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BMW 5-Series Tires and Wheels
jeffwilson
Member Posts: 45
in BMW
I have my 2002 530i CPO in for a service and my advisor said that I need 4 new tires. I just got the car (with NEW tires!) 18,000 miles ago and I had snows on for around 5,000 miles. He said that the standard BMW tires (I am not sure which are on mine, sorry) usually get "around 18-20,000 miles) and the ones on the 7 series get around 12,000!! Is this possible? I have never had tires that got less than around 45-50,000 miles. I told him that I would get some on my own, but want to know if I am getting jerked around. Shouldn't I get a lot more than 13,000 miles on these tires? Thanks for any feeedback...I appreciate your thoughts...
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Thinking about your situation a little, it seems logical that the original owner had to put new tires on your car to be able to pass inspection (either that or pay BMW some outrageous amount for them to put tires on it). So, just prior to turn in, he/she put on the cheapest tires they could find in that size and those are the "NEW" tires that you got with your car.
Looking into my crystal ball I see that you have a date with TireRack.com so that you can do a little tire research and pick a better set of skins for this next go-around. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
Thanks for the comments. But the tires were put on by BMW, not the owner. So I KNOW they are new. ALso, I do not have the Sport package. So I am back to thiking something is up....
Thanks again....
Jeff
Regards...JL
Are they right, or did I get hosed?
To jeffwilson:
Pirelli tires were not original equipment as far as I know. What the service advisor meant when he said new tires and what you heard are probably two different things. What was the mileage when you purchased the car, the original tires probably lasted approximately 35,000 miles.
My wife's TT tires lasted 11,000 and Audi picked up $800 as a remedy for ultra short tire wear.
Generally, tho, the UHP or Max Performance tires IF they are Summer ONLY will give great handling but they are very soft and very short lived, as a result.
It makes no sense to me, were I the dealer, to put tires of THIS much softness on the car -- knowing this could be one possible outcome.
HP all seasons seem to be the German way these days. My personal choice would be UHP all seasons were I in a moderate snow climate. Of course, the best is to use single purpose tires and change them in winter and back again in spring.
Thanks,
Martinioo
Best Regards,
Shipo
Regards,
Martinioo
I hope this helps. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
What Shipo said. It's a dead easy DIY procedure, and inexpensive as well.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I must be doin' it wrong - my 03' 540 now has 114K miles on the clock, and tires are not a concern at all. I use dedicated snows, on a set of Borbet wheels; I've had 2 sets of snow tires. I changed the first (Blizzaks)more for "I wanted different" than because they were worn out, and the second set I expect to get another winter out of... I put the snows on in Nov-Dec, and take 'em off in Mar-Apr.
The rest of the time the summer wheels (OEM M-parallels) are on the car. I was happy with the original Contis, but changed to the excellent but ugly
Point of all my rambling? It is possible to run these cars and run them hard on high performance rubber, and still get more than 10k out of a set.
On another note... I sure wish I could be one of the folks who only drive the things 12K a year, but...
Thanks
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I am a big fan of BBS wheels, and I also like Borbets. I've also owned sets of OZ Racing. I've never had any issues with these manufacturers in terms of fitment, finish quality, hubcentricity or balance. I am not a big fan of chrome, so I can't offer any history on some of the more popular shiny stuff
How many miles do you have on the car? Sidewall bubbles are usually indicative of damage caused by hitting a pothole or similar, so I'm not surprised that the dealer is balking- especially if you have 5k or more miles on the odometer.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
The tires on the car: Michelin PS-2. 3 worn tires with 30K miles, 1 tire with 12K miles at 6/32 (replacement for flat tire).
Tire in the trunk: Michelin Pilot Primacy, never used
Option #1: Replace the 3 worn tires with new PS-2 tires
Option #2: Replace 1 tire with new PS-2, one with new Pilot and use the Pilot from the trunk. Put the PS-2 tires up front and the Pilots in rear. Replace trunk tire with best of the 3 used tires. With this option I only buy 2 tires.
Which is the recommended option?
If I do option 2, would the handling of the car be affected in any way? Should the PS-2 tires be up front or in the rear?
FYI, the PS-2 tires lasted about 30K, the original Pilots I replaced at 36K with probably another 5K to 8K left (was required to put new tires on to purchase as CPO).
Thanks for your input.
1) Take your best PS-2 and put it in the trunk and then buy three new Pilot Primacys.
2) Chuck the four worn PS-2s and then buy four new Sumitomo HTR Z IIIs or four new Kumho Ecsta SPT (either set of four can be had for #396 from TireRack).
BTW, remember to E-Mail me when yer fixin' to sell your car. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
As to your options - DO NOT do option 2! Yes, your handling would be affected, and some non-emergency maneuvers could very well escalate to emergencies because of the difference, and unpredictability is not your friend. (Besides - it's really not cool to be driving a $40K plus car with mixed tread...lolol)
Go back to when you replaced the tires - why did you choose the PS-2s? Again, judging from your post, It looks like tires are not that important to you, so moving away from them should not be a big deal.
Bit of trivia for you - At some point the spare will be useless - the rubber ages even if not used. I'd consider going with the Pilots, moving the spare into the rotation, and "upgrading" the spare to a used PS-2.
Or let me put it this way - What Shipo said. lol
Although this may not help now, I would either get a beater for the daily drives(a Toyota Avalon comes to mind) and use the BMW for the weekends, or get a BMW with the regular suspension and wheels enjoying it as a primay care.
The packages related to motorsport useage on poor roads seems like a big SELL and are counterintuitive.
abfisch
Interesting observation.... if I look at my car (E 39), what i see is that over the different iterations "regular wheels" have included 16" 17" and 18", with tire aspect ratios ranging from 60 series, all the way down to 35/40 series. Are some more comfortable than others? Sure. Is there a bit of hype attached? Sure. I use my car as a daily driver. Other than swapping to snows each winter, I do nothing to cater to suspension, wheels etc. I just returned from a 1600 mile round trip to Indiana/Michigan, on roads of varying quality, and enjoyed every minute. Carving through Pennsylvania's mountains at 2 in the morning was an absolute blast, and part of why I bought the car equipped as it is.
BTW, I also have a Camry that I rarely drive... lol
Actually tire performance is important to me, that is why I switched to PS-2 from the Pilot Primacy's. The PS-2 were highly rated when I purchased them 3 years ago and I was willing to give up on 10K to 15K miles of extra tire wear (compared to the Pilots) to get their improved performance. My driving takes me both on high speed runs and also on canyon runs. When I switched, I noticed a big handling improvement (however part of that improvement was probably from comparing worn Pilots to the new PS-2's).
I guess I am thinking at what handling cost is there to saving $250 in buying the third tire. From your posts, it appears that the suggestion of mixing the tires is a bad one (that suggestion was actually given to me by the salesman at my local tire store). That is why I immediately posted my question here. Did not sound right mixing tires and treads.
OK, then, based on your suggestions, what sounds best to me is either, as both shipo and ny540i6 suggest, to buy 3 new Pilots and use the Pilot from the trunk, or buy 3 new PS-2 tires and use them with the 12K mile tire. Right? Will I continue to notice a significant handling improvement if I choose the PS-2's over the Primacy's?
As for how long I plan to keep the car, that is an issue of its own. However, I can safely say that I plan to hold on to the car for a while. Unfortunately my CPO warrantee expires December 30, 2007, but my payments do not end until Dec 30, 2008 (3-year lease plus 4-year purchase loan at 3.9%). It would be nice to own a car without payments. I am driving the car at a rate of about 10K miles per year right now. I assume some of the expensive repair items are about 10K to 20K miles away still (brakes, clutch, hoses, belts, radiator, suspension parts...). But then there is all the new cars coming out that handle better and are faster....
I notice a handling difference every time I do the winter/summer tire swap. Right now I am running Goodyear GSD-3s, however I have had the Michelin PS-2s, and like them a lot. If it were me, I'd go with the PS-2s, especially as you say that you do value the handling. The other good thing about the PS-2s is that they ride pretty well, so the trade off there is not a big one.
BTW, I'd put the 12K used tire on the front end of the car to start with. Those are a directional tire, so the rotation swap would be front to back only, and I would put it on the non-drive side, to minimize wear when you move it to the back later on (sorry, I never remember which rear wheel is the powered "dominant" wheel).
I've generally had found the performance of all season tires in snow acceptable on the AWD cars I've owned (the AWD seems to make up for the shortfalls of the all season tire).
Anybody have comments on this setup for a New England winter? (assuming that it actually snows this year).
Second, Even with AWD, I would go with dedicated snows, on a different set of wheels. Bottom line is, touring tires give up quite a bit, with single purpose rubber being way more capable.
Also, My buddy wants to trade his 545i tires for my 530i tires which are both 18".
Is it okay to exchange rims and tires even though 545i has different rear and front tires? Will it be a problem to have different tire sizes for 530?
Thanks,
Randy
Does anyone have suggestions for tire type? Should I just get more run flats? I Also, I am assuming I have to have BMW change them even though it will cost more up front. Is this correct? With any tire-related work, a sensor goes off and it ends up in the shop anyway. Currently it is going in for the window trap function (3rd time for this). This happened right after the annual inspection even though it had nothing to do with windows. I was expecting a sensor to go off after the inspection and it did. I think next year I will have BMW do the inspection.
Thanks for any ideas on the tires...
After reading all of the threads on many websites about BMW’s problems with these rims and run-flat tires, it became quite clear what the problem is. The rims were designed too weak to take the impact of normal on-road driving. The problem is exacerbated by the run-flat tires, which are very hard and have strong sidewalls resulting in too much of the normal road force from small bumps being transmitted to the rim rather then absorbing some of the shock in the tire. Confirming the hundreds of comments on reliable Internet sites about the faulty rims and too hard run-flat tires is the reviews of Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat tires on cites from every supplier of these tires. In general, the comments conclude that the combination of weak 18-inch rims and 245/R40/18 Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Run Flat tires (original equipment) was a very bad mistake by BMW. One comment, similar to most, says: “These tires are terrible! Harsh ride, noisy and prone to impact bubble in the side walls from hitting small potholes. . . I am going to switch to non run flats . . . What was BMW thinking when [they] picked these tires?” [http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/readReviewsTire.do?postalCodeSelected=90291&ra- =%2Ftires%2Fbridgestone%2Fsize%2FviewProductResults&pc=25428&ar=40&rd=18&cs=245]-
We asked the Service Manager at Santa Monica BMW to replace the rims under warranty. Not only was he rude, but he was uninterested in any discussion about comments on many websites about the defective rims. It seemed apparent to me that he had been through this problem all too often before and did not want to deal with it again.
I then called BMW NA Customer Service. They were very nice, but totally useless. After four phone calls and escalation to a customer service supervisor, I began to understand the way it works. Customer Service has no authority whatsoever, all they could do was call the Service Manager at the dealership and get the same answer you had already had gotten. They seem to be in business of playing “good guy” to take the heat off of the Service Manager by providing the same answer as if it came from an independent, higher authority at BMW, which it does not.
Not willing to accept the result, I contacted the Director of Parts and Service at Santa Monica BMW, and told him of our displeasure with how his Service Manager had handled the problem, and asked him to involve BMW NA regional “team” to evaluate the problem and try to get some help. To his credit, he seemed very professional and appeared to want to help. He clearly understood the problem . . . you should be able to drive a BMW on normal streets and not have the rims break. Next day, he got a response from BMW regional team . . . “they would not participate” . . . meaning they would not cover it under the warranty or assist the dealer in any way.
My next step is to contact the General Manager of BMW Santa Monica and alert him to the problem. We certainly won’t be buying any more cars at Santa Monica BMW so he loses a loyal customer because the service folks won’t handle this problem. No response from the GM of Santa Monica BMW after two calls.
Next step is a letter to the CEO of BMW North America, and a compliant with U.S. DOT about the situation with these failing rim/tire combination. Perhaps DOT will investigate.
I must admit I have spent at least $2,500 just in tire and rim repair within the past 3 years. I can no longer afford the high cost of repairing rims and tires. I contacted BMW corp office and just as you said, they are nice but ultimately support the car dealer. They do not care about the consumer.
This whole deal with cracked rims and 18' tires smells like a class action law suite to me. BMW need to own up to the defective rim/tire/mechanics of the wheel problem before someone really get's hurt.
Normally, I do not get involved in b logs but this needs to stop! something has to be done!
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Exactly after 6 weeks, my other tire started loosing pressure. I took this car to same Costco store where I replaced tires and have them do the tire service. Their technician told me that there is crack on the wheel and due to this, tire was damaged beyond repair and hence Costco store manager told me that Coscto would not cover tire although it is only 6 weeks old and only few hundred miles on it. I took this car and wheel in the trunk to the same BMW dealer service center and met same service adviser. I got same response from the service adviser. I explained him that from my engineering background, I cannot accept that it is due to outside influence. I also pointed the fact that the visible crack was on the inner side of the wheel. After service adviser’s refusal to cover, I called BMW NA customer service and have them record my complaint. Having called them earlier, I did not expect any meaningful answer. Now I have complaint recorded with BMW NA. I want to find out if any class action law suite currently being litigated or in the past. If yes, I want to be part of the class action lawsuit plaintiff.
It is hard for me to accept that two alloy wheels crack in 6 weeks time due to outside influence. I think alloy wheel is too soft or has defective material. My car has less than 50,000 miles and is less than 4 years old. Based on BMW promise, BMW supposed to cover maintenance and warranty for first 4 years or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first). In reality they do not. I hope someone put the end to this deceitful marketing.