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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Mechanical Maintenance: Break-in / Oil & Fluids / Servicing / Warranty > Tire Rotation



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      05-04-2011, 08:37 AM   #1
Nowak
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Tire Rotation

I have had my 2010 e90 for about 2 years. I am wondering when I should have the tires rotated and is this covered under the maintenance plan? Also anything else I should have them check out under maintenance?
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      05-05-2011, 12:01 PM   #2
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If you have staggered (different size front & rear) tires you cannot rotate. While the current manuals are silent on rotation, for past models (E46, etc.) BMW recommended against rotating but if they were to be rotated, it should be done very frequently - every 3,000 miles or so. Having said that, I've rotated BMW tires in the past with no problems - but (to answer your question) it is not included in covered maintenance and rather expensive at a dealer.

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      05-05-2011, 03:29 PM   #3
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No need for rotation on BMW's...
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      05-05-2011, 04:15 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bimmer Al View Post
No need for rotation on BMW's...
Perhaps not for awd models, but every rwd BMW I've owned has worn the rear tires twice as quickly as the fronts. By rotating once at 15k, I actually managed nearly 30,000 miles out of the OEM Potenza 050A RFTs on my Z4 - the tire everyone loves to dump on.

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      05-05-2011, 05:42 PM   #5
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if rotated front two goes straight back and the rears cross up diagonally on rwd/awd cars... just a fyi since some tire rotating places dont tend to do them this way.
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      05-12-2011, 12:16 PM   #6
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I have an AWD coupe and notice that the outer edges of my front tires are seeing wear that eventually will require me to replace the set. The rears have perfectly even wear.

When questioning BMW service during my last visit they told me the tires are not supposed to be rotated because they wear evenly in AWD. I showed them my tires, which are not worn evenly and they just plain said they are not supposed to be rotated without further explanation.

The edge wear I see on the fronts appears to be related to cornering and not an alignment issue.

Does anyone else experience the same thing? Should I just rotate anyway even though the wear on my set is more than 6,000 miles. Would it do more harm than good?
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      05-12-2011, 12:17 PM   #7
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      05-12-2011, 12:23 PM   #8
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same thing happened on my 4XMOTION touareg. i think its the nature of the awd... although they did rotate the tires at VW dealer. but then our A4 never did this and still rotated the tires.
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      05-12-2011, 02:30 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by krnboy817 View Post
if rotated front two goes straight back and the rears cross up diagonally on rwd/awd cars... just a fyi since some tire rotating places dont tend to do them this way.
Crossing diagonally (or just from side to side on the same axle) is not a good idea - especially if the tires are directional.

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      05-12-2011, 04:15 PM   #10
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BMW policy is no rotate and I believe it's do to customer complaints whose tires were too worn to begin with and as a result caused ride problems after the rotation was done. That being said you should rotate every 5-7k miles. If its any consolation I could get 35k off staggered setup which you can't rotate.

Last edited by F32Fleet; 05-12-2011 at 04:29 PM..
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      05-14-2011, 08:34 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Socom View Post
BMW policy is no rotate and I believe it's do to customer complaints whose tires were too worn to begin with and as a result caused ride problems after the rotation was done. That being said you should rotate every 5-7k miles. If its any consolation I could get 35k off staggered setup which you can't rotate.
Having read owner's manuals for three different BMWs from the 80’, 90’s and 2000’s, BMW was more specific in earlier owner's manuals regarding their reasoning for the no-rotation policy. BMW believes that tire rotation may undesirably change the handling of the car if the tires are rotated, which disturbs the "set" position the tire has developed over time. Also BMW believes that the cost the owner spends to have the tires periodically rotated does not provide any economic benefit because the amount of useful life the tires may gain is less than the cost of the rotations. I'm sure BMW also assumes the car stays in alignment during the period the tires are in use.

That being said, if you rotate your tires as a DIY activity then it is beneficial to rotate the tires. No car ever stays in perfect alignment and rotating the tires is a good way to avoid expensive re-alignments to keep the tires from abnormal wear by remaining in place. I got rid of the staggered setup on my car so I could cross rotate tires, and I notice a 5,000 - 7,000 increase in the life of a set of tires.

I’d say that buying a decent floor jack, four jackstands, and an impact wrench, would be paid back over 3 or 4 sets of tires (by extending each set’s lifespan), and would be a good investment in building a tool set for DIY’s. Some of the newer cordless impact wrenches are capable of breaking loose wheel bolts and make the job of removing wheels quite easy and quick.
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      05-14-2011, 11:35 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ENINTY View Post
Having read owner's manuals for three different BMWs from the 80’, 90’s and 2000’s, BMW was more specific in earlier owner's manuals regarding their reasoning for the no-rotation policy. BMW believes that tire rotation may undesirably change the handling of the car if the tires are rotated, which disturbs the "set" position the tire has developed over time. Also BMW believes that the cost the owner spends to have the tires periodically rotated does not provide any economic benefit because the amount of useful life the tires may gain is less than the cost of the rotations. I'm sure BMW also assumes the car stays in alignment during the period the tires are in use.

That being said, if you rotate your tires as a DIY activity then it is beneficial to rotate the tires. No car ever stays in perfect alignment and rotating the tires is a good way to avoid expensive re-alignments to keep the tires from abnormal wear by remaining in place. I got rid of the staggered setup on my car so I could cross rotate tires, and I notice a 5,000 - 7,000 increase in the life of a set of tires.

I’d say that buying a decent floor jack, four jackstands, and an impact wrench, would be paid back over 3 or 4 sets of tires (by extending each set’s lifespan), and would be a good investment in building a tool set for DIY’s. Some of the newer cordless impact wrenches are capable of breaking loose wheel bolts and make the job of removing wheels quite easy and quick.
I never pay for rotations myself.
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