SergeyM

I took my car for a scheduled oil service yesterday and complained about Dunlops RFTs being very noisy. Got a call (a voice mail) today from my dealer informing me that they replaced all 4 tires based on a BMW service bulleting and in a process of test driving the car noticed that the steering wheel was slightly off-center. They suggesting wheel alignment and they want $189 for it. I do not remember the steering wheel being of center and the tires were fine wear-wise, just noisy. Should I just pay and forget about it or should I first drive the car myself to see if this problem bothers me enough. To be honest I hate spending any additional money on a leased car and find $189 to be a pretty high price for a car without AS. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

w84me

One thing to consider is since you have a leased vehicle you will need to turn the tires in with minimum tread depth. Get your old tires back if you can if they have the min tread depth and put them back on when you turn in vehicle. Otherwise, when your current ones get to that point, save them when you install new ones, etc. You get the idea. Otherwise when you turn the car in, and they are below min depth, expect a charge. So I guess it depends on how many miles before vehicle turn in.

As far as an alignment goes, I usually make it a habit to align the car when ever new tread is installed. Tires will last longer and these meats are not cheap. Did they indicate it is out of alignment, or is the steering wheel only out of alignment? If only steering wheel, and it doesn't bother you, then don't bother as long as your wheels are in alignment.

EBMCS03

I would go drive it first... it could have been after the wheel install it got off centered. Who knows...

KnIgHtCoM

If you don't have AS, take it to a place like American Tire Depot. I got my alignment done for $80 and I have coilovers and 20" wheels.

SergeyM

The original tires had around 19,500 miles and had plenty of tread left. I have only 10 months and 10,000 miles left on my lease. The new tires should be fine in 10 months unless somehow the wheels got out of alignment. My service rep only mentioned the steering wheel slightly off-center. I probably will go drive the car first. I just cannot accept that the steering is off. It was completely fine a day ago.

sholaesq

I ust had my tires replaced at the dealer and the alignment was only $99.00

my2007

sometimes when you change to new tyres or even rotate the tyres the steering can get off centered but the alignment should be ok. when I do get a set of new tyres I normally would have them balance all the new tyres (on wheel preferred) and do a full wheel alingnment as well. If you were happy with how the car handled before the change and not too perturbed by the off centered steering then just leave it alone.

C's Bimmer

Wheel alignment is not covered by the service warranty if you have the stock set-up?

redwhiteblue

Unfortunately not, and believe it or not neither is a simple tire rotation. Quite shocking especially considering that most of us can blow through a set of rear tires MUCH quicker than fronts unless you rotate them. Atleast I made the mistake and took bmws advice that "they no longer recomened tire rotations since it has no benefit"-well that was fine and well except I ran through a set of rears and had almost completely full tread on the front. So second set of tires I bought I rotate every 5k and they have kept even and lasted longer obviously. But anyway no they dont cover anything to do with tires

dturk

When they do an alignment, it's more than just the "toe-in" (pulling to one side). There's camber and caster, and the rear wheels have to be done too.

I would go to a shop specializing in alignments, and with the latest equipment. The cost is usually in the $69-$99 range. If you want a referral, go to "The Tire Rack", a very reputable (and very large) on line tire warehouse and check out their installers (pre-screened). great prices on tires and aftermarket wheels too.

I just bought a set of tires for my sons 2006 Highlander from them and had them shipped to one of their referred installers for mounting, balancing, and alignment. They did an excellent job and the price was excellent. The newer machines will usually give you a print out of the before and after.

Good luck.

As to the post which advised keeping the old tires, that's a great suggestion except the dealer has to turn those in since it was a recall.

I went to a local dealer for the same tire problem and got blown off. Needless to say I don't go to that dealer anymore. We've got a few crummy BMW dealers in the LA area. Some good ones too.