Was traveling to Asheville, NC for State Cup both Saturday and Sunday. Sunday, about an hour into the trip my TPM alarm chimed on for my right rear tire (the one I ordered a replacement for this past Thursday). I was preparing to get off on the next exit when all of a sudden...





This should be here Wednesday.



Nothing like driving on the spare 55mph from Hickory all the way to Huntersville, NC (55 miles).

 

I cannot believe you let a tyre get that low on tread, change at 3mm or risk your life. The wear bars at 1.6mm are far too late.

 

...and the wear bars do not help indicate the inner tread wear from negative camber.

 

I'm a procrastinator, what can I say.

 

That's economical. Save nature and use your tires to the END ! Hooah =D

 

Esp. for tires that cost $500+ new on tirerack. I went the used route via ebay which is what took me so long. That and scouring the forums.

 

Tire starts with 8mm of tread.

Changed at 3mm means you have 'surrendered' 1.4mm of it's life. This is 17.5% of it's life.

So by changing at 3mm instead of 1.6mm you effectively spend 17.5% more on tyres, even on a $500 tyre by leaving it as long as you did you have 'only' saved $87.50.

In return you have risked your life & those of others by driving on a tyre that had minimal wet grip, prone to aquaplaning and could have exploded at high speed when the shoulder gave out.

If you need to save cash that badly, you are driving the wrong car.

 

Wow. And I thought mine were getting low. That's just about as slick as you could get without the thing popping. Mine are between 2 and 3mm and new rims n rubber are on way from
Cal@sonicms. I'd never risk runnin em that low for fear of no grip or a blow out, not to mention the fines and points if spotted by a cop

 

With the BMW rear suspension settings it's very common for the inner tread portion to wear more rapidly than the outer / center portion. And the wear can be very rapid. That makes it very important to check your tires regularly - more than looking at them from the curb .... lay down and look across the tread ... had you done this you might have been alert to a dangerous situation.

"Once burnt - twice learnt" they say! Ask ME how I know

Darn good thing you had fresh rubber on the way - I agree, hobbling along on a spare can be a real drag

 

I would never let my tires get that low....thats death on wheels if it would have happened on the highway at 70-80mph, you lucky!