I dont like it because tires settle in the wheel with characteristics that match the axle it belongs to, so rotating means that a settled to the rear tire needs to adapt to the front axle characteristics and vice versa which is not possible.
BUT:
If you rotate very often (6k as x3brian said) then I guess its ok cause the tires dont have enough time to really settle (which also I dont like).
I believe the sports package has a staggered wheel setup for both 18" and 19" wheels.
-Meaning, the rear wheels are wider than the front wheels. I also believe your rear tires are a different size than the front tires.
This will prevent you from rotating the tires.
If you have the base model (17" wheels) or the SAV package (18" wheels), both your front and back wheels and tires are the same size and you can rotate the tires.
+1 to Al's comment. If you have staggered tires you cannot rotate. If you have the non sports package without staggered tires you absolutely can. In that case I am a firm believer in 6k rotation. I was able to get almost 60k out of original scorpions.
I heard a ways back that BMW recommends NOT rotating tires. Maybe this is just for the xDrive models, I don't know for sure, but even though I do have the staggered wheels my tires wear almost perfectly even all the way around.
BMW does this for simplicity because you cannot rotate tires on cars with staggered tires. It has nothing to do with xdrive. If you do not have the sports package with staggered tires there is absolutely nothing wrong with rotating. I do it because i am a firm believer that if you watch your tires regularly you minimize your chance for being stuck on the side of the road. Plus most chain tire shops in the US do it for free to gain your business.
As a side. An old e39 that we had had staggered tires and we would replace one axel at a time. Typically we got 35k to 40k out of Michelin tires and never had a balance or uneven tread wear issue by not rotating
the only reason for rotation is to make sure tires get worn evenly, very important on AWD vehicle, different diameter tires will create stress on the drivetrain. I cant rotate my 19" b/c they are staggered, but i do rotate my 17" winter ones(i label them for summer)
Back 2004-2006, the 18" sport package had an option to go to a staggered setup with performance tires and the higher speed limiter. Sometime later, they introduced a 19" staggered setup for the M sportpaket.
I mentioned this in the Tire sub-forum but there's less traffic there: After rotating my tires front-rear a few weeks ago, I've noticed a vibration that occurs at higher speeds. My guess is that the wheels need to be balanced. But it's only noticeable from the steering wheel above 130km/h (81mph) and gets progressively worse as I speed up through 150-170km/h (excess of 90mph). Are the machines generally able to run the tires that fast? I've heard excuses before of "we balance up to 65mph only", so I don't want to plunk $40 for nothing. :dunno:
just because you feel it @ 90 doesn't mean its not there at 20, the machine is sensitive enough to balance it "perfectly"
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