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[iturbo_bmw]

Hi everyone. So i parked with my wheels turned to the side the other day and noticed both my front tires are completely worn on the inside. This is my second set of tires where this has happened and I'm wondering if you guys can help me figure out why? I can't keep getting new tires every 6 months. I had this issue before but i thought it was because i was running a little toe out. I zero'd toe out, and recently i went with a toe in on the front. Am i just running too much camber? I did decrease camber to -2.5 from -3 a while ago though and i had -2.4 before and it didn't seem to cause this wear so idk if that is it. please help!

Pictures showing the wear and my last 3 alignments are below

[Precision Autosport]

That looks like toe wear. I would get it re-aligned. Any reason why you're running so much camber? Typically for a daily driver street car, you want to stay somewhat close to stock specs. Since you have M3 control arms, I would have it aligned to M3 specs. Also, make sure the alignment shop has recently had the alignment machine calibrated.

[iturbo_bmw]

Originally Posted by Precision Autosport

That looks like toe wear. I would get it re-aligned. Any reason why you're running so much camber? Typically for a daily driver street car, you want to stay somewhat close to stock specs. Since you have M3 control arms, I would have it aligned to M3 specs. Also, make sure the alignment shop has recently had the alignment machine calibrated.

I just got it realigned a couple weeks ago. the first picture shows the latest alignment. does the specs good on that alignment? I asked for a little toe in to keep it more planted at high speeds. I'm thinking maybe the uneven wear from having zero toe caused the insides to wear a little and then tire just sat like that and kept wearing even though i changed it to slight toe in. does that make sense?

I just run alot of camber cuz i like to take lots of fast turns. i used to drive curvy roads every weekend but i haven't been doing that as much lately. I feel like 2.5 shouldn't be bad enough to cause the insides to wear like that?

[Precision Autosport]

It looks very much like toe wear. What condition are your control arm bushings in? I've seen worn out control arm bushings cause similar tire wear. I would also suggest taking it to a different alignment shop to verify that it wasn't a bad alignment though.

[iturbo_bmw]

Originally Posted by Precision Autosport

It looks very much like toe wear. What condition are your control arm bushings in? I've seen worn out control arm bushings cause similar tire wear. I would also suggest taking it to a different alignment shop to verify that it wasn't a bad alignment though.

I'll have to take a look but i would think they would be fine. I got m3 control arms installed in July 2014 and drove on them like 25k. thanks for your help btw

[Precision Autosport]

No problem. It's difficult diagnosing something like this without actually inspecting the car, but hopefully you can figure it out before going through another set of tires.

[nitjt]

I have had the same problem on stock suspension, wheels and tires, and now lowered on KW with wider 19 wheels and tires. BMW says it is the sport set up of these cars and this kind of wear is to be expected. If I get 30K miles out of a set of tires I am doing good. I have had Cobb here in Dallas do all my alignment work since I lowered the car and was told I should get more even wear but it's about the same.

[VTECaddict]

The toe is the problem. Keep it within stock toe specs. I tried 0 toe front and rear and my rears got chewed through quick. Front were showing signs of accelerated toe wear too.

How long were you driving on the tires with 0 toe before the latest alignment?

[VTECaddict]

Originally Posted by nitjt

I have had the same problem on stock suspension, wheels and tires, and now lowered on KW with wider 19 wheels and tires. BMW says it is the sport set up of these cars and this kind of wear is to be expected. If I get 30K miles out of a set of tires I am doing good. I have had Cobb here in Dallas do all my alignment work since I lowered the car and was told I should get more even wear but it's about the same.

30k out of a set of tires is very good, especially if you're using a summer tire. These are not Camrys with high fuel efficiency all season tires that can go 80k on one set.

[iturbo_bmw]

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

The toe is the problem. Keep it within stock toe specs. I tried 0 toe front and rear and my rears got chewed through quick. Front were showing signs of accelerated toe wear too.

How long were you driving on the tires with 0 toe before the latest alignment?

looking at the dates it looks like i had at 0 toe for about 9 months maybe 10-12k miles. i have 0.5 degrees of toe in now. should that keep things in check?

[VTECaddict]

If it's within the stock specs it should be much better now.

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

If it's within the stock specs it should be much better now.

This.

Your setting of zero was probably allowing toe-out given bushing deflection, etc. Even just a little toe-in would have probably given you the results you were expecting. Anecdotally, I run 1/16" total toe-in up front and the tires are wearing 100% even across the entire tread without sacrificing much in the way of potential turning response; especially given that these aint exactly race cars we talkin about.

I'll leave this with you:

A rear-wheel drive vehicle "pushes" the front axle's tires as they roll along the road. Tire rolling resistance causes a little drag resulting in rearward movement of the suspension arms against their bushings. Because of this, most rear-wheel drive vehicles use some positive toe-in to compensate for the movement, enabling the tires to run parallel to each other at speed.

[iturbo_bmw]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

This.

Your setting of zero was probably allowing toe-out given bushing deflection, etc. Even just a little toe-in would have probably given you the results you were expecting. Anecdotally, I run 1/16" total toe-in up front and the tires are wearing 100% even across the entire tread without sacrificing much in the way of potential turning response; especially given that these aint exactly race cars we talkin about.

I'll leave this with you:

Thank you for your response. Does .05 degrees of toe in seem sufficient?

[Richwm]

What tire pressure do you run? My dealership told me to increase my front tire pressure to 36 psi because of the negative camber from the M3 control arms. It helped mine with inside tire wear.

[iturbo_bmw]

Originally Posted by Richwm

What tire pressure do you run? My dealership told me to increase my front tire pressure to 36 psi because of the negative camber from the M3 control arms. It helped mine with inside tire wear.

Last time I checked I think they were set to 34 up front. Maybe I'll the shop to raise the fronts a bit when i get new tires installed

[iturbo_bmw]

So i got new tires since last posting here and it looks like they are wearing on the inside again!! I don't know what to do at this point but i can't afford to keep replacing the front tires every 6 months. some one please help

I'm running 0.5 degrees toe in on each side, which seems to be fine according to everyone.

I'm beginning to think maybe some suspension issue is causing this. But I've gotten my suspension inspected by two shops and they say my bushing seem fine.

Do i just need more toe in? am i running too much camber? please help

[iturbo_bmw]

also i am getting a slight steering vibration when i am above 85ish mph. My wheels are balanced and everything says my bushing is fine so idk what to do about that either. idk if maybe those are related?

i got my m3 control arms installed in Jully 2014 and drove about 40k miles on them. would those bushings need to be replaced already? or maybe could some other bushings cause this??

[DrC_UArk]

Return your camber to oem spec. This will help.

[lwarren0074]

Return to OEM. My '07 E91 was eating tires due to excessive inside tow wear. Had the alignment done and corrected the camber. I'm pushing 35k miles on Bridgestone RFTs with plenty of tread left.

[simba_RR]

I have an E93 330dA 2007 running on Bridgestone RE 050 run flats (225/35/19 front and 255/30/19 rear) and my alignment was checked at the local BMW dealership and everything was perfectly aligned. My tires were worn to the cord on the inner half inch of the rear tires. The shocks seem to be performing well and yes I do have the M sport suspension. What can be causing this? Should I change to another brand of run flats?

Originally Posted by simba_RR

What can be causing this?

Take a wild guess...no need to look any farther than the topic of this thread.

[simba_RR]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

Take a wild guess...no need to look any farther than the topic of this thread.

So in other words, just live with it?