replacing hoses and valve cover gaskets in Texas. Poor work resulted in head gaskets in Arkansas, rebuilt heads in Arkansas, and finally a short block by the time it made it to Virginia.

If you find an Indy, watch what kind of vehicles are in the lot for a few days and how long they tend to be there. Plenty of BMWs with a decent turnover with good referrals is a good sign in my experience.

2002 X5 3.0 259,400 miles
2004 325i 115,000 miles

I do have an indy shop i use. Ive had good results with other japanese cars but its the first time im taking my X5 there. Also its pretty convenient compared to the indy shop i use.