[coyote95667]

When I bought my 335D at 28K miles, it had a brand new set of the stock conti run flats.

At 38K miles, I found myself sliding all over the wet road and was shocked to discover that my rear tires were BALD. Not worn... BALD.

I protested and the dealer said "hey it is the torque man - you are driving it harder than you think".

So I replaced the rear tires with the same stock run flats... and now I'm at 44K miles - 6000 miles on the set... and the rears are almost down to the wear markers. Not quite, but almost. And I have taken pains to make sure I'm driving very "serenely".

Do I have to just budget for a new pair of rear tires every 10K miles, or could this be an alignment issue? The car steers straight, but it does feel like it wants to hop off the road sometimes.

The front tires are wearing fine... about 16K miles on them and I haven't looked close but they aren't worn to an alarming level.

But the rears... they are just disintegrating on me.

Anybody else experience - any good advice???

BMW said alignment is $140 and of course... even though it is under orig warranty, is a CPO, and has extended service... they've got a way to skin me for more lol.

[JDG]

I would align it for sure, in fact would of done that when I put new tires on it.

Id go to a tire shop for alignment and make sure they are using a newer hunter machine. Places like that should run 60-80$. Just make sure they can do the BMW and have the right settings for your car. Mine has sports suspensions and the settings are different than that of the regular suspension.

[Jase 320d]

Try an alignement but i don't think you'll get much more than 10k out of them anyways

[JDG]

Sounds absurd that the tires are only 10k. not like their sticky race tires.
Anyways I tried out some new tires myself but only have about 500miles on them. So far I like them and they have a 60k mile warranty

http://www.nittotire.com/Tire/Street/motivo

test:
http://www.motortrend.com/features/c...ivo_tire_test/

[coyote95667]

wow really, 10K about?

yeah the alignment just seems prudent and I'll try some other "non-runflat" tires too. But if they are going to wear this fast anyway I'm gonna go back to driving it like I stole it.

I mean the car is fun as hell and so awesome... but if I had it to do over knowing what I know now, I'd have stuck with the 328i ... I mean jeeezzz

By the way do any tires come with bonafide no BS warranties on tread wear so I can get something that will see me through at least a year (I drive about 25K per year).

[AzureHaze]

10k seems way to low. An alignment like you mentioned wouldn't hurt. My non-RFTs, especially the rears, have very little tread left and I've had them for a little over 30k. Kinda disappointed with the tread life but my buddy barely has 20k (same tires) on his 335i and his is ridiculously bald. Of course he drives like a madman and I myself like to gun it once in a while when the opportunity presents itself.

[Jase 320d]

Depends how you drive

In my previous cars tyres lasted between 6-8k miles

Even my work van with 65bhp uses front tyres in 10k

[JDG]

Originally Posted by Jase 320d

Depends how you drive

In my previous cars tyres lasted between 6-8k miles

Even my work van with 65bhp uses front tyres in 10k

I think something is wrong here.

either you race everywhere or your roads are sandpaper

[Jase 320d]

Originally Posted by JDG

I think something is wrong here.

either you race everywhere or your roads are sandpaper

My van is that slow on the straights you need to make up for it on the bends

Its a Shitroen World Rally Van



And most of my driving is spirited B-roads

[coyote95667]

sandpaper roads... hmm. I live in the foothills of northern CA and a good part of my daily commute is on rough'ish country roads. I mean they are paved pretty well all things considered - not dirt roads full of potholes, but they are rough.

I will make an alignment appt and set aside a minimum "2 rear sets and 1 front set per year" tire budget I guess. Even if the alignment doesn't get me much, it will give me some peace of mind.

[JDG]

Nice.
Most cars I've seen with sticky tires here in US get 20k and with regular tires can get 30k+. Of course this all depends on the car, driving habits, roads, etc..

Now if you want to really talk about eating tires, lets talk sport bikes that get less than 3k per set of tires.....

[WreckerX5d]

Most tire companies offer a warranty with the tire. It's completely separate from any dealer warranty. You just need proof of purchase and you can file a claim. Generally the warrantees are 45k, some can be up to 100k and others are 30k miles. If you can prove proper tire rotation (every 5k miles), and your wear is still premature, they will either reimburse the full amount (usually 25% or less mileage) or give a prorated rate.

[joe_planet]

BMW has a very specific procedure on aligning the car. Weights are added to the car in every passenger placement until a certain suspension height is attained, or something along those lines. Different suspension packages have different procedures. An alignment shop wont do any of that, just set it and get you out the door. Try a different tire as well and check your air pressures. I'd recommend a non run flat tire. Also concrete roads chew up your tires much more than asphalt ones do.

[coyote95667]

I took it to my trusted local GoodYear and god bless 'em, they admitted they can't do my car right and I should take it to the dealer. Mighty honest of them - I'll try to buy my "non run flats" from them once I have the alignment straightened out.

[Mark M]

Is your wife part of a midnight racers club?

[JustinGTP]

If you have even wear on the tires, your alignment and suspension settings would appear to be fine.

It's simple, try another tire, or stop gunning it off the line. Everyone I know who owns a RWD car always will comment on the fact that they just go through rear tires. Why do you think the for sale section has people only selling used front tires? Everyone goes through the rears.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by joe_planet

BMW has a very specific procedure on aligning the car. Weights are added to the car in every passenger placement until a certain suspension height is attained, or something along those lines. Different suspension packages have different procedures. An alignment shop wont do any of that, just set it and get you out the door. Try a different tire as well and check your air pressures. I'd recommend a non run flat tire. Also concrete roads chew up your tires much more than asphalt ones do.

Joe, I had heard this as well concerning weighing the car down with seat weights. In the main E90 forum on bimmerfest, a guy named DSX_machina (or something close to this) says this isn't true. He either runs a shop or is a senior level tech person. I trust his experience. I'm not calling you wrong on this just that he disagrees. I will ask my SA next time i'm in at the dealer. My local alignment shop says $80 for a 4 wheel alignment and they say they do hundreds of BMW 3's.

[stevers314]

Hot damn that is crazy, especially with serene driving. I could easily get 30k+ out of my GTO and would intentionally let the ass end slide out around corners.

My wife just got 71k out of the stock tires on her Jetta TDI and she drives like a typical woman hopped up on red bull.

[Jase 320d]

Oh and im talking miles are you guys talking km's or some other funny measurement??

[joe_planet]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Joe, I had heard this as well concerning weighing the car down with seat weights. In the main E90 forum on bimmerfest, a guy named DSX_machina (or something close to this) says this isn't true. He either runs a shop or is a senior level tech person. I trust his experience. I'm not calling you wrong on this just that he disagrees. I will ask my SA next time i'm in at the dealer. My local alignment shop says $80 for a 4 wheel alignment and they say they do hundreds of BMW 3's.

Ok, this is what I heard as far as the alignment is concerned... try regular alignment, it might be as good or better than what the dealer does.
My stock bridgestone RFTs lasted around 30k. I know my alignment was no good because I had very bad shoulder wear on the tire, but the rest of the tread was fine.

[335dFan]

I bought my car new with OEM RFT ContiPro Contact SSR Grand Touring All Season 225/45/17. I drove them for 8,800 miles, including a day at the HPDE track, and then took them off for winters but never put them back on again. I sold them to a local BMW owner and they had almost no noticeable wear. It's hard to understand why you would get such mileage from those tires from "normal" driving. Quien sabe?

[Hoooper]

Ive got 20k on mine and they look like they have around 50% life left, definitely sounds like an alignment issue if you are sure you arent roasting the tires all the time.