PaneraiLover

I have 2004 545i and getting 2 new rear tires, most likely General Unclaim UHP summer 275/35/18, my KDW 2 with fire patern are worn out on one tire to the threads, maybe also an alignment issue. I have sport pkg with active steering. I am not sure I want to take the car to Fields BMW of Daytona Beach to do the tire swap at $40 a piece and alignment at $129, not because of monye, is that because everytime I took the car there they scratched something or ripped something on the car and had to replace it. So I am afraid fo them scratching my wheels and not doing alignment correctly, I learned that dealer is not always the best with my wifes Lexus. So I found this Shop they have this eqpt:

Mounting Equipment: Corghi A2019 and Coats 5060EX rimclamp

Balancing Equipment: Coats 1050 and Coats 1001

Spoke to owner they mount up to 28" wheels and mount for Dodge dealer for their Viper cars and also a lot of exotic owners like the son of the late John Francis Jr, owner of Nascar takes his lambos and ferraris there for the wheel work. So I guess I am more confident, plus they are cheaper then BMW on alignmet $99, but $40 on tires to mount and balance.

Can some one please give me a perfect alignmnet specs of the aligned car, or a print out to what they need to be, I know this car has a negative camber on the alignmnet. Thank you all.

vkhong

Modern BMW automobiles have a steering angle sensor. This sensor is calibrated or reset to zero when the steering wheel and front wheels are aligned to zero (straight ahead). The steering angle sensor reset is typically done on a specialized BMW alignment rack. Most non-BMW shops can align a vehicle to specs, but they cannot calibrate the steering angle sensor - this requires specific BMW software. This is a problem I've had to deal with on my E60 and Lexus LS.

Many modern safety features on the E60 depend on the steering angle sensor to be accurate. Such features include:

Adaptive Headlights
Active Steering
Dynamic Drive (Active Roll Stabilization)
Dynamic Cruise Control (reduces cruise control speed when turning, if set too high)
Dynamic Stability Control (what direction the vehicle is moving versus steering direction)
Dynamic Brake Control (individual brake pressure depending on vehicle slip angle)
Navigation (dead reckoning, when satellites are out of view)

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technol...de=2&view=5

Note: The steering angle sensor is not calibrated by turning the steering wheel full-lock in both directions.

PaneraiLover

good info.. I thought it would be an issue. Do BMW mechanics scratch wheels while swapping tires? I am paranoid. I am thinking of getting a service manager to look at my tires first, then do allignment and mount and balance. Since both places are $40 per tire to mount. So might as well then go to BMW to do all the work, ha?

vkhong

I am paranoid too. For me, rotate and balance is done at a trusted tire shop. Alignment is then done at a BMW service center.

CWS530

In general, I trust my BMW dealership to know how to handle my car properly.

PaneraiLover

they scratched my steering while working on something else, replaced

then scratched my shift knob, replaced

always leave car dirty on door panels.. so that is how they most likely handle wheels and tires.. but at least if I have service manager look at wheels before they do it, and then they are going to be scratched, they will have to replace them.. I don't know still if I should go to other shop where they handle ferraris or the dealer, where they also handle all kinds of stock big expensive wheels everyday.. so i do not know.