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[Noxious_]

I have a 08 335xi that is showing bad wear on the front tires. I need a diagnosis as to whats going on. Heres some background on the tires:

I got the rims and tires for my 320i sedan. Used them a summer on the E46 and then put the rims and tires on my AWD e90. Since purchased Ive put about 60,000 kms on them. The tires are on 18" rims, 225 in the front and 255in the back.

The problem is the tires are wearing down inconsistantly. The inside edge of both front tires is worn down to the thread.

The drivers side tire is worn below the bar on the outside edge and heavily worn in the interior of the tire.

The passenger side front tire still has alot of tread on the outside of the tire but the inside is down to the thread. The interior of the passenger tire is looking fine and over the wear bar.

The back tires are fine and show normal signs of wear.

Whats going on here? Is it the difference in camber between the e46 and the e90? Do i have suspension problems (control arm bushings, ball joints?). Is it a tire inflation problem?

I have bought some winter blizzaks from tire rack that are ready to go on the stock rim. I am waiting for snow to put them on but I am wondering if i should put them on today. I have to drive the car 400kms tomorrow and im wondering if the tires are safe to drive on with the thread showing.

Thanks for the help (I need it).

[Sean@PYSpeed.com]

I'm guessing you might need to do an alignment. Make sure your alignment is done right. Make sure your tire pressures are the same and accurately pumped. Not sure which one of your car is causing the tire wear, but I'm guessing your E46 needs to do the alignment. Good Luck

[Noxious_]

Thanks Sean. Perhaps my write up is confusing. I had the tires on the E46, sold it, kept the tires and put them on the E90 that I bought. The tires are now on the E90. Ill check the alignment when the car is into BMW. I think I am going to put the winter tires/rims on tonight and see if the problem is fixed.

[chromisdesigns]

BMW tires normally wear a lot more on the inside than on the outer edges, because of the way the suspension is set up.

But if they are wearing unevenly between left and right side, either you are making lots of left turns (track driving?) or you need an alignment, or something is bent in the suspension.

Otherwise, looks like normal wear patterns.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

If you got 60,000 KM on the tires you are doing well, time for a new set I think.

[prototyp]

Had very similar wear on the rears (right rear in particular) on my car. Turned out the alignment was way out of spec and the wheels were basically dragging along trying to go in opposite directions. \ / instead of | | ish

BMWCCA drive clinic and regular back-road workouts didn't help...

[Noxious_]

Hey thanks everybody for chiming in. Extra thanks to Sean for getting the early answer which turned out to be correct; the alignment was way off. I was able to get the car in that day to get the winters swapped in and do the alignment. Car rides great now and it snowed the next day so I was able to use my winters. But now my summer fronts are garbage. The backs are ok so I may try to find some used dunlop fronts to match the wear on the backs. But Ill worry about that next summer.

Thanks again for the help everyone!

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by loudboxer

Had very similar wear on the rears (right rear in particular) on my car. Turned out the alignment was way out of spec and the wheels were basically dragging along trying to go in opposite directions. \ / instead of | | ish

BMWCCA drive clinic and regular back-road workouts didn't help...

My wear is (was) similar to yours after 18,000 KM on my vacation trip this summer. I ended up in a tire shop due to a flat on my rear wheel. The tire shop manager told me.

This type of car always shows this type of wear due to the ...

A) Camber angle of the rear tire

and

B) When we drive with the roof and some luggage in the trunk it advances this wear.

He recommended to run under those conditions with 10% higher air pressure in the rear wheels to prevent this. My BMW service manager later only mentioned to run say 4 PSI above specified air pressure to continue running on the tires since the center thread is still very good.

[Beamer gsxr]

I'm having this exact issue. Front driver tire wears out extremely fast. At first I just thought I hit something and tore up the tire. Put a new one on and within a week its bald on the inside. But my alignment seems fine. No drift left or right and the steering wheel is perfectly straight. I was thinking a ball joint or wheel bearing.

[PS2N54]

Originally Posted by Beamer gsxr

I'm having this exact issue. Front driver tire wears out extremely fast. At first I just thought I hit something and tore up the tire. Put a new one on and within a week its bald on the inside. But my alignment seems fine. No drift left or right and the steering wheel is perfectly straight. I was thinking a ball joint or wheel bearing.

always get the alignment checked, even if car is driving perfectly straight and steering wheel dead center.... i had this same issue, and the longest time i thought allignment was fine because car drove straight and steering wheel was center.... it turned out the allignment was soo bad that wheels were working against each other even though car stayed straight. went through brand new set of bfgoodrich G-Force in less than 5months - so far its turned out to be a combination of bent FR strut/knuckle and many bushings going soft (even though no noise in suspension).