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[chromisdesigns]

Just coming up on the end of warranty on my 335i sedan, and had it in to my indy shop for end of warranty inspection. The mechanic noted that the front tires are "chunking", losing little bits of tread all around, evenly across the tires. Looks like little divots scattered across the treads. The rears are fine.

These are Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires, with abouut 26K on them, and plenty of tread depth left.

Is this something I should be concerned about, or maybe I should contact Michelin? The tires are "warranted" for 45K miles, and based on the treadwear (other than this issue) look like they would probably go that far.

I did read on some other forums that others have experienced this same wear pattern.

[chromisdesigns]

Michelin ackowledged there was a problem with the factory mold for these tires, which was resolved by replacing the mold for 2011 and later production. They stated the problem should not come back with new replacements.

Based on the miles and tread depth left, they credited us with 30% of the cost of a new pair of fronts. The old ones have almost 26K miles on them now, and the fronts were at 3.1 mm tread depth both sides.

Given that they normally cut the treadlife warranty (45,000 miles) in half for staggered setups, since the tires can't be rotated front to rear, that seemed like a fair settlement to us. It looks like the fronts would have gone 35-40K miles if not for the chunking.

The rears look like they will need replacing somewhere around 30-35K miles, which is good compared to OEM tires, and well past the treadlife warranty. No unusual wear issues with the rear tires.

[CedarZ4]

Digging up an old thread, but do you have the source or official release on Michelin replacing the compound?

I really want to get the Michelins but have read a few stories about chunking and it wearing prematurely on the shoulders. If this is still the case, I might just have to go Continental DWS...

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by CedarZ4

Digging up an old thread, but do you have the source or official release on Michelin replacing the compound?

I really want to get the Michelins but have read a few stories about chunking and it wearing prematurely on the shoulders. If this is still the case, I might just have to go Continental DWS...

I spoke with Michelin customer service via their 800 number for US. maybe try calling them? BTW, it wasn't a rubber compound problem, per se. Rather, they had a set of defective molds for that particular tire. My replacements are still doing fine, just passed 60K miles on the car.