When to replace tires on X5

Dear Friends, Can anyone of you please comment on the replacement of tires for X5(2004, 48K miles, CPO)? Recently I had a flat tire. Temporarily I swapped with the spare tire and took the flat tire to the BMW dealer in Edison, NJ. The dealer said that they cannot fix the flat tire instead recommended me to replace it with a new tire (cost $450 per tire approximately). Existing tires are Michellin Energy Mxv4 plus with 255/55/18 size.

My questions:

- Is this normal when you go to the dealer? I kinda felt that they are taking me for a ride.
- I went to a local tire shop(michellin dealer) and there they mentioned that I have to replace all the 4 tires.(cost $1250). The reason they gave is I cannot have one new tire on my X5 and the rest with old tires? Is this true?
- Then I went to another michellin dealer and they fixed the flat tire without mentioning anything (cost $10)
- Is it safe to ride the X5 on high ways with 50-70 mphr with old tires (48K miles) ?

Appreciate your response.

Thanks RP.

(note: my experience with BMW edison is very very disappointing. The service dept is NON-RESPONSIVE and so is the entire dealer. )

The real questions are whether all four tires were ready for replacement, and where you live. The key issue is tread depth. This is most critical in snow and wet driving. Standard practice is to recommend replacement at 4/32nds, but in completely dry conditions you can take it down to 2/32nds or even less. If you have one new tire (10/32nds) and three old ones (4/32nds or worse), you will have uneven traction. In dry conditions and normal usage, this is not so important. But in wet/snowy conditions, it can be disasterous. The stopping distance for a worn tire almost doubles inthe wet compared to a new one. In these conditions, a thinner tire will grip less than a newer one. This can cause loss of control, especially in stopping, and longer stopping distances. Cornering is an issue too. If all of your old tires were around 4/32nds or less and you had one flat, it would be a very good idea to replace all four, especially if you drive in snowy or wet conditions. Another question raised by you is patching. Do you have run-flats? You had a spare, so you must not have them. Non-run-flats take a patch like any tire. I ate a nail at 2500 or so miles on my standard tire and the BMW service manager told me that officially, he had to recommend a new tire, but if it was him he would take it elsewhere and have it patched. I did that, and have had no problems now at 27000+ and towing trailers in the hot summer. So, have someone measure your tread depth on the older tires. If it is 5/32nds or less, and if you are concerned about safety in wet and snowy conditions, I would buy three more new tires.

Most tire shops will recommend replacing all four tires if your existing three have a certain level of wear. On a 4 wheel drive car, you do not want to have one tire with a bigger rolling circumference than the others. In certain situations, it can throw off the steering, ABS brakes, Stability control, or specifically for your car the flat tire indicator. So yes, in some cases it is true.

As to why the BMW dealer will not repair the tire, there are three possible reasons. First, the damage was either on the sidewall or close to the two shoulders. Either situation prevents a plug or repair of the tire. Second, damage was too significant for a repair. Lastly, by policy, many dealerships (not just BMW) simply do not repair tires because of liability concerns.

I had a similar experience. One tire had a slow leak; I asked the dealer to investigate. Service advisor said there were two nails in the tire, and they could sell me a new one for ~$300 (if I remember right). I checked Discount Tire, and they had the same tire for $210. Then I woke up and asked if the punctures were repairable. SA said yes, but it was a 'saftey issue', and I should get a new tire. I asked if the dealership would patch/plug the holes, and SA agreed to do it (for $30, kinda high, but then I didn't have to mess with it any more). If they hadn't agreed, I was taking it to Discount Tire; they'll give you the real story on what can and cannot be done.

I think the dealer would like to sell tires, but that doesn't mean you actually need new tires. If some other shop patched or plugged it, then just keep an eye on it and check the pressure (with a gauge, not visually) every few days or week for a few months. If it's stable and holding air, you're likely fine until the tires need replacing due to wear.

www.tirerack.com $219 each. even with shipping and mount & balance you should be under $275 per tire.

Originally Posted by JeffVander

Most tire shops will recommend replacing all four tires if your existing three have a certain level of wear. On a 4 wheel drive car, you do not want to have one tire with a bigger rolling circumference than the others. In certain situations, it can throw off the steering, ABS brakes, Stability control, or specifically for your car the flat tire indicator. So yes, in some cases it is true.

In addition to throwing off sensors, you can cause excessive wear to the drivetrain if the tires have different rolling diameters. For example, different side to side rolling diameters will put more strain on the differentials and different front to rear rolling diameters will put more stress on the transfer case. That's the main reason AWD vehicles should replace all 4 tires (same brand and thread pattern) at the same time.

Originally Posted by dkl

In addition to throwing off sensors, you can cause excessive wear to the drivetrain if the tires have different rolling diameters. For example, different side to side rolling diameters will put more strain on the differentials and different front to rear rolling diameters will put more stress on the transfer case. That's the main reason AWD vehicles should replace all 4 tires (same brand and thread pattern) at the same time.

That's interesting. The dealer didn't tell me anything about that. The other tires have ~24K miles on them, so it seems like replacing just one would have been a bad idea.

I'm going to have to really check out what this dealer is telling me... great.
I guess that's just how it is with everything in the world today.

I also have a X5 with 2 front tires replaced 7k miles before by dealer (they only said I will still need to replace rear 2 about 20k miles later when I choose to replace just 2), and now I have to replace the rear two due to the nail. My question is, what was the possible damage done in the past 7k miles driving with 10/32 " and 4/32" and what about now with 8/32" and 10/32" , I suppose new tires should be on the rear?

thanks
2004 X5 3.0 std
2006 330Xi Sports pkg