Faulty tyre - Right to a replacement

[woodyTVR]

I bought a car in December from a main dealer with 2k on the clock.

I felt the handling wasn't right and on looking at the tyres (all four) I see there is an odd raised pattern around the tyres. I emailed the sales guy who said he'd deal with it. He never came back and on chasing it he said pop in and we'll take a look.

I took it in and the tyre guy seemed pretty certain there was a fault with the tyres and took photos. He's now come back and said Pirelli won't accept pictures they want the tyres back. I have to buy four tyres and if they find the originals to be faulty I will be reimbursed a % based on wear - I've done 6k on them.

I'm not too keen on spending nearly £1k on tyres when the car has only covered 8k only to be told there's no fault.

Legally where do I stand in terms of having the tyres inspected on the car. Or done in one day by allowing Pirelli to remove the tyres and check them etc. Also I think the % is a bit harsh as the tyres are faulty and therefore could be wearing quicker, there should be something for my hassle and I wouldn't be spending on tyres now if there wasn't an issue.

Any advice appreciated. If it helps I'm fairly local to Pirelli factory.

[woodyTVR]

[woodyTVR]

JustinP1 said:

If it's like that on all four, that would reduce the odds of a fault I would have thought.

It's not normal though. Matching DOT numbers on the fronts and matching on the rear so same batch of tyres.

[woodyTVR]

herewego said:

Is that a strip of a different grade of rubber all around the tyre?

I'm not sure what it is but it's on all four. Worse on the front than the back.

[woodyTVR]

BobSaunders said:

You have done six thousand miles on the tyres since buying them and not thought to question the odd looking out of band stripe?

No I didn't how stupid of me, oh wait a minute I just re-read my original post and I mentioned it to the sales guy in December who said he'd sort it out!

allergictocheese said:

Unless you can convincingly demonstrate how that strip makes the tyre worse performing or less safe than it should be, what does the OP think is going to motivate the dealer or Pirelli to change the them at their expense?

The only way I can imagine is Pirelli doing so out of good will. I can't see a dealer swallowing the cost based upon a customer complaining without a valid reason to require replacements.

I guess I can't demonstrate it's the strip but the handling is not right. The car is an F30 M Sport, I previously had an E90 M Sport and my wife has an E93 M Sport (I've also had E46 and E36 M Sports). This car is by far the worse handling and is very remote and unpredictable.

I was hoping to send the photos and be told (as someone above has said) 'don't worry, it's a fuel efficiency band' instead the tyre specialist at the dealer (that's what BMW introduced him as) looked shocked when he saw the band. I was also hoping that if there is a problem as the car is still under manufactures warranty that it'd just be sorted without fuss.

I'm not going to waste my time on it as I think it will only annoy the hell out of me when Pirelli come back and say it's normal or nothing to worry about - Odd that they haven't just said 'it's fine, it's the fuel band' from looking at the photos. I am inclined to push BMW for a KDS alignment as a few tyre places have suggested it could be an alignment issue - I'm not convinced but surely worth a try.

Thanks for all the replies.