My Labor Day Weekend Blow Out - Sunday - UPDATED!

[LI_BIMMER]

This is my rear tire on the passenger side. I got this after slowing down when I started to hear a noise that was increasing in loudness. I realized that one of my tires was losing air or it was completely flat and I immediately pulled into my middle lane.

By this time I was down to 65 MPH and the car in the right lane would not let me over until the tire completely ripped itself off the rim then everyone dropped back from the smoke and pieces of tire everywhere. My X swayed violently from side to side when this happened and for 2 seconds I thought that I was going to go out of control. My wife also realized at that point that I wasn't kidding when I said 10 seconds earlier that I have a blown tire.

I was now doing 40 MPH and and knew if I didn't stop quickly, I would have a mess on my hands and may need to buy a RIM and go to a body shop. I made it to the shoulder and limped to a stop. Upon inspection, the tire ripped off a small box mounted to the inner wheel well (see pic) and I got 4 errors on my dash board (Service Engine Soon, Brake, ABS and DSC deactivated). Also, the car computer displays a message to "Check Brake Linings".

I taped the hanging wires, a small hose and changed the tire in 20 minutes. I must say the small bar used on the jack to raise and lower the car was awkward to use.

The X functions fine and cruise control does not work. I was 60 miles away from home going to a family gathering in NJ. I tried cruise on the way back when I made the discovery and it makes sense that it does not work.

The box should be easy to replace and splicing the wires as well. I now need to purchase a tire (255-55R18 Michellin MXV-4 Plus - Anyone has any out there with some good threads?)

I now know what it feels like when I see folks break down or change a tire on the side of the highway. It's not a good feeling and with a wife and two small kids with 65 MPH+ cars and trucks zooming by, it feels scary. I am glad that it wasn't at night, or it was raining or it was another SUV when it could have been alot worst.

UPDATE 9/6:
I checked the tire today to see if I could see what was the root cause and it was punctured by something that left a pretty big hole. This is a big relief as I have more faith that the tire was not defective. I still know that I will have to replace them at some point. Also, it turns out the tire on the rear drivers side was already changed since it doesn't match the date stamp of the other three. It looks like it's two years newer 0104 as the others (3, I mean two now) were stamped from 0802.

I also spoke to Michellin before I looked at the tire and they said my description of what happened is an indication that the tire lost air from a puncture and would eventually rip off if driven on when completely flat.

[zerochief]

WOW! Sounds like the X performed great considering the circumstances. Do you know the cause of the blowout? BTW, good clear pics!

[LI_BIMMER]

Originally Posted by zerochief

WOW! Sounds like the X performed great considering the circumstances. Do you know the cause of the blowout? BTW, good clear pics!

I threw the RIM and tire in trunk and I didn't get a chance to do a close-up inspection. I will do so by Wednesday. I am curious why this happened and the tire had 38K on it.

As for the pics, I got my wife a camera for her b-day and she takes her Canon digital elph with her all the time. I immediately asked to use the camera before I removed the tire.

[JV]

How old were the tires? Look for the numbers on the sidewall- they correspond to the year and month of manufacture.

Tires over 4 years old start to deteriorate at the sidewall even if the tread is still good.

JV

[LI_BIMMER]

Originally Posted by JV

How old were the tires? Look for the numbers on the sidewall- they correspond to the year and month of manufacture.

Tires over 4 years old start to deteriorate at the sidewall even if the tread is still good.

JV

I will check and post my findings on the date of the tire. My X is coming up on 4yrs old in November 06 and its build date is 10/02. I am worried if I can't see any visible punctures on the tire, that I have 3 others with a potential problem. Thank goodness it wasn't my front tire.

[SANguru]

glad to hear that you and the wife are ok. That looks similar to the tread separation incidences from the Ford Exploders. I would have the tire looked at. That looks like a manufacturing defect to me.

[Thunder22]

Originally Posted by SANguru

glad to hear that you and the wife are ok. That looks similar to the tread separation incidences from the Ford Exploders. I would have the tire looked at. That looks like a manufacturing defect to me.

I don't think so.... I bet he drove on the rim for a bit and it cut into the tire causing the tread separation.... but that's a complete guess.

[dkl]

Originally Posted by LI_BIMMER

I will check and post my findings on the date of the tire. My X is coming up on 4yrs old in November 06 and its build date is 10/02. I am worried if I can't see any visible punctures on the tire, that I have 3 others with a potential problem. Thank goodness it wasn't my front tire.

Why take a chance on these 38k/4yrs old tires. I would just toss the other 3 and buy some new ones...just to be on the safe side.

[Eric5273]

Glad to hear you are ok and there was no major damage.

I once had a blowout like that with my Acura NSX. My experience was rather similar to yours in that I was able to get to the side of the highway. In my case, I was shocked to see that there was absolutely no damage to my car or the wheel.

The damn problem with these low-profile sports tires is that the sidewall is so strong (steel reinforced) that you do not feel when the tire is losing presure until it actually starts to come apart, and by then it's too late.

I'm not sure if the older models had this feature, but my '06 X5 3.0 has some sort of tire presure monitor which is supposed to light up a warning light on the instrument panel as soon as I lose presure in any of the tires. Hopefully I'll never have to find out if it works.

[SANguru]

your "TPM" does not monitor tire pressure, just rotational differences. It works but not the way you think it does.

Originally Posted by Eric5273

Glad to hear you are ok and there was no major damage.

I once had a blowout like that with my Acura NSX. My experience was rather similar to yours in that I was able to get to the side of the highway. In my case, I was shocked to see that there was absolutely no damage to my car or the wheel.

The damn problem with these low-profile sports tires is that the sidewall is so strong (steel reinforced) that you do not feel when the tire is losing presure until it actually starts to come apart, and by then it's too late.

I'm not sure if the older models had this feature, but my '06 X5 3.0 has some sort of tire presure monitor which is supposed to light up a warning light on the instrument panel as soon as I lose presure in any of the tires. Hopefully I'll never have to find out if it works.