Michelin PS4 Non-RFTs woes
Discussion
Had a new set of PS4s put on my 18" wheels in Oct 2016 to replace my OE Michelin PS2 runflats that were starting to crack on the sidewall due to age, even though they had around 4mm tread left. The mileage it had covered on those was just under 14,500 at replacement.
Went to collect the car today from my local BMW dealer who had just completed an annual oil service for me, and he reported that all tyres were at 5mm! That's a paltry 2,067 miles since new! Assuming original depths when new are 8mm, that means I've lost almost 50% of my rubber!
The tread depths are evenly worn across all tyres, so can't blame suspension geometry. I certainly haven't changed my generally cautious driving style, so is this due to the rapidly deteriorating state of our roads, or are the non-runflats simply not as hard wearing as the runflats (by a country mile!)?
Went to collect the car today from my local BMW dealer who had just completed an annual oil service for me, and he reported that all tyres were at 5mm! That's a paltry 2,067 miles since new! Assuming original depths when new are 8mm, that means I've lost almost 50% of my rubber!
The tread depths are evenly worn across all tyres, so can't blame suspension geometry. I certainly haven't changed my generally cautious driving style, so is this due to the rapidly deteriorating state of our roads, or are the non-runflats simply not as hard wearing as the runflats (by a country mile!)?
liner33 said:
I dont think you can assume 8mm when new , I have heard from those that measure them when new that they are 6-7mm typically
A mate of mine has just taken 8500 miles to wear them from new to 2mm on the back of his rwd Skyline, thats not awful for a sports tyre
I wondered that too, but the BMW Service agent said "they're about half worn" when he pointed out the tyre specs to me from the vehicle health check sheet. They also sent me a video link footage shot by the workshop mechanic showing his chalk marks on the tyres with 3 sets of '5' scrawled across width of each tyre.A mate of mine has just taken 8500 miles to wear them from new to 2mm on the back of his rwd Skyline, thats not awful for a sports tyre
Just checked my Invoice/Health check from the tyre fitters (Black Circles/ATS) last year, and as I had replaced the fronts 4 weeks and 14 miles before the rears were changed, they noted the fronts as having 7mm of tread. Assuming I have had inconsequential wear after driving only 14 miles, I can now safely assume the tread depths were 7mm when new.
So, not as bad as originally thought, but 1mm wear per 1K miles is a bit much nevertheless, especially when compared to almost 14,500 miles on 3 mm wear for the runflats.
So, not as bad as originally thought, but 1mm wear per 1K miles is a bit much nevertheless, especially when compared to almost 14,500 miles on 3 mm wear for the runflats.
E-bmw said:
And there was me thinking they were the same..........;)
Depends 
.AFAIK the lineage from the PS2 goes as follows:
PS2 > PSS > PS4S
Of course there are exceptions, like the OE stamped tyres whilst the new tyres await approval or are changed to go with it.
Back to the OP.
What BMW do you have?
How many miles has the car done and how many have you yourself put on it?
How long have you owned it?
Yes it's a few questions but it could be down to anything. How do I mean
-The type of car can have an impact ;an M3 will wear the rears down faster due to an LSD, something I realised when I borrowed some skinny 17s for a while.
-Driving conditons : Motorways will make them last longer than town use obviously but also winter seems to kill summer tyres faster, especially when things get slippy. Again, some cars like the above will make these differences look larger.
FWIW I have PS4s on the back my M3 and PS4Ss up front ; the PS4S was not available when I needed the tyres and the Falkens looked like racing slicks!
I got the following out of my rears
-Falken FK453 ~ 8,000 miles, 5,000 of which I covered ; they had quite a bit more tread on when I got them (around 6mm from what I remember) ; they wore more in the centre but still quite evently (about a 1 to 1/2mm difference), despite me lowering the pressures below the BMW levels (31 or 32 instead of 35 PSi) ; it seemed the tyre was balooning at speed which is something that can happen.
-Michelin Pilot Sport 4 ; I have covered 10,000 miles and counting with these. They have 4 or 5mm left and are on stock pressures.
That PS4 wear includes me driving to the 'ring and doing 2 dry laps with 9 wet laps around it, hooning it occasionally as well around the Evo triangle, and then going to Spain and back this summer; for the latter mine was used as a 'taxi'; the other guy who joined us had a Z4, and well, you can't quite put 3 people in one
.I replaced my old Bridgerock Potenza RFT's about this time last year with a set of PS4's. Car was on about 95K at the time, now it's on 114K and am still above the wear indicators on the rear, probably at 4-5mm. Fronts look like they've barely been used.
My mileage is probably half motorway half "other" and I'm never shy to put my foot down.
As an aside, they've also been brilliant in the conditions recently. Didn't go out when the snow was deep, but compacted snow and ice have proved no real issue, little bit of slip then off it goes.
My mileage is probably half motorway half "other" and I'm never shy to put my foot down.
As an aside, they've also been brilliant in the conditions recently. Didn't go out when the snow was deep, but compacted snow and ice have proved no real issue, little bit of slip then off it goes.
Thanks all. Sorry for late replying but been a bit hectic with Xmas and stuff. About to go away for a few days too.
For those who asked, my car is an 2008LCI E91 330i Auto. I've owned it since I got it from BMW as an AUC with one previous owner, and it had clocked up 8400 miles in 4.5 years. I changed the OE PS2 runflats to PS4 non-runflat last October at 14,500 miles with 5mm tread depth remaining. It has now covered 16,532 miles in total, with just over 2,000 since the PS4s were fitted.
As you can see, my mileage is extremely low, and I usually only take her out when I go on touring holidays, as I did twice this last year to Northumberland and N. Devon (from where I live near Croydon in Surrey). I have another old motor as a daily runabout/shopping trolley. Although I like to press on when on the motorway, my speed is never excessive, and I'm waaaay too old to be a hooligan! In short, I like to look after her, although I wouldn't use the word 'pamper'.
I thought I had my own tyre tread depth gauge, but I've searched high and low and cannot find it.
I'll see if I can lay my hands on one in the next couple of days and hopefully report back then with more data. I sincerely hope that BMW's readings are incorrect, or I shall have to write to Michelin and/or Black Circles if other's mileages here are truly indicative of typical PS4 lifespans.
Nigel
For those who asked, my car is an 2008LCI E91 330i Auto. I've owned it since I got it from BMW as an AUC with one previous owner, and it had clocked up 8400 miles in 4.5 years. I changed the OE PS2 runflats to PS4 non-runflat last October at 14,500 miles with 5mm tread depth remaining. It has now covered 16,532 miles in total, with just over 2,000 since the PS4s were fitted.
As you can see, my mileage is extremely low, and I usually only take her out when I go on touring holidays, as I did twice this last year to Northumberland and N. Devon (from where I live near Croydon in Surrey). I have another old motor as a daily runabout/shopping trolley. Although I like to press on when on the motorway, my speed is never excessive, and I'm waaaay too old to be a hooligan! In short, I like to look after her, although I wouldn't use the word 'pamper'.
I thought I had my own tyre tread depth gauge, but I've searched high and low and cannot find it.
I'll see if I can lay my hands on one in the next couple of days and hopefully report back then with more data. I sincerely hope that BMW's readings are incorrect, or I shall have to write to Michelin and/or Black Circles if other's mileages here are truly indicative of typical PS4 lifespans.
Nigel
liquidfox said:
My PS4 tyres only had 6.5mm of tread on from new.
Have just had my brand new tyre tread depth gauge delivered, and have discovered that all 4 corners are reading just a fraction over 6mm each tyre. So much for the BMW dealership's claim of 5mm per tyre! What the hell were they using, a ruler? So with your stated 6.5mm when new, I guess that ~.5mm wear over the course of almost 2,500 miles (have just returned from a 350 mile round-trip up North) is not too shabby.
Many thanks for your input guys, and have a safe Xmas.
Nigel
RafflesNH said:
Have just had my brand new tyre tread depth gauge delivered, and have discovered that all 4 corners are reading just a fraction over 6mm each tyre. So much for the BMW dealership's claim of 5mm per tyre! What the hell were they using, a ruler?
So with your stated 6.5mm when new, I guess that ~.5mm wear over the course of almost 2,500 miles (have just returned from a 350 mile round-trip up North) is not too shabby.
Many thanks for your input guys, and have a safe Xmas.
Nigel
Yep - BMW stealer random number generator for both tyres and brakes combined with with red warning and you must change now or you will die. 1mm per 5k miles is as expected.So with your stated 6.5mm when new, I guess that ~.5mm wear over the course of almost 2,500 miles (have just returned from a 350 mile round-trip up North) is not too shabby.
Many thanks for your input guys, and have a safe Xmas.
Nigel
Last service they said my tyres were down to 3.5mm when I measured them with a digital gauge, I got 5mm minimum. Similar story with the brake pads - at least 2mm out on the worst pad.
Ignore and use your eyes - probably trying to catch out the company car drivers or H&S gone mad.
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