GrahamH

HI all.

I have an E60 saloon 525d with 16 inch rims running Pirelli P7 225 55 W16 tyres. I find the rear tyres wear excessively in the centre portion rendering them useless after only about 16000 miles.

I run the pressures as stated by BMW with the rears at 35psi. Having already replaced one set prematurely due to this wear I have run the replacement set a few psi lower to try and reduce the wear in the centre of the tyre but after only 6000 miles what staretd off as even tread depth of about 8mm 8mm and 8mm across the tyre is now reduced to 6mm 5mm 6mm so the centre is still wearing faster than the outsides.

I should add that I usually run with no rear seat passengers and no weight in the boot.

Has anyone else suffered this? Should I reduce rear pressures further? BMW doesn't state any reduction just that the above figure is good for up to four occupants

RGds Graham

Raighne

It's not unusual for rear tyres to last only that long... especially with the high torque of a diesel engine!
Many people go through 2 sets of rear tyres for every front set.
A lot depends on how you drive as well as the brand and spec of tyre.
The tyres you using have a 'W' speed rating (good for up to 270 km/h)... typically tyres with a high speed rating have a softer compound and wear out faster.

JWBMW

Same car (gone now ) with 17000 mile per set of rear tyres on exactly the same set up. (90% motorways). This was consistant over 60,000 miles and yes the middles did wear more quickly.

Rich535d

My rears have just been replaced at 28000 miles; they were belw 3mm in the centre, and maybee 4 or 5 at the outside, so yes, the insides do wear our quicker. Tyres are 245/40 18 NCT5 RF's. But i can't complain about tyre life...

colejl

This could be the runflats... Rear tyres should really wear on the inside shoulder first because of the camber. I presume the stiff sidewalls are exposing the centre of the tyre to additional wear? Last time I checked my non-RFs they were wearing in the inside first...

spider991

Hi
My 520d has now covered 17000 miles same problem the rears now need replacing.
I will check with the dealer and Kwik Fit
Interested to see how many other members are having the same problem

535dBoy

Oh dear - this makes mine look really bad.

Try 10,000 miles per set on the rear - something to do with the heavy right foot and the DMS upgrade

JWBMW

The 525d came on 16 inch weedy rims when first released in SE only trim. Therefore they came with normal tyres, not run flats which had some ride benefits to offset the small looking rims. Therefore this issue is not a RFT one. I did a lot of motorway mileage with an hours commute each day at an average 55 mph. I wondered if it was a heat build up issue causing the air pressure to increase above that recommended? As I did straightish motorway roads there would have been little stress on the outside edges of the tyres and less wear.. Wear measured at 3 points across the tyre was typically 4mm 2mm 4mm at time of renewal.

GrahamH

Thanks Guys for your comments, at least I suppose my car's not unusual then. I can confirm also I don't have run flats fitted.

I had similar thoughts re pressure increase which is why I'm running them about 5% below book values. Does anybody have any experience of using lower pressures safely? Past experience with other cars suggests they are over inflated for the loading they are getting. What really bugs me is that much of the tyre gets wasted at at ?170 each in England its a pricey process. Why can't BMW design a setup that wears evenly?

Graham