Do I need an alignment with 2 new rear tires?

[Jayda]

Anyone who is following my 296 wheel issue....I took the car in today. They told me no wheel cracks in the either rear wheel. My right rear tire had a small gash on the inner edge (road hazard). The new right rear will be replaced under the wheel and tire warranty ($475). I am having them install a new left tire as well so I have two brand new tires on the back. My question is, should I get the car aligned ($154) given two new rears? They did say there was inner edge wear on the rears, which I know is true and related to camber. I am confused since they are telling me alignment is the issue causing the wear but everything I have read here says inner edge wear is related to camber. Should I get the car aligned? It is at 10,000 miles.

[jparnes1]

Inner edge wear is def normal. If the wear is even on both tires and no other signs of abnormal wear and if your car has been tracking well, then alignment is not needed. Now, if yo want to decrease the inner edge wear and make the tires last longer, then get an alignment and change the camber. But your car won't take corners as well.

[ChuckB]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

Inner edge wear is def normal. If the wear is even on both tires and no other signs of abnormal wear and if your car has been tracking well, then alignment is not needed. Now, if yo want to decrease the inner edge wear and make the tires last longer, then get an alignment and change the camber. But your car won't take corners as well.

+1

[az34]

if it were my car: definitely no alignment. Good luck.

[Wiles]

No need.

[Jayda]

A couple of interesting things. I didn't have your responses and I went ahead and had them align it. I figured with new tires, and expensive ones at that, I better do it. The paperwork for the alignment showed only one thing in the "red" before the alignment. The left camber was -1 degree 42' and target is -2 degrees 20' (sorry, I can't find the degree symbol on my iPad). BMW said they would only align to specifications so they would not reduce the camber. Needless to say the alignment was a waste. All other measures were in the green and adjusted either very slightly or not at all. So basically I paid $156 to have my left rear moved under one degree. Would you have charged for that?

My second bitch is I got the car back and the drivers seat, door and arm rest were filthy (savannah beige interior). It was like someone had just worked on the tires, got in the car and drove it somewhere. In the nicest way possible, I exploded. Simply not acceptable. They were more than willing to clean the car up and it looks fine but I would think someone would look at it before it is given to the customer. Also, I said "no wash" and it was washed. I am a car lover, these are not the little things for me. Goodness, when my husband's Prius goes in for service they put a disposable plastic seat cover and floor mat down.

On a positive note. I didn't think my rear tires were bad but the ride is so much quieter and smoother. I got the same Bridgestone potenza run flats since I have the tire and wheel warranty and it had to go to the dealer. Is there any chance these could be third generation? The difference in the quietness my car is substantial (old tires had right at 10,000 miles so they were not really that worn).

[jparnes1]

3d Gen have a completely different model number. They're 960xxx.
Alignment: Hate to say it, but we told you so. They hooked the car up, so they gotta charge you, I guess.

[HerrK]

Originally Posted by Jayda

1. All other measures were in the green and adjusted either very slightly or not at all. So basically I paid $156 to have my left rear moved under one degree. Would you have charged for that?

2. Also, I said "no wash" and it was washed. I am a car lover, these are not the little things for me. Goodness, when my husband's Prius goes in for service they put a disposable plastic seat cover and floor mat down.

3. Is there any chance these could be third generation? The difference in the quietness my car is substantial (old tires had right at 10,000 miles so they were not really that worn).

1. Sad but the dealers spent the time put your car on the machine. Tech time, overhead, & profit = $156

2. I made a sign and put it over the instrument cluster whenever I have to take the car in for service to "Do not wash the car". It is in spanish also - what can I say SoCal. Hopefully you chewed the SA's arse up and down about the mess that is totally unacceptable from a dealer.

3. No the 3rd Gen are "Potenza S001 RFT". They are now available at Tire Rack" for 225/40 & 255/35 x 19 (@ $337 & $401, respectively) fitment for the new F30 3er's. Close enough to the stock 19" 225/35 & 255/30 for me to consider in another 5-6K miles. A little more sidewall height can't hurt the ride for sure.

The good news is your 296's are not cracked!

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Hi Jayda

Glad to hear your wheels are okay, then with the wheel and tire coverage you do have you should be in fine shape.

On the alignment, I recommend if you get your front tires changed or if you feel your car pulls slightly to the right or left then have your front alignment checked and adjusted.

As for the rear wheels I am not aware that alignment work is done here other then check and adjust the camber? For one thing with all the cars I had in my life only front wheels were ever aligned. Perhaps if someone knows of a alignment procedure other then camber check and or correction they can chime in and educate me on that subject. As I said I never heard of it for rear wheels.

You where wise to insist on both rear wheels to be changed. New tires always feel different until they are run in. So eventually you will find they will change.

I understand you had the camber changed. That is a good thing for the inner toe wear (I was advised some time back that this of course will help the wear on the inner tire toe ~ at the same time I was advised that keeping a close eye on your air pressure and if you take longer trips and carry luggage and the roof in the trunk then increase air pressure by about 4 PSI or 10% of posted rear air pressure for your car). The fellow that pointed all this out to me was the Manager of a fairly large US Tire Shop. He told me that he has seen may 2 seater sports cars with excess inner toe tire wear, so I just pass this on to you here.

The wheels however as you do know have balance weights. I've found in the past that those weights fall off. So it is a good idea to know how many balance weights each wheel has and from time to time check if all are still in place. As you know when tires are replaced it is customary to balance the wheel. This is normally done as a static balance, however a more accurate balance job is the forced road balance (a procedure where your wheel is spun at a certain speed and corrections are made by adding weight ~ a kind of dynamic balance opposed to a static balance).

Continued good luck and fun with your fine car!

Cheers, Rolf

PS. The two pictures below (quite interesting) from a BMW web site demonstrate that your wheels will get hot form the brakes. This heat of course will transfer into the wheels and the RFT side walls. So do keep an eye on your wheels have them checked on a regular basis for cracks. Just for fun on long trips put your hand on the wheel or tire you will see how hot they get

[rfx45]

Sorry to hear you had to pay the stealership but I guess you live and you learn. As others have said though, good news is your wheels aren't cracked and you're happier with your new free tires. Those two new free tires should pretty much cover the cost of the wheel/tire warranty?

[baldguyj]

Originally Posted by Jayda

A couple of interesting things. I didn't have your responses and I went ahead and had them align it. I figured with new tires, and expensive ones at that, I better do it. The paperwork for the alignment showed only one thing in the "red" before the alignment. The left camber was -1 degree 42' and target is -2 degrees 20' (sorry, I can't find the degree symbol on my iPad). BMW said they would only align to specifications so they would not reduce the camber. Needless to say the alignment was a waste. All other measures were in the green and adjusted either very slightly or not at all. So basically I paid $156 to have my left rear moved under one degree. Would you have charged for that?

My second bitch is I got the car back and the drivers seat, door and arm rest were filthy (savannah beige interior). It was like someone had just worked on the tires, got in the car and drove it somewhere. In the nicest way possible, I exploded. Simply not acceptable. They were more than willing to clean the car up and it looks fine but I would think someone would look at it before it is given to the customer. Also, I said "no wash" and it was washed. I am a car lover, these are not the little things for me. Goodness, when my husband's Prius goes in for service they put a disposable plastic seat cover and floor mat down.

On a positive note. I didn't think my rear tires were bad but the ride is so much quieter and smoother. I got the same Bridgestone potenza run flats since I have the tire and wheel warranty and it had to go to the dealer. Is there any chance these could be third generation? The difference in the quietness my car is substantial (old tires had right at 10,000 miles so they were not really that worn).

And I thought it was just the bad dealership here in northwest Florida... Actually I love my car, and the sales people at the dealership. How is it that when I had an acura my service was fantastic and I step up to a BMW the service department degrades... I told my sales guy, Love the car but if I get service like this what makes me want to come back? He apologizes but that's it... Anybody out there in the US get great service, might be worth a road trip.

[Jayda]

Originally Posted by baldguyj

And I thought it was just the bad dealership here in northwest Florida... Actually I love my car, and the sales people at the dealership. How is it that when I had an acura my service was fantastic and I step up to a BMW the service department degrades... I told my sales guy, Love the car but if I get service like this what makes me want to come back? He apologizes but that's it... Anybody out there in the US get great service, might be worth a road trip.

I would make a road trip for good service. No kidding, I nearly fell over when I saw all the dirt on my interior. Never in the life of the car has it looked like that. Yeh, they apologized and made it right and even offered me a free $250 interior detail in the future. Truthfully, I don't think I would trust them to detail my car! Best service I ever had was when I had my Audi, never worried about the car. First time I brought the car in they gave me a tour of the service facility, discussed the measures they used to protect cars and even introduced me to the guy hand washing the cars after service. My car always came back looking perfect. I am sure I am now labeled a bitch at the local bmw dealership but there is a level of service you expect. Trying to decide how to evaluate this situation when I get the email to review my service experience. They did make things right but why did it get to the point that they had to?

[jparnes1]

Those evaluations are critical to the dealership. If you reply with anything below excellent, believe me, you'll get a call to explain why. You can use that opportunity to relate your concerns.

FWIW, I may be the only person who posts here that has never had an issue with their service department in over 6 years and presently 2 BMWs. They have been nothing but friendly and fair. Do I pay more sometimes for service at the dealer? Yep. But I want to maintain my relationship with them and it's paid off in spades when they've covered me twice for out-of-warranty repairs. I'd say they get 75% of my work, the rest is at an indy shop or myself.
But Jayda, this dealership would be quite a long drive for you! If you want to know, it's West Herr BMW of Rochester.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by Jayda

I would make a road trip for good service. No kidding, I nearly fell over when I saw all the dirt on my interior. Never in the life of the car has it looked like that. Yeh, they apologized and made it right and even offered me a free $250 interior detail in the future. Truthfully, I don't think I would trust them to detail my car! Best service I ever had was when I had my Audi, never worried about the car. First time I brought the car in they gave me a tour of the service facility, discussed the measures they used to protect cars and even introduced me to the guy hand washing the cars after service. My car always came back looking perfect. I am sure I am now labeled a bitch at the local bmw dealership but there is a level of service you expect. Trying to decide how to evaluate this situation when I get the email to review my service experience. They did make things right but why did it get to the point that they had to?

Here is a thread that lists dealerships showing service experiences, perhaps you find a good one in your area.

I know what some of you experience, I've had my share of it too. It seams that up front in the sales area they look after you well then when it comes to service it's another story altogether.

Good luck here is the link ---> Click here to Open

EDIT ... NOTE; once you open this link you need to scroll down to find your state, or area of interest the Original Poster LateBraking is updating this list adding posts under States like California, New York, New Jersey etc.

The more of us list there bad or good experiences here the better it will be for us to find a good service dealership. I think the dealerships come here too to check up.

Too bad that BMW Headquarters not perform quality control checks as to what the service is like on there fine cars.

[jparnes1]

That's a good list Rolf, but it's impossible to read until someone alphabetizes it by state.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

That's a good list Rolf, but it's impossible to read until someone alphabetizes it by state.

Actually if you scroll down you find that the original poster is indeed organizing the list by Region and State ... NY, NJ PA etc. scroll down once you open the link and you will see.

The OP (LateBraking) is trying his best to keep it up to date. You can always make a "Find" search to find your particular State or a dealership for that matter.

Thanks for the heads up ... I've added a note in my post with the link to point that out. The list is better then nothing at all I'm sure you agree.

[baldguyj]

Originally Posted by jparnes1

Those evaluations are critical to the dealership. If you reply with anything below excellent, believe me, you'll get a call to explain why. You can use that opportunity to relate your concerns.

FWIW, I may be the only person who posts here that has never had an issue with their service department in over 6 years and presently 2 BMWs. They have been nothing but friendly and fair. Do I pay more sometimes for service at the dealer? Yep. But I want to maintain my relationship with them and it's paid off in spades when they've covered me twice for out-of-warranty repairs. I'd say they get 75% of my work, the rest is at an indy shop or myself.
But Jayda, this dealership would be quite a long drive for you! If you want to know, it's West Herr BMW of Rochester.

Nope, I did the evaluation and gave them a low but not lowest grade and have not heard anything back. If I didn't have a service plan...

Thanks Rolf I'll take a look to see if I can find one here in the south!

[baldguyj]

nothing on the link in Florida, Alabama or Georgia, go figure! Thanks for the info tho

[Z_Victor1]

Originally Posted by Jayda

..............On a positive note. I didn't think my rear tires were bad but the ride is so much quieter and smoother. I got the same Bridgestone potenza run flats since I have the tire and wheel warranty and it had to go to the dealer. Is there any chance these could be third generation? The difference in the quietness my car is substantial (old tires had right at 10,000 miles so they were not really that worn).

I have recently replaced my rears (Bridgestone 17", but worn out after just 12,000 miles) with Continentals.
I have similar observations, re: greatly improved ride quality.
There are a number of reports of "improved ride" after fitting new tyres (sic).
Is this perhaps more due to the newly increased tread depth rather than make of tyre?