Rear Tire Wear Issues

I am having a problem with the comfort access on the passanger side of my car and when I took it in the service rep said my rear tires are getting close to the center wear bar. The shoulders are all good, but the center of the tire is wearing. He chalked it up to rear-wheel drive.

I have about 10,500 miles on the car (since last April) and I'm not a harsh driver. I have the rear-wheel drive 535i with the sport package. The tires are Dunlops.

Is 10-12K miles right for these tires?

TIA
DLM

Wearing out the center implies excessive tire pressure. Ideally, they'd wear evenly across the whole tread. Not sure which tire you actually have, but most of the performance Dunlops' wear factor is in the order of 240, which isn't all that much. If driven hard, 10K miles is short, but within the norm (closer to 20K is more normal for the Goodyears (at 400) that are stock on some). Performance (sport) models often start out with less tread depth than some of the others, and you pay for that several ways.

Well I have the car in the shop for the comfort access repair and was against pushed on the tires. They had someone from "BMW Tire Service" who gave me the same info about the tires being worn below BMW recommended spec. They also talked about some cupping on the front and the car being out of alignment.

I guess I could see that in Houston driving but I'm a little disappointed that this could be an annual cost.

I'm getting the alignment done and will probably look at a set of the Michelin Sports after a few more miles. Anyone put these tires on their GT? I've read good things about them in the 5 and 7 forums but I'm not sure I've seen any GT specific feedback.

TIA
DLM

I have 16000 miles on my GY RF 19" and the rears have worn just like the front. Still plenty of tread left all around. My 550GT is 4WD.

If you're willing to run around without a spare, or use RFT, I've always had good luck with Michelin tires. The higher the performance version, though, the shorter the tread life. Some have said that 'normal' tires changed the personality of the vehicle by a lot. I haven't tried, so cannot say. I will say that Tire Rack did a recent study, and found that at least on one brand, the RFT rode about the same as the same company's 'normal' tire. The science on the things continues to evolve. At the time, that model did not have tires to fit my vehicle, but then, mine are still easily within specs. I have a set of winter tires, and since on mine, the tires are the same, size all around, I do rotate them when I switch wheels.

i'm a 535GT,the tire is continent.it's good ,for the car is only 6000,heh

We live in the Houston area as well and have a titanium silver 550i GT. I put a great deal of effort into selecting tires for our GT. I decided to go with the Continental 3 SSR. The projected wear from what I gathered via research should be in the 20,000 mile range. It is disappointing to think that you will get so little for a $1,400 purchase. There were a few other options available thru tire rack that were in the same price range, but I have had good luck with Continental and in my dealings with Discount Tire so we went with the SSR3. I do notice some trammeling when the tire grabs a line in the pavement and pulls the car a bit, but it is not not terrible in my opinion. The wet weather traction is more than sufficient. The tires grab very well under hard acceleration from a dead stop, and the car feels very stable during hard cornering. We have 6,000 miles on the SSR3's. These types of tires do not start out with much tread, and I can already see that I have lost a bit of rubber. I have come to terms with the fact that these tires do not last so I do not have high expectations. I may spend the extra money and give Michelin a shot next time or P zero's. The GT is a heavy car, and despite it's weight I still enjoy throwing it around. So I will make the most of it and look forward to hopefully finding a tire I fall in love with because the odds are that I will be buying numerous sets over the life of the GT. Don't be a stranger. I will look for you on the roads of Houston.

im in exactly same position as mike38 17k on gy 19 rf and no issues, treadwear is even and actually im kind of impressed with how much tread remains cionsidering how i drive on these suckers....hoping to get through the summer and to 20-22k before i have to replace...

I hit a bone jarring pothole last week which bubbled my right front tire and cracked the rim. I have the insurance fortunately. So, I now have a new tire and wheel in the front.

Originally Posted by Mikez38

I hit a bone jarring pothole last week which bubbled my right front tire and cracked the rim. I have the insurance fortunately. So, I now have a new tire and wheel in the front.

On most all-wheel drive vehicles, there's a fairly small allowance for tread depth differences for tires on the same axle...this can cause excessive wear on the differential since one tire will always be turning at a different rate than the other. You may want to check on that. When going straight ahead, the differential normally isn't turning, but when one is a different diameter, it will nearly ALWAYS be turning, and that's not good. This is true for pretty much any all-wheel drive vehicle on all tire positions, but only an issue on the rear for rear-wheel drive ones. you may need to buy a new tire for the other wheel on that axle.

I figured I would have to buy a set of tires before my 36 month lease is up.
I have 16k miles on car after 21 months. I will wait about 3 or 4 more months (should bring me up to 20K) and then replace the other 3 tires. This should leave me with adequate tread at vehicle turn in. If there is any excess differential wear I'll let the warrantee cover that issue. Considering your point (which sounds plausible), I'm surprised BMW didn't replace both front tires as it would be in their interest.

Originally Posted by dmunz

I am having a problem with the comfort access on the passanger side of my car and when I took it in the service rep said my rear tires are getting close to the center wear bar. The shoulders are all good, but the center of the tire is wearing. He chalked it up to rear-wheel drive.

I have about 10,500 miles on the car (since last April) and I'm not a harsh driver. I have the rear-wheel drive 535i with the sport package. The tires are Dunlops.

Is 10-12K miles right for these tires?

TIA
DLM

Hi, I have a 520 GT now 3 months old and covered 5000 miles on motorway. Rear tyres are on the blocks!

Like yourself I'm not a harsh driver so have complained to BMW.

Waiting or their response

Originally Posted by Paul5gt

Hi, I have a 520 GT now 3 months old and covered 5000 miles on motorway. Rear tyres are on the blocks!

Like yourself I'm not a harsh driver so have complained to BMW.

Waiting or their response

The thing that is so odd is the wear on my rear tires is in the middle. The shoulders are fine and I k ow they were not over inflated. I'm riding them for a couple more weeks and then putting on Michelins (non-run flats).

FWIW
DLM

As for the front tire cupping. I had them replace the tires under warranty and also do an alignment. At 25k miles.

Originally Posted by katiesdad7

As for the front tire cupping. I had them replace the tires under warranty and also do an alignment. At 25k miles.

How long did that argument take? They told me I needed an alignment but it was not covered under the warranty.

TIA
DLM

So I put it off as long as I felt safe but finnaly made the switch to Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires. I really wanted the SuperSports (no real "all season" in Houston) but they don't make a front size for the sport package...

I won't go as far as saying they've turned my GT into the ultimate dream machine, but there is a definiate difference. For one, the road noise is way down. (This is probably something I didn't really notice as I came to the GT from an F-150.) My feeling is that as time goes on I'll notice the tires less and less which is as it should be.

One thing I did learn is that Michelin seems to be pretty aggressive in the "vs runflats" arena. In addition to the treadlife warranty they have flat repare service. I don't know if this is new, but I wasn't aware of it until the shop pointed it out. Acording to the paperwork, if you have a flat in the first three years, they will send someone out to fix or change your tire. In the event they can not fix it (of course, change is not an option) they will tow the car up to 150 miles for a tire replacement.

They also have road hazard coverage and a 30-day trial. I guess you can return them no questions asked but you better have the next set ready because the old ones are probably gone.

I bought the tires at Sam's who also have a dispatch service but all they will do is change the tire for you so this is good added coverage.

Now all we have to do is see how long they last...

FWIW
DLM

Just to update my situation, I had two more bent rims replaced under warrantee last week due to hitting a pot hole on the highway at 60mph. The insurance company had a rep down to see the damage before they would approve the payment to the dealer. I spoke to the SA and gave him my opinion that the rigid RF tires were causing these problems. He said " if I had a nickel for each customer who came thru here with tire/wheel problems I would be a rich man". I don't know how this issue will get rectified in the future, but BMW had better become more proactive.

The tire is much more resilient than the rim...so, IMHO, bent rims are a function of the tire aspect ratio, not the fact that there are RFT mounted on them. In fact, the tire bead is designed to protect the rim (well, it's more in trying to ensure it stays ON the rim, but it protects it better than a standard tire would, too). RFT can approach the comfort level of a normal tire, but that is not universal. Read some of the tire tests on www.tirerack.com where they compared the same brand's RFT and the closest equivalent normal tire...they said they had a hard time telling the difference. Definitely not true for all brands/models, though. BMW, and everyone in the industry, warns that low profile tires are more susceptible to tire and rim damage...choose a big wheel, pay the consequences.