Alignment

[TheLizards]

Can anyone advise on if there is a sensor calibration necessary on my 2018 Premium Plus after 4 wheel alignment?

The car does not have adaptive cruise, just some pre-sense features. I’ve never had the car take over steering or anything at highway speed if I’ve drifted out of a lane intentionally or unintentionally so I’m not even sure the pre-sense works correctly haha.

Window sticker says the car has the following pre-sense modules:
“Audi side assist w/ pre-sense rear”
“pre-sense basic”
“pre-sense city”

Nothing about pre-sense front and definitely no ACC on the car, just the standard round bumper sensors on the front and rear. No cameras in the bumper. I guess there’s a camera up on the mirror assembly though?

My trusted local VW dealer said they won’t do it because “the car likely needs calibration by Audi.”

In all, I guess I’m wondering if the stuff was calibrated before for proper alignment, and now the alignment is off, why would I need anything recalibrated if the alignment is put back into spec if the calibrations are already set for “in-spec”

[AnewMadrid]

Nothing needs to be recalibrated. It's just an alignment.
When I got new suspension everything worked fine and they did factory spec alignment. I have a Prestige model

[JohnEnglish]

When I had a 4 wheel alignment done on my RS5 it needed calibration done at the same time and it wasn't cheap. None of the independent shops in my area would do it, they all said the alignment had to be done at the dealer.

[AnewMadrid]

When I had a 4 wheel alignment done on my RS5 it needed calibration done at the same time and it wasn't cheap. None of the independent shops in my area would do it, they all said the alignment had to be done at the dealer.

Interesting... well I know 100% for sure on my car everything works. I have all options they work fine. Out of all the thousands of people that have lowered their S5/RS5 cars and got alignments I can't imagine all them having to go to the dealer to do that.. I wouldn't see why any shop would say no, if you agree that if by any chance any sensor Is off its not their fault.
It was just like when people said you need to calibrate the parking sensors after the getting on the grill. Mine work fine.
With that said, it's your car do what gives you peace of mind.

[JohnEnglish]

Interesting... well I know 100% for sure on my car everything works. I have all options they work fine. Out of all the thousands of people that have lowered their S5/RS5 cars and got alignments I can't imagine all them having to go to the dealer to do that.. I wouldn't see why any shop would say no, if you agree that if by any chance any sensor Is off its not their fault.
It was just like when people said you need to calibrate the parking sensors after the getting on the grill. Mine work fine.
With that said, it's your car do what gives you peace of mind.

All I know is all the independent Audi shops around me said they wouldn't do it as soon as they heard it was a RS car. They all said they don't do alignments on RS cars or R8s. Believe me I would have preferred they did instead of paying the dealer to do it.

[a4audi4fun]

My guess is camera alignment is primarily needed if you have Active Lane Assist and Adaptive Cruise where steering needs to be exactly aligned with the video processing of lane markings from the forward looking camera and radar sensors

Pre-sense basic closes windows and sunroof in the event of an impact; measured through some form of deceleration sensor so not dependent on direction of travel
Side Assist w Pre-Sense rear is monitoring a broad area to the side and rear of the car using radar and maybe ultra-sonic sound so probably not affected by wheel alignment in any significant way but if the bumper has been adjusted then alignment of rear radar can become important.

Pre-sense city is looking for objects in front so camera/radar alignment comes into play but the system probably applies brakes hard to slow down/stop; not sure camera/wheel alignment matters.

There's that mode that applies steering assistance when avoiding a forward object - not sure if camera/wheel alignment really matters at that point anyway.

[jhAudi]

Have the camera/adaptive cruise and lane assist on my S5. Had an alignment done for a slight pull from a pothole. Had the same worry. Audi dealer said 4 additional hours labor if the calibration for the cameras needed to be done as well but they also said not likely to be needed. Took it in and it was $219 and perfect. I had the same worry as you though. I imagine some dealerships would have done the calibration as well needed or not.

[zac3707]

Interesting... well I know 100% for sure on my car everything works. I have all options they work fine. Out of all the thousands of people that have lowered their S5/RS5 cars and got alignments I can't imagine all them having to go to the dealer to do that.. I wouldn't see why any shop would say no, if you agree that if by any chance any sensor Is off its not their fault.
It was just like when people said you need to calibrate the parking sensors after the getting on the grill. Mine work fine.
With that said, it's your car do what gives you peace of mind.

It's not the parking sensors that would need calibration, its the ACC sensors.

[DCB1951]

I replaced all four tires over a year ago at a reputable retail tire distributorship. They balanced and aligned the tires. No sensor calibration was performed, and AFAICT, none was or is needed.

[AnewMadrid]

It's not the parking sensors that would need calibration, its the ACC sensors.

I used the ACC last night on drive back from Oakland. Worked fine. I was following a Model 3 for like 20 minutes and just cruised.

[zac3707]

I used the ACC last night on drive back from Oakland. Worked fine. I was following a Model 3 for like 20 minutes and just cruised.

And sometimes they don't need to be, as you evidenced.

[AnewMadrid]

And sometimes they don't need to be, as you evidenced.

Yup. I guess if something is off than obviously need to get it addressed but no need to spend extra $ if all is working. You can get an upper control bar or something.....hahah. Also I don't care for the ACC, it always brakes harder than I think it needs to.

[Dan99]

Can anyone advise on if there is a sensor calibration necessary on my 2018 Premium Plus after 4 wheel alignment?

The car does not have adaptive cruise, just some pre-sense features. I’ve never had the car take over steering or anything at highway speed if I’ve drifted out of a lane intentionally or unintentionally so I’m not even sure the pre-sense works correctly haha.

Window sticker says the car has the following pre-sense modules:
“Audi side assist w/ pre-sense rear”
“pre-sense basic”
“pre-sense city”

Nothing about pre-sense front and definitely no ACC on the car, just the standard round bumper sensors on the front and rear. No cameras in the bumper. I guess there’s a camera up on the mirror assembly though?

My trusted local VW dealer said they won’t do it because “the car likely needs calibration by Audi.”

In all, I guess I’m wondering if the stuff was calibrated before for proper alignment, and now the alignment is off, why would I need anything recalibrated if the alignment is put back into spec if the calibrations are already set for “in-spec”

My car is equipped with all of the related options. My dealer told me sensor re-calibration was not needed with an alignment. It was realigned a year ago without sensor recalibration and I have not had any problems.

[SHCKR]

I just had mine recalibrated, and went through this discussion on whether I need the $180 all wheel alignment, or $590 "advanced" alignment. The answer I got is it depends on how badly off your settings are, and whether your ADAS throws errors after alignment. In my case, I needed the calibration afterwards. Same thing last alignment.