Tire Wear/Alignment Issues '05 325i

[gorch]

Hi-

I have an '05 325i (e46) with Continental ContiTouring Contacts purchased CPO exactly 1 year ago. At the time of purchase miles were 14,748. As part of the CPO process, the rear tires were replaced (according to the records).

On 1/20/08 I had the Inspection 1 service done at 30,484 miles. At that time I had the tires rotated as well as per my request (mistake???). On the Service Maintenance Checklist they checked off that condition of the tires as fine. Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed some drifting to the left at 60+ mph on the hiway, but nothing too severe but noticeable to me. Miles are now at 31,919.

Last nite my friend drove it and took a look at the tires and noticed the outer edge of the driver's side front tire worn off badly. The outer edge of the driver's side rear tire is also worn, though not as bad as the front one. Passenger side tires look okay as far as I can tell. He says I have problems! This is only 1435 miles after the rotate during the Inspection 1 service.

I'm taking into the dealership this week. Any ideas as to what they are gonna say? Besides an alignment, are they gonna try to sell me 2 or 4 new tires? Anyone have a similar experience with theirs on ContiTouring Contacts? How do I play this?

Thanks in advance for any/all responses.

[jvr826]

Sounds like normal wear to me. I haven't had a BMW yet that didn't wear the outside edge of the front tires. Reason is, not enough negative camber with the stock suspension. During cornering, the tire rolls over on the edge and wears it out. Contis are soft cushy tires.

Rotating isn't advised for this reason, but if you insist on doing it, more frequently is better, like 2-5k miles depending on where and how you drive the car. Mostly freeway, 5k is probably OK.

I did an experiment with my former E39 530i after getting new tires. I rotated them religiously every 1000 miles. You see, I live in the mountains and with that car I was getting 7k miles out of a set of B-stone S-03s without rotating them. After I did the rotate experiment, I got about 7k miles out of the set. It made no difference in my situation.

If you're running the pressures on the door plate, most likely the front is too low, rear is too high. Too low a pressure on the front tires will cause a softer sidewall and it will roll over easier in cornering. Most of us run somewhere between 36psi and 38psi all around, depending on wear and handling characteristics.

I'd say if you have over 30k miles on a set of original tires, you're probably due for new ones anyway. Getting an alignment at that time is a good idea too, but don't get it done at some joe-blow tire shop. They generally have no clue what's needed to align a BMW properly. Use the dealer or an independent shop for that.