[ktono]

It was a miracle my tires lasted to 30k especially with a total front toe at .29, never saw such a high positive toe number on the front ? ( 0.63 ) - left front, ( - .035 ) right front ?

Remind me what size tires you have. I have been contemplating having mine checked before my 20" Bridgestone Sport RFT set is ruined. It seems to ride straight most of the time and occasionally "grabs" the road. Can't tell if the grabbing is the extra width on road irregularities over the 18"s on my 2010 or alignment issues. I'm at 850 miles and need some thoughts on whether I should have this checked. Thanks.

 

[ktono]

I liked the 18's a lot and had zero issues with them. They were actually quite capable in the KS snow for all season rubber. Hopefully I like the 20's as much.

 

[ktono]

Deleted.

 

[ktono]

Took mine to BMW to have them verify the alignment specs as it was pulling some to the right and after the specs shared here. It took a lot of discussion with the SA before they agreed to hook it up. Initially they said the tires were all at different pressures which would impact this. Finally they hooked it up and now the total TOE looks worse after even when I specified to be set at .01 - .02. The camber looks WAY off 1.3 on the rear especially. I have no idea what Track Differential, Caster and SAI means and if it is OK.

Please help me understand these numbers prior to returning the loaner in the morning. What specifically should I ask for to change?

 

[ktono]

Your cambers look fine, 1'30" is the target, and you seem to be right there.

I posted in your other thread about the toe. it's like they simply nodded their head when you siad 0.01-0.02 then did a standard BMW "set it in the middle of the range" alignment.

The toe in the rear is worse (according to BMW it is fine, but according to me, worse)

I'd like to have a bit more camber up front, you are on the min range of the spec.

Of course they didnt give you what you asked for on any one of the 4 tires. Did it list 0.01-0.02 on the work order? bet not.

All the other stuff looks fine, IMO

GL

A

Thanks for the quick feedback! Great to know that the toe is worse which is what I specifically talked to them about setting. Argh! I am going to explain to them this fact and request that they set it to the minimum of their range instead of making the total toe worse especially in the rear. Two things come to mind...

1 - Is it worth the principle of the specific toe setting discussion and having it done to my specs?
2 - Should I have them move the front camber closer to 20?

After all it is my set of $1,500+ tires that they have now made worse. I wonder how many hundreds/thousands of miles this setup will now take off of them.

 

[ktono]

Just talked with the SA and they are setting the specs to 0.01 - 0.02 for the toe and -10 for the front camber which is half of BMWs target of -20. Overall I will am very pleased by this and the shops efforts to make this correct to MY requested specs. I feel this setup will provide the best tire life.

Thanks for the assistance with this. I will post the final specs once received.

 

[ktono]

Do you have any concerns? I am expecting the pull at highway speeds and "crab" feel at low speeds to be gone.

Will update with specs later and ride after a couple days.

 

[ktono]

I just drove it home from the dealership and did not notice anything out of the ordinary in stop/go traffic or at highest speeds. Although I was a little distracted with my 5 yr old daughter telling me about her day at school. More isolated time on different toads will tell the true story but initially seems good.

The rear toe was a little lower than expected but both front and rear are close or at the minimum range. The front camber is still pretty low and not at the 10 I specified but I don't think it will hurt given the big V8 as ard mentioned. The tech said that on the X5 the front camber is not adjustable because it does not have control arms...hmmm. Either way I am VERY pleased with the dealer's ability to tune it to MY specs. Others should expect nothing less.

Oh, the SA mentioned the usual survey grading speech and to grad him well. Absolutely!! This dealer has always been good to me. He did say NOT to mention that I "schooled" him with the alignment specs and discussion. For that I have to thank ARD's expertise and follow up in a few threads, MUCH appreciated.

Time will tell as to what the alignment will mean for tire life, but I feel good about where I sit. I also like the precedence that I set with the dealer and my SA.

This forum is truly a blessing to all X5 owners!

 

[ktono]

Vehicle drives great on the highway, no pulling or tramlining whatsoever, the tech is the one I met with before the alignment who stated that a minimum toe such as .01 would create stability issues on the highway, one thing I did notice is that my rear camber is -1.1 and -1.2 which I believe the -1.1 is out of the BMW spec, will this camber number of -1.1 cause any issue ?

Looking at my spec sheet the BMW camber target and range is as follows:

Rear at -1.3 +/- 0.15
Front at -0.20 +/- 0.30

So -1.10 is slightly under the minimum spec for the rear camber. I doubt this will have a noticeable impact but as you know ard's the real expert. I am guessing the back tires will set in a turn a little quicker especially with some load in the back.

 

[ktono]

Interesting and why should inspect your vehicle when picking it up from service. Got a TPMS message when leaving church this morning that the RR tire was low. Stopped at the gas station in the same parking lot and checked, it was fine at 36 psi. That's when I noticed a big white scuff on the edge of the rim and a lot of black goop on the lip too.

Looks like they took this tire off, which explains the black bead sealer and possibly the TPMS message without a proper reset. The white scuff is either from the alignment marker head OR the tire machine if they indeed remove the tire. There was no issue with the tire before just the alignment. It does not look like a road rash given the white Teflon scratch.

I am hoping this can be buffed out or should I expect a new tire instead? Anybody with experience on this repair?