Camber, Slanted Rear Wheels, Inner Tire Wear

[Fuego]

Are your rear tires wearing to fast? Do your rear wheels look slanted from behind? Did you go for an alignment and they couldn't get it straight?

Me too. I burned thru 3 pairs of rear tires, before I finally got it fixed.

This is NOT normal. This is a problem, and if you don't fix it, it will only get worse to the point where it is unsafe to drive. Yes the X5 was designed with a little camber, yes it is a performance/handling feature. But it should not be visibly slanted and your tires should last what they were made to last.

Its the rear suspension. You need to part#11 upper control arms (aka wishbone), part#2 lower control arm bushings (aka ball joints), part#4 integral link, and maybe even part#6 guiding suspension link.

See the diagram below... and/or click here RealOEM.com BMW E53 X5 3.0i REAR AXLE SUPPORT/WHEEL SUSPENSION

I had all the above replaced and now my ride is straight. My wheel alignment came out perfect, and I'm sure my tires will last what their supposed to. If you in the NY area and you want a referral let me know. My mechanic charged me $1000 including parts, labor, and a wheel alignment. And I got my car back the same day.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by Fuego

Do your rear wheels look slanted from behind? ... This is NOT normal. This is a problem, and if you don't fix it, it will only get worse to the point where it is unsafe to drive. Yes the X5 was designed with a little camber, yes it is a performance/handling feature. But it should not be visibly slanted ...

Uhhmmm ... I'm going to have to disagree with the tires not being slanted. I had my mechanic remove as much camber as possible and it's still slanted.

Other vehicles, like corvettes, come that way from the factory too.

I'm not saying your vehicle did not have a problem before but I bet your rear wheels are still slightly slanted in now.

[omodos]

Fuego thanks 4 that, yup there is massive post I kicked off as on one side of my rear the alignment people could change the camber to a good range (and got it less slanted) but the toe went wrong and out of specification, then taking as much of the toe out and getting it to the right range pushed the camber to near it’s tolerance, so that is where it is left and the inner tire wears out! Bit concerned that if I do get all those parts changed and it don’t fix the camber issue I will go nuts…..not even 40k miles on the clock having this issue really gets on my nerves….why are they so fragile?

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by omodos

Fuego thanks 4 that, yup there is massive post I kicked off as on one side of my rear the alignment people could change the camber to a good range (and got it less slanted) but the toe went wrong and out of specification, then taking as much of the toe out and getting it to the right range pushed the camber to near it’s tolerance, so that is where it is left and the inner tire wears out! Bit concerned that if I do get all those parts changed and it don’t fix the camber issue I will go nuts…..not even 40k miles on the clock having this issue really gets on my nerves….why are they so fragile?

Omodos ... if your alignment guys (or any trusted indy) can't find the problem, I would take it to the dealer for diagnosing. Obviously you have some suspension part(s) that is(are) bad. Wish I had better advice. I assume you searched already because there are probably plenty of threads to look at.

Make sure your guys double-check all the suspension parts (see fuego's list) to see which one (maybe not all) may be failing.

I don't get inner tire wear and my rear wheels are slanted - this is normal.

[omodos]

Thanks for the response have searched a lot, and got to the point of being told by members I had obsessive compulsive disorder heheheh, you are probably right but the general consensus is that the less the slant the more evenly the entire surface of the tire sits on the tarmac and hence the more even the wear, as opposed to slanted where the inner side of the tire sits moreso on the tarmac and hence wears more? I maybe wrong but a few guys on other non bmw sites have said they run a high degree of negative camber with 0 toe and their tires are fine……

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by omodos

Thanks for the response have searched a lot, and got to the point of being told by members I had obsessive compulsive disorder heheheh, you are probably right but the general consensus is that the less the slant the more evenly the entire surface of the tire sits on the tarmac and hence the more even the wear, as opposed to slanted where the inner side of the tire sits moreso on the tarmac and hence wears more? I maybe wrong but a few guys on other non bmw sites have said they run a high degree of negative camber with 0 toe and their tires are fine……

Yes, I'm sure if I saw my wheels very slanted and wearing unevenly then obviously something is wrong. I can't believe BMW or any other car company would actually design it to wear unevenly.

Camber yes, slant yes, irregular tire wear - no. I bet Weasel or Killcrap is not going to say that inner tire wear is normal for our Xs. If I'm wrong then I have no problem with that. However, I really can't imagine that just because we have some camber that automatically means inner tire wear is normal. I have slanted rears and have NO inner tire wear!

[mrbmwx5]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

Yes, I'm sure if I saw my wheels very slanted and wearing unevenly then obviously something is wrong. I can't believe BMW or any other car company would actually design it to wear unevenly.

Camber yes, slant yes, irregular tire wear - no. I bet Weasel or Killcrap is not going to say that inner tire wear is normal for our Xs. If I'm wrong then I have no problem with that. However, I really can't imagine that just because we have some camber that automatically means inner tire wear is normal. I have slanted rears and have NO inner tire wear!

[omodos]

Valid point I reckon toe has something to do with it, and also worn or bent suspension components may be an issue, but by god there are some parts of the x5 that would be put to shame by morris marina! cheapo plastic rad parts etc

[Fuego]

Bit concerned that if I do get all those parts changed and it don’t fix the camber issue I will go nuts…..

I felt the same way... But I knew it just had to be that. Plus my mechanic and the alignment shop both recommended those parts. And fortunately it was.

The dealer (stealer) will get you good for those repairs ($290 just for diagnosis). Just go to a good shop with the right tools.

[TrickerZ]

Toe is the biggest reason for tire wear. The negative camber on the tires will cause the tires to wear unevenly, but not much faster than if there was 0 camber. You can still get almost the same life out of the tires if you have them pulled off the wheel and swapped to the other side. I had this done on my Miata because I had toe out and the inside of the tires wore down to almost nothing. They have -2.5* of camber. After the tires were swapped, I got another 10,000 or so miles out of them. They were Fuzion ZRi FWIW.

Someone on these boards said the camber is for anti-roll. If that's true, I don't see how. You're more likely to roll with the tires that way. It's for performance in cornering only as far as I know. If someone knows the idea behind the anti-roll, please let me know so I can understand. For racing applications, it allows quicker turning (less rubber on the road initially) and plants more rubber on the ground when turning while decreasing the load on the sidewall. Look at a race car making a sharp turn and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, keep your toe at 0 and you should be pretty happy with tire wear despite the camber.