First off an easy question...
Is front-end alignment covered under the BMW warranty?
My car (2011 335i 4-door) was purchased new, and I paid to extend the "no service charge" warranty to 10-year/100k-miles, right now my car is just over 20k on the miles so it is not even an issue with the extension I bought.
I had the car in for service, 3rd time for faulty air-pressure sensors, and the service department said my passenger's front tire was showing premature wear on the outside edge which indicated I have hit a road hazard and knocked that wheel out of alignment. They said I needed a new tire ($360) and an alignment (another ~$300 or so) and at that time I declined the service.
I understand that if I hit a curb (never done that) or a bad pothole (been there at least twice) these are not a warranty issue. Although I purchased the 10yr/100k road-hazard warranty on wheels and tires it does not cover the suspension. But I do not think that is my case here.
So, when I got home I took a look at the tire and it is indeed showing sings of nearing mandatory replacement on the outside edge. I have the sport suspension and super-low profile tires and since I did not turn the wheel all the way to the right I was unable to visually inspect the inside edge but I did run my hand in there and found that it was not exhibiting the premature wear like the outside edge. So I went over to the driver's side and saw the same wear patterns indicating that I have (my guess) way to much toe-in on the suspension. Such a situation would not be caused by hitting a pothole with one or the other front wheel.
I know these tires are soft and will not give me the 35-50k miles of life that many passenger cars tires do these days. I have always run z-rated tires with 45 series sidewalls on my previous cars, and the worst wear I ever got was 24k on a set of BFG Comp-TAs. But here I am at under 21K and both of my front tires are needing replacement soon despite the center section and inside section having at least 5k (maybe more) life left.
I contend this is due to an improper alignment since only the outside edge of both are worn out, it is conceivable that I have a camber problem but one so severe as the wear pattern shows would be visible to the naked eye I think. It cannot be due to being under inflated since the insides edges are fine. Now, I DO drive this car hard in the turns, I FULLY ADMIT that. The steering and cornering is why I bought this car in the first place (brakes too) since I was pretty disappointing in the acceleration of the twin screw turbo-6, it is the slowest car I've owned since 1994. I am fully aware that aggressive cornering will decrease the lifespan of the tires, but they should wear evenly if the alignment is correct. Unless the standard BMW alignment specs (this is by first Bimmer ever) call for extreme toe-in. The car does not have the unstable initial cut-in that extreme toe-in usually induces, steering response is immediate (I LOVE IT!) but there's nothing twitchy or unstable about it. It does not over-steer at all like too much toe would cause and even under-steer is negligible except at the extreme edge of grip.
So back to the original question, is front end alignment covered under factory warranty assuming I did not knock it out of alignment? If so I think I have a strong case to have it realigned at no cost and arguably have the new set of front rubber replaced at a reduced price. What say ye?
Is front-end alignment covered under the BMW warranty?
My car (2011 335i 4-door) was purchased new, and I paid to extend the "no service charge" warranty to 10-year/100k-miles, right now my car is just over 20k on the miles so it is not even an issue with the extension I bought.
I had the car in for service, 3rd time for faulty air-pressure sensors, and the service department said my passenger's front tire was showing premature wear on the outside edge which indicated I have hit a road hazard and knocked that wheel out of alignment. They said I needed a new tire ($360) and an alignment (another ~$300 or so) and at that time I declined the service.
I understand that if I hit a curb (never done that) or a bad pothole (been there at least twice) these are not a warranty issue. Although I purchased the 10yr/100k road-hazard warranty on wheels and tires it does not cover the suspension. But I do not think that is my case here.
So, when I got home I took a look at the tire and it is indeed showing sings of nearing mandatory replacement on the outside edge. I have the sport suspension and super-low profile tires and since I did not turn the wheel all the way to the right I was unable to visually inspect the inside edge but I did run my hand in there and found that it was not exhibiting the premature wear like the outside edge. So I went over to the driver's side and saw the same wear patterns indicating that I have (my guess) way to much toe-in on the suspension. Such a situation would not be caused by hitting a pothole with one or the other front wheel.
I know these tires are soft and will not give me the 35-50k miles of life that many passenger cars tires do these days. I have always run z-rated tires with 45 series sidewalls on my previous cars, and the worst wear I ever got was 24k on a set of BFG Comp-TAs. But here I am at under 21K and both of my front tires are needing replacement soon despite the center section and inside section having at least 5k (maybe more) life left.
I contend this is due to an improper alignment since only the outside edge of both are worn out, it is conceivable that I have a camber problem but one so severe as the wear pattern shows would be visible to the naked eye I think. It cannot be due to being under inflated since the insides edges are fine. Now, I DO drive this car hard in the turns, I FULLY ADMIT that. The steering and cornering is why I bought this car in the first place (brakes too) since I was pretty disappointing in the acceleration of the twin screw turbo-6, it is the slowest car I've owned since 1994. I am fully aware that aggressive cornering will decrease the lifespan of the tires, but they should wear evenly if the alignment is correct. Unless the standard BMW alignment specs (this is by first Bimmer ever) call for extreme toe-in. The car does not have the unstable initial cut-in that extreme toe-in usually induces, steering response is immediate (I LOVE IT!) but there's nothing twitchy or unstable about it. It does not over-steer at all like too much toe would cause and even under-steer is negligible except at the extreme edge of grip.
So back to the original question, is front end alignment covered under factory warranty assuming I did not knock it out of alignment? If so I think I have a strong case to have it realigned at no cost and arguably have the new set of front rubber replaced at a reduced price. What say ye?