[ghause]

Hi All,
I'm new to bmw. I've been a vw/ag guy for 20 years. I just bought a cpo f36 and LOVE it.

I just got an email from a local dealer, not the one I got the car from. They were offering me $50 off an alignment to the tune of $200. This is more than the shop rate for an hours work - after discount.

I've driven GTIs for the last eight years. I realize work at the dealer is overpriced. Firestone will provide alignments for the length of your ownership of a vehicle for $200.

Is there anything about the f36 that would warrant more than an hour for an alignment? Are there some tools needed that you can only get from Rivendel?

[VCuomo]

Why are you surprised that the dealer is trying to separate you from the money that's in your wallet?

[cngo]

Way overpriced. But no matter the price, do yourself a favor and never get your car aligned at a dealership.

[Billfitz]

BMW alignments average between $150-$200. My dealer is offering a spring alignment special right now for $129. The $50 off you were offered is a phony discount to lure you in.

[jv004]

Should only go to dealership if under warranty, outside warranty find yourself a reputable indy shop. Cost for "bimmer" alignments are roughly in the range of 80 to 150 tops. $200 is just preying on the uninformed.

[eluded]

I pay like $60-$80 for alignment from a guy that does custom alignments in the bay area which is one of the most expensive places to live in United States.

[Blocke]

Requires special tools made of Mithril, so yes you must go to dealer. One does not simply walk into Firestone.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Use the dealer. Once out of warranty its the only thing I will go to a dealer for.

[Kafkaesque328]

Yep, dealer or really reputable indie BMW shop. I had my last car done at some tire place and had to then take it to the dealer to get it done right. Was all messed up, was pulling to the left and these guys at America's tire or wherever it was had no idea what to do. This is one thing I would go to the dealer for and they always run specials.

[sspade]

I had my car lined up at the Goodyear in Elk Grove, CA - when they installed my Continentals. I stood next to the tech and watched the entire process, especially when they were mounting new rubber on my brand new wheels. No issues, thankfully.

[Zopperman]

Why does the car need an alignment?

I had that deal from firestone on my 4Runner, which was lifted and I took it in the woods quite a bit. Needed alignments every couple of months and Firestone never gave me a hard time.

They didn't do the best job getting it in spec with a modified suspension, but on a stock car I would think they would do a fine job.

[yoon_209]

its called the stealership for a reason

[Fuller]

All of us who drive bmws, and other premium marques, basically pissed away more money than necessary on cars, to varying degrees. Most of us paid more for the performance and refinement bmws have to offer. Why then bring it into the lowest bidder for service, and risk compromising the performance of your car?

My suggestion is only get your car serviced (for anything you won't diy) at the dealer if under warranty, or a garage you trust. It's like when people talk about filling their bmw with regular unleaded. If the thought of spending a little extra for gas bothers you (perfectly understandable) then why not just get a regular car that takes regular? Why compromise the performance attributes you paid a premium for, to save a few $$?

[kern417]

Originally Posted by Fuller

All of us who drive bmws, and other premium marques, basically pissed away more money than necessary on cars, to varying degrees. Most of us paid more for the performance and refinement bmws have to offer. Why then bring it into the lowest bidder for service, and risk compromising the performance of your car?

My suggestion is only get your car serviced (for anything you won't diy) at the dealer if under warranty, or a garage you trust. It's like when people talk about filling their bmw with regular unleaded. If the thought of spending a little extra for gas bothers you (perfectly understandable) then why not just get a regular car that takes regular? Why compromise the performance attributes you paid a premium for, to save a few $$?

A BMW alignment is no different than an alignment on other cars. Don't waste your money just because your ego tells you that you should be willing to spend more on the same service. It's a waste of money.

If a shop messes up your alignment then it's a shop/tech problem, not an indication that you must bring it to a dealer. It really isn't that hard to turn a couple eccentric bushings and then line up your toe. Just make sure they aren't asking the oil change guy to try out his alignment skills for the 1st time on your car.

[zinner]

The mission of the dealership to be profitable trumps all. Being fair or helpful to the brand owners doesn't even factor into any equation. There is no reason for anyone from the BMW network of dealers to contact you directly other than to separate you from your money.

As far as an alignment it usually involves an expensive machine and maybe an inventory of shims or adjustment parts that might be specific to BMW. So it's hard to put a labor rate per hour to that type of service since there is more cost involved for that type of service.

An alignment service is a bit nebulous, I bet a large majority of the time they toss the car on the rack and everything is fine and dandy. But they don't separate it out from actually fixing an alignment. So maybe you are paying for 15 minutes of labor to check vs maybe hours to actually diagnose and fix an alignment.

But that 200 dollar alignment could easily save you hundreds or thousands in tires of the service of the car.

[Fuller]

Originally Posted by kern417

A BMW alignment is no different than an alignment on other cars. Don't waste your money just because your ego tells you that you should be willing to spend more on the same service. It's a waste of money.

If a shop messes up your alignment then it's a shop/tech problem, not an indication that you must bring it to a dealer. It really isn't that hard to turn a couple eccentric bushings and then line up your toe. Just make sure they aren't asking the oil change guy to try out his alignment skills for the 1st time on your car.

Got it. I have to correct you though, that I wouldn't be paying more for an alignment simply to stroke my ego. I'd be paying more to ensure that my car is in capable hands. I don't drive this car because of its badge. Bmws here are nearly as common as accords, Camry, etc. this is especially true of the 3/4 series. I bought my particular car because it felt like a nearly perfect fit during the test drive, and still does now. The last thing I want to do is compromise the driving experience just to try and save $50 or something. If I didn't mind compromising my time behind the wheel I'd save much more by getting a Prius or something. Why even bother with a luxury sport coupe/sedan, or whatever the f36 exactly is. The dealer I go to for service has been competent and straight forward. I go there because I trust them to fix, and not screw up my ride. Going else where to save a few means taking a gamble.

So, it has nothing to do with ego, and everything to do with giving my car what I know to be good service.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by ghause

Is there anything about the f36 that would warrant more than an hour for an alignment? Are there some tools needed that you can only get from Rivendel?

No and no. Take it to an independent shop.

[kern417]

Originally Posted by Fuller

Got it. I have to correct you though, that I wouldn't be paying more for an alignment simply to stroke my ego. I'd be paying more to ensure that my car is in capable hands. I don't drive this car because of its badge. Bmws here are nearly as common as accords, Camry, etc. this is especially true of the 3/4 series. I bought my particular car because it felt like a nearly perfect fit during the test drive, and still does now. The last thing I want to do is compromise the driving experience just to try and save $50 or something. If I didn't mind compromising my time behind the wheel I'd save much more by getting a Prius or something. Why even bother with a luxury sport coupe/sedan, or whatever the f36 exactly is. The dealer I go to for service has been competent and straight forward. I go there because I trust them to fix, and not screw up my ride. Going else where to save a few means taking a gamble.

So, it has nothing to do with ego, and everything to do with giving my car what I know to be good service.

I've had enough issues with dealerships to realize that all it takes is 1 new tech or 1 lapse of memory/judgement for your whole concept to fall to pieces. On my last service, they had "2018 440i GranCoupe X-Drive" on the report when my car is a RWD coupe. All they did was top off the coolant but if the guy entering information can't even name my car correctly, what else can he mess up?

I'll save $50 and take it to someone I've had good luck with on previous vehicles and they work on vehicles across the entire market range. Someone that won't try to sell me that BMWs need alignments every 10k miles, or that I shouldn't rotate my tires, or that my B58 losing coolant and seeing coolant spots all over my engine bay is normal because when the pressure is too high it shoots coolant out of the bleeder valve (yes they really told me that after my last visit).

All this to say you risk getting the same bs no matter where you go. Paying extra for the same turd is your prerogative.

[RoundelM3]

First of all, it's just an offer - I get them in the mail and by email all the time for discounts on various services. Secondly, it's a 4-wheel alignment, not just a front-axle alignment, so it's going to be more costly and require more time. But don't be misled by marketing offers - they're just that, and not indicative of any required service. Required service is now determined by the car's computer system, and if your car is not showing abnormal tire wear or pulling to one side or the other, you don't need an alignment.

In 17 years of BMW ownership, I've never had a bad experience with dealer service - other than some overpriced quotes for replacing a TPMS sensor out of warranty. I use a qualified Independent shop with a good reputation for out-of-warranty service and the local dealership for warranty work. Dealerships are independently owned and not actually part of BMW itself, so your experience may vary.

[metallicpea]

Does it need an alignment? How are the tires wearing?

Alignments aren't usually necessary for long periods of time unless it takes a real beating on your roads or parts have been replaced or there is signs of tire wear.

[Fuller]

Originally Posted by kern417

I've had enough issues with dealerships to realize that all it takes is 1 new tech or 1 lapse of memory/judgement for your whole concept to fall to pieces. On my last service, they had "2018 440i GranCoupe X-Drive" on the report when my car is a RWD coupe. All they did was top off the coolant but if the guy entering information can't even name my car correctly, what else can he mess up?

I'll save $50 and take it to someone I've had good luck with on previous vehicles and they work on vehicles across the entire market range. Someone that won't try to sell me that BMWs need alignments every 10k miles, or that I shouldn't rotate my tires, or that my B58 losing coolant and seeing coolant spots all over my engine bay is normal because when the pressure is too high it shoots coolant out of the bleeder valve (yes they really told me that after my last visit).

All this to say you risk getting the same bs no matter where you go. Paying extra for the same turd is your prerogative.

That's fine. I guess it mostly depends on your local dealer and independent shops. The point of my response was to address your implication that paying more for dealership service was egotistic behavior. It's a strange association to make.

Bear with me while I try to imagine how this might play out....

The scene unfolds by the water cooler in the office...

Colleague/business partner: Hey Fuller, I saw you drive up in the Prius yesterday, what was going on with that sexy 4 series gran coupe of yours?

Fuller: I had hit a deep pothole over the weekend, so I brought my car into the "Dealership" to get an alignment. Yeah you heard that right, I'm paying a premium to have the.."Dealership"..perform my alignment.

Colleague: Wow! The dealership?! Life must be treating you well if you can get your alignments done at the "Dealership".

Fuller: So, wanna know what I pay for an alignment at the dealer?.... Come close and I'll tell you... (Looks nervously around the room, hoping others are peeking around the corner eaves dropping, and will know that I pay a premium for an alignment at the dealership).

[kern417]

Originally Posted by Fuller

That's fine. I guess it mostly depends on your local dealer and independent shops. The point of my response was to address your implication that paying more for dealership service was egotistic behavior. It's a strange association to make.

Bear with me while I try to imagine how this might play out....

The scene unfolds by the water cooler in the office...

Colleague/business partner: Hey Fuller, I saw you drive up in the Prius yesterday, what was going on with that sexy 4 series gran coupe of yours?

Fuller: I had hit a deep pothole over the weekend, so I brought my car into the "Dealership" to get an alignment. Yeah you heard that right, I'm paying a premium to have the.."Dealership"..perform my alignment.

Colleague: Wow! The dealership?! Life must be treating you well if you can get your alignments done at the "Dealership".

Fuller: So, wanna know what I pay for an alignment at the dealer?.... Come close and I'll tell you... (Looks nervously around the room, hoping others are peeking around the corner eaves dropping, and will know that I pay a premium for an alignment at the dealership).

Nope, you're not understanding what I said. Saying that you should pay extra for the same service just because your car costs a certain amount is egotistic behavior. I can understand going to the dealer for a lot of things like changing your battery, diagnosing electrical issues, etc. But if all you're doing is getting a wheel alignment, mounting new tires, or some other task that has a universal process, paying double to have it done at the dealer is a waste of money. They use the same equipment and run the same risks as independent shops.