Tire shaving to fight premature camber wear?

[omodos]

I had the same thoughts going through my head, having to change tyres each year is not a good thing, other members have said that you need to take the car to someone with a good eye who can see if there has been any damage to suspension subframe etc not allowing camber/toe to be adjusted correctly to spec, but i got the same story as you: take it to a mechanic who will start changing out part by part ! not correct in my view, and that this may not fix issue! i am even considering swapping my 19" alloys for 17" and hence smaller cheaper tires, if my setup was not staggered i would have been able to rotate and live with doing this but cannot, front wont go on rear vice versa......good luck with yours and you are lucky to be getting it done free of charge, please keep us posted

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by omodos

i am even considering swapping my 19" alloys for 17" and hence smaller cheaper tires

If you are not worried about the looks, 17s make good sense. Cheaper tyres, as you say, plus even wear, better ride, less shock loading on the suspension, better sidewall-damage resistance, a much better choice of all-terrain type tyres if that's what you want, and the spare tyre also then matches the four road tyres. If the roads you drive on are bumpy, pot-holed and/or gravel it makes even more sense.

[omodos]

Originally Posted by Fraser

If you are not worried about the looks, 17s make good sense. Cheaper tyres, as you say, plus even wear, better ride, less shock loading on the suspension, better sidewall-damage resistance, a much better choice of all-terrain type tyres if that's what you want, and the spare tyre also then matches the four road tyres. If the roads you drive on are bumpy, pot-holed and/or gravel it makes even more sense.

cheers Fraser will look into finding a set, all roads apart from newly built highways are pants out here, so should be to swap out to your size of 17" with 235/65R16 both ends ???despite x being the sport model?

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by omodos

cheers Fraser will look into finding a set, all roads apart from newly built highways are pants out here, so should be to swap out to your size of 17" with 235/65R16 both ends ???despite x being the sport model?

Should be no problem, the Sport didn't come with bigger brakes just firmer suspension(but same ride height), the special 19-inch staggered tyre and wheel package and some cosmetic stuff. What year model is your 3.0d? Note that the size is 235/65R17. You should already have a 17-inch spare?

[omodos]

ta again, it is a Nov 2004 e53 3.0d sport, according to real oem webiste it it has an M57N engine, you are right best bet i guess it to check spare and take note of size.....for sure it is smaller, i reckon i may find some alloys, maybe even off a cayenne or touareg which i think have smaller the 19" alloys and the touraeg has 'fatter' tires for sure......

Apologies to original poster if i have hijacked post slightly

[Fraser]

BMW's OEM 17s (alloys) came in two different patterns. That's what you need. They are pretty easy to find here but I'm not sure about Cyprus. Obviously it would be best to match the pattern to your existing spare.

[Fraser]

Just checked on the two different 17s. There was the five-spoke pattern 57 and the ten-spoke pattern 130. I reckon your spare for your 3.0d will be the five-spoke. Both are 7.5J x 17. You can see the five-spoke 17 in my profile pic.

[omodos]

Guess you are right again, will check out for some second hand ones and see, there are a surprisingly large number of x5's and luxury 4x4s out here so i should be able to find some in time, no idea where they all find the cash, considering it is an island economy based mostly n tourism and until recently the housing market,,,cheers

[omodos]

Originally Posted by Fraser

Just checked on the two different 17s. There was the five-spoke pattern 57 and the ten-spoke pattern 130. I reckon your spare for your 3.0d will be the five-spoke. Both are 7.5J x 17. You can see the five-spoke 17 in my profile pic.

Ta for your help......reckon i will need different bolts too, but let me find the alloys first then i can worry about that, realoem site show other styles that look good too......in 17"

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by omodos

Ta for your help......reckon i will need different bolts too, but let me find the alloys first then i can worry about that, realoem site show other styles that look good too......in 17"

Bolts will be the same for any OEM BMW wheel.