[xPETEZx]

Hi!

I noticed yesterday that my front left tyre appears to be wearing more on one side.
Is this tyre still legal or do I need to get this changed?

Also, what could be causing the un-even wear?

I have attached an image of both the left and right front tyres.
You can see the left is much more worn on the edge, but still has plenty of thread left in the middle.

If it does need replacing, whats best to do? I want to come away from RFT's, but not sure how best to do it?
Do the 2 fronts now and the rears later?

Thanks for looking

[mob17]

Have you ever done a 4 wheel alignment before?

Re the RFTs, in an ideal world you would replace fronts and rears, but loads of people do them in pairs with no issues, as long as its the same axel.

[parapaul]

All BMW RFTs seem to suffer from inner edge wear, but that's pretty bad!

First thing - tyre pressure. Are you running what is recommended on the placard in the drivers door?
Second - as above, have you had a 4-wheel alignment recently? If not, get one done.

As for switching to non-RFT, you won't regret it if you do!

It's a pretty absolute no-no to mix RFT and non-RFT, so if you want to do it, you'll have to replace all 4. You can offset the cost by selling the part worn RFTs on here on eBay - there's a surprising market for them.

[xPETEZx]

Thanks for the advice guys.

No never had a 4-wheel alignment done.
Is this something I should ask the stealer about or a tyre place? Anybody recommend a good one in Slough / Windsor / Richmond ?

The tyres are all at the pressure indicated inside the door.

[RichJ]

Try Feltham Tyres either in Slough or Feltham. Are your tyres 18"?

[xPETEZx]

No mine are 17".

I seem to hear good things about the Continental Contact Sport 5.
Seen them for £111 fitted... is that good?

Ill give Feltham Tyres a call, see what they charge Thanks

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by xPETEZx

Ill give Feltham Tyres a call, see what they charge Thanks

I paid £80.00 @Feltham tyres, but that was quite a few years ago.

Your front camber is out,as others have mentioned.
It was probably caused by either a pothole, or more commonly by bumping the car up on a kerb to park.

You can try Feltham tyres,alternatively pop your postcode in here:

http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/

[two,_OH_five]

Looks like the whole tyre is worn more to me from those pictures -
Top one has distinct tread indents in the center bar and clearly defined tread in the one to the left of that. Bottom pic has no signs of tread on the center bar and the one to the left has feathering of the tread

It might just be the pictures that give this impression, a tyre gauge across both tyres would show and real difference - both tyres are towards the end of their life and I guess another mm of wear on the top tyre would make it look like the bottom

Did you fit two new tyres at the same time?

If your car is still lopsided I'd check the suspension carefully looking for broken springs and get it corner weighted

[xPETEZx]

The car had these tyres when I purchased it 8 months ago.
It passed an MOT & Vehicle inspection with no advisories in October.

Not sure it is related, but the front left side when going over a steep speed bump makes a squeak noise.

[two,_OH_five]

Most likely to be nothing more than the previous owner needed to swap a tyre, especially if one is generally more worn than the other. One of my cars is like this due to a cut tyre but if I didn't know it would be confusing

But if the car still sits unevenly on a flat floor I'd be suspicious and I would try to find a place that could do a full 4 wheel geometry check with a corner weight. The only guy I know is quite a long way from you and has gone radio silent recently so I can't help there

Is the corner that squeaks the same one the more worn tire came off and is it the same one that you originally said was sitting lower..
A tip, when talking about cars don't use left and right. Use driver (offside) or passenger (nearside). Left/right swaps sides depending on where you're looking from

[xPETEZx]

Thanks for the response.

Yes the nearside is the one that makes the squeaks over speed bumps and is also the one I think sits slightly lower.
Tonight I will actually measure this to confirm.

What order should I take action in?

Get Wheel alignment done first, then change tyres or the other way round?

Having a look on Kwik-fit (I know I know) I can get Continetal SC5's for £111 each.
Or I can get Continental SC2's which are RFT tyres for £129
So if I replaced both front tyres thats £254 fitted.

To replace all 4 with SC5's is £444. So another £190. (+ I will need some kind of tyre sealant)

[RichJ]

Try Event Tyres normally very competitive and good service, otherwise Black Circles.

[two,_OH_five]

Difficult to say for sure without actually seeing the tyres. A decent assessment of the overall tread depth across both tyres would provide a better picture. I still guess that both are worn in a similar pattern but one is overall more worn than t'other. Which side did that come off?
Also, if one side is low then you'd expect a smidge more inner shoulder wear that side as the camber will be effected slightly

If you think both are legal then I would go about trying to figure out any issues first. If not then swap tyres but make diagnosis a priority

[tmarshall57]

From the photos it looks like you have outer edge wear on both front tyres (or is outer on one and inner on the other?). I have had exactly the same problem (outer edge only) on my car since I acquired it at 6k miles. It has now done 135k miles. I changed the front rfts to none rft and then the rears at the first opportunity. I had a Hunter four wheel alignment when I changed the fronts the first time. 90% of my miles are motorway hence I get around 30 - 40k miles from a pair of tyres. I maintain the tyres at the BMW recommended pressures and still get the outer edge wear at the front and slight inner wear on the rears (probably due to deisgn camber settings).

[xPETEZx]

Ok thats good to hear. The wear is outer on both fronts.
I measured the distance between Arch on wheel on both sides, and its 5mm offside and 6mm nearside (The worn tyre side)
Guess this must be normal?
Still worth getting an alignment check just to be sure

really torn between spending £254 now and then another £254 later or just £444 now???

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by xPETEZx

Ok thats good to hear. The wear is outer on both fronts.
I measured the distance between Arch on wheel on both sides, and its 5mm offside and 6mm nearside (The worn tyre side)
Guess this must be normal?
Still worth getting an alignment check just to be sure.....

The type of wear you have is very typical of a Bridgestone RFT on the front of the car. It can wear like that even with a good alignment. The nearside often wears more, as in a lot of driving it takes more abuse, like using lots of roundabouts.

One reason is, although the pressures may be to door plate recommendation, the lowest setting is not high enough to get the car running off of the sidewalls, particularly if the car is used for lots of shortish trips (even up to 15 miles or so), as the tyre doesn't get hot enough to get to working pressure. I know all this through experience, I went through it 6-years ago on my E91, with BMW and Bridgestone. Did a lot of research as my car was still nealy new, obviously there was a cause, or causes. A full KDS showed nothing out of tolerance, and BMW recommended trying an increase of tyre pressure, which I did, found it needed about an extra 0.3bar for normal running. The door plate showed 2.1bar for normal use, I ran 2.4bar to balance ride and wear. Even that small amount slowed the wear, and with conventional tyres fitted there was balanced wear across the tyres. Really confirming it wasn't geometry, but tyre pressures and slow tyre warm up.

I note you are giving very low figures for ride height, (if I'm reading your figures right) so assume the car has been lowered. I wonder if when that was done the geometry was not corrected for the lowered suspension.

Certainly get the geometry checked out, (4-wheel alignment not just a tracking check), as you do need to know there isn't an issue. But don't be surprised if there isn't an issue, unless the lowering has taken it out of specification.

HighlandPete

[xPETEZx]

Thanks for the very detailed response HighlandPete!

The car has not been lowered as far as I am aware. I am its second owner, and the previous was company car.
My measurement was very crude. Just a ruler held up to the gap between Tyre and Arch.

So would you recommend going with new tyres and then a full 4-wheel alignment just to be sure?
Lastly, looking at this site: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyres_For/BMW/3-series.htm
It appears that Dunlop SportMaxx RT or Michilen Pilot Sport 2 are the best tyres to go for?
I cant fine the Pilot Sport 2 on Black Circles, but the Pilot Sport 3. Assume this is its successor?

Hoping to get tyres changed this weekend.

Anybody got any firm recommendations? (I know this topic has been trampled to death.)

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by xPETEZx

The car has not been lowered as far as I am aware. I am its second owner, and the previous was company car.
My measurement was very crude. Just a ruler held up to the gap between Tyre and Arch.

So would you recommend going with new tyres and then a full 4-wheel alignment just to be sure?

....

Hoping to get tyres changed this weekend.

Anybody got any firm recommendations? (I know this topic has been trampled to death.)

If you really mean 5 & 6mm then you are lowered, if you intended to write 5 & 6cm then that is about it for the SE suspension.

There are lots of suitable non run-flat tyes for a 3-series. Depends what you want and are after. Tyres such as the Michelin PS3, Continental Sport Contact 3, Goodyear F1 asymmetric, Dunlop Sport Maxx, and more. Plus in the mid range, good performance tyres from Hankook, Kumho, Falken, Vredestein, to name a few.

You can't go wrong with a Michelin, Continental or Goodyear, even our 'infamous' Bridgestone make top performance tyres. I've run Bridgestone over the years, it was only the Potenza RFT that messed up.

Certainly get the car checked/aligned, on something like a Hunter rig.

If you are moving from RFTs (as it appears you are) recommend you do all four tyres. The tyre industry does not recommend doing it in pairs. Not sure your insurance company would like it either.

HighlandPete

[xPETEZx]

Sorry I feel like a complete idiot. I meant Cm not mm.

Going to give a few places a call, and hopefully get 4x non-rft tyres fitted at the weekend along with a 4-wheel alignment to be sure everything is sorted.

[two,_OH_five]

The ride height discrepancy side to side seems odd to me but maybe it's a feature of the suspension. Mine is certainly within a mm or two

I still think get the alignment done then get tyres bit I don't think there's enough wrong to matter either order

[xPETEZx]

Anybody have experience with Thames Tyres in Slough?
Very near to my work, and through Black Circles can get 4x GoodYear Eagle F1 A2 for £422 fitted.
They can do a 4 wheel alignment and the maximum charge is £63, less if no adjustments are made. (BMW quoted £140 + adjustment)

Tempted to go with these guys if nobody has any horror stories.

[ed330D]

Originally Posted by xPETEZx

Sorry I feel like a complete idiot. I meant Cm not mm.

Going to give a few places a call, and hopefully get 4x non-rft tyres fitted at the weekend along with a 4-wheel alignment to be sure everything is sorted.

Don't leave it any longer - that tyre is illegal. At least 3 points and £60 if stopped by plod.