M135i Tyre Wear

[V8 OLY]

I've just had all 4 tyres replaced on my M135i by an independent tyre supplier/fitter having had the car fully serviced at my BMW supplying dealer. They've been replaced with the standard fit Michelin Pilot Super Sports, not run flats 225/40 ZR18.

The old front tyres show excessive wear on the shoulders, both on the inside and outside of both left and right tyres, necessitating the change.

I've queried this with BMW and they've concluded that I have been driving with incorrect and low tyre pressures. I check the tyre pressures with a gauge every month or so (re-inflating them when needed to manual prescribed pressures) and visually inspect them every time I walk up to the car. The tyres have kept their pressure well and I have only needed to top them up on a couple of occasions in the last 18 months. The car is also fitted with BMW's Flat Tire Monitor (FTM) system which I know works but has not alerted me to any issues recently.

BMW want £320 to realign the geometry despite the car having just been serviced in full.

Has anybody had any similar experiences of odd tyre wear on their BMW or specifically M135i which has potentially been mis diagnosed by BMW requiring an expensive and unnecessary geometry alignment?

[hajaba123]

my fronts have worn very strangely on the outside, again I check pressures regularly. Just put the winter tyres on so will probably wait until spring to get it looked at

[Sir_Dave]

From my understanding the tyres are dual compound, so softer on the outside.

Hence the uneven wear.

[Jon1967x]

Sir_Dave said:

From my understanding the tyres are dual compound, so softer on the outside.

Hence the uneven wear.

He's not actually said what the original tyres were has he?

To wear on both inside and outside is classic under inflation. BMWs often wear one edge, usually the inner, on most cars due to the setup, but hard to see how it could wear both. You could also try a 4 wheel alignment to see if the car is setup right.

[ManiacGT]

I had this with my Z4. I changed to non run flats and I've never had the issue return. I also get a full alignment by an indy for £100 every year (mainly due to the shocking roads where I live).

[Jon1967x]

Yep - had my 6 aligned yesterday - not much out and £45. BMW are a rip off - any tyre place with a hunter machine can do it, just try and find one where they have a mechanic who does it all not just the toe angle. They often do a free check and then you pay for the amount of adjustments they need to do.

[Sir_Dave]

Jon1967x said:

He's not actually said what the original tyres were has he?

To wear on both inside and outside is classic under inflation. BMWs often wear one edge, usually the inner, on most cars due to the setup, but hard to see how it could wear both. You could also try a 4 wheel alignment to see if the car is setup right.

Well the standard tyre for the M135i is the super sport, so assumed he had them fitted again lol.

Yes, alignment could be a slight issue, they do run quite a bit of toe in from the factory, however, if running supersports, they are softer on the sides, hence they wear pretty badly. Mine are looking pretty average after 7.5k miles and i certainly dont drive like a loon on the drive to work & back.

[V8 OLY]

Thank you for all of the replies, to clarify - the original tyres were the standard fit Michelin Pilot Super Sports (Sir Dave - your assumption was correct), they are not run flat tyres and have not been driven under inflated.

I’ve just been reading the Michelin website which shows the dual compound detail, I wasn’t aware of this, however I still feel the excessive wear remains rather surprising.

Sounds like the best bet may be an independent alignment to limit the chances of it reoccurring.

[Jon1967x]

I stand corrected - I didn't even know they did a RFT version of the MSS!

Still odd about the wear. I've the same tyres on my 6 and they're wearing evenly

[anonymous-user]

V8 OLY said:

Thank you for all of the replies, to clarify - the original tyres were the standard fit Michelin Pilot Super Sports (Sir Dave - your assumption was correct), they are not run flat tyres and have not been driven under inflated.

I’ve just been reading the Michelin website which shows the dual compound detail, I wasn’t aware of this, however I still feel the excessive wear remains rather surprising.

Sounds like the best bet may be an independent alignment to limit the chances of it reoccurring.

Can't think of an alignment error that would give more wear on all shoulders, compared to the centre of the tread. It does sound like running at a lower pressure than is ideal.

You can't always rely on the manufacturer's recommendations. I had a 911, 997. It's first set of rears wore out in the centre of the tread way before the outer areas. The second set I ran at 2.5 bar as opposed to the recommended 2.7 (on advice from Paragon) and they wore out very evenly.

[bennyboysvuk]

V8 OLY said:

Thank you for all of the replies, to clarify - the original tyres were the standard fit Michelin Pilot Super Sports (Sir Dave - your assumption was correct), they are not run flat tyres and have not been driven under inflated.

I’ve just been reading the Michelin website which shows the dual compound detail, I wasn’t aware of this, however I still feel the excessive wear remains rather surprising.

Sounds like the best bet may be an independent alignment to limit the chances of it reoccurring.

What pressures have you been using them at? The standard pressures seem odd and my M135i was PDI'd and passed to me with considerably different pressures to what the door stamp recommends.

Pressures F/R:

Standard = 35/35
Fully loaded/high speed = 39/46

My car as provided = 37/38 (Seems to work very nicely)

[jon-]

I'm currently running 35/38 which seems to work well.

The car was delivered with 39/43!