Help! Several months ago (May 2010) I purchased a 2006 550i sport and noticed that the front right tire had been damaged (bubble on the sidewall). I took it to a local tire dealer and had it replaced. while on the lift the service people called me out to the shop to point out that all the tires were wearing out on the inside portion and suggested that i replace the back left also, but the front left and back right were acceptable. they recommended that I take it to the dealership and get in aligned....which i did immediately. Sure enough, it was out of wack and they changed the entire setup....camber, toe, front back etc... Fast forward to August 2010...tire monitor sounds off that i have a bad tire/flat. Sure enough, the entire inside tread on the back right tire is seperating and steel is showing. the back left (the new tire) is almost as bad! Damage to the inside of the front left as well. The dealership is telling me that the roads are crazy bad and even though i had it aligned recently it can get knocked out pretty easily. I agree, however, the car was driving flawlessly since the alignment and i have had many other cars that have never worn tires like that. any thoughts would be appreciated as to what you think might be the problem. The dealership is simply going to sell me new tires and realign it?? thanks.

 

the stock camber in the rear is -2 so even if aligned, the tires will still be wearing out more on the inside. and yes driving can make it worse as you said by throwing off the alignment.

 

e60 BMW's are set up with negative camber for better control at high-speeds*. Downside is the inner edges of the tires will wear faster than the outside edges. This is a normal artifact of these cars. So just keep an eye out for excessive wear on the inner treads. Sounds like you let it get too far along and suffered tire damage (cords showing).

*This comes from Bav Auto Fast Times Newsletter, Spring 2010. Other references mention that negative camber is specifically designed for better cornering performance.

 

Go to non dealer allignment shop and ask to adjust camber down to -1.5 to -1.7 and keep OEM toe.

You will loose slight cornering grip but you can't really notice.

My rear tires have been wearing evenly since then.

BMW's -2.2 requires you to take turns FAST AT ALL TIME to "even" out the inner wear