2012 X5: one year tire wear data, tire rotation

[JCL]

Originally Posted by miamipanther

JCL, do you think whether we should even lower the PSI to 32 since X5 has 50/50 weight distribution.

With no real load in it, I would think about it. I wouldn't go below 32/32. I may go 32 F 35 R. Put another way, if I was checking them regularly I would be more comfortable with 32/32, since I would catch any issues if they lost a few psi. You appear to be on top of checking them. Try it and and see how it feels.

[BGM]

Originally Posted by miamipanther

Is it RFT? What I learned in this forum is that RFT is notorious for short thread life.

No, they were non-RFT-- I was backing up what JCL said about proper tire care, PSI, etc--got 60K miles

I have the 20" Dunlops on my e70 and so far have put 17K miles on them with about 50% tread left still.

[BGM]

Originally Posted by JCL

BGM, what pressures did you run?

I ran 32 psi front and rear, increasing to 35 psi rear when fully loaded (four passengers plus luggage, or 2 people plus lots of luggage). I realize the E53 is a little lighter than the E70.

Yeah I can't recall off hand on the e53 I think it was 32/32. On my e70 I go with 32/35 though I could go 32 in the back I guess since I am single and my 32 lb Boston Terrier isn't exactly weighing down the passenger seats ha.

[BMWOO7]

I have the Michelin Latitude Tour HP ZP RFT 255/50/19 tires on our 2011 X5 which is just approaching 15k miles. I have since I was old enough to drive been one to rotate every 10k miles regardless, but most have gotten one that was done by a perfectionist as all 4 tires are 100% equal in tire wear.

Now with that said, I might be able to get another 15k out of these tires, but they'd be at the wear marks or below and not safe (in my opinion) for daily 70-75 MPH highway driving use in all kinds of Chicago weather.

[miamipanther]

Several E70 owners replied the PSI# on their door jamb sticker with different tire sizes: 18, 19, 20, sports etc, all their #s matches what's in the manual, it's obvious that the one on our car is not the right one.

I have contact dealer, and CA got confused too, he swore it's factory but not dealers put those stickers, he sent inquiry to BMWNA, let's wait what's BMW comes up.

Our E70 is the first week build of 2012, the dissemble line might just switch over and sth got screwed. Anyone got early week build might double check yours too to make sure it's correct.

Damn, I feel bad to put my family on a car with over inflation tires for one year

[Don Juan]

does anybody know what could be the best PSI setting for staggered 22 inch rims ? I have been using 38 and 40 but noticed the follwing after 9800miles
1- Front tires are wearing badly in the outer edge
2- Rear tires are wearing in the middle more
I was thinking to follow the PSI of the 20inch tires, as 32F and 35 R
any thoughts ?

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by Don Juan

does anybody know what could be the best PSI setting for staggered 22 inch rims ? I have been using 38 and 40 but noticed the follwing after 9800miles
1- Front tires are wearing badly in the outer edge
I would bet the offset on those 22s is very different/much less than any 'standard' oe BMW wheel. Add in some potential suspension wear=severe outer edge wear.2- Rear tires are wearing in the middle more
At ~40 PSI, center wear is almost automatic...yes I would try 32/32 or 32/35 or some number(s) less than what you are currently running. But, the wheel offset is still going to be 'there'.I was thinking to follow the PSI of the 20inch tires, as 32F and 35 R
any thoughts ?

My 50Cts...GL, mD

[Don Juan]

The hartge Classics II come with an aggressive offset . Yes the fronts and rear have a grat offset but that should create and inner wear in the front, not the outer side of the tires. The rear i figured that could be the issue, will adjust the pressures.

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by miamipanther

How can the sticker doesn't match the owner manual by that much? Did it indicate the manufacture put the wrong tire PSI sticker on my car?

I have noticed that some later model 2005-2006 e46 M3's have this same "updated" door jam sticker as you have on your X. For some reason, probably liability, the suggested pressures on these stickers are higher than the owners manual and the door jam sticker on my 04 M3. I think I would use the suggested pressure in the manual over your door sticker.

Edit: Also, many of the sitckers like you have on your doorjam say to see owners manual for additional information just to the right of the pressures. Did you crop that out of the photo or was it not included on your sticker?

I think these stickers are simply stating Max Load pressures for safety/liability reasons.

[trev0006]

My front tires out edges wear out way before the inner edge, is this an alignment issue?

Originally Posted by miamipanther

Our 12 X5 is at 12500 miles and turning to be one year old next week; I know BMW claimed that tires in BMW doesn't need rotation whatsoever, as well as 15k oil change interval and lifetime ATF etc.


Our X5 is equipped 18" Michelin Latitude Tour HP ZP RFT; In the past year, I checked the tire pressure every 4 months to maintain the manufacture recommended PSI: 33 front/41 rear.

Last week, for my own sake and curiosity, I measured the thread depth of all four tires; Attached is the data of thread depth, I am sure there is measurement error but each thread depth was measured three times to get average and shouldn't be off too much.


It turned out the manufacture recommended PSI for rear tire is way too high, which results in excessive wear at the center of the tread.


Secondly, the front tires tend to wear more than the rear ones, rotating front to rear should extend the life of tires.


The front right tire wear pretty even, but front left wear more outter than inner of the tire, which probably indicated it might beunder inflation for some time. I may need to check the tire pressure more often. One thing doesn't make sense to me is the rear right tire, there is one thread in middle has excessive wear, I couldn't find a theory to explain that.


Since X5 has directional tires and based on these data, I rotated the tires front to rear but not side to side at DiscountTires(It's free even for OEM tires, DiscountTire rocks and owns my future business), then deflated the rear tire to 35PSI from 41PSI.


It has been a week since the tire rotation, both my wife and I didn't feel the tire rotation changed the driving in any way. For the new tires in the future, I would definitely check PSI every two months and rotate FrontToRear every 5K to prevent premature wear of the tires. and most importantly, don't inflate rear tire to 41PSI link.