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Old 08-29-2008, 09:22 AM
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Run Flats and side wear

I noticed on my run flats the side shows a bit more wear. The wear is not due to normal lateral movement but more of swirls showing it wears when I make a turn. The front tires show this a lot more than the back which is very minimal.

I spoke to the dealer and he said it is common specially with 3 series, his explanation was the side wall is stiffer and when I make turns the walls take the weight and that is why I notice the swirl wear marks.

He said if I was concerned I could do some alignment...I think that might be a money grab at $280 bucks

Anybody experience this? Should I pump to 33 PSI to compensate, I am on the recommended 32 PSI…any advice will be appreciated…I have 14,000KM
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Old 08-29-2008, 05:49 PM
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I agree with your dealer on this one. Alignment can adjust the camber of the tires so that you can corner well without grinding the sidewall.
take a look at this Mazda website example.

http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?...id=8&Itemid=50

When you watch F1 racing, you can actually see the front tires being off camber (negative i believe, not neutral) so assist in cornering abilities.

increasing the pressure will not do much to help with the side wall grinding but you can put more weight at higher speeds by increasing tire pressure.
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Old 08-29-2008, 07:47 PM
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It sounds like you need an alignment.

Craig
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Old 08-29-2008, 09:56 PM
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Thanks, y5choi for the link. That was very informative.

So for the X5, is it good to have a zero camber or a slightly negative camber? I thought a wheel alignment only corrected an unbalanced and sided movement of the steering wheel, didn't know you get a correction in camber angle as well.
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Old 08-29-2008, 11:03 PM
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Try turning the wheel of the X all the way to the left while parked, and step outside and take a look at the driver's side wheel camber angle. You might notice that when the wheels are turned to the very left, the driver's side front tire actually stands more on the outer wall of the tire (positive camber). I think for highway driving and overall comfort, most manufacturers choose to give a bit of positive camber on vehicles.

If you want to corner lively and reduce side-wall grinding, yes you are exactly right! you might want to consider giving some negative camber on the fronts. (toe and caster are more for direction of travel, normally associated with wheel alignment)

When I occasionally watch formula 1 racing, the negative cambers on those cars are really extreme and you can see how the bottom of the tires point outward away from the body of the car.
take a look:

http://www.2fastlane.com/wallpapers/...Car_2006_1.jpg



BTW, you can request angle printouts after having your alignment done from any reputable shop and take a look at the toe, camber and caster angles.
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Old 08-30-2008, 12:27 PM
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appreciate your responses y5choi, I see some minimal +ve camber on the front wheels, which as you mentioned might be factory presets or just got worse. over time I will definitely get some alignment next weekend, I confess I do some spirited cornering and that must contribute to it as well...

PS Will the -ve camber not give me some wear on the inside...
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Old 08-30-2008, 09:31 PM
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lol, it should be okay, and the X should be driven hard, since it's one of the major selling points of the vehicle. The F1 car is really an extreme case, what the technicians typically do during alignment is give -ve camber in just the right amount so that it improves handling while maximizing tire temperature and wear, rather than making it sit on the inside edge- which sort of defeats the purpose.

I've found a really good PDF guide online geared toward BMW drivers. This documents has lots of good information so give it a try

here it is;
http://www.bmw2002faq.com/index2.php...do_pdf=1&id=31
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