No ABS effect on a stop today?

Had to quickly put on my brakes today at low speed (under 35 mph) and the front wheels slid slightly. Happened twice. There was some wetness on the road surface from a shower about an hour earlier. My tires have about 5/32 tread and are about 5 years old.

I did not notice any pulsing like the ABS kicking on. Otherwise brakes work fine. Not sure there is any issue. I sort of believe I am suffering from old tires losing wet weather traction. Opinions?

re-checked by stopping quickly on dry pavement. ABS does activate. However car still slides a foot or so when just coming to a complete stop. I can hear the tires squeal a tiny bit. Seems wrong.

What's wrong is that you have bald dry rotted tires on your car. You don't need to call Mr. Wizard to figure that out.

Originally Posted by ThoreauHD

What's wrong is that you have bald dry rotted tires on your car. You don't need to call Mr. Wizard to figure that out.

Did you read what I said in my post that I had 5/32 tread on tires? They are 5 years old with 55,000 miles on them. They are not dry rotted.

That said, they are hard. So you may be right about it being the tires but wrong about why. just my opinion.

Originally Posted by ThoreauHD

What's wrong is that you have bald dry rotted tires on your car. You don't need to call Mr. Wizard to figure that out.

Thank you for your explanation oh wise one. You were a big help.

Originally Posted by txrealtor

Thank you for your explanation oh wise one. You were a big help.

kitty has claws

Originally Posted by rdc

Had to quickly put on my brakes today at low speed (under 35 mph) and the front wheels slid slightly. Happened twice. There was some wetness on the road surface from a shower about an hour earlier. My tires have about 5/32 tread and are about 5 years old.

I did not notice any pulsing like the ABS kicking on. Otherwise brakes work fine. Not sure there is any issue. I sort of believe I am suffering from old tires losing wet weather traction. Opinions?

rdc, 5 year old tires are pretty old. they are hard as you say meaning they do not have the same capabilities as they did new. there are two factors in the aging/wear of pretty much all parts: amount of use, and time installed.

Tires are exposed to the weather all the time and 5 years of that can really take a toll. 5/32s is still a good amount of tread but the tires are old. rubber is just so good for so much time especially exposed to the elements.

ABS is merely a system that pulses the piston of the caliper to keep from clamping down on the rotor causing the wheel to stop spinning and slide which is less effective braking than controled decceleration. even in the last seconds (the last foot of braking) the wheel does not carry enough rotational force to keep even the pulsing cakliper piston from clamping it stopped, which is why you have that last second skid. with a good tire that would stick better, the caliper wouldnt clamp the rotor to a stop in that last second.

Ya need new tires buddy

Originally Posted by 95 E34

kitty has claws



rdc, 5 year old tires are pretty old. they are hard as you say meaning they do not have the same capabilities as they did new. there are two factors in the aging/wear of pretty much all parts: amount of use, and time installed.

Tires are exposed to the weather all the time and 5 years of that can really take a toll. 5/32s is still a good amount of tread but the tires are old. rubber is just so good for so much time especially exposed to the elements.

ABS is merely a system that pulses the piston of the caliper to keep from clamping down on the rotor causing the wheel to stop spinning and slide which is less effective braking than controled decceleration. even in the last seconds (the last foot of braking) the wheel does not carry enough rotational force to keep even the pulsing cakliper piston from clamping it stopped, which is why you have that last second skid. with a good tire that would stick better, the caliper wouldnt clamp the rotor to a stop in that last second.

Ya need new tires buddy

Thanks for your advice. I think I agree. I will NOT dirive with these tires in late fall and especially winter. My plans are to run these tires until fall and put on my winter tires/wheels and install new michelins next spring. Thats the plan. If I experience any substantail slippage, I will put put new tires on asap. BTW, Tirerack has some good articles about thread thickness in the rain and snow.

Originally Posted by 95 E34

kitty has claws



rdc, 5 year old tires are pretty old. they are hard as you say meaning they do not have the same capabilities as they did new. there are two factors in the aging/wear of pretty much all parts: amount of use, and time installed.

Tires are exposed to the weather all the time and 5 years of that can really take a toll. 5/32s is still a good amount of tread but the tires are old. rubber is just so good for so much time especially exposed to the elements.

ABS is merely a system that pulses the piston of the caliper to keep from clamping down on the rotor causing the wheel to stop spinning and slide which is less effective braking than controled decceleration. even in the last seconds (the last foot of braking) the wheel does not carry enough rotational force to keep even the pulsing cakliper piston from clamping it stopped, which is why you have that last second skid. with a good tire that would stick better, the caliper wouldnt clamp the rotor to a stop in that last second.

Ya need new tires buddy

LOL I get so tired of the these people that have nothing productive to say! I'm pretty sure if the OP had dry rotted or bald tires he would have figured that out himself. The people on the e34 forum are not idiots! We have been keeping our cars running for years ( after all, the newest one is now 17 years old)! To come on here and tell someone that "you don't have to ask Mr. Wizard to figure this out" is insulting at best. Don't mean to offend anyone else, just tired of the constant unproductive, childish posts.

Originally Posted by txrealtor

LOL I get so tired of the these people that have nothing productive to say! I'm pretty sure if the OP had dry rotted or bald tires he would have figured that out himself. The people on the e34 forum are not idiots! We have been keeping our cars running for years ( after all, the newest one is now 17 years old)! To come on here and tell someone that "you don't have to ask Mr. Wizard to figure this out" is insulting at best. Don't mean to offend anyone else, just tired of the constant unproductive, childish posts.

Yep, those "bad" tires are Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires that have been rotated every 7,000 miles and put up each winter when I put my winter tires/rims on. I have a electronic tread depth gauge which elps me know my tire conditions so I am pretty sure I know how to take care of my tires. By the way the car is garaged which helps keep teh sun away from the tires at least part of the time. It all helps.

I agree some of the responses on forums are without reason/merit. After all, If it is on the internet it must be true.

Originally Posted by rdc

Did you read what I said in my post that I had 5/32 tread on tires? They are 5 years old with 55,000 miles on them. They are not dry rotted.

That said, they are hard. So you may be right about it being the tires but wrong about why. just my opinion.

are the ACTUALLY 5 years old, or did you buy them 5 years ago? remember in 95% of cases the tyres you buy are new old stock. your 5 year old tyres could be 7 or 8 years old, and thats plenty of time for the rubber to deteriorate.

Originally Posted by rdc

Yep, those "bad" tires are Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires that have been rotated every 7,000 miles and put up each winter when I put my winter tires/rims on. I have a electronic tread depth gauge which elps me know my tire conditions so I am pretty sure I know how to take care of my tires. By the way the car is garaged which helps keep teh sun away from the tires at least part of the time. It all helps.

I agree some of the responses on forums are without reason/merit. After all, If it is on the internet it must be true.

an electronic depth gauge will tell you the depth of the tread. its not going to tell you if they are rotted out. 5/32" is a hair under 4mm in my system, with tyres that are 5 years old, that is hardly any driving on those, the Michelin tyres you have would have only had 7mm from factory which is 0.27559055" so they have had very little use. this is also a contributing factor to rot as the rubber inside the grooves glazes up when not used. check your OE spare tyre if its still in your car and you will see it glazed all over

Read paragraph 2 of "Driving a car equipped with ABS".
That is why it slid a foot or so.

Paperplan 94, Thank you for taking the time to post this. RTFM still applies!

Originally Posted by rdc

...RTFM still applies!

Always will. Unfortunately, people often fail to open it up and take a look.

I agree with that, but i resort to the manual for nothin. My car is one of the youngest E34's (not as yound as yours RDC, by about 3 months lol) and therefore the manual is of very minimal use. Its based on the first 5 years of ownership with maintenance schedules and the like. Not diagnosing 20+ year old parts.
I also felt that it was for people who dont know cars, to simply explain a certain situation and what the dealership will have to do. Never a tool to diagnose what is wrong.

"Trans Prog" : transmission or transmission CPU has experienced failure. Limp mode will be on. Bring to dealer for service.

thats not helpful.

Originally Posted by 95 E34

I agree with that, but i resort to the manual for nothin. My car is one of the youngest E34's (not as yound as yours RDC, by about 3 months lol) and therefore the manual is of very minimal use. Its based on the first 5 years of ownership with maintenance schedules and the like. Not diagnosing 20+ year old parts.
I also felt that it was for people who dont know cars, to simply explain a certain situation and what the dealership will have to do. Never a tool to diagnose what is wrong.

"Trans Prog" : transmission or transmission CPU has experienced failure. Limp mode will be on. Bring to dealer for service.

thats not helpful.

I agree Joe that it is not good for diagnosing problems, but it is a valuable resource for things someone doesn't understand about the cars. In this case, it would have helped OP to look at it. I have had E34s for many years now, but evey once and a while, I like to refer to the manual for things like setting the delay on my wipers. I couldn't remember how to do it and recently consulted the manual for a refresher course.