F31 330d Xdrive Front tyres serious wear on inner edge

[lambo911]

Hi,
My 2013 F31 330d has xdrive, active suspension and sports steering.

I've just been checking the tyres and was shocked to see that the front tyres have worn down their inner edges, exposing the cords on the near side. The rest of the tyre is wearing pretty evenly.

The car doesn't pull so I'm wondering if it maybe the camber rather than the alignment?

Has anyone else had wear issues?

The car is a bit 'thumpy' on the corner, i.e feels like the a worn shock mounting.

[lambo911]

I've just measured the camber and I've -1.8 on the nearside and -0.8 on the offside which will be why it's eaten the inner edge of the tyre.

It doesn't look like there is much scope to adjust the camber?

What do you think the chances are that it was like this from the factory? I've had the car from new and apart from hitting a few pot holes it's never had any damage. I'd also expect the camber to go positive from pot holes, i.e it pushes the bottom of the wheel in rather than pulling it out.

Just trying to work out if I can get BMW to cough up for an alignment and a contribution to the wrecked tyre !!

[Elliot2000]

What were ur tyre pressures like? I can see its worn on the outer edge to, although obviously not to the same extent

[gizlaroc]

This has been one of the biggest topics on BMW forums for the last 13 years!

Put proper tyres on and it will stop.

You need to up the pressures, the ridiculously stiff sidewalls are the problem, combine that with BMWs aggressive camber and it is inevitable.

If you ran the car on 0 pressure in the tyres it would roll on the sidewalls, running too low does the same thing, just not as quickly.

[lambo911]

Hi,

Pressures are 28psi on both fronts.

I accept the pressures will have an influence on tyre wear but 28 is high enough to stop the edges rolling.

My main concern is the difference in camber

[Kawasicki]

lambo911 said:

It doesn't look like there is much scope to adjust the camber?

Sometimes it is possible to slide the front subframe laterally to even the camber between the wheels.

[gizlaroc]

No, that is far too low and the reason you have shagged the tyres to be blunt.




Fronts on your car should be somewhere between 34psi and 43 depending on speed and loading.
Rears should be somewhere between 37 (34 on 19s only) and 50psi depending on speed and loading.


28 psi is far too low, it will do exactly what has happened here, and could actually cause a blow out being that low.

Get some new ones on there and get the pressures set up correctly.

[gizlaroc]

lambo911 said:

Hi,

Pressures are 28psi on both fronts.

I accept the pressures will have an influence on tyre wear but 28 is high enough to stop the edges rolling.

My main concern is the difference in camber

It is not camber, the camber is fine, the problem you have is far too low pressure so the tyre is sitting on the sidewall.

[lambo911]

OK, thanks, I'll up the pressures and keep an eye on the wear. I'm going to get a new set of boots on it this weekend, going for Goodyear F1 runflats

[northandy]

Ours has worn the outer edge instead (fronts at 33 psi) standard suspension. But I reckon it's done about 25k on them

[lambo911]

I think it if is the outside edge then it's more likely to be alignment of hard cornering rather than camber.

I popped into BMW and spoke to their tyre/alignment technician, he said it was because of the runflat tyre and it didn't deform like a usual tyre so it rides on the corner of the sidewall to tread more. He accepted that the difference in the camber would be why it is worse on one side more than the other.

He thought, but wasn't sure (surprised as he is an alignment guy) that there is some adjustment in the strut top mount for camber and that it can get knocked out by pot holes.

He also said that swapping to regular tyres would stop this kind of wear.

The problem with changing to normal tyres is that it's a lease car so BMW are going to insist on runflats being on the car when it's returned..... so I'm going to stick with runflats but try the Goodyear F1.

I'm also going to take one of the topmount nuts off to check if the bolt whole is slotted to allow some adjustment..... unless anyone knows the answer already ????

[gizlaroc]

If you just get the pressures right from the start you will be fine. I promise you.

People setting them at 32 or 31psi have this issue, setting them at 28psi is going to cause it pretty quickly.
The problem with 28psi is it generates lots of excess heat, which in turn softens the tyres more, and that combined with the stiff sidewall is only ever going to give you the results you saw.

I would try 34F and 38R to start with and keep an eye on them.

It may also be worth trying the 4psi test too.

A tire should increase by 4psi from cold, as in not driven on.

Set the pressure as above and after 30 minutes at 70-80mph check it again, it should be up by 4psi, if it is up by more than 4psi then the pressure was too low to start with, if it is up by less than 4psi it is too high to start with. It doesn't really matter what the ambient air temp is when you start (not in the UK anyway as we don't get huge temperature swings day and night here), so set them up and give it a go.

[RicksAlfas]

northandy said:

Ours has worn the outer edge instead (fronts at 33 psi) standard suspension. But I reckon it's done about 25k on them

My Dad's has done the same. Run flats just don't flex the same round corners so the edges cop for it.

[lambo911]

gizlaroc said:

If you just get the pressures right from the start you will be fine. I promise you.

People setting them at 32 or 31psi have this issue, setting them at 28psi is going to cause it pretty quickly.
The problem with 28psi is it generates lots of excess heat, which in turn softens the tyres more, and that combined with the stiff sidewall is only ever going to give you the results you saw.

I would try 34F and 38R to start with and keep an eye on them.

I must admit I've been pretty lax checking the pressures, i.e. I haven't been and relying on the pressure monitoring. Because both front tyres have lost air gradually it hasn't triggered the pressure monitoring (works on rolling radius). The car has been so good and hasn't needed anything other than a service in it's 2 1/2 years and 23,000 miles so I've just taken it for granted.

[gizlaroc]

Yeah, we get the silly rolling radius monitors, where as the states gets a pressure monitor in the way of wireless valves.

I must admit, it was from having the 535d back in 2005 that made me start watching my pressures.

[lambo911]

I took a bolt out of the top mount and there isn't any adjustment there and the bottom arms are fixed so it doesn't looks like camber can be adjusted. So does that mean it came out of the factory like that and its a warranty thing or will BMW tell me it's not covered and a pot hole bent something?

Also upped the pressures from 28 to 34 on the front and 30 to 36 on the back.

[gizlaroc]

It is not bent, BMW are fuking morons, it is the fact you have run the pressures far too low.

[14-7]

lambo911 said:

I took a bolt out of the top mount and there isn't any adjustment there and the bottom arms are fixed so it doesn't looks like camber can be adjusted. So does that mean it came out of the factory like that and its a warranty thing or will BMW tell me it's not covered and a pot hole bent something?

Also upped the pressures from 28 to 34 on the front and 30 to 36 on the back.

There's nothing wrong with the car you have been running the wrong pressures. I don't think I've even seen any X-Drive recommend running 28psi. They all seem to be around 34 on the fronts.

[Jpinky]

gizlaroc said:

Yeah, we get the silly rolling radius monitors, where as the states gets a pressure monitor in the way of wireless valves.

I must admit, it was from having the 535d back in 2005 that made me start watching my pressures.

That might have changed with the LCI, I've got pressure monitor on my 330. Seems pretty accurate too - pressure increases after time on motorway, lower on cold days etc.

[lambo911]

Hi,

I'm resurrecting this topic as 16,000 miles after fitting new set of Goodyear Eagle F1's I have the same thing again. I've been running the car at the recommended pressures. It won't be long before the cords start to show through. The other front tyre is fine.

It can only be the camber as I had the suspension alignment checked and set when the tyres were fitted.

I did raise this back in 2016 with BMW and they wanted to charge me for a 4 wheel alignment before they'd do anything. They also said they couldn't adjust it.

There clearly has been an issue with the set up of the car from day one.

I'm going to get in touch with BMW again on Tuesday.