KDS Wheel Alignment on 528 - advice please

[Deutscher]

Wife's 528 has uneven wear on front tyres. BMW dealer says it needs KDS wheel alignment @ £280.

What is this, and can it be done at a tyre centre?

Thanks.

[Alistair H.]

WOW! - I have had KDS done before and it was about £90. Basically thay put special clamps/sensors on to your wheels(have to be OEM or KDS wont play) and get a computer readout of various geometry settings. This is the castor, camber, toe in/out etc. - Very accurate, much better than a cheap wheel alignment at a tyre place. I tried with my old 535i at tyre places who said it was perfect, but I still scrubbed a front tyre. A session on the KDS fixed it.

But £280 FFS? - Someone is having a giraffe! - Try another dealer.

[fixedwheelnut]

A KDS is approx two hours work/labour so you can roughly work it out from their labour rate.

[carlito]

[redacted]

[Ashok]

Scotthall BMW Borehamwood charged me around £150 to do this to my E39 M5 about 18 months ago so the price quoted sounds very high. KDS is basically a fancy wheel alignment. I intend on getting my E60 done shortly once I switch back to summer tyres.

[Paul Drawmer]

The diff between KDS and other alignment systems, is that the kit fixes into those small holes on the face of the wheels. This ensures that the measurements are taken from the hubs and not the (possibly) misaligned rims.

Also a KDS check will include the rear wheel alignment which some cheaper places forget is part of the car for some reason.

[deutscher]

Thanks for the input, guys.

As a result of your comments I've now phoned around and booked it in at Hampshire Cars in Basingstoke. They're quoting c. £150, as are one or two others, but several are asking £250 -£300, amazing!!