Computer says no!
Discussion
Could someone tell me if this wear pattern is normal for an E70 X5 rear tyres? BMW main dealer seems to think so.
Some info.
Tyres are 12000 miles old (Came on the "AUC" car I bought last year, and looked pretty much brand new when I picked it up).

Inside edges are throught to the cord...In a big way!!!
Centre of the tyre has 2mm of tread.
Half way between the centre and the cord there is 4.5mm of tread, with the samer wear on the outside half of the tyres.
The wear indicators in the centre indicate slight over inflation, but that inside edge is telling a very different story.
The tyres have needed no air added to them in the time I have had the car, and when removed they were showing 32psi.
I have checked the rear geometry and both sides of the car are identical.
Front tyres are wearing pretty much as you'd expect.
Question:- Is this right or am i been fed the usual B/S (I speak from experience) by the local main agent?
Some info.
Tyres are 12000 miles old (Came on the "AUC" car I bought last year, and looked pretty much brand new when I picked it up).

Inside edges are throught to the cord...In a big way!!!
Centre of the tyre has 2mm of tread.
Half way between the centre and the cord there is 4.5mm of tread, with the samer wear on the outside half of the tyres.
The wear indicators in the centre indicate slight over inflation, but that inside edge is telling a very different story.
The tyres have needed no air added to them in the time I have had the car, and when removed they were showing 32psi.
I have checked the rear geometry and both sides of the car are identical.
Front tyres are wearing pretty much as you'd expect.
Question:- Is this right or am i been fed the usual B/S (I speak from experience) by the local main agent?
Edited by Dave Dax builder on Thursday 20th August 21:06
I blame lots of rear camber on the X5 for that... lots of just driving along in straight lines at medium speeds?
All said and done the mileage sounds pretty good... you have just worn the inside out first because of the setup of the car being for driving around bends and things.
Had you (I'm guessing), done a good mix of miles and some hard driving on fun roads etc, the rears would probably be worn almost flat with just a bit more wear on the inside.
It's not wrong imho, just a consequence of a setup that pays benefits when driven how it's not being driven, compromising (slightly) the life of the tyre.
Dave
All said and done the mileage sounds pretty good... you have just worn the inside out first because of the setup of the car being for driving around bends and things.
Had you (I'm guessing), done a good mix of miles and some hard driving on fun roads etc, the rears would probably be worn almost flat with just a bit more wear on the inside.
It's not wrong imho, just a consequence of a setup that pays benefits when driven how it's not being driven, compromising (slightly) the life of the tyre.
Dave
Thanks everyone.
i would have expected the insides to go first but the thing that concerns me is that there is a good depth of tread between the ecntr of the tyre and the bald part. I would have expected the wear to have been distributed progressively across the inner half of the tyre.
It's as if there are two separate wear patterns. I do pull a trailer (1.5 ton ish.) regularly but the X5 is supposed to have self leveling suspension which should (I would have thought) eliminated camber changes due to the towing weight?????
All, very confusing for my grey matter.
i would have expected the insides to go first but the thing that concerns me is that there is a good depth of tread between the ecntr of the tyre and the bald part. I would have expected the wear to have been distributed progressively across the inner half of the tyre.
It's as if there are two separate wear patterns. I do pull a trailer (1.5 ton ish.) regularly but the X5 is supposed to have self leveling suspension which should (I would have thought) eliminated camber changes due to the towing weight?????
All, very confusing for my grey matter.
phelix said:
3ftandclean said:
It's also a consequence of driving over those one metre wide speed humps. Apparently it's better ( although bumpier ) to drive over them with one wheel on the top.
How can speed humps do that - they're a small fraction of the distance driven.phelix said:
But then surely front and rear tyres would show similar characteristics?
Good point. Thinks...
Front and rear track dimensions may be different, front and rear wheel camber may be different, front and rear tyre pressures may be different etc.
There may be similar wear but less severe. I think the OP should check the front tyres.
It's just rear camber plain and simple, and if you are towing a trailer then it's putting even more load on the rear insides (yes it self-levels, but the tyre loads are still lots higher) while doing slow ish straight line driving.
If you didn't tow a trailer and did lots of varied driving and harder cornering etc, then they would probably be wearing much flatter.
The nature of big wide low-ish profile road tyres on a towing vehicle set-up for sporty dynamics before tyre wear considerations

If you didn't tow a trailer and did lots of varied driving and harder cornering etc, then they would probably be wearing much flatter.
The nature of big wide low-ish profile road tyres on a towing vehicle set-up for sporty dynamics before tyre wear considerations


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