This thread is 5 years old. But it is a common problem with these cars, it seems.

Agreed with bcredliner that this is not a BMW conspiracy.

When I bought my '01 with ~168k and original suspension a couple of years ago, it had similar-looking wear. Trying to align, reducing camber, I was not able to get it within spec (got to -2.x*, I think, but no lower). The car drove and handled apparently perfectly before and after alignment, but of course something was wrong to be causing this problem.

I took everything apart, inspecting the components as I got in there. The rear carrier ball joints (33-32-6-767-748) were shot, and I believe were the main cause of this problem. Replaced those and a few other things (integral links, upper control arms) since I was in there (and one of the upper control arms was a little loose). Aligned to the low end of the BMW camber spec, and everything is great again.

New tires alone will not fix this problem, unless you're willing to do that on a monthly basis.

If you can get it aligned within spec, you may be OK, but there is a limit to adjustability.

If you take the next step and get adjustable upper control arms (perhaps a safety concern) to align it within spec, you may be OK.

One thing I remember from the research I did on this was that the failed carrier ball joints will allow excessive deflection when you're getting on the gas, so your car may align OK, look straight enough, but when you step on the gas, the suspension deflects and due to the failed ball joint you're probably spitting off chunks of rubber from the inside edge. (OK, slight exaggeration on that last one, maybe)

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2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014