Help evaluate my alignment

[der_kommissar]

Hey-2015 e84 BMW X1 xDrive28i here. I just had a 4 wheel alignment done at the dealer today at my expense. I had two issues- 1) I felt the car was pulling to the left 2) excessive wear on the outside of both front tires, but the wear was greater on the left. A third Issue I did not mention was that I felt that she did not track straight very well and could be squirrelly at times, almost jittery. I came from an e90, so I did not know if that was just the higher ride hight or something else. Anyway- I'd like your opinion on what my numbers were, and if the dealer adjusted them enough. All numbers are in degrees (which is all they gave me). BTW, I do about 17k miles a year, mostly on the highway.

My rear tires were out of max difference for both toe and camber- Toe was -0.01 degree on both tires. They brought this to target (0.10 left and 0.08 right) and I'm reasonably happy with that. Camber, however, was also well out of spec- -1.04 left and -1.09 right (Spec is -1.30). They only changed this enough to narrow the difference a bit and bring the left just within the -0.25 max deviation. I'm now at -1.05 left and -1.07 right. So, both toe and camber were out of spec, overall.

Front, Toe was too positive, 0.11 for both. Spec is 0.07, and they corrected this to 0.08. I suspect this is the cause of the wear on my front tires.

Camber, while in spec, was more negative for my right (-0.34) than my left (-0.20). This they barely changed, to -0.32 right and -0.21 left. I expect this is why I was pulling left, and honestly, I think I'm still pulling left.

Overall, the car feels more stable now, (likely an effect of the rear toe correction?), and I expect the tire wear to be improved on the front, but I'm still pulling.

Did I just get a lazy tech, or do BMW dealers only change toe these days? Is it reasonable for me to go back in and ask for the Right front camber to be made more equal to the left, or is this a normal variation? My interpretation is that it's that difference from right to left that is causing my pull to the left.

Seems to me that if I'm paying dealership prices ($150), they should adjust the camber too.

Thanks for any help you all can give!

[Turbod]

They should have provided you with a sheet that shows the information you explained above. I would just ask why things were not brought into spec. I don't know what adjustability these vehicles have but some vehicles are limited to what can be adjusted and by how much. I wouldn't go back and ask that they "fix" it but rather for an explanation. If they cannot provide one I would ask them to bring everything into spec or for a refund.

[PrematureApex]

Originally Posted by der_kommissar

Hey-2015 e84 BMW X1 xDrive28i here. I just had a 4 wheel alignment done at the dealer today at my expense. I had two issues- 1) I felt the car was pulling to the left 2) excessive wear on the outside of both front tires, but the wear was greater on the left. A third Issue I did not mention was that I felt that she did not track straight very well and could be squirrelly at times, almost jittery. I came from an e90, so I did not know if that was just the higher ride hight or something else. Anyway- I'd like your opinion on what my numbers were, and if the dealer adjusted them enough. All numbers are in degrees (which is all they gave me). BTW, I do about 17k miles a year, mostly on the highway.

My rear tires were out of max difference for both toe and camber- Toe was -0.01 degree on both tires. They brought this to target (0.10 left and 0.08 right) and I'm reasonably happy with that. Camber, however, was also well out of spec- -1.04 left and -1.09 right (Spec is -1.30). They only changed this enough to narrow the difference a bit and bring the left just within the -0.25 max deviation. I'm now at -1.05 left and -1.07 right. So, both toe and camber were out of spec, overall.

Front, Toe was too positive, 0.11 for both. Spec is 0.07, and they corrected this to 0.08. I suspect this is the cause of the wear on my front tires.

Camber, while in spec, was more negative for my right (-0.34) than my left (-0.20). This they barely changed, to -0.32 right and -0.21 left. I expect this is why I was pulling left, and honestly, I think I'm still pulling left.

Overall, the car feels more stable now, (likely an effect of the rear toe correction?), and I expect the tire wear to be improved on the front, but I'm still pulling.

Did I just get a lazy tech, or do BMW dealers only change toe these days? Is it reasonable for me to go back in and ask for the Right front camber to be made more equal to the left, or is this a normal variation? My interpretation is that it's that difference from right to left that is causing my pull to the left.

Seems to me that if I'm paying dealership prices ($150), they should adjust the camber too.

Thanks for any help you all can give!

The front camber has nothing to do with your car pulling left or right, so put that right out of your mind. Even if it was a couple degrees off, set along a couple of tenths. That's as close as it ever was from the factory.

And more importantly, the front camber isn't adjustable in these cars.

Yes, there is a locating pin you can pull out (either grind off or screw out, depending), but no dealer is going to do that sans a bent suspension component/unibody.

[nicknaz]

How many miles are on the tires and are they the OEM rft?

I was getting some vibration in steering wheel and a bit of a tendency to pull but I just switched to new winter tires and those all went a way.

I had the similar outer shoulder wear on the fronts. My take is that it's pretty easy to pitch the X1 into corners and that wears out the outer shoulder unevenly compared to the rest of the tire and contributes to the issues.

tl;dr consider replacing the tires before trying to chase down an alignment issue that may not be there