Don't kick me another tire query post

[omodos]

Hello all, Right got 235/65 r17 all way round (took off my original staggered setup)

Here is the query : due to various reasons my fronts are worn pretty bad barely road legal , rears are fine....is there any truth or evidence if I run a different set of new tires brand and likely different tread style up front compared to rear I will have transmission issues failure?

If yes? why am I not having issues now where my fronts are nearly bald and treadless so in essence the surface of the tire is way different to the rears that have all their tread?

Don't want to throw away perfectly good rears, and in essence throw away money, especially after recent air spring replacement at rear wallet hit...thanks

[80stech]

The problem is differences in the tire rolling circumference for which there are more variables between brands than just the measurement and it will put stress on the transfer case not the transmission and maybe affect handling. Bit of a roll of the dice.

[omodos]

Originally Posted by 80stech

The problem is differences in the tire rolling circumference for which there are more variables between brands than just the measurement and it will put stress on the transfer case not the transmission and maybe affect handling. Bit of a roll of the dice.

Ok like difference in the sidewall rigidity etc? tad annoying having to trash 2 perfectly good tires and fork our for 4 all round....but as you say not doing so is a gamble....be interesting to hear from any other x5 owners if they have the setup as I was thinking of doing i.e different brand(probably tread too) on rear vs front axle

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by omodos

Ok like difference in the sidewall rigidity etc? tad annoying having to trash 2 perfectly good tires and fork our for 4 all round....but as you say not doing so is a gamble....be interesting to hear from any other x5 owners if they have the setup as I was thinking of doing i.e different brand(probably tread too) on rear vs front axle

I use different tires up front (285/40/20 Nitto 555) vs rear (325/35/20 Pirelli Pzero Nero). No issues with the transfer case (your transmission won't care about the tires) because they have identical rolling diameters.

Actually I need to order new fronts. They are getting old (7yrs) and have some cracking.

But as 80stech mentions, there are other considerations beside rolling diameter. But I've never had a problem mis-matching tire brands front vs back on Xdrive vehicles. Just my experiences though.

[omodos]

Ok ta for reply i dont think i have the xDrive on my 2004 model x5....

[haigha]

Originally Posted by omodos

... i dont think i have the xDrive on my 2004 model x5....

2004 was the first year that xDrive was included. As far as I know, it's on all e53 X5's from that point on.

[omodos]

Apologies you are right just looked it up

[80stech]

In later years BMW used "XDrive" to refer to the interactive computer on the dash so that adds to the confusion I once had a BMW parts guy tell me that if it doesn't say XDrive on the car you don't have it, so even they were confused!

[Serb404]

Originally Posted by haigha

2004 was the first year that xDrive was included. As far as I know, it's on all e53 X5's from that point on.

mines a 2004 e53 and no xdrive, I have to push the DSC button to activate 4 wheel drive unless I'm misinterpreting it?

[tempest411]

I don't how there could be a problem. There's a differential in the transfer case to account for differences in axle rotation between front and rear. While the later cars may have some automatic mechanism to lock this differential when gross slippage occurs, I doubt that would happen if a different brand of tire was fitted-or even if the tires at one end were worn significantly more than the other.