[vivcal]

Wish I had read this thread earlier, I'm at around 2.5k miles now. If I took it in for an alignment, would they refuse to do it under warranty?

[BMR.WRLD]

Originally Posted by vivcal

Wish I had read this thread earlier, I'm at around 2.5k miles now. If I took it in for an alignment, would they refuse to do it under warranty?

Possibly, but it's worth trying. I was way over break in and it wasn't my dealership, but the closest one. I had found a nice 20% or 30% off coupon online so I used that.

[EMZWEI]

Originally Posted by fanofbmwe46

Ugh yea shitty. I can def see them saying a tech would need to verify the issue first.

I was a service manager at various dealerships for years and for warranty submitting to the manufacturer to get them reimbursed for any warranty work there needs to be 3 “C’s”: A “Customer complaint” a “Cause of the customers complaint” (diagnosis) and a “Correction of customers complaint” (repair).

If you show up to the dealership saying that you “want an alignment” without presenting any complaint their hands are tied, they can’t get paid from BMW for doing the alignment.

With that said, the dealer can make up a story on the work order saying “Customer complains that the car pulls to the right” and then the Tech can make up a story saying “Test drove the car and verified the customer’s complaint” but this at a granular level is committing fraud and could get the dealership in trouble with the manufacturer.

This is why you’ll get pushback from the dealer if you just show up and say an alignment is supposed to be warranty, I want an alignment!

[Mikesbimmer]

Originally Posted by EMZWEI

I was a service manager at various dealerships for years and for warranty submitting to the manufacturer to get them reimbursed for any warranty work there needs to be 3 “C’s”: A “Customer complaint” a “Cause of the customers complaint” (diagnosis) and a “Correction of customers complaint” (repair).

If you show up to the dealership saying that you “want an alignment” without presenting any complaint their hands are tied, they can’t get paid from BMW for doing the alignment.

With that said, the dealer can make up a story on the work order saying “Customer complains that the car pulls to the right” and then the Tech can make up a story saying “Test drove the car and verified the customer’s complaint” but this at a granular level is committing fraud and could get the dealership in trouble with the manufacturer.

This is why you’ll get pushback from the dealer if you just show up and say an alignment is supposed to be warranty, I want an alignment!

This all makes sense. I recall some dealers I’ve been to in the past for other brands have some device that when you drive in they tell you if you are out of alignment with some sort of underbody scan. A way to try to sell alignments I guess but I wonder if any BMW dealers have this and can diagnose a problem upon arrival without it being stated by the customer.

[fzr100098]

Originally Posted by vivcal

Wish I had read this thread earlier, I'm at around 2.5k miles now. If I took it in for an alignment, would they refuse to do it under warranty?

2k miles is the limit - even at 1200 miles I had to talk them into doing it. Unless you have a reason to believe it's out they won't do it (at my dealer)

[BgsDks]

Originally Posted by fzr100098

2k miles is the limit - even at 1200 miles I had to talk them into doing it. Unless you have a reason to believe it's out they won't do it (at my dealer)

I kind of had a similar experience - my steering wheel seems slightly off (which is not necessarily an alignment problem - but I wanted it checked anyways). At first the SA wanted me to pay, but she seemed clueless, and I told it would be checked under warranty because this was the 1200 mile service and I complained about the car "pulling". It was in spec, but I would demand it at the 1200 mile service even if you need to tell a little white lie considering the reports of some cars being out of spec from the factory.

[SpaceGhost]

My wheel is about 5 to 10 degrees off to the left. When i put the big red stripe at TDC of the wheel, my car veers to the right. I plan to get over to the dealer for this to be addressed. Hopefully an alignment and a steering wheel adjustment will fix it. Hoping my dealer doesn’t push back on the work....we will see

[jmg]

Originally Posted by BMR.WRLD

I was past the mileage by the time I knew you could get it at no extra cost from BMW. Especially me having the M Performance HAS kit installed at port with no alignment spec sheet.

The G87 is my first BMW, so I didn't know what to expect regarding ride quality. Honestly, it just never felt right. I even made a post about it being hard to drive the car straight, as it was always darting across lanes. I deleted the post because apparently, it was just me. I chalked it up to me always being tired from work or me not being used to a sports car.

The car also felt unsettling around turns, especially with a bump in the turn. I experienced bump steer and bouncing of the car. It just never felt "great."

And to his credit, M Power Rob did mention to me about getting an alignment if the car wasn't going straight. But to me, it did, so I never looked into it. Little did I know there's so much more to an alignment than thinking it tracks straight.

Well, today I finally got a 4-wheel alignment, and wow, what a difference it has made! The smoothness, steering feel, and stability have improved dramatically. The turn-in is now sharp and direct, and the Sport plus suspension, which previously felt harsh, now feels suitably rigid.

Driving it now, I realize that I was constantly fighting the car before. Now, I feel much more connected to it and can sense what it's doing. Immediately after the alignment, I took it into the national forest and had a blast tearing it up.

Are these the factory alignment specs or did they tailor it to your driving style?

[BMR.WRLD]

Originally Posted by jmg

Are these the factory alignment specs or did they tailor it to your driving style?

Factory spec

[vivcal]

Originally Posted by vivcal

Wish I had read this thread earlier, I'm at around 2.5k miles now. If I took it in for an alignment, would they refuse to do it under warranty?

Update to this -- I took it in at around 3k miles and the dealership said there was no way it would be covered by warranty unfortunately.

It cost me $200 but it seems well worth it. The difference is night and day with how much better the steering feels.

Not completely sure what the alignment report is saying though (i.e. how bad was it?)

[gondolafanclub]

I tried the ol it's pulling right when I did my break in service and they said they couldn't replicate it to have it covered under warranty

[Mikesbimmer]

Originally Posted by gondolafanclub

I tried the ol it's pulling right when I did my break in service and they said they couldn't replicate it to have it covered under warranty

My steering wheel is a couple degrees off to the left so if I hold it straight I go right. Planning to ask for alignment due to this at my breakin service.

[Scrutineer]

My SA didn’t blink when I was in for break-in service and mentioned it pulls to the right. Tech drove it, said the wheel was a little off center, and they aligned it under warranty (1101 miles). They definitely made some adjustments, but I don’t have a sense of how material they were. The car had felt like it wanders a bit and now it doesn’t. Could be placebo effect.

[Jboss12]

I also required a significant alignment after paying a shop to install HAS kit. Wheel was noticeably off-center and I just ignored it until the springs were installed (not like me, but suspension work usually requires an alignment anyways).

[BMR.WRLD]

I will need another alignment after I finish adjusting my MP HAS this weekend 😬