1diver1

I took my 545i in 4 or 5 months ago to have the tires rotated. They said I need new back tires. The car had 38K on the oringinal runflats. I bought 4 new Toyo Tourevo ls on their recommendation. I went in to have them rotated today (6K miles later) and they said the rear tires are showing cable and need to be replaced. I went out with the guy and he said my alignment is off and it ruined the tires. I told him it was fine for 38K miles on the old tires, why didn't they recommend an alignment when I got the new ones. He said if they looked ok then they don't, I said "exactly", they were fine. He asked if I had hit a pothole or drove the car in the snow, neither of which I had done. Anyone else have this problem. I guess I'll have to take it to a higher authority at Les Shwab.

IceyTys

Could be any number of things...did you lower your car, did you change wheel size, did you notice a pull left or right when you let go of the steering wheel? Where are you tires worn...on the insides of the rear only?

I have a similar problem, however my tire wear was related to the fact that I lowered my car and put larger tires on my car. So the insides of my rear tires lasted about 9K miles, on a 360 wear tire!

Anyway, took my car back to the same place that did my original alignment almost 9 months ago, and the numbers were pretty close to wear they were from the intitial alignment, they guy called me in the garage and showed me live my aligmment numbers hadnt changed hardly at all.

Long story short my issue was due to the fact my rears were set a -2.0 camber, which is at BMW specs, however in talking with him and Bav Auto we are going to set my camber at -.5 once I get my camber kit, so that should increase my tire life to the 15-20 range and the tire wear more evenly.

In any case, you should have notice the car pulling if your alignment was way out of wack, unless of course you have the dreaded negative camber problem like me, then you wouldnt have notice it, just by driving.

One word of advice, always at least get a print out after and alignment, so you can be sure you are is in spec, or at least where you want it set at.

GL

1diver1

Never noticed a pull at all, they are the original size and I didn't have the car lowered. The manager is nice and is offering $100.00 off per tire. The wear is on both inside rear tires, one way more than the other. He said it is canted in and I must have hit a pothole or something? Never did.

jagbagri

I'm noticing a slight pull right now and perhaps the alignment is not right BUT I don't see any unusual wear on the tires. So I'm not sure if the off-alignment always results in uneven tire wear. See my other thread about this...

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=72989

GL.

z06bigbird

I get an alignment done annually on all of my cars. Also, if I install new tires, I get another alignment.

Wear and tear, man.

Spyglass

I also have unusual wear on my 550i rear tires. I'm on the original SportContact 2's and they are down to the wear bars on the outside tread groves and still have about 3/16 or so on the inside. Exactly the opposite of what I would have expected with the BMW camber specs. I purchased the car with 8k miles and it's now done 11k so I don't know the previous history.

Anyone else seen wear like this or have any explanations?

Thanks

IceyTys

Wow that is weird....I would check tire pressure first, then maybe have an alignment shop look at it. A lot of national places will hook your car up to the equipment for free to see where its at. Maybe your camber is set in the positive According to the specs it should be -2.0, however with that spec you are looking at inside tire wear. I would say between -1.0 and -.5 should be decent. Bav Auto told me I should go for -.5, so if my guy can get mine that high, I think Ill set it close to that.