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I may be able to shed some light here as I do own an independent BMW shop and we do alignments.

BMW's alignment system is called KDS and in the US it's a system manufactured by Hunter and loaded with some BMW-specific software features. The core system, though, is Hunter's.

Some dealerships feel that they have the market cornered on BMW alignments as they are the only ones with easy access to the BMW-specific features in the software. Furthermore they'll insist that they are the only ones able to deal with some of the BMW-specific vehicle features, such as active steering.

In reality, any shop with the proper equipment and experience on BMW's suspension systems can provide an excellent alignment service. The key, as mentioned earlier, is the experience of the tech performing the alignment. In many ways this single factor makes the typical dealership the wrong place for alignment work as "alignment techs" are typically one step above "oil change techs."

Here are some things to consider when shopping for an alignment:

1) What equipment does the shop have and how up-to-date is it? We have Hunter's latest-and-greatest equipment and I can tell you that it's a major investment. Some smaller shops simply can't afford to tool up at this level.

2) Does the shop have the equipment needed to re-calibrate the steering angle sensor? This functionality is built into our alignment computer, but some older systems don't have this capability.

3) Does the shop have the equipment needed to handle active steering and/or the calibration of the vehicle cameras. This is much more advanced functionality and is really only available in some vehicle-specific diagnostic tools. In the case of the F10 the shop really should be using BMW's ISTA/D diagnostic system. Autologic is working to build this functionality into their software, but I'm honestly not sure if they are there yet.

Finally, I would highly recommend looking for a shop that can perform a road force balance along with the alignment. Our experience has shown us that a large number of "pulling" issues are indeed due to issues with the tires rather than the alignment. A proper road force balance can minimize the contribution of tire eccentricities.