Re: Alignment- do I really need anything special? (archive)

the only adjustment on our cars is front toe-in. You can have the castor/camber/rear toe checked if you want but if nothing has been damaged or severely worn you should be okay. If there is a problem you need to order special offset bushings to correct.
The majority opinion is that the BMW loading procedure is not required. I just had mine done by the tire shop, no pre-loading alignment is fine. All they are setting is the front toe!

Just got my new Aquatred 3's from the Tire Rack, and I'm having them installed this week. I wanted to have an alignment done at the same time, because I don't know when the car was aligned last.
I have heard stories on the board of special alignment procedures like putting weight in various places on the car, etc. Given that my car is a total commuter which will never, ever see the track or autox course, and isn't driven very hard.... do I really need to worry about that stuff? Should I spend big dough to have the dealer or a specialty shop align the car, or can I let the local tire store do a vanilla four-wheel alignment? I am planning to have these tires on the car for several years, at least- the treadwear warranty is 80K miles.
Thanks for any opinions,
Pat Newton
'85 524td 148K

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